Kevin Sullivan skated away (literally) with the 11th annual G.A.C. FatAss 50K on January 10th. The conditions were glazed/ice covered snow, making for a crunchy romp through the Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, Mass. Nonetheless, Sullivan posted a highly respectable 4:03:30 given the trail conditions and very brisk temperatures to best second place finisher, Paul Young by 18:30 minutes. TARC member Bob “Diesel” Crowley finished 5th with a 5:08:00, not bad for an old Animal.

Kevin Sullivan

Sullivan had also posted an average of 1:20:00 per loop recently at the Fells Fall Classic during Thanksgiving weekend, the best of the day, though he completed only 3 loops.  So clearly he is tuning up nicely for his Western States 2009 attempt.

Kevin commented further on the two runs:
“Fells - hmmm, the run in the Fells was not easy.   That’s a loop where you really have to focus and pay attention not only because of the terrain but for fear of getting lost.  Those ups and downs hurt after a while.   That said, it is a pretty amazing place to run in the Fall and with a good hard core group of folks out there not for glory but to get ready for the holiday food fest!

Fat Ass - the GAC Fat Ass is a truly great tradition.  It is great that a lot of people come out for it  - no matter the weather -  and Roger and Roger make it an enjoyable event.  It’s almost like back to school after winter break - it’s about seeing friends again and having some fun.  In terms of the actual run/course, I run that loop throughout my training.  It is my home course and comfort zone  - and it has everything, ups and downs, flats, single track some pavement - the variety is nice.  I know it like the back of my hand. In fact, I have actually run it in the dark without a head lamp.  I’ve never run it in quite the conditions we had Saturday, but it was fun.  Ice, snow, glaze - I dreaded the horse field on each lap.   I used the Katoola Microspikes which were the bomb”, stated Sullivan.  “They grip like nothing else and you can barely feel them.   Fat Ass is so low key and fun, but I also felt good about my run for an early season long run.”

Kevin runs for the Inov-8 team.  He runs in the Roclite 320s.

Full race results here