The Long Run Never Ends for Gessner

June Gessner sounded weary when she picked up the phone Wednesday, but that’s perfectly understandable. Considering the 100 mountainous miles Gessner ran over the weekend, no one would begrudge her a long nap.

But no, she said, she hadn’t been snoozing: “I just got back from a six-mile run.

“I think muscles work better if you keep using them.”

Gessner, a 46-year-old Laguna Niguel resident, is certainly testing that theory. Sunday, she finished the Western States Endurance Run--that’s 100.2 miles through the Sierra Nevada mountains, from Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe to Auburn--in 23 hours 39 minutes 55 seconds.

Gessner, a consultant in the nuclear energy industry, was the 60th finisher overall, ninth among women and third among women in the 40-to-49 age group. But her most important achievement was completing the course in fewer than 24 hours.

Last year, as a Western States rookie, Gessner finished in 24 hours 35 seconds, narrowly missing the sterling silver buckle that goes with a sub-24-hour finish and settling for the bronze given to those who beat 30 hours. This time she wasn’t going to let the silver slip away.

“There was a lot of pressure,” she said. “You wouldn’t think it would be that hard to get those 36 seconds.”

Turns out she got them and then some, on a course that climbs 18,000 feet and descends 23,000. Runners must trudge through snow, although there was not as much as usual on the course this year, and dodge fallen tree limbs and rattlesnakes.

At the 62-mile checkpoint, Gessner said, she was one hour ahead of a 24-hour pace after more than 18 hours on the trail. Confident that she would finish in time, she said: “I just started cruising on in from there.”

There were only 38 miles--about a marathon and a half--to go at that point.

Gessner, who in 1997 was the winningest female in North American ultra-distance running with seven victories, took up ultra running several years after starting to run competitively in 1988. She quickly discovered that she preferred the longer races.

“You can run slower,” she said. “Basically it’s easier. I tried to run fast marathons [her best is 3:04] for a couple years and they basically just beat you up, so I started running trails and running slower.”

Ultra running requires a high tolerance for pain, or at least an ability to ignore it. Gessner has that in spades. Last summer, she had foot surgery to eliminate inflammation of nerves in the metatarsal bones in her toes, but the problem didn’t go away.

“I’m basically an eight-mile runner,” she said. “By eight miles my feet hurt so bad that I can hardly put my feet down on the ground.”

During races she takes ibuprofen, but it doesn’t eliminate the pain. During the final 15 miles of the Western States, she said, the pain in her left foot was excruciating. “I was about ready to cut my foot off,” she said, “and leave it behind.”

So why do it?

“You obviously don’t understand the ultra mentality,” Gessner said. “I don’t think there’s any one of us who is pain free. It’s just something we do. It’s such a sense of accomplishment when you do it.”

ULTRA LOCALS

Three other Orange County runners were among the 216 people who finished the Western States Endurance Run before the 30-hour time limit.

Rob McNair, 45, of Huntington Beach finished 46th overall in 23 hours 21 minutes 19 seconds. Sena Hoodman, 41, of Huntington Beach was 89th in 25:56:37 and Gregory Talbott, 45, of Foothill Ranch was 105th in 26:57:33.

Scott Jurek, 25, of Duluth, Minn., won the race in 17:34:22 and Suzanne Brana, 41, of San Diego was the first female finisher in 21:23:29.

Hoodman, who was running in her first 100 miler, said she hit the wall at 85 miles. Her legs started cramping up and she was “really, really sleepy.”

But she never considered giving up.

“I never thought I was crazy to be out there,” she said. “Some people told me that I would wonder, ‘Why am I doing this?’ I never felt that way. I was wondering, ‘Which one do I want to do next?’ ”