Mt Hood - PCT 50

Pacific Coast Trail – Mt Hood 50 Mile Ultra



I recently traveled to Mt Hood Oregon to run the PCT Mt Hood Ultra on 26 July, 2008. Since I’d ran this race in 2005, this was my second trip to this race. The race starts at the Historical Clackamass Ranger Station, about 25 miles south of Mt Hood and runs north on the Pacific Coast Trail to Timberline Ski Resort, where the runners turn around and return to the start/finish line.




Originally, when I planned this race, Patricia and I were going to go to the Oregon coast for a week or so and catch the race on the way back. For several reasons, our plans were changed and I ended up going by myself. I left Plain City at noon Thursday and drove to the top of Deadman’s Pass, looking down on Pendelton, Oregon and spent the night. I rose early on Friday and after a great breakfast at the Mill’s Inn in Pendelton, I drove the last 250 miles to Mt. Hood. Soon after leaving Pendelton, you enter the Columbia River Gorge. The scenery is spectacular. When I make this drive, I always stop at several overlooks between The Dalles and Hood River to watch the windsurfers. Those dudes are nuts, but highly entertaining.

I arrived at Clackamass Campground by 2pm and had plenty of time to lie around, rehydrate and get ready for the next day’s race. Oregon is a special place in the summer. 24 hours earlier I’d left home and the temperature was
96 degrees. The temperature at the campground was a perfect 68.. Later that evening I’d be looking for a sweat shirt, but as always, I’d left mine at home. Race package pickup was at 7 PM so I cooked dinner (red beans and rice) and visited with several other folks getting ready for the run. Across the road from were an older couple, Jim and Marcy, from Mckee, Idaho. They were going to run the Timberline aid station. I had a very enjoyable discussion with these folks concerning their experiences running and supporting ultra runs.


As you can see from the race profile, this is not a terribly tough race. You get about 3100 elevation gain on the way out and pick up 1200 or so on the way back. Generally up-hill the first half and down on the return trip. I had mixed feelings about my goals for this race. I hadn’t raced for a while and this course is pretty fast. On the other hand, I was running Katicina Mosa 100K the next weekend and the Cascade Crest 100 one month later. After sleeping on it, I decided my goal was to do a nice easy 12 hour run versus the 10 hour 30 minute run “dumb Larry” wanted.

The next morning, the race directors (Monica and Olga – great ladies) offered an early start at 5:30 AM. Since 5:30 is 6:30 in Utah and I was up, I wondered down to the start line and took off with 30 other runners towards Mt. Hood. The first section of the race runs out to Little Crater Lake, 6.1 mles away for the first aid station. Shortly after leaving the start line, you run along the shoreline of Timothy Lake. Timothy Lake is a fairly big lake and the trail is going through old growth timber. This section of the trail is wonderful. Because of the pine trees, you’re running on a mat of pine needles. Nice and soft. Good thing, I think I fell three times before the first aid station.



Little Crater Lake

After a quick refill and a piece of watermelon, it was on to the next aid station, only 3.2 miles away. This section was the first of several climbs on the way to Timberline. While not steep, it did get your attention and focused you on the task at hand. Since it had only been 40 minutes, I just stopped and filled my water bottle with Heed and heeded back up the trail to the next aid station where the trail crossed US 26, about 5.2 miles away.



First View

The 5.2 miles were evenly split between a good climb and a good downhill on the other side. It was along this piece of trail, we got the first good look at Mt Hood in the morning sunshine. Great trail, wonderful volunteers and views to die for. Can it get much better than this?



Barlow Pass Trail

The aid station at Hway 26 was manned by the “Thongless Runner’s Society”. I’m not sure if this is an actual group or just a name selected by the aid station participants, but these folks were HIGH ENERGY. Music playing, food flying and the trees were lined with their underwear. Again, I’m not sure where they came from, but they certainly knew how to get runners in and out with a freshly charged set of batteries. You needed those batteries. The trail from this point to the turnaround at Timberline was mostly uphill. The trail went up over Barlow Pass to another aid station where the PCT crossed US 35, 4.6 miles away. Barlow Pass was the only real technical piece of trail on the entire course. Since it ran between two major hiways, it had been well used by horse traffic. Besides dealing with a pretty decent climb, the trail had long sections of bowling ball size rocks.



The Sandbox Section

Immediately after leaving the Barlow Pass aid station, you started up the side of Mt. Hood and the turn-around at Timberline 5.9 miles away. Most of this section is a climb with the last mile above timberline and a two mile sludge through the “Sandbox”. The sandbox was the last couple of miles to the turnaround. There was very little vegetation and consisted of equal parts of volcanic ash and sand. Tough footing and not much fun going up, but an absolute ball coming back down. Many places you struggled with the loose sand going up, but bounded back down and through the sand on the return trip. The first year I ran this race, I stopped and emptied the sand from my shoes at Timberline. This year, I just waited until I returned to Barlow Pass and dumped it out after a round trip. Saved a little time and still avoided blister issues.



Turn around

The turn-around aid station was just outside the main lodge at Timberline. Those folks who’ve ran the Hood to Coast relay, probably recognize this picture. This ski resort is the starting point for that relay race. It’s also a working ski resort 12 months of the year. During the summer, they provide lift served skiing on the glaciers above. It was an almost surreal mixture of young folks with snowboards, ultra runners and Japanese tourists thrown together on a warm Saturday afternoon in July.


The return trip back to Clackamass Lake was pretty uneventful. My plan was to run 12 hours. I left Timberline at 5 hours and 50 minutes and finished at 12 hours and 1 minute. The run back to Barlow Pass was a fast downhill. It seemed like I struggled going back over Barlow and dropping back into Hiway 26. The thongless runners helped pick me up, but the next section was a drudge. Seemed like I couldn’t maintain a decent pace between the 30 and 40 mile points. I”d guess I was 10 minutes behind a projected 12 hour finish at this point, but was able to gather my senses and make up the difference, mostly in the last six miles after leaving Little Crater.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

This still remains one of my favorite destination races. It combines a small field, great race directors, wonderful volunteers and unsurpassed scenery. I still need to make it back for another shot at a possible 50 mile PR. I also proved beyond a doubt that opiates and trail running aren’t a good mixture. The day before I left Ogden, I’d had a root canal. For some reason, the dentist couldn’t completely deaden the tooth so must of it was done with out the full benefit of Novocain. Geez, it was fun. Anyway, the dentist had given me a prescription for Loritab. When I got up Saturday, the tooth was throbbing and I really debated if I should take one of the pain killers. Obviously, I made the wrong choice and swallowed one with my morning can of soup. I didn’t notice much until the race started. I lost track at six the number of times I fell. I just couldn’t properly judge distances to rocks and proper foot work to avoid them. So if you’re ever tempted to take pain killers before running trails, leave the pill bottle at home.

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Kettle Morain - Let it Rain

This past weekend (June 7th and 8th), I traveled to southern Wisconsin to run the Kettle Moraine 100 Mile Endurance Run. What a wonderful adventure this turned out to be. K-M is run along the Ice Age Trail through southwestern Wisconsin. It consists of two out-and-back stretches. First you go 31 miles north east and turn around and come back to the Start/Finish line and then you go south east for 19 miles and turn around and return. In addition to the 100 mile race, they also simultaneously conduct a 100K. While not a terribly tough course, it does have over 10,000 feet of elevation gain and loss and is ran almost exclusively (except for road crossings) on either single or double track trail. This course covers three types of terrain. About 1/3th of the course consists of fairly short, up and down hills. These hills are affectionately known as “Pointless Ups and Downs (PUDs)”. PUDS were typically found throughout hardwood forests. ½ of the course traverses wide open meadows with little shade. While the terrain was mostly flat across these sections, heat and humidity could easily become an issue. Finally, the rest of the course wondered through fairly thick pine forests. The forests stretches were incredibly soft from the pine duff that had accumulated under the trees.


