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Category: Race Reports and Big Adventure Runs

22 Miles Under the Wedge: San Rafael River, Virgin Spring, Cane Wash Loop

22 Miles Under the Wedge: San Rafael River, Virgin Spring, Cane Wash Loop

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After running the Good Water Rim Trail at the Wedge area of the San Rafael Swell on President’s Day I immediately resolved to do a follow-up run at the canyon bottom. Today a few other Wasatch Mtn. Wranglers joined me on the adventure. Overall it was a fairly “flat” route. 22+ miles, but only about 1,850 ft. elevation gain. That didn’t mean it was easy though. Those 1,800+ ft. were concentrated in a medium, small, and BIG traverse over ridges…

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South Mountain Western Ridges Marathon+. 29 miles of happiness and horror.

South Mountain Western Ridges Marathon+. 29 miles of happiness and horror.

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I probably should have drawn an easier route for my first attempt at a marathon distance run – but it is just too easy (and fun) to draw lines on maps, tracing trails and ridge-lines, etc… In any case, I drew it, so I ran it: The South Mountain Western Ridges Marathon+. In all, it ended up tracking to 29 miles – almost a 50k. Phoenix’s South Mountain Preserve is located on the southern edge of town – a series…

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#EarnThatPie

#EarnThatPie

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We are making a family tradition out of doing a race on Thanksgiving morning. We did it back in 2012, a 5 miler that seemed like the farthest distance I would ever run. This time the Mrs. and I did the Turkey Leg 5k in Farmington. It was a lot of fun. I should have eaten a little better in the morning though because I felt like the tank was empty. Still the 25:00 time was pretty good for me….

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Summiting Bountiful Peak via Old North

Summiting Bountiful Peak via Old North

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I had a lot of goals for running this season, and among them was to summit the 3 highest peaks in Davis County from the valley floor. I did Thurston and Francis Peaks back in July, so that left Bountiful Peak. I decided to bag it using the Old North Trail in Davis Creek Canyon. It is about 4.5 miles of, and 4,500 ft. elevation gain. Upness. 12.2 mile in 3:02:46 (moving time, a full 5 hours elapsed) @ 15:00…

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Pioneer Day Fun with 20+ miles, almost 6k elevation, 2 peaks, 2 Rattlesnakes, and Blisters Blisters Blisters

Pioneer Day Fun with 20+ miles, almost 6k elevation, 2 peaks, 2 Rattlesnakes, and Blisters Blisters Blisters

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 Last year on Pioneer Day, a friend and I tackled Baer Canyon. It was only my 2nd trail run, and we were unprepared and it was rough. I thought I would continue that and make an annual tradition of pushing myself to do unwise things on Pioneer Day. On the top of my trailrun to-do list has been to bag Thurston and Francis Peaks. I have been to both, but only after driving up to Francis and then running the…

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Sklyine 50 Volunteer Sweep Accidentally Becomes my Longest Run Ever

Sklyine 50 Volunteer Sweep Accidentally Becomes my Longest Run Ever

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 Altra was sponsoring an aid station at the inaugural Skyline 50 mile Mountain Marathon, and since my family was out of town, I decided to volunteer.  We were stationed at the Public Grove Hollow trail head (FR 620) on Avon Pass Rd. above Eden, UT.  It was a gorgeous day and it was fun seeing the runners come through.  We were at about mile 12 of the race.  After everyone went through, I had also volunteered to sweep the course…

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Running the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay

Running the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay

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I am happy to report that I survived the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay Race.  The team consisted of friends and family, many of them more consistent runners that me. Nevertheless, I assumed role of Team Captain (in charge of nagging, mostly) and took the set of legs with the highest mileage.  What was I thinking? I was most concerned about the stress fracture on my ankle – which had been feeling great as of late, and my IT band which…

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Zion Ragnar Race Report, Concerns and Critique

Zion Ragnar Race Report, Concerns and Critique

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A couple months ago, a member of the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers Facebook group posted that they needed a runner to add to their team for the Zion Ragnar Trail Relay. The fee was already paid, just come and run. My family was scheduled to be out of town on the race weekend, so I figured that I had nothing better to do and secured a spot on the team. I hadn’t done a Ragnar before and from what I knew,…

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Soap Creek Canyon to the Colorado River, Vermillion Cliffs

Soap Creek Canyon to the Colorado River, Vermillion Cliffs

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In October I had a conference to attend down in Tucson, so I decided to drive.  My plan was to find a place to run somewhere in the middle of the drive and I chose an obscure canyon that gets easy access to the Colorado River.  It is Soap Creek Canyon, south of the 89a and the Vermillion Cliffs.  The night before I couldn’t sleep so I just hit the road around 3:30 AM – arriving at the trail-head around…

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