On Saturday, June 4th, 2011 Superior Performance Elite Team member Chris Rubesch competed in the FANS 12 hour ultra marathon around Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, MN. The FANS 12 and 24 hour races support the FANS (Family Advocate Network System) scholarship fund. Chris was hot from the beginning, he ran a PR in the distance of 50 miles with a time of 6 hours and 58 minutes. By this time it was starting to get quite warm. From miles 40-55 Chirs struggled to stay on pace. Luckily Chris had the support of family and friends crewing for him. He was able to regain his composure and turn out a solid last two and a half fours to propel himself to the lead. Before this second wind Chris had been sitting solidly in second place all day. "It was great to see Chris have a strong finish in such a long race," said Jason Kask, Chris' coach, "his traini ng has been going very well this year but 12 hours is a long time to be running. This bodes very well for some of the other ultras on the schedule for this summer."  

Chris' next race will be the Minnesota Voyager 50 miler on July 23rd. Elite Team member Jennifer Houck, also of Mizuno USA will be competing in the Grandma's Marathon June 18th in Duluth, MN. 

Today 10-10-10 was a day for racing, unseasonally warm weather accross the midwest led athletes in three states wearing Superior Performance gear to great races.  Starting in the Illinois Jennifer Houck ran the Chicago Marathon.  Her time of 2:37:16 qualified her for the 'A' standard for the Olympic Trails.  "It was super hot," said Jennifer, "but after that race I am super fired up to keep racing!"  Jennifer's time put her as the 8th American and 19th overall in today's field. 

Moving west to Greenbush, Wisconsin and the Glacial Trail 50km was another success story for Superior Performance on this hot fall day.  Meg Rubesch bested the women's field by over three minutes over the 50km course.  "It was great to see Meg have such a great race today," said Jason Kask, Meg's Coach.  "She has had to work through an injury sustained earlier this season and I think she is regaining her form," Jason said.  Chris Rubesch was second in the men's field in the Glacial Trail 50km.  "I was gaining on first but couldn't close the gap in time," said Chris.

On to Minnesota where there was a local cyclocross race.  Jason Kask trying his hand at the sport raced in the cagagory 4 race and managed to stay upright.  "I started out at the back of the pack.  Mass starts on the bike are something I am still getting used to." said Jason.  After the slow start Jason moved his way up through the field finishing somewhere in the middle of the pack.  In the Catagory 1/2 race Jake Boyce wearing Superior performance bibs and Bikery jersey was in the mix untlil with two laps to go his seat post snapped after he remounted his bike after a barrier.  "It was a nice soft landing, then I realized that my post was broken, it was a long two laps of standing," said Jake.  Even with the technical difficulties it was a great day for cyclocross, unseasonably warm but good none the less!

Congrats to all the Superior Performance athletes that raced this weekend!

Chris Rubesch won the Superior Trail 50 mile trail ultra onSaturday.  After illness caused him to withdraw from the Voyager TrailUltra he was happy to be back in top form for Saturday's race.  "Ifeel like I have really started to understand ultras", said Chris. "I can't be as strict with my race plan as I was in the past.  In a 5or 10km race you can have a plan and go for it, but when you are racing for afew hours it is important to be flexible."  Chris set a new courserecord on the three year old course while besting the field in Saturday'srace.  "It was a very solid performance from Chris," said JasonKask, Chris's coach.  "I think he is really coming into his form asan ultra marathoner.  He has been a good runner for years but ultras aredifferent.  It is really important to listen closely to your body and beable to use that information in a constructive way.  This takes experienceand in the past two years Chris has gained a lot of experience in responding tothis information." 

Link to article about the race

Jennifer Houck, Superior Performance Elite Team member, ran to fourth place in Saturday’s Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, MN.  Houck finished the race with a personal best time of 1:15.48.  Conditions on race day were the best they have been in recent history with moderate temperatures and cloud cover.  The only challenge the weather provided was a stiff headwind.  “It was an excellent race for Jen,” said her coach Chad Salmela. “Her last race didn’t go as well as we had hoped but this was an excellent confidence booster.  It should put her in an excellent position for Chicago.”  Houck will race the Chicago Marathon, October10, 2010.  Congratulations to Jenniferand all other Superior Performance athletes that raced on Saturday!  Click HERE for Grandma's Marathon, and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon results.