Th e race started at 6 AM Saturday under cloudy and threatening skies. At the race briefing prior to the start, the RD warned of possible storms, some of which could be severe. Because of the lack of split times, I didn’t have a detailed spilt chart. My plan was to average 15 miles an hour for the first 50 miles and hopefully finish it around 12 hours. The second half of the course I planned on 18 minute miles to 70 miles and 20 minute miles the last 30 miles or so. This worked out to 28 hours with a 30 hour maximum to finish. The first 31 miles to the turn-around were pretty uneventful. I projected being at the turn-around at 1:51 and made it there at 1:14, 37 minutes ahead of schedule. All of the race reports indicated how tiresome PUDs would become, but I found them very enjoyable. I soon fell in to a rhythm of hiking the ups and running the downs and most of the in-betweens. Time went by very quickly. By mid-day, it had become pretty warm (87 degrees at one aid station) and very humid (I’d guess 70%). My hydration strategy was to drink at least a 20 oz bottle every hour, more if necessary. It must have worked since I continued to pee almost hourly and mostly passed the 3C test (clean, clear and copious). Shortly after the turn-around, it began to sprinkle lightly and I could see and hear lightning in the distance.

Somewhere between the 39 mile and 44 mile aid station (this race was great, most aid stations were between 4 and 5 miles apart, just right for finishing one water bottle) the clouds rolled in and the rain started with a vengeance. Personally, I’ve never experienced rain like we had for the next 18 hours. It rained almost constantly and at times it felt like the garden hose was being held above your head. At about 4 PM, coming off a ridge and approaching one of the prairie sections, a loud whistle began to blow from a neighboring farm (I later learned it was a tornado warning). Within 5 minutes we were in an absolute deluge with lightning bouncing of the hills around us. At one point, I decided it was futile to try to go farther, especially out into the open prairie so I sat down on the side of the trail to wait it out. Within minutes, the water pressure from the stream running down the hill and hitting my backside started to scout me down the trail. Sucks to have a big backside. Needless to say, sitting wasn’t an option so I alternated sitting and rolling on to my knees and letting the flood flow by. After 10 minutes, or so, the rain let up and I continued into the meadow in front of me.

The trail in the meadow wasn’t much of an improvement. The rain water had run down the hillsides and flooded the meadow and the trail followed the lowest ground. For the next couple of miles we waded through knee deep water until we reached the hill on the other side. As bad as it seemed at the time, it didn’t slow me down as much as I anticipated. My plan was to be at the 47 mile aid station at 5:47 and I made it by 5:33. I’d lost 24 minutes of my 37 minute lead at 31 miles, but I was still 14 minutes ahead of schedule. The 47 mile aid station was one of the places you passed through twice and could have a drop bag. I grabbed mine and knocked back an Ensure and opened a can of Campbell’s Double Noodle, Chicken Noodle Soup and made fast work of it. Through out this race, my refueling strategy consisted of a can of soup and a bottle of Ensure at five different locations with drop bags. In a couple of minutes, I devoured 650 calories. At aid stations without drop bags, I supplemented this with whatever ultra food looked good, mostly alternating between sweet and salty stuff. This race had excellent turkey and ham sandwiches, both with plenty of real Mayo. Typically, I walked out of the aid station eating one or both of these items. Speaking of aid stations, K-M’s were top notch. I was amazed at the number of very knowledgeable volunteers that jumped up and took care of all your needs. In some cases, they were so helpful; they almost slowed you down trying to get back on the trail.

The next five miles, I hit my first low point. In hind sight, I think I focused so hard on getting to 50 miles in 12 hours, I suffered from a mental lapse. Regardless, time really dragged and I seemed to have little energy. Surprisingly, the weather was fairly good at this time and the trail was sandy so water and mud weren’t the issue. Any time you run an ultra, you’re bound to hit a patch or two. This was obviously one of mine. The secret is to continue on until you feel a little better, it’s bound to happen. The Bluff Road aid station at mile 55 shook me out of my doldrums. Bluff Road was my favorite stop of the race and we went through it three different times. The last ½ mile in both directions was lined with pink flamingos and the volunteers all wore flowered Hawaiian shirts. If a little Jimmy Buffet won’t light your fuse after 55 miles, your powder has got way to wet. I left Bluff Road at 8:12 PM and got to Nordic, the Start/Finish line at 10:19 PM, about 10 minutes behind my projected schedule, but I’d picked up almost 10 minutes on the run between Bluff and Nordic.

Nordic was the Start/Finish line and the point you transitioned directions on the trail. It also marked the end of the 100K. This race allows 100 mile participants to drop out at 62 miles and still be counted as a 100k finisher. Because of the weather, many runners stopped and called it a night. Personally, not going out was never a factor. Joe and I had a discussion a while back and both agreed that to be successful at ultras, you need to eliminate negative thoughts. No longer is quitting early an option. If I don’t make a cut-off and they take you off the course, at least you gave it your all. 100 milers aren’t physically challenging, it’s all mental. Your mind will play terrible games if you allow it. Headed back out of Nordic, you first pass through Bluff Road before you go in the other direction. The run back to Bluff was even better than the run in had been. I left the aid station with a lady named Nancy and her brother Robert. Nancy was running her first 100 miler and Bob was her pacer. We spent a very enjoyable, but also wet 2 hours going back to Bluff. Unfortunately, the rain had started back up and lightning could be seen in the distance.

I left Bluff at 1:09 and headed south. This portion of the race went 11 miles then turned around and returned. The nature of the trail also seemed to change. It was much narrower and not as well maintained. Going up it was mostly uphill and when you turned around it was mostly down. I don’t remember any PUDs and very few meadows along this trail. However, most of the pine forests were along this stretch. It was seven miles to a manned aid station with one unmanned, “water only” station about mid-way. The hike (by this time I wasn’t doing much running) to the unmanned aid station seemed really slow. The weather had worsened and consisted of a constant steady rain. It was also getting late at night and I hit another bit of a patch. I’d also left Nancy at Bluff (learned later she’d dropped) so I was mostly on the trail alone. Oh yeah, it was also really dark and my flashlight quit working. Luckily I had spare batteries and was able to fix it in the dark. I made it into the manned aid station at about 3:15, now 45 minutes behind my schedule, but still 1:45 ahead of the cut-off. Not great but ok.

Unfortunately, 10 minutes prior to reaching the aid station, the rain started again with a vengeance. Like an idiot, when I entered the aid station (a huge army tent) I decided to wait out the storm. 30 minutes later my backside was still firmly planted in a lawn chair and the rain still beat down on the tent. I slapped myself and got up to leave. However, the 30 minute respite meant I was 1:15 behind my schedule and only 1:15 ahead of the cut-off. As I left the aid station I talked to guy making the return trip. He claimed the trail was brutal. It might have been an understatement.

I don’t remember very much about the last 4.4 miles to the turnaround point other than it rained harder than I’d ever seen rain fall and the wind blew. At one point, my flashlight couldn’t penetrate the downpour and I thought I’d lost the trail. I wrapped my arms around a tree and waited it out. I’m not sure how long I waited, but I said a quick Rosary so I’d guess 20 minutes before it let up enough to continue. It was a bit spooky listening to the trees being blown down all around me. Once the rain let up a bit, the trail consisted of ankle deep mud with a slimy, slick under base. At one point I fell and then fell twice trying to stand up. Needless to say progress was slow and painful. Boy, it was fun. The newly fell trees across the trail also presented challenges. I left the aid station at 3:45 AM and reached the turnaround aid station at 7:12, way behind my schedule but still 18 minutes up on the cut-off. On the positive side, the sun was up and the rain had almost stopped. When I entered the aid station, there was another runner who’d decided to drop. She looked at me and asked me if I was returning. I told her I was and asked if she wanted to go with me. She looked at me kinda funny and said, “you know, I think I do.” We filled our supplies and headed back down the trail. The cut-off for the next aid station was 8:30 so we had 1:15 minutes to do the same distance I’d just spent 3:30 hours accomplishing. The odds didn’t look good, but at least we were trying.

