Master Of The 100-Miler Long-Distance Running A Passion For Spokane Man

Spokane resident Bill Close is the Energizer Bunny of ultra running, and he has the trophy to prove it.

On his mantel is a sculpture of an eagle, which only 13 people received this year. It honors Close for what is called a Grand Slam: completing four 100-mile races in one season.

Photos of those races, however, are not the only ones that overflow Close’s albums. He has completed several marathons and triathlons, and he’s finished eight 100-mile races.

Close, 37, has always been the athletic type - he wrestled in college, enjoys canoeing and has competed in bodybuilding contests. But his fascination with running long distances didn’t surface until he began competing in marathons and triathlons. He enjoyed triathlons so much he participated in several ironmans, then began stretching his racing mileage.

In 1989, Close registered for his first 100-miler, the Western States Endurance Run, which begins in Lake Tahoe, Nev., and finishes in Auburn, Calif. Shortly before, he had dropped out of a race in which competitors ran 500 miles in eight days. His body was fatigued, but he decided to give Western States a shot anyway. He dropped out at mile 55, but that only fueled his desire to take on more ultras.

“If you get a DNF (did not finish), you’re going to come back,” he said. “It’s a given.”

In 1992, Close was at the start of Western States again. This time he finished with blisters “the size of a fried egg” on his feet.

But he got tougher over time.

“It isn’t easy, but at least I’m not getting beat up like I was at first,” he said. “I was getting trashed there for a while.”

This year’s Western States race kicked off the Grand Slam series. Three weeks later, Close was off to Vermont for the Vermont Trail 100, in which he broke 24 hours for the first time. The next month it was the Leadville 100 Mile Trail Run in the highest incorporated town in Colorado.

Close spoke with reverence of the race’s level of difficulty, evidenced by its 40 percent finisher rate. The elevation starts at 10,000 feet and finishes at 12,600, with lots of peaks and valleys in between.

Close barely made the time cutoffs this year. He tells the story of entering an aid tent partway through the race and expecting to have the medical bracelet that competitors are required to wear cut off, signifying he had failed to meet the time requirement for that stage. Instead, an aid worker called, “Anyone still here with their tag on? You’ve got 1 minute to get out of here.” Close scampered out, raced the clock and finished without much time to spare.

The last race of the 100-milers was no picnic, either. In the first 5 miles of the Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Race in Utah, competitors ascend 4,000 feet.

“You have to get used to running with your legs tired,” Close understated.

The muscular wrestling and cross country coach trains by running 6 to 10 miles a day during the week and putting in six or seven hours’ worth of running on weekends, sometimes doing that much on each day. He concentrates on hill work because the ultra courses he races are extremely hilly. About half his training is solitary, while the other half is done in a group or with training partner Dennis Clute.

As might be expected, Close gets some incredulous reactions when people find out how much he runs. Some of the comments he rolls his eyes at include, “Oh, I get tired driving that far” and “I ran this weekend, too; I ran to the fridge and back.”

Close also got some interesting reactions when he lugged the Grand Slam trophy into one of his classes at East Valley High School.

“Well, did you win?” students asked. “Did you get paid? Did someone pay your way?”

Close tried to explain why he spends money to put himself through the grueling races.

“Somehow they don’t quite understand why you would do it,” he said. “It takes so long to achieve it. The rewards for this kind of thing are not the trophy or anything else; it’s just the experiences, and seeing what you can do, and the people you meet. The rewards might not be immediate, but it’s something you can achieve and something you can do your whole life.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SOME LONG HAULS 100-mile races completed by Bill Close for his Grand Slam: June 28: Western States Endurance Run, 29 hours, 4 minutes. 260 finishers. July 19: Vermont Trail 100, 22 hours, 35 minutes. 160 finishers. Aug. 16: Leadville 100 Mile Trail Run, 29 hours, 47 minutes. 189 finishers. Sept. 6: Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run, 31 hours, 21 minutes. 120 finishers.