Interview with Nick Pedatella: 2008 Silver Rush 50 Mile Champion

A brief interview with 2008 Silver Rush 50 mile Champion Nick Pedatella

The inaugural Silver Rush 50 Mile Ultramarathon at Leadville took place on July20, 2008. I had the pleasure of carpooling with Nick and sharing a motel room with him the night before the event. This 50 mile race would serve as Nick's first ultra and I shared several pieces of advice with him the day before the race. Nick told me the night before the race that he would, "ideally like to run a sub-8 hour race."

Trying not to discourage the young man's plans, I told him, "If you run a sub-8 hour race, you will win."

Ignoring most of my advice about having a pace plan and carrying more than one bottle, Nick tore out of the starting line amongst approximately 120 other ultrarunners. He ran in second place for most of the first 10 miles and then took his position as race leader. He would not relinquish this position for the remainder of the event. Nick maintained a torrid pace for the entire 50 miles even though he was no longer challenged by any other competitors. This 50 miles consisted of approximately 8,000' of elevation gain/loss and took place at high elevations above 10,000'. Nick told me off camera that he, "Didn't really feel the elevation that much."

Nick finished the race unofficially in 7 hours 26 minutes, which calculates to a sub-9 min/mile for the entire event. At least Nick followed one piece of advice...run a sub-8 and win.

Congratulations Nick! Keep up the great work.

-Jerry and Team E.R.F.