Once headed down the trail, the rain turned into a light mist. Going mostly downhill made the trail much more manageable plus I now had the added advantage of someone else to laugh at when they slipped and went down. Unfortunately, there seemed to be many more trees across the trail, all of which had to be crawled over or under. At one point, we came upon a downed tree that all you had to do was duck your head. Just as I came up to and tried to duck, my lower back tightened up. Obviously, didn’t duck enough and ended up sliding under that one. It was a bit painful, but faster than most. Too bad I didn’t get it on tape, it could have been a winner on Funniest Home Video. Our cut-off at the next aid station was 8:30 and at some point we realized we wouldn’t make it, but we continued on hoping the RD had changed the cut-off because of the weather. We arrived at the aid station at 9:03 and were a bit disappointed to hear that the cut-offs stood. Looks like our race had come to an end, 15 miles short of the desired result.

What Worked and What Didn’t
Both my hydration and refueling strategy were dead on for this race. My stomach stayed good and I continued to pee throughout the night. For a while, I’ve been using A&D Ointment during long runs. This race proved its value. Although I was wet for approximately 18 hours, chaffing and rubbing was never an issue. If it’s good enough for a baby’s butt, it’s certainly good enough for me. For the past two months I’ve been spending two nights a week in a cross training program conducted by Weber State’s Sports Medicine Clinic. This effort certainly paid big dividends at K-M. Other than some blisters, I feel amazingly good three days later. Physically, I was very prepared for this event. Mentally, I struggled. Ultra Runners have a saying, “beware the chair.” No progress is being made sitting in aid stations. While the race conditions were certainly less than ideal, I’d guess I wasted over an hour sitting in aid stations waiting for it to improve. In other words, I blew the race sitting in a tent feeling sorry for myself. My new mantra for aid stations will be “BEWARE THE CHAIR, BEWARE THE CHAIR”. I also had lighting issues at this race. My guess is it was caused by the wet conditions, but I burned through three sets of batteries in one night. I carried one spare set with me and bummed a set at an aid station so it wasn’t critical. Perhaps, my flashlight wasn’t working correctly and I need to care a spare light.

While I can’t blame the weather for not finishing, it certainly was a factor. On the Madison news Sunday evening, they reported that Whitewater, the closest town to the race, had 9.5 inches of participation in the past 24 hours. One of the aid station volunteers told me that they’d left a bucket out all night. When they broke down the next day, they measured 11 inches of water in the bucket. The total number of finishers was way down this year. There were 123 runners and 7 relay teams entered in the 100 miler. Of these, only 37 finished for a success rate of 28.46%. Historically, this race has a 70% success rate. The conditions most likely were an issue.


A Tribute to Lisa

While waiting for the race to start, I noticed a very nice hand built bench that had been placed into an alcove overlooking the start/finish line. The bench had a brass plaque on it that said the following:

LISA J. CONOVER
June 11, 1958 – May 22, 2007
Lisa’s smile and spirit will live on in all who run the trails.


I didn’t think much about it at the time, but as the race progressed, I found myself thinking about Lisa Conover, whom I’d never met. What a special person she must have been for her friends and loved ones to build such a wonderful memorial in a place she obviously loved. Upon my return home I googled “Lisa Conover” and found the following copy of her obituary:

Lisa Conover

Tuesday evening, May 22, 2007 Lisa J. Conover died unexpectedly at
her home in Neenah, Wisconsin. She was born in Denver, Colorado on
June 11, 1958 and grew up in North Dakota. She earned her bachelor’s
degree from The University of Montana. She is survived by her
husband, Gary G. Conover, her two sons, Eric and Chad Kempen, her
mother and father Cleo and C. James Cieminski, two sisters and one
brother, Judy Cowan, Patti Lunak, and Cort Cieminski and two step
sons, Zachariah and Joshua Conover.

Lisa was passionate about her running and the deserts and the
mountains of the Southwest. She also liked people. Since 1996 she had
completed 103 ultra marathons which included thirteen 100 mile runs
and she successfully completed the Grand Slam of Ultra Running. Her
favorite 100 mile race was the Angeles Crest 100 in the mountains
outside of Los Angeles. She taught herself to swim so she could do
the Ironman Triathlon in Madison, Wisconsin in 2002.

She married Gary Conover on March 26, 1991 in Harris County Texas and
he introduced her to the deserts in Southern California where he grew
up. Lisa loved running in the deserts, even when it was well past 115
degrees, and particularly liked hiking and running in Joshua Tree
National Park. When she only wanted a short 10 or 15 mile run she
would run up Mt. Eisenhower in the Living Desert which is in Palm
Desert. She was planning to move to Palm Desert, California, so she
would be able to train every day in the desert she loved. She was
also pursuing the idea of starting a running company in Palm Desert.
Her husband crewed for her at all her races and was always
encouraging her and protective of her. Many times he would tell her
to “pick up the pace” just to make her smile. During her races their
mantra was to have fun, do the best you can in this race today, and
not get hurt.

She will be remembered by her family and friends and fellow runners
for her smile, her positive attitude, and her pony tail swinging as
she ran. And her husband will always remember her tender eyes, her
beautiful smile, and their love and friendship.

A memorial service to celebrate Lisa’s life will be held at the
Wichmann Funeral Home at 537 North Superior Street in Appleton on
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers her husband
requests that donations be made in her name to the Living Desert at:

The Living Desert
Attn: Shirley
47-900 Portola Avenue
Palm Desert, California 92260-9817

Like I said, I’d never met her, but several times when the weather was at its worst, I had an overwhelming feeling that everything would be ok. At least by this participant, her presence was felt, noted and most appreciated. Be at peace my friend, be at peace.

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Antelope Island

Next Saturday is the 50 mile Buffalo Run on Antelope Island. We went out this morning for a 15 mile warmup. Of course, it was foggy, windy and the sun never came out so it really wasn't very warm. Carl Tippets, Kent Griffith, Stephanie Hoover and her sister Chelsea Spence met me at the gate at 6:30. We drove across the causeway and were running by 7. Started out in the dark, but by the time we got to lonetree (2 1/2 miles), the sun was starting to come up and it was warming up. Here are a couple of pictures I took while we were out there. The first picture is Stephanie and Chelsea as they started up out of the bottom of Split Rock Bay and the second is a a picture of the shoreline and lake looking north from the ridge above Split Rock Bay. The island really is a neat place, especially for runners this time of year. Beside antelope and buffalo, you'll also see deer, bighorn sheep, coyotes and other animals. It's also a world famous birdwatching location. Surprisingly, 80% of the people who live in sight of the island have never stepped foot on it. Their loss.

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Thermal Man

Here's an interesting video of a guy with the ability to manage his internal body temperature. Not sure how important a gift it is, but it's always interesting to see anyone who's developed into an exception to the norm. Perhaps, it just emphasis what I tell new ultrarunners. Ultras are all about mental, not physical.

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Free Fire by CJ Box

I spotted this box while at the library for a tutoring session and I hadn’t read a mystery in a while. This book was written by a Wyoming author and the book is based in Yellowstone. Figured it was worth looking at, so I checked it out and gave it a read.

The book is about Joe Pickett, a disgraced Wyoming game warden, who is approached by the Governor of Wyoming to do an unofficial investigation of a recent high profile murder that occurred in Yellowstone Park. The confessed murderer was allowed to walk free based upon a technicality. A West Yellowstone lawyer killed four people in the small piece of the park that lies in Idaho and turned himself in at the closest park ranger station. Turned out several quirks in the constitution and case law dictate that an accused has the right to a trial by a jury from the jurisdiction where the crime occurred. The small corner of the park has no permanent residents, so a jury could not be gathered from this jurisdiction. No jury, no trial and perpetrator goes free.

The book went into Joe’s investigation and what he learned. The book was pretty good because it introduced his personal history with the park and also went in to the geology of this area, microbiology and some of the uses for the microbes that only grow in the park’s hot pots and hot springs. The story was a bit predictable, but had a few twists that helped hold your attention. The author also left several loose ends that weren’t fully explained.

