I first spoke to Rob on the Friday before the “big” race. It was a brief encounter. He was leaving the prerace briefing and I yelled out to him as he was making his way across the parking lot in Squaw Valley. He was very cordial and politely declined my invitation to interview him. Instead he agreed to speak with me afterthe race, at the finish line. I understood his need to block out all distractions and focus on what he was about to do. The next day, I saw Rob at the start and later at Foresthill, mile 62. He came through Foresthill less than two minutes behind Max King and was followed by Seth Swanson and then by Dylan Bowman. All four men were running a solid race and seemed to move through the aid station without any obvious sign of fatigue. The race was about to heat up, and Rob was ready to make his move. On that day Rob Krar ran the race he intended, oneyear after he had placed second to Tim Olson. The 2013 Western was Rob’s first 100-mile experience. He went into the race with little preparation and said, “I just winged it. I didn’t even attend the training weekend.”
