BRS Member, Leif Rustvold, Completes Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in VFFs

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BRS Member, Leif Rustvold, Completes
Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in VFFs
BRS member and Oregon Chapter President Leif Rustvold, better known as Zeke in the barefoot running community, is no stranger to the 100 mile ultramarathon. Last weekend, June 27, he completed yet another 100 mile ultra...and minimalist to boot. He finished the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run wearing a pair of VFFs in 28:44:22 and placed 250th out of 423 starters and 328 finishers.
The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is the trail ultramarathon that, according to Leif, “defined the modern event.” It originated with Gordon Ainsleigh's solo run of the Tevis Cup horse race on the same trail in 1974. Leif began applying to get into the race in 2006. With thousands of runners applying to get in every year, the odds are low each year of making it through the lottery.
Leif is 35 and has been married to his “wonderful wife for 13 fabulous years.” They live in Portland, Oregon, with their three young children. Leif works as a statistician in health research and has a background in anthropology, which he says, “tends to dominate lately in my approach to running. I treat my running as a sort of experiment in applied anthropology. I think we're made to do this and that I will be most pleased with my experience as a runner if I run as we're made to do it. It was a short line of logic to realize that we weren't made to run in shoes.” Other than barefoot running, he enjoys beer home brewing, lay theologizing, music appreciating, and pulling his children around in a rickshaw. But of special interest, he is a distance unicyclist and has completed several 100 mile rides. (See pictures below.)
Leif has been running nearly all his life. “I guess I never really stopped running as a kid. In junior high, before we forget how to run, my dad started bringing me to 8K road races, and I'd run as I was able. The goal was always just to run all the way. That moved up to 15Ks and then marathons in high school. Even when I wasn't an active runner, in the long years between participation in organized road races, I would go out for 3 mile runs to blow off steam. I got serious about running again in 2004 and have been pretty consistent about it since.”
He first dabbled with barefoot running in 2004 but didn't really get serious about it until he got a pair of Vibram FiveFingers in 2007 that let him take minimalist running on the trails. Then in 2009, he moved away from his favorite daily running trail and started doing daily runs barefoot on pavement. Since then, all of his road running has been barefoot. He says, “I've come to enjoy road races again up to the 50K distance barefoot.”
The longest distance Leif has run was at the 2010 Pacific Rim One Day Run where he covered 104.5 miles in 24 hours. “I called it the One Day Run For Hunger, raising money for the Oregon Food Bank, and ran it in Vibram Five Fingers when I wasn't barefoot. I've done a few other 100 mile races, including earlier races in Vibrams.” The 2010 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run was, “at last count,” his 36th ultramarathon and his 12th barefoot/minimalist ultra. Those have included about a 2 parts 50Ks, and one part each 50 milers, 100Ks, and 100 milers with a dash of 24 hour races.
When asked about the abuse his feet took during his recent ultra accomplishment at Western States, he replies, “They treated me well throughout the race, all things considered. I don't think there's any way to avoid some damage to the feet on a mountainous 100 mile trail run, but my Vibrams have always treated me better than my shoes used to. There were some unavoidable stream crossings in the first 30 miles where my feet got wet, but I got into dry socks before blisters could form. The only time I've had problems in my Vibrams was when my feet got soaked in the first 100 miler where I wore them. When the sun came up around 24 hours into the race, and I was going into the longest I'd ever run in the Vibrams (my other 100+ mile races in them were done within 24 hours), I started to really charge my way to the finish and could tell my feet had taken a pounding. But again, there's no way around that in a 100 mile race.”
Recovery is always an important part of the ultra.“There are still a couple of tender spots on my forefoot by the toes, but I went for my first barefoot run yesterday without any issues. I'm still eating multiples of every meal and waking up in the middle of the night to finish leftovers. I can tell I ran a long race last weekend, but I feel fine.”
Leif doesn’t rest for too long as most runners would do after a long run. He has much more planned starting with a barefoot race (just shy of ultra length) as a recovery run this weekend. His next ultra is right around the corner, the White River 50 Mile Endurance Run at the end of July, and "I'm still picking between some longer races later this Summer. I've usually got my next couple races lined up at any given time."
Congratulations, Leif, on yet another huge endurance accomplishment!

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Hundred In The Hood PCT Ultra 100 Mile Endurance Run on 26-27 September 2009 (photo by Jim Rustvold)


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109 Mile El Tour de Tucson by Unicycle (photo by RB Jones Photography)


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Leif also likes to pull his kids in a rickshaw, in his bare feet, of course. (photo by Reason to Run)
 
Born and raised in NY (born in Brooklyn, 1963; raised in Pearl River, Rockland County); moved to Germany with my German wife, Brigitte, in Dec. 1995; been here ever since. We had a kid, Isabella, in Oct. 1999 and she's doing great! :-)
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Congratulations on your finish! My uncle ran, and finished, as well. You guys may have passed each other along the way :)



Sherri (sherrhod)
 
Pretty amazing! Congratulations!
 
Good job dude. How moist were the bottom of your feet after the race? If I where treks for more than few hours my feet become real soft. I wore them for 21 hour hike on Wednesday, no blisters but really soft wet feet by the end. I may be doing the AC 100 in 4 weeks in treks. Any pointers? how many times did you change socks at WS100. So far I've only finished 1 50m in treks. I think they are far from perfect but my best option right now. Congrats once again on your achievement my hats off to you.
 

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