Generally, if you enjoy a mystery, especially one based in the outdoors and are willing to overlook a couple of slight oversights, this is a pretty enjoyable book. In fact, the author is on my list to look at his other books.

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Road Trip

I wrote this short poem after a recent trip to Moab, Ut for the Red Hot 50K+

Road Trip

Tomorrow’s run is in Moab,
couple hundred miles away.
Red Rocks, sandstone and vistas;
it’s called the Red Hot 50K.

We sneak out of work early,
to reach Moab before it gets late.
The car is gassed and loaded, so
we’ll head south towards our fate.

Joe’s poised behind the wheel,
the rest of us are spread about.
Carl’s providing directions,
the next exit will be our route.

Over the mountain we’ll travel,
along the river on both sides.
After a quick gas stop in Price,
on to Green River we’ll ride

We take a short run up the freeway,
towards Vail’s big mountain snow.
Hard right at Crescent Junction,
south were the big red rocks grow.

We make it to town before dark
and find our motel for the night
Nothing fancy or pretty; just
a place to rest before day light.



And here is the rest of it.

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Red Hot 50K+ Race Report

A bunch of us went to Moab this past weekend to run the Red Hot 50K+/33K. George, Carl, Joe, Stephanie, Shay and I all ran (ok Shay walked it, but if the truth is known we all walked a bunch) the 50K and Susie and Chelsea ran the 33K. Because of all the snow and bad weather northern Utah’s had this past winter, this race was overdo. When I left Friday afternoon I hoped that a weekend of sunshine, red rocks and scenery might be the antidote I needed to break a bad case of the “shack nasties”.

The race started at 8 AM at the Gemini Bridges parking lot; about 10 miles north of town. We arrived at7 AM to make sure our drop bags were in place when the aid station volunteers left for their posts. Because of the remote nature of the aid stations, they were manned by one of the local Moab 4X4 clubs. It’s amazing the places those “rock hoppers” can go. After a short race briefing, we were off, headed up the Gemini Bridges road. The first four miles or so were a long climb up a dirt road. The field quickly spread out and we settled into our customary place, probably 2/3 of the way back.

At about 4 miles, we changed roads and headed towards the “Metal Masher’s Trailhead.” You’ve got a love the names associated with the 4 wheel and bike trails in this area. Before the day was over, we’d also see the Gold Bar Trail and the Rusty Nail Trail with a short period on the Poison Spider bike trail. The first aid station came at about 5.5 miles. It had started to warm-up so most folks shed clothes and left them in their drop bag. The next 12 miles were a loop over the Metal Masher trail. At about 17 miles, you ended up back at the same aid station, only now it was aid station 3 instead of 1. The highlight of the loop (other than the header I took at eight miles) came at about 10 miles. At this point, you were standing on the top of the butte looking directly down at the parking lot we’d left a couple of hours earlier and probably 2,000 feet below you. The view of the La Sal Mountains to the east was absolutely stunning.

Back at aid station 1 & 3, after the Metal Masher loop, Carl and I followed Kris Lander’s advice and quickly changed into our road shoes. Great advice Kris. With a fresh pair of shoes we headed back down the road about a mile and followed the 33K course to the finish at the Colorado River. When we hit the 33K trail, we almost immediately started climbing the Gold Bar Trail. The next five miles were gruesome. It was mostly a tough climb on slick rock. Who ever named slick rock had a warped sense of humor. While it’s rock, there just weren’t many places you could call slick. Trail markings also were an issue. If you didn’t pay close attention, quickly you’d lose sight of the pretty pink ribbons we were attempting to follow. Losing sight of the pink ribbons wasn’t a good thing. All you could do was backtrack until you found one.

While the climb to aid station four was tough, the view from the top was spectacular. If you looked down over the edge of the butte, you saw Moab. The La Sal’s were to the east, Arches was a little north east (I counted six arches while gulping coca cola) and to the south west you could see into Canyonlands and the winding Colorado river. Absolutely wonderful. When we left aide station 4, we went from the Gold Bar Trail to the Rusty Nail Trail. The next 7 miles to aid station 5 (29 miles) were up and down and mostly on slick rock. This section of the race just seemed like a grind. It wasn’t as tough as the climb up the Gold Bar Trail, but by this point in the race, fatigue had become an issue and you had to pay close attention to the terrain. A header on slick rock wouldn’t be pretty.

Aid station five, the final aid station, came at about 29 miles. Carl and I hit it at about 6 hours and 50 minutes so we thought we had a chance to break eight hours. It was a small chance. When we left the aid station and started down the mountain (most of the last 5 + miles were downhill), we blew right past a pretty pink ribbon on our right and went ½ a mile, or so, before we realized it. By the time we’d back tracked almost to the aid station, we’d wasted almost 15 minutes so it would take a big effort to finish under eight hours. It wasn’t to be. This last section was down hill, mostly on slick rock for the first couple of miles, then dirt road to the finish line. Carl was in good enough shape, he could have busted eight hours, but my quads cramped a couple of times and I had to walk them out.

Carl was gracious enough to stay with me until I could run again. We ended up crossing the finish line in eight hours and ten minutes.

AFTERTHOUGHTS: I’d highly recommend this race to everyone. If you aren’t up to the 50K, do the 33K. This may be the most visually stunning race I’ve ever ran. At one point, I was tempted to stick my finger down my throat just so I could say, “this is the prettiest mountain I ever pucked on.” Seriously, run this race and you’ll come back again. After being cooped up all winter, it was fantastic to be running on dirt and rock again. It’s certainly not an easy race, but like we talked about on the ride home, sometimes a good butt kicking is a good thing.

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Penitential Rite and Lent

Lent started last Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) and will continue until Easter. I’ve been thinking a lot lately, especially when I’m running, about the Penitential Rite. PR is repeated at the start of each mass. Sometimes, we become so accustomed to words we say often, we fail to appreciate their meaning. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’d started to treat this very important part of mass almost as an afterthought. Here is the Penitential Rite:

I confess to almighty God
and to you my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do;
and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,
all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

What wonderful words. We publicly admit to God and our brothers and sisters that we’ve sinned. No one is perfect; sin is a part of our life and must be acknowledged and forgiven. Most people wouldn’t argue that they have sinned through their own fault, but do they appreciate that we can sin through our thoughts and our words? Again, most folks would accept that sin is in what I have done, but do they realize we can also sin in what we’ve failed to do? For instance, if you know someone who needs your help or assistance and you fail to help them, haven’t you sinned? The ending is the best part. We ask Mary, all the angels and saints and our brothers and sisters to pray for us. How many of us really take the time to pray for others? Wouldn’t not praying for others, especially after they've publicly asked for those prayers be a sin “in what I’ve failed to do?

Again, while this had almost become habit to repeat this during mass, it’s important to take a little time and contemplate what it means and how it applies to our day-to-day lives and then apply it when appropriate. While repeating the Penitential Rite doesn't equate to confession, it certainly sets the tone for the entire mass.

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After a good run this morning on the Parkway in SLC, I’m sitting at home anxiously waiting the results of the Wasatch Front 100’s lottery to be posted on their web site. I got to thinking about how popular ultras have become even in the four or five years I’ve been running them. Wasatch joined the trend set by Western States to have an open lottery for entries into their race last year. You send in your application the first week in January and the first Saturday in February, they have their drawing.

I think this would be a great way for other, over-popular races to fill their empty slots. About a month ago, entries for the Miwok 100 opened at 9 AM on a Sunday morning. I was on my way home from a race in. Las Vegas so I had Patricia, my wife, go on-line and register me. She started at 9 AM and finally was able to sign into Active.com at about 9:15. She was too late, but put me on the “waiting list”. A week or two later I was notified by the race director that the National Park Service had approved 75 additional entries. She gave me a password that allowed me to sign-in and register. This was not an isolated incident. Carl and Joe had a similar experience with Mannsunutten. Many other races that accept mail-in applications fill within a few days. Hopefully, more of these popular venues will follow Western States, Hardrock and Wasatch and start having a lottery.



