#42 Ultra Done, Oh Yeah!

The 1st Annual Red Cliffs Desert Reserve 50K Traverse is now completed!  I've been wanting to do this traverse for a long time, so I finally said, "what the heck, now is a good time" while I'm still in good shape.  3 1/2 weeks after my last race, I was "good to go" again.  Since I volunteer being a trail steward on the RCDR I know most of the trails, so I had a great route all planned out for years.  It's about time I did this run.  I ran it by myself and Lori and Shady crewed me in several spots along the way.  It was so great seeing them too at the critical points because I needed my fluids and food to keep me going! 

The route basically started in Leeds, Utah, right outside the RCDR, traversing southwest along the red rock mountains surrounding St. George, Utah and ending at a trail head called Yellow Knolls in the RCDR.  A cool stiff breeze was at my back for virtually the entire day making my run a lot easier and enjoyable!  It is really a beautiful and very scenic part of St. George just minutes from my home.  I'm lucky to be here and to be able to do this sort of thing.  I appreciate all the support everyone gives me too, so thank you!

Here are a few pictures along the way of this area for you to view!

Thanks again for your support!

$100.00 Donated to the Shirley Disease Research Center on 10/17/18

The StartView looking southwest from start

20 miles into run

Mustang Pass

View looking North

10 Miles or so

The endFinally, the beer!

Flagstaff to Grand Canyon 55K ++ Finished!

#41 Ultramarathon now finished on 9/22/18 in 8:20.

It was just a perfect day out near Flagstaff all day long.  What a beautiful course as well.  Just splendid.  The volunteers were all great and nice as well.  Lori and Shady were there to cheer me on too.  Some of the aid stations were 10 miles apart so the runners had to have enough water to last amount of time.  The course ran up, around and skirted Mt. Humpreys and continued north on the Arizona Trail for 34 miles.  The aspens trees and ferns were starting to change so it made the trail all that more special.  The run basically followed the Arizona Trail 75% of the time.  I highly recommend this trail to anyone wishing to see the beautiful southwest!

A highlight to this run was meeting and talking with Ian Torrence, Rob Krar, and Jim Walmsley - who are all outstanding and professional ultra marathoners.  That was really great to talk to them.  Rob Krar even had his own aid station around 26 miles and served popsicles!  What a great guy!

About 6 miles into the run a bunch of runners (including me) went the wrong way for around 1/2 mile and had to turn back and find out where we went wrong.  So, the 55K turned into a 57K for me as I did extra bonus miles.  Oh well!  The whole day was just great!  Loved it!

Hear are some pictures.  Thanks so much for all of your support too!

$100.00 Donated to Alzheimer's Research 9/24/18

#40 Ultra Marathon Done

Wow!  Is all I can say about this splendid and absolutely very enjoyable ultra marathon I have ever done!  Completed entirely in the Joshua Tree National Park in California, two great ultra running friends of mine and I traversed 37 miles through the heart of the park in 9 1/2 hours on April 21, 2018.

Having pre-set our caches of water and food the day before in coolers, we stopped a total of 3 times to fill up.  We started out at 5:30 am I was eating my lunch at 10:15 am!  We were done running at 3:30 pm and home by 4:30.  We went from the Black Canyon Campground (West) to the East Entrance of Joshua Tree.  We had fantastic weather most of the way - only getting up into the 80's for the last 7 miles or so.  Not a cloud was in sight the whole day.  We basically ran the entire length of the California Riding and Hiking trail that traverses through the park.  The trail was easy to follow - mileage signage along the way, and the trail itself was very easy on the legs being sandy and not very rocky.  What a delight to most of the trails I run in the mountains!

The park itself was really interesting to see with lots of variety of plant life and Joshua Trees everywhere!  There is also a part of the park that is really filled with a lot of huge boulders in very interesting shapes and sizes.  I would highly recommend seeing the National Park.

Here are a couple of pictures of our trip.  What a great and very enjoyable run!!!

Donated $100.00 to the Shirley Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center on 4/23/18

#39 Ultra Marathon now completed for 100 by 100!

Yes! It's true, the Red Mountain 55K run is in the books!  And now, I'm tired.......

A good day was had by all for the most part.  Rain and wind was scheduled in the forecast, but instead, we had lower 50"s and a "not too bad of a wind".  I'll take it!

Lori and Shady came out to greet me a couple times in the race as well, which really helps when you're hurting and just want to race to be over with!  I really appreciate that too!

This race begins and ends in St. George - near my house, which makes this race very convenient - no extra expenses.  Essentially the race goes up and over and around 4 mesas southwest of St. George.  Beautiful views of canyons, and our red rock country is so pleasing to the eye - so it makes running this country easier.  Having 1 central aid station made these loop runs way easier than some races I've run too.  The hardest loop was the 10.2 mile one going up and around the highest mesa.  But, this loop is probably the most scenic out of all of them.  Loved it!  Too bad I was so tired doing it.

Anyway I got a time of 8:15 for the 55K (34 miles) so I'm happy with that.  A 4 minute improvement over last year.  This is my 3rd time running this race, and it's not getting any easier!

Thank you all for reading and thank you all for support for 100 by 100!

Here are some photos!  Take care all!

$100.00 donated to Alzheimers Research,  3/4/18