Volte and Friends Played The Game Well

Google 4.16666 miles and guess what comes up?

If you are a runner you know it will be the Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, put on annually by the creator of the Barkley Marathon, Gary Cantrell.

Last year, one of the top female ultramarathoners in the world, American Courtney Dauwalter, won the race in Bell Buckle, Tennessee by completing 68 loops for 283.33 miles over Ohio’s Harvey Lewis, who didn’t go out for the 68th loop.

Oh, we forgot one thing.

You have to run each lap in under an hour.

Ramon (pictured in yellow) with the Murillos and Gary Kroll
(Photo courtesy of Ramon Rosales)

Two weeks ago, Spectrum Trail Racing, an Austin-based event production company, hosted its version of Cantrell’s classic, called The Game at the 88 Ranch in Columbus, Texas.

And, we had people there.

Sure, the winner got $400 cash and a pair of La Sportiva shoes, but the crown jewel was a gold coin that gained that individual access to Cantrell’s race in October.

San Francisco’s Vincent Barrientos went 34 laps for 141 miles to capture the win.

Fifth overall was Volte friend Ramon Rosales who finished 24 laps to give him a 100-mile finish – his first of his ultrarunning career.

Yes, Ramon - in an effort to psych a few competitors - took his stick pony out for a ride.
(Photo courtesy of Spectrum Trail Racing)

Ramon won the Habanero Hundred 100K in Cat Spring in August 2019 in 13:50:22 and then posted another overall win last February at Rocky 50 in 7:03:10.

Our Juan Murillo covered 15 laps for 100K (62.5 miles) while brother Luis stopped a loop short with 14 for a still impressive 58.333 miles.

However, Luis' last lap happened to be the one that they declared the fastest would also go home with a pair of La Sportiva shoes.

With 29 runners on the line to the start the 14th lap, Luis broke out a 7:10 per minute pace -- and called it a day.

Volte friend Gary Knoll ran 10 laps – almost 42 miles on a Saturday afternoon.

Ramon, Juan and Luis are all registered to race again next Saturday, May 8, 2021 at the Wildflower Trail Run 50K in Bastrop, Texas.