And here is the rest of it.

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Relative Difficulties of Ultras

Gary Wang did a statistical analysis of finishing rates, elevation gain, times, etc to create a relative diffuculty of ultras. He used Western States as the norm (100%) and rated the others on their difficulty when compared against Western States. For instance, WS is 100%, but Wasatch Front is 113%. Wasatch Front is 13% more difficulty. I'm not sure how valid it is, but it does provide an excellent comparison point. Here's the list:



Relative Event Finish Time to Western States 100 Mile .
Sample Criteria:
Same individual completed the listed event and one of the following 100 mile run in the SAME YEAR:
Western States, Vermont, Leadville, Angeles Creset, Wasatch, Kettle Moraine, Hardrock, Rocky Raccoon, and Mohican.

The relative percentage is first averaged over the samples for each 100 mile reference, then normalized to Western States, then averaged over the nine 100 mile runs listed.
The relative uncertainy of the analysis is porportional to 1/sqrt(sample size).
Time
Dist. Rel to Sample Event Name
WS100 Size

135m 157% 133 BadWater Ultra Marathon
100m 155% 904 Hard Rock 100 Mile
100m 131% 58 HURT Trail 100 Mile
100m 117% 3279 Wasatch Front 100 Mile
100m 113% 45 Mount Rushmore Trail 100 Mile
100m 113% 115 Bear 100 Mile
100m 112% 90 Bighorn Mountain Trail Run
100m 111% 396 Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile
100m 108% 14 Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miles
100m 108% 2156 Angeles Crest 100 Mile
100m 107% 12 Grand Teton Races 100m
100m 106% 79 Superior Sawtooth 100 Mile
100m 105% 80 Cascade Crest 100 Mile
100m 103% 4508 Leadville Trail 100 Miles
100m 100% 7497 Western States 100 Miles
100m 99% 79 San Diego 100 Mile
100m 96% 46 McNaughton Park Trail Runs
100m 93% 72 Rio Del Lago 100 Mile
100m 93% 41 Ancient Oaks 100
100m 91% 66 Haliburton Forest 100
100m 90% 984 Mohican Trail 100 Mile
100m 89% 108 Javelina Jundred 100 Mile
100m 88% 341 Old Dominion 100 Mile One Day
100m 88% 34 SULPHUR SPRINGS 100 Mile
100m 88% 451 Arkansas Traveller 100 Mile
100m 88% 628 Kettle Moraine 100 mile
100m 84% 3533 Vermont Trail 100 Miles
100m 84% 91 Heartland 100 Mile
100k 81% 68 HURT Trail 100k option
100m 81% 281 Umstead 100 Mile
100m 81% 1654 Rocky Raccoon 100m
100m 80% 41 Old Dominion 100 mile Memorial Day
100m 76% 22 Dan Rossi Memorial Ultras
140m 66% 17 IronMan CoeurdAlene
140m 61% 20 IronMan Canada
200m 60% 8 Mt Tam Double Century
100k 58% 45 Where's Waldo 100K
200m 57% 14 The Terrible Two
100k 53% 97 Bandera 100km
140m 53% 25 IronMan Wisconsin
50m 48% 332 Zane Grey 50 Miles
140m 47% 28 IronMan USA Lake Placid
100k 46% 1052 Miwok 100K
140m 46% 35 IronMan Florida
100k 46% 42 Kettle Moraine 100k option
140m 46% 14 IronMan Hawaii World Championship
50m 40% 99 Bishop High Sierra 50 Miles
50m 40% 70 Tahoe Rim Trail 50 Miles
52m 39% 340 Sierra Nevada
100k 39% 144 Ruth Anderson 100k
100k 39% 7 Orange Curtain 100k
50m 37% 229 White River 50 Miles
50m 36% 340 Silver State 50 Miles
50m 36% 528 Quicksilver 50 Mile
50m 36% 425 FireTrail 50 Miles
50m 36% 80 Run on the Sly 50 Miles
50k 35% 338 Silver State 50k
50m 35% 342 Nugget 50 Miles
50m 35% 19 Mt Hood PCT 50 Miles
50m 35% 369 Leona Divide 50 Mile Run
50m 35% 147 Umstead 50 Miles
50m 34% 536 California 50 Miles
35m 34% 84 Santa Barbara 9 Trails 35 Mile
50m 33% 2568 American River 50 Miles
50m 33% 52 McKenzie River 50 Miles
50m 32% 414 Avalon 50 Miles
50m 32% 41 Rocky Raccon 50 Miles
50k 31% 203 Baldy Peak 50k
50m 31% 163 Helen Klein 50 Miles
50m 30% 114 Cow Mountain 50 Miles
50k 30% 64 Tahoe Rim Trail 50k
50m 30% 372 Jed Smith 50 Miles
50k 28% 16 Bishop High Sierra 50 Mile and 50 Km
38m 28% 26 Haleakala Run to the Sun
50m 28% 20 Ruth Anderson 50 Miles
50k 28% 37 Mt. Disappointment 50 Km
50k 25% 12 Nugget 50 Miles
50k 24% 411 Ohlone Wilderness 50K Trail Run
50k 23% 253 Crown King Scramble 50k
50k 23% 195 Mrename() failed: Permission denied
cDonald Forest 50K
71m 23% 31 WildFlower Long Course Triathlon
50k 23% 7 Bighorn Mountain Trail Run
50k 23% 76 Run on the Sly 50 Km
34m 22% 36 Peterson Ridge Rumble 60k
50k 22% 219 Golden Gate Headlands 50k
50k 22% 58 Bandera 50k
50k 22% 53 Bulldog 50K Ultra Run
28m 22% 687 Quad Dipsea
50k 21% 43 Siskiyou Out Back 50K
50k 21% 81 Chuckanut 50k
71m 21% 27 California Half Ironman
50k 20% 297 Quicksilver 50K
50k 20% 13 Ruth Anderson 50k
50k 20% 512 Skyline 50k
50k 20% 1392 Way Too Cool 50k
50k 19% 73 Hagg Lake Trail Runs 50k
50k 19% 5 Wild Wild West 50k
50k 19% 36 McKenzie River 50k
50k 18% 301 OTHTC High Desert Ultra 50k
50k 17% 31 Helen Klein 50k
50k 17% 38 Salem Lakeshore Frosty Fifty Km
50k 17% 384 Jed Smith Ultra Classic 50K
45m 12% 14 Santa Barbara Long Course Triathlon

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Forest Gump Training Run

We’d been trying to schedule a long training run for a couple of weeks, but the weather and work kept getting in the way. Wednesday evening, at the annual Locomotion Running Club meeting, we finally sat down and decided our best shot was Friday morning, but we had to start by 4 AM. This had all the makings of a trudge run. The temperature for the past three weeks at 4 AM had been huddling around 0 degrees, with two feet of snow on the ground, no body was sure what the parkway would look like and my wife wouldn’t be too happy about me leaving for Salt Lake at 3 AM. We were all wrong, as Joe called it; this was a real Forest Gumpper.



Joe, Carl, Larry Emery, Bill Catmull and I met at Gardner Village at 4 AM Friday. The temperature was surprisingly warm, I’d guess about 25 degrees, the moon was mostly full and the Jordan River Parkway trail through South Jordan had even been plowed. Best yet, it snowed about ½ an inch Thursday evening. The little bit of cushioning provided by the skiff of snow was amazing. It provided a little extra traction in the slick places and it made the asphalt surface feel like trail.

We wanted to run about 30 miles. It’s fifteen miles from Gardner Village to the Fairgrounds on North Temple. The Jordan River Parkway is a mostly paved path that runs the length of the Salt Lake City valley along the Jordan River. In the summer time, there are lots of parks with bathrooms and water faucets. Unfortunately, most are closed and locked in the winter. Instead, we stop at a 7-11 on 13th South in both directions for refreshments and a bathroom stop this time of year. The first 12 miles to the 7-11 went really fast. There were no other users on the trail, we felt good so we moved along at a respectable pace.

