#50 Ultra Marathon - Circumnavigation of Colorado's Engineer Mtn!

Wahoo!  Halfway completed in my quest!

On a picture perfect day (6/28/20) in the San Juan's, just north of Durango, CO., one of my bestest ultra running buds, BJ and I did a 28 mile ultra around Engineer Mountain.  It was a beautiful day- especially to take great photos of the spectacular scenery around us!  Up near Rolling Pass, we got to see the Hardrock 100 course from a completely new angle, ran on the well established Colorado Trail near the Rolling Pass and then down into the Cascade Creek.  We used Engineer Mtn. trail, the Colorado trail and the Cascade Creek trail in a circumnavigation of Engineer Mtn.  It was an astounding day all around!

Starting around 7:20 am we took our time running and hiking throughout the day.  We ended up finishing around 5:20, we ascended around 5500 ft. of gain, and saw an outstanding part of our back country of the U.S.   BJ had planned this whole route before so I greatly appreciate this plan!  It worked perfectly and we just had a great day.  It was pretty tough - that's for sure!  I'm glad we took our time and we didn't push it.  It paid dividends in the end.  I mean just look at the pictures!  Wow!

Thanks again for all the support!  1/2 way through!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$100.00 donated 7/1/20 to the Shirley Marcos Alzheimer's Research Center

#OperationInspiration Virtual 50K Race (#49 Ultra) done!

Wow, what a day full of good times, good runs, all for a good cause!

Irunfar.com thought this whole virtual race up in which all people who took part donated and supported funding the WHO in the midst of this Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.  They generated over $52,000.00 and all the funding is going directly to helping people in need all over the world.  I feel honored to have taken part in this.  Lori, and daughters Della and Abby also did their own workouts to contribute as well.  Lori ran 11 miles, Della did a total of 16 miles and Abby did a 1 hour cardio dance.  Everyone who took part in this did at least a 1 hour workout and then share it on many different social media platforms.  I ended up doing a 50K around our neighborhood using all the social distancing guidelines, etc. Della and Lori each ran a few miles with me too, so I wasn't bored at all!  I listened to an audiobook a lot on the run around the neighborhood so that helped as well!

We had great weather the whole day too.  Some neighbors even cheered us on!  I even had my own aid station set up in front of my house so I could easily get what I needed from time to time.  Very convenient! 

Well,  thanks again for your support.  Here are a few pictures of my run.

$100.00 on 4/5/20 donated to the Shirley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

Grandmaster 54K Accomplished!

This last Saturday, February 8th, my 48th Ultramarathon was completed.  What was supposed to be 50K, turned out to be 33 miles - 2 more than I thought it would be.  Oh well, the ultra running community thinks that these are just "bonus miles".  Good for the soul!  Oh yeah!

The race was the Grandmaster Ultra race held in Littlefield, Arizona - only 20 minutes from my home in St. George!  I finished 4th overall - out of a field of 9 in the 50K.  All of the runners had to be 50 years old or older to run either the 50k, 50 mile, 100 mile, 24 hr. or 48 hr races.  There were a lot of runners in the 100 mile and 24 hr races.  I finished in 8:01 and placed 3rd man.  (kind of funny really, because there were only 4 men in my race!) 

However, I did win a very cool, hand made, sandstone arch trophy for my efforts!  I have it pictured here.  I love it!  So cool!  I'll take it man - I never win anything anymore!  I did this race last year so I knew what I was in for.

It was a long race for me, lots of long straight stretches of 4 wheel drive rocky and sandy trails in the middle of nowheresville.  Good thing I had my music and ear pods though to get me through!
Lori, Della, and dog Sunny met me on the trail about 1/2 mile from the finish and ran in with me!  What a delight!  Thank you very much you three!

Well, here are some pictures near the finish and my "major award" ha ha.

Thanks everyone for the support!

Take care everyone!

Norb

$100.00 Donated to the Shirley Marcos Alzheimer's Research Center on 2/11/20

Shirley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

I now just wanted to update everyone where my 100 by 100 donated funds go to.

The Shirley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is one of a few in the country that work on just the research on getting a cure for Alzheimer's.  I'm very proud of them for their continued work and strive to work with the best people all over the country.  Working directly with the National Institute on Aging, the ADRC conducts a wide variety of research studies dedicated to understanding the causes, clinical features, and treatments for Alzheimer's disease and related memory disorders.

I am so glad my donations go DIRECTLY to this research and not anything else!

If you feel you would like to help fund this research, please donate if you can!

Here is the website of this great center.  There is a lot of great information here as well.

http://adrc.ucsd.edu/

Thank you for your continued support of my 100 by 100 goal!

2nd Annual Red Cliffs Desert Reserve 50K !!!

#47 Ultra is now in the books!  With daughter Della running with me the whole way, we completed our 31 mile ramp through the desert in high fashion!  Lori and new dog, Sunny, helped us along the way making sure we had water and food at the 10 mile, 20 mile and at the end which was desperately needed for sure.  Thank you so much Lori!!!  Lori and Sunny even ran with us for awhile before the our 10 mile aid station which was, our car!

Starting way up in Leeds, Utah,  Della and I traversed almost the entire portion of the Red Cliffs Reserve, right outside St. George, Utah.  We had perfect running conditions the entire day and so thankful for it.  We started around 10 am and finished at 5:30 pm.  (7:31)  Della was stellar leading the way for me and her encouragement was abounding!  I was so thankful that I had the opportunity to run an Ultra with her.  This opportunity does not come along too much, so I am so grateful that we pulled this off together!  Thank you so much Della Helen!  You're the greatest!

We took a lot of pictures of our adventure, so here are some of them!  Thanks again for all everyones' support of 100 by 100!

10/27/19  $100.00  Donated to the Shirley Marcos Alzheimer's Research

#46 Ultra - Flagstaff to Grand Canyon 55K

On September 21, 2019 I completed my 46th Ultra Marathon for 100 by 100.  It felt so great because Lori and my daughter Della were there every step of the way to support my efforts!  I finished the 55K (actually 35 miles) in around 8:40.  I believe I finished actually 4 minutes faster than last year! 

Anyway, the course was just as great as last year and the weather was actually perfect for running.  Lori and Della and our new dog "Sunny" also had a great time running some of the course trying to find me, but for some reason, they missed me.  Not a biggie!  They did see me at the 10 mile relay exchange and of course at the finish however - which was greatly appreciated!  I did have some issues during the middle and later stages of the race, but I don't need to go into all that..........  Anyway, we all had a great time in Flagstaff - especially at dinner at a great place down Highway 180 in Flagstaff.  Celebrations were in order for sure!

Well, thank you all for your support and here are some pictures!

9/25/19  -  $100.00 Donated to the Shirley Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research