Chris Rubesch of the Superior Performance Elite Team wassecond in the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon.  The race was the RoadRunning Club of America Trail Marathon Championship.  Rubesch began therace with a solid lead off the line and held this position until the half waymark.  At 13 miles to go he was overtaken by Ryan Kircher who gained overtwo minutes on Chris.  In the final two miles Rubesch was able to dig deepand caught and passed Kircher with 400m left in the race.  Kircher wasable to out kick Rubesch in the final 100m to gain a victory by 3seconds.  "It was a great race," said Rubesch, "I feltgreat in the second half."  "Chris ran a great race," saidJason Kask (Rubesch's Coach).  "It was great to see him close in thefinal miles after leading for the first half of the race," he said. Rubesch's next race will be the Minnesota Voyager Trail Ultra on July 24, 2010in Carlton, Minn.

Chris Rubesch a member of the Superior Performance EliteTeam won the Ice Age Trail 50 kilometer trail race this weekend.  The ultra-marathon in Lagrange, Wisconsin is considered to be one of the countries “classic” ultra-marathons.  Rubesch won the race in 3 hours 51 minutesand 32 seconds.  “I wanted to go out withthe lead pack,” said Rubesch.  “It was agood race to start my season off.  This year being part of the Montrail series it brought more depth to both the 50 mile and 50km field,” he said.  Meg Rubesch placed second in the women’s 50 kilometer field with a time of 4 hours44 minutes and 27 seconds.  “I was extremely pleased with the results of the Rubesches,” said Jason Kask, “both of them have been training well and were ready to get their first race of the season out of the way.  I believe that both Chris and Megare poised to have excellent seasons. The way they ran this weekend showed they are just where we want to be at this point in the season."

Link to local arcticle about Ice Age Trail Ultra

Superior Performance Elite Team member Jennifer Houckfinished 17th out of more than 9,000 female competitors in Mondays114th running of the Boston Marathon.  Houck is relatively new to the marathon scene,this being her second serious marathon. Her time of 2:39:02 was the third fastest American in the field.  After the race Houck said, “I felt veryprepared for Boston.  I was ready to raceafter months of hard training; my legs were ready to go!  I felt strong throughout the race, even onHeartbreak Hill, which I wasn’t expecting as those hills came late in the race.”  Her time put her well within the ‘B’ standardfor the 2012 Olympic Trails her initial goal going into the race and only twoseconds outside the ‘A’ standard.  “Itwas amazing to be part of the Boston Marathon, the fans are amazing,” Houcksaid.  “Once you hit the half marathonmark you aren’t alone a single step as fans are packed along the course.  I got goose bumps when Ryan Hall and Mebpassed me and the crowds were chanting USA, USA.  Of course running two seconds faster would havebeen nice,” she said with a laugh, “but I am happy with my time on a toughcourse.  It was a huge personal recordfrom last fall at Twin Cities.”  Jennifer is the 8th American woman this year to un under 2:40 in the marathon.  The 2012Olympic Trials for the marathon are January 14th, 2012 in Houston, Texas. 

Superior Performance athlete Meg Rubesh was mentioned in Snowshoe Magazine.  For the complete arcticle Click Here.

Also this past weekend Superior Performance athletescompeted in the Northwood’s Snowshoe Championships at Lester Park in Duluth,Minnesota.  Elite Team member Chris Rubesch finished 5th in the halfmarathon race with a time of 2 hours 7 minutes.  With this time Chris placedfirst in his age group.  Also racing was Meg Rubesch.  She competedin the 10km race and finished 4th.  Her time was 1 hour 9 minutes, withthat she placed second in her age group.  After the race Chris said thathe felt strong and that with his focus in ultra marathons he was very happywith his performance.  "I could feel that if I was going to focus onsnowshoeing I would like to be more powerful, but since my goals are in runningI feel that my performance was very strong," said Chris after the race. "Running in snowshoes is definitely different than justrunning."  Way to go Chris and Meg on a great weekend of racing!

This weekend Superior Performance Elite Team member Jennifer Houck raced in The Aramco Houston Half Marathon.  She finished with a time of 1:15:52 over the 13.1 mile course finishing in 16th place.  "As ateam we are extremely excited to have Jen on board for this season," said Jason Kask.   "Her results this weekend were very exciting; it should lead to a great season!  I spoke with her Chad Salmela, (Jen'scoach) about her race; he was quite impressed with the result.  He said her training is coming along as planned and that Jen should be ready for another great season once summer rolls around."