Following a quick stop, we ran north almost to the fairgrounds. One of the only sections of the parkway not completed goes under I-80. You have to make a short detour west, go through an underpass, and follow some train tracks back to the river and cross the river on the train bridge to get to the fairgrounds. Because of snow, we turned around at the train tracks, coming up a little short. Of course, since I wasn’t wearing a GPS, I can still claim it was a 30 mile run.

After another 7-11 stop, we headed back to Gardner Village. The run back was as peaceful as the run up. Joe’s phone seemed to be a little more reserved and respectful than usual, even when you’d wish it would ring so you’d have an excuse to walk and catch your breath. From the park at 48th South, it’s five miles to Gardner Village. As we left the park, I told Carl I wanted to see how fast we could do it. We ended up running it in 51 minutes. I’d hoped we could have maintained a 10 minute per mile pace, but considering the shape I’m in, I thought this was very respectable. Everyone finished under 6 hours and 30 minutes, 30 minutes faster than when re ran this course in mid-December.

This was also Bill’s first run longer than a marathon. He really surprised me. Now that he’s got his house finished, I expect he’ll be with us on many more long training runs and races. Way to go Bill, “You’re the man!” Oh yeah, I think I heard a mumble from the other side of the bed at 2 AM when I got up. Something about, “you’re f___ing crazy!”

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Marine Sniper

Marine Sniper
By Charles Henderson

Marine Sniper is another book recommended and loaned to me by Carl Tippets. This is the story of Carlos Hathcock, a legendary Vietnam era Marine sniper. Hathcock had 93 confirmed kills during two separate tours in Vietnam. He helped design and institutionalize modern sniper tactics. Prior to going to Viet Nam, Carlos was the 1000 Yard National High Power Rifle Champion in 1965. Widely recognized as the best marksman in the US, he was able to apply his amazing marksmanship with modern sniper tactics to revolutionize how our military used snipers. This book is his story.


The book consisted of background information about his life in Arkansas prior to joining the Marines. Most of the book detailed the legendary feats he carried out in Vietnam after winning the Wimbledon Cup in 1965 and concluded with a very touching chapter about his life after leaving the Corp with a disability discharge.

During his first tour in Vietnam, the book highlighted several episodes from his career that ultimately left him with the title of loung troung (long feather) by the Viet Cong and large bounty on his head by their government. While the story about the time he and a spotter held off an enemy platoon for three days while slowly killing most of its member were highly entertaining, the authors writing style seemed somewhat sterile and mechanical, as if he we repeating details found in official reports instead of providing first hand knowledge of the events made the bulk of this book a bit tedious. I most enjoyed the last mission Carlos performed just before the end of his tour. He was handpicked to infiltrate the North Vietnamese Army’s rear echelon HQ and assassinate their highest ranking field general.

To pull of this feat, he spent three days alone, worming across a 2000 yard open clearance to get within 700 yards of the general’s quarters. On the morning of the fourth day, he was able to assassinate the general as the general left his quarters and attempted to enter his waiting staff car. Hathcock not only completed his mission, but was able to safely make his way back to tree line and his marine escorts. This story emphasized the changed nature of warfare since Vietnam. Airpower played a major role in Vietnam, but it was still an era of steel bombs dropped from high altitudes. In today’s battle, a sniper would never have had to carry out this mission. Using today’s “smart bombs”, aircraft could have quickly and easily taken out the General’s HQs with one surgical attack. At most, Special Forces would have been dispatched to the tree line to provide a laser path for the ammunition to follow.

While the first part of the book was a little tedious, the last two chapters, Beating the Odds and the Legend and the Man made the effort more than worthwhile. Beating the Odds, detailed the extensive surgery and recovery Carlos Hathcock went through after his APV hit a land mine during his second tour. While rescuing the rest of the personnel on the vehicle, he was burned over 90% of his body. The resulting rehabilitation was extensive and long. This chapter detailed the challenges that he and his wife Jo had to overcome. This chapter was much more personal and finally provided some insight to his psyche. Not only did he have to overcome his severe burns, but he also had to face the challenges and physical limitations created by rapidly developing Multiple Sclerosis,
Obviously, he no longer could do most of the duties required by the Corp, but was able to find a home on the Marine Corp Rifle Team and eventually helped start-up their sniper school and training.

The final chapter covered his life after his discharge. Carlos received a medical discharge because of his injuries and illness just two months shy of qualifying for a normal military retirement. This deeply effected him and he felt the Corps had betrayed him. It appears he suffered from depression, along with a host of ailments related to his burns and MS. At one point his wife threatened to leave him, saying, “I’m not going to live with a dead man.” This obviously helped him accept what had happened and provided an impetus to move on with his life. Eventually, he joined with a group of local fisherman who specialized in catching sharks in shallow water. This type of angling is dangerous. Once he found this outlet, a missing piece of his life was restored.

Thoughts while running: I wonder if his attitude about his war experiences changed as time went by. Did he feel remorse? From a military standpoint, his skills were needed and probably saved many American lives. However, one has to wonder the long term mental effects associated with killing at least 93 other individuals. We’ll never know. At one point in the book, it mentioned a news report on AFRN. It was early in the 1968 Presidential Campaign. President Johnson, promised to remain in Vietnam until the enemy was defeated and there no longer was a threat from communism. Richard Nixon, a republican, ran on a platform of ending the war and withdrawing the troops as soon as possible. Many parallels can be drawn with today’s presidential race. While the parties have changed, the incumbent party’s position and the position of the challenging party appear to be identical. I enjoyed this book in-spite of the author’s sterile writing style. I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in military history, tactics or just a good adventure story.

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Avenues

Today was Martin Luther King's Birthday. Plain City had a foot of fresh snow that fell between 4AM and 2PM. It was too nasty to run so between bouts with the snow shovel, I did a hard workout on Patti's elliptical trainer while watching the Jazz beat the Clips. Somehow, I got thinking about poetry so when I finished, I wrote this poem about one of my favorite summer Saturday training runs. It's not good, but what the heck, some of the words rhyme.

Avenues

We run together on Saturdays, usually in a different place
Start at six in the summer, before the roads get hot
We gather across the valley, north, south, east and west
Some old, some young, a varied and different lot

Capital to the Post Office, along the Avenues today
Rolling up hills and down, on by the hospital we'll go
Turn back at the Post Office, past silent sentinel rows
Finishing around the canyon, endings always seem slow

Jen and Kent lead the pack, a hard pace we try to follow
Dan's got the Sag, water, a little fruit and some Gu
Dawn starts too fast, chasing sweat splats with her shoes
Joe and Carl share a word, Paula, Coop and Roger too


Bagels follow the finish, old friendships and some new
Hot coffee or cold drinks, past miles and PRs we've run
Others politely read our labels, mostly they can’t relate
Back to families, school, work, until the week is done

Larry Mangum
21 Jan 2008

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Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing
and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

By Marcus Luttrell

I received this book as a Christmas gift from Carl, one of my running buddies. From discussions on several long runs, it’s become apparent that Carl and I share many of the same reading appetites. Once again, a selection recommended by Carl managed to exceeded my high expectations.

This book was co-written by Marcus Luttrell, the lone Seal Team 10 survivor of Operation Redwing. Operation Redwing occurred in Afghanistan . Navy Seal Team 10 was sent on a mission to identify the location and kill if possible Ben Sharmack (author’s alias, I’d guess actual name is classified), a Taliban tribal leader reputed to be in control of a up to 200 Taliban tribesmen. As the result of several decisions made by the team, four Navy Seal 10 Team members along with 13 Navy and Army personnel, sent on a aborted rescue mission, lost their lives. Marcus Luttrell was the sole survivor of the original team and this book is his story.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

By Marcus Luttrell

I received this book as a Christmas gift from Carl, one of my running buddies. From discussions on several long runs, it’s become apparent that Carl and I share many of the same reading appetites. Once again, a selection recommended by Carl managed to exceeded my high expectations.

This book was co-written by Marcus Luttrell, the lone Seal Team 10 survivor of Operation Redwing. Operation Redwing occurred in Afghanistan . Navy Seal Team 10 was sent on a mission to identify the location and kill if possible Ben Sharmack (author’s alias, I’d guess actual name is classified), a Taliban tribal leader reputed to be in control of a up to 200 Taliban tribesmen. As the result of several decisions made by the team, four Navy Seal 10 Team members along with 13 Navy and Army personnel, sent on a aborted rescue mission, lost their lives. Marcus Luttrell was the sole survivor of the original team and this book is his story.

The first portion of this book provided biographical details on Marcus’s upbringing. He was raised in Texas. Throughout the book, he continually emphasized the biological advantages associated with being a Texan. At times it was a bit overdone, but he was obviously proud of his heritage and this background info was relevant to understanding his personality and the decisions made during Operation Redwing.

The second portion of the book went into details concerning the process used to select and train Navy Seals. This part of the book helped me appreciate the selfless dedication to mind, body and team work necessary to be a Seal and more importantly, to be successful in the environment in which Seals operate. In the initial class there were 164 personnel who had met the minimum requirements to attend Seal School. 53 were washed out in the initial, indoctrination phase and only 21 of the original made it through “Hell Week” and the rest of their training. 87% of the “best-of-the-best” failed to complete this rigorous physical and psychological test.

Most of the rest of the book was spent on Luttrell’s recollection of the “Battle for Murphy’s Ridge.” Dan Healy, Danny Dietz, Mathew Axelson and Mike Murphy lost their lives. The lone survivor, Marcus Luttrell, managed to escape until he could be rescued. While the book covered the details of the battle, it emphasized the moral dilemma Seal 10 faced when they were discovered by 3 Afghan goat herders. They felt that if they released the herders, they’d tell the Taliban their location which would be an almost certain death warrant. On the other hand, killing the herders would be in violation of the Rules of Engagement and a direct violation of the Laws of Armed Conflict. When they tried to radio their HQs for direction, they could not communicate. Ultimately, Lt. Michael Murphy, the team chief, decided to release the goat herders. The book also covered the vigil held on the ranch owned by Marcus Luttrell’s parents in Texas when the Navy declared the team missing until his rescue. Finally, it covered the days he was sheltered from the Taliban by local villagers and is ultimate rescue.

THOUGHTS WHILE RUNNING: This book provided fodder for several long runs. What would I do with the goat herders. Did the Seals do the right thing? The author was quick to blame the “liberal media in the US” for the decision to turn the herders loose. He thought that if they killed them and it was uncovered by the press, they’d ultimately go to jail. After much thought, I’ve concluded he’s right, but I’ve also decided that one of the roles of the media is to be the “watchdog” of government. Based upon our recent experience with the Army and Pat Tillman’s death and my 26 years of serving on Active Duty (Air Force), I don’t trust the government and especially the military to tell the whole story. The American public depends on the media to find and report the facts. While I can appreciate the authors position and his feelings, there is no evidence that tied the goat herders to the Taliban. Later in the book, he owed his life to the extensive support he got from local villagers, many of whom were at significant risk from Taliban retaliation. Perhaps the goat herders were innocent and belonged to the village that sheltered him and ultimately made rescue possible? We’ll never know. Regardless, I think Lt Murphy made the right decision and the decision was made on solid moral grounds.

The author spent significant time on the role of God and the efforts of the wonderful people who held the vigil until his rescue. He felt that god intervened several times during the fire fight to help him survive and his rescue was aided by the prayers of the folks on his home ranch. While running, I came to the conclusion that god played a role in both actions. However, It bothered me that God didn’t choose to play the same role on the part of the other seals or those killed in the aborted rescue attempt. After reading his book and gaining an appreciation for the tight knit nature of the seal family, I’m sure similar vigils were held with their parents while they were waiting for resolution. On their family and friends part, they were given the bad news when the bodies were recovered. Weren’t they as worthy as Marcus? Didn’t those folks pray as hard? I’ve concluded that we’ll never know the answer to that question. The other day while driving home from work, I passed a wreck on the freeway with fatalities. Why did the victims die when I was allowed safe passage? It’s the same question and only emphasized that we need to keep our lives in order and be prepared for our ultimate death. Hopefully, we’ll all live until we’re 110, but realistically we’re destined to die at some unknown point.

The final point I considered while running was the changed nature of the warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq. Traditional warfare was much easier, both side wore uniforms and acted as military units. Unfortunately, the war on terrorism is not as defined and the nature of the enemy changes and evolves. Perhaps, we need to be a little more careful to ensure we've exhausted all methods of resolving our political issues before we pursue military options. Ok, this just came from my liberally biased perspective, but I honestly believe that the American GI is God’s gift to America. This book only emphasized our GI’s willingness to put themselves in harms way and pay the ultimate sacrifice if needed. They only ask for one thing in return. Our national leadership must ensure that their sacrifices are for a moral and just cause. Many GIs in our history have made this sacrifice and many more will make it. Knowing this doesn’t make the death of these heroic warriors easier to accept.

I’d highly recommend this book, especially if you like adventure type books or are interested in military history.

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Gigglers

A friend sent me this list of bumper stickers.


ACTUAL BUMPER STICKERS

1. BLIND FAITH IN BAD LEADERSHIP IS NOT PATRIOTISM

2. IF YOU'RE NOT OUTRAGED, YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

3. IF YOU SUPPORTED BUSH, A YELLOW RIBBON WON'T MAKE UP FOR IT

4. POVERTY, HEALTH CARE, & HOMELESSNESS ARE MORAL ISSUES

5. OF COURSE IT HURTS. YOU'RE GETTING SCREWED BY AN ELEPHANT

6. BUSH LIED, AND YOU KNOW IT

7. RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM: A THREAT ABROAD, A THREAT AT HOME

8. GOD BLESS EVERYONE (No exceptions)

9. BUSH SPENT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY ON HIS WAR

10. PRO AMERICA, ANTI BUSH

11. WHO WOULD JESUS BOMB?

12. IF YOU SUPPORT BUSH'S WAR, WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? SHUT UP AND SHIP
OUT

13. FEEL SAFER NOW?

14. I'D RATHER HAVE A PRESI DENT WHO SCREWED HIS INTERN THAN ONE WHO
SCREWED HIS COUNTRY

15. JESUS WAS A SOCIAL ACTIVIST -- THAT IS A LIBERAL

16. MY VALUES? FREE SPEECH. EQUALITY. LIBERTY. EDUCATION. TOLERANCE

17. IS IT 2008 YET?

18. DISSENT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PATRIOTISM -- Thomas Jefferson

19. DON'T BLAME ME. I VOTED AGAINST BUSH -- TWICE!

20. ANNOY A CONSERVATIVE: THINK FOR YOURSELF

21. VISUALIZE IMPEACHMENT

22. HEY BUSH! WHERE'S BIN LADEN?

23. CORPORATE MEDIA = MASS MIND CONTROL

24. STOP MAD COWBOY DISEASE

25. GEORGE W. BUSH: MAKING TERRORISTS FASTER THAN HE CAN KILL THEM

26. KEEP YOUR THEOCRACY OFF MY DEMOCRACY

27. DEMOCRATS ARE SEXY. WHOEVER HEARD OF A GOOD PIECE OF ELEPHANT?

28. ASPIRING CANADIAN

29. CORPORATE MEDIA: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION

30. DON'T CONFUSE DYING FOR OIL WITH FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM

31. STEM CELL RESEARCH IS PRO LIFE

32. HATE, GREED, IGNORANCE: WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

33. HONOR OUR TROOPS: DEMAND THE TRUTH

34. REBUILD IRAQ? WHY NOT SPEND 87 BILLION ON AMERICA?

35. FACT: BUSH OIL 1999 - $19 BARREL 2006 - $70 BARREL

36. THE LAST TIME RELIGION CONTROLLED POLITICS, PEOPLE GOT BURNED AT THE
STAKE

37. I'LL GIVE UP MY CHOICE WHEN JOHN ROBERTS GETS PREGNANT

38. HOW ON EARTH CAN 59,411,287 PEOPLE BE SO DUMB?

Posted by OLD MAN at 12:52 PM

I really like "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism - Thomas Jefferson". In today's red versus blue America, I think we've lost sight of this principle. Instead, your either with me or against me.

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Is odd wrong?

I was sent a link to this video by a friend, I'd suspect because of it's title and subject. The tag from the web site said, "62-year-old Larry Perrier has built a small but loyal community of followers around St. Petersburg, Florida due to his running obsession and his unorthodox style. But a deeper look into why he runs reveals a man who is troubled, compulsive, and yet a legend in his own right. " After viewing the video, I'd agree that Larry might be a little compulsive, but I'd have a tough time saying he was troubled. More likely, I'd say that he is different than the norm and sometimes society uses labels like "troubled" on those they can't understand. Personally, he looks like somebody I'd like to spend some time with on the trail.

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Running from an Angel Marathon and 50 Mile Ultra races

Last weekend I went to Las Vegas and ran the 50 mile Running from an Angel Ultra Race. Here's a race report I wrote and sent to the folks who belong to Run Locomotion:

Last Friday, Joe Larsen, Larry Emery, Carl Tippets, Shay Johansen and I drove to Las Vegas to run the Running from an Angel Marathon and 50 Mile Ultra races. Shay is a friend of Joe and Carl. While he’s not a runner (yet), he proved to be one heck of a good walker in the marathon. We met at Joe’s house at 1 PM, made a quick Joe stop at the Draper Fajolis for lunch and safely arrived in Las Vegas about 7 pm. A six hour drive to Vegas could only mean Carl was driving. After a quick stop at the expo, we made the mandatory Joe stop at Fajolis for pasta.

By the time we got to Vegas, the wind was blowing and it was raining. We spent the night with Joe’s brother Ezra and his wife. The Larsen family is amazing. Five strange men show up at the door and within minutes they’ve made them feel like one of the clan. Graciousness exemplified. We got up about 4:30 and headed to Boulder for the race. The talk was about how hard and wet the wind blew all night. The races start and finish at the Boulder Beach Recreation Site and are all out and back on pavement that stays within the Lake Meade National Recreation Area. The 50 miler has 4277 feet of elevation gain and loss and the marathon has 2450 feet of gain and loss. During the 50 mile race briefing, Tina, the RD, said we’d either be going up or going down, don’t expect too many flat stretches. Truer words have never been spoken. While none of the hills had names like “chin scraper”, we certainly saw some ups and downs that day. By the time the 50 mile race started at 6 AM, the rain had mostly stopped, but the wind continued out of the south.

At 6 AM we bid Shay farewell and headed east along the edge of Lake Meade. While the RD recommended flashlights, we all survived the first 45 minutes of darkness. I really didn’t have too many goals for this race, other than to be upright and moving forward at the finish line. It would have been nice to run a Western States qualifier (50 miles in 11 hours) and have that out of the way, but after a year of injuries I didn’t want to push too hard or too fast. At 10 miles, we took a hard right and headed almost directly into the wind. Once we made the turn, It also seemed like we had longer and steeper ups and shorter downs. The course obviously had gotten a little tougher. The first 13 miles were pretty uneventful. Joe, Larry, Carl and I ran together and enjoyed discussions on a myriad of topics. The wind remained fairly strong (20 mph or so). At some point, Carl and I moved a little ahead of Joe and Larry. The race let us have one drop bag at mile 18 which you hit again at mile 32. Carl’s was loaded with Ensure. He later said that coming into this aide station, he was at one of his lower points in the entire race. We dropped our jackets, Carl had an Ensure and I took one and added it to a bottle of water and sipped at it for the next nine miles (old Davy Crockett trick).

By mile 22, we were moving fast enough that an 11 hour WS qualifier became a much better possibility. To make it, I decided I needed to step up the pace a bit and make the 25 mile turn around in 5 hours. We kicked in a higher gear and made the half way point in 4 hours and 50 minutes. Dang, now we didn’t have an excuse for not running a qualifier, hope it doesn’t hurt.

Mile 25 to 38 seemed to go by fairly fast. Carl and I ran together and seemed to feed off each other. When I’d hit a bit of a splat, I’d tuck in behind him and run his pace. Likewise, he took advantage of my pace a time or two. By noon, the wind picked up, but until mile 40 it was at our back most of the time. A few short stretches gave us a preview of what lie ahead. Coming down a steep hill at about mile 38, my right quad started to cramp. It took me a couple of miles to walk it out, but no major damage had been done. I encouraged Carl to leave me. Realistically, he had a great shot at breaking 10 hours, but not walking with me.

We turned the corner at 40 miles and eight hours and five minutes. For the next, mostly downhill, mile the wind was at our back. Images of 10 hours were again dancing in my head. Silly boy.

With nine miles to go, we moved directly into the wind. Within a mile or two, I was completely beat and ready to quit. At about this point, Carl yelled at me over the roar of the wind to look behind me. Low and behold, Joe was alive and well and right on our tail. The reunion with Joe picked up my spirits a tad and I decided I could gut it out to the finish line. At some point, Joe had become separated from Larry. Joe kept trying to tell us something about a porta potty and an ambulance, but I was a bit too muddled to follow his story. Coming into the last aid station at four miles, I’d made up my mind to refuel, refocus and get this thing done. We talked to the woman filling water bottles, grabbed a GU and started out. I tried to run, but glanced to my left and noticed the porta potty had been blown down. Seeing the blue palace on its side COMPLETELY broke my spirits. I returned to the death shuffle. At about the three mile point, I realized I’d started to weave and seemed to be falling asleep on my feet. It scared me enough I reached into my pocket, took my last two S-Caps, slapped my face and decided I was going to either finish running or they’d haul me out in the ambulance. I finished. It was fun.

Shay completed his first marathon. He walked the entire course and averaged just under 4 miles an hour. Even without the hills, wind and temperature, he had a heck of a good race. He’s registered for the Red Hot 50K in Moab next month. Joe spent the trip home Sunday trying to convince him to get a Wasatch entry mailed Monday. While he’s a heck of a walker, he’s also a good guy to have on a road trip. I enjoyed his company and hope to see more of him in the future.

RESULTS: This race was unique. Five of us started and all five ran PRs in far less than ideal conditions. This race exemplified that, “It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.” Under ideal weather conditions, this is not a terribly tough course. However, with the wind and cold it certainly was a challenge. If you like a few hills, I’d highly recommend this race. If you don’t want to take a chance with the weather, they run it’s sister race, Running with the Devil on 28 June. Should be a little warmer.

What worked/didn’t work: There’s a saying among ultra runners that we’re an experiment of one. What works for me, might not work for you. In shorter races, like this, I like to try new strategies or techniques. Diluted Ensure at mile 18 was a new tactic. It seemed to keep me going for a longer period of time, but I had that nasty, pasty taste of Ensure in my mouth for the nine miles it took to drink it. Might work better with a second bottle of water to help wash it down. UnderArmour underwear were a big hit. A good coating of A&D Ointment and a new pair of shorts eliminated all chaffing, grating and grinding problems. This one’s a keeper.

Road Food. The highlight of any trip to a race is a chance to hopefully enjoy different eateries. Since we had a little extra time on race morning, we stopped at the AM/PM on the corner of Rainbow and something for a cup of coffee. While getting my coffee, I noticed they had a impressive grilled meat selection. The verdict is still out on the Jumbo, Spicy Hotdog, with ranch dressing, I had for breakfast on the way to the race. It didn’t seem to hurt my race, but I’m not sure how much it helped. After the race and a quick shower, we went to the Mandalay Bay buffet. I’m a big fan of undercooked beef (need protein to rebuild muscles) following a long race and Joe, Shay, and Larry E. are seafood eaters. The buffet met most expectations.

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