MyCOLORADOLife.net
Kicked off my last dozen (a baker’s dozen 13) in mid-September, start of my longest weekend stretch marathoning. Beginning September 13th, I’d run 11 consecutive weekends – the last 10, all Eastern time zone…whole lotta travel for a guy with a full-time job.
Overnight train to Omaha, then rental car’d 2 hours to Sioux Falls. Pre-race day spent at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead – read the entire Little House series as a boy, what memories! On the deserted state highway to De Smet, passed a field of corn where ‘Into the Wild’ was filmed. my fave film — double WOW! one week later – Holy Mountain Mama – marathon #38 in Morgantown WV would be my 50 State Hilliest marathon. Rolling hills, pop ups, long steady grinders & steep mountain climbs…but all 26.2, some version of HILL.
Who gets excited ’bout Ohio? That’d be everyone who wants to experience Old World Amish. Race itself was hilly & the weather steady rain but…pre-race night at an Amish auction, unforgettable. Horse & buggy, homespun clothes, pie. Forever memory.
Shared the next four marathons with East Coast family & friends. Raced ’round scenic Newfound Lake in Bristol NH, then shared post-race Italian with Stephen & Sheila. Week following, marathoned downtown Hartford CT. Weekend’d with family in Manchester, (literally) horsed around with CT bestie Dawn, then brunched by the (Long Island) Sound with friends Andrea, Betsey & Stephen.
Museums, 2 sports stadiums, best 50 State aquarium & the Inner Harbor highlighted my 42nd marathon in Baltimore. Post-marathoned in Martinsburg WV, sharing dinner & laughs with my Aunt Joyce, cousins Regina & Kenny & their spouses. LOVE LOVE family!
Kicked off Halloween week spooking on Cape Cod. Creepiest marathon of my 50 – pre-race accommodations in the Lizzie Borden House. Half-slept the night in the actual room where Lizzie axed her step-mom. What was I thinking?!!
Foot raced the New York City Marathon – my only WORLD MAJOR – on November 1st. Ran all 5 city boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx & Manhattan. Finish Line: Central Park. Pre-race? swanky Manhattan hotel, pricey restaurant eats & a Broadway show. Go BIG or go home – no regrets life 🙂 Although not a state, how could I run all 50 yet miss our nation’s Capitol? Ran marathon #45 in Washington DC. Urban-trail trek along the C&O Canal; 4 loops on a flat course, 15 minutes from the White House.
6 days later, travelled to NASCAR-friendly Charlotte, North Carolina. Warm day, lotta hills, medic tent ending – wrapped/iced my Achilles before the flight home. In-n-out in 25 hours – shortest time away of my 50. Ended my 11 week marathon stretch in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. 2 things on my must-do: our nation’s cracked Liberty Bell & Rocky (statue). Crazy silly, yes – but it’s a movie powerhouse & its theme song has rocked my playlist since Alaska.
Finished 2015 in Memphis. Chose St Jude’s 6 months before registration opened – 100% charity run, all funds support childhood cancer. Mile 18 to Finish, paced a guy running his first marathon. Paid it forward, super rewarding. Pre-race: Elvis’ Graceland.
Started 2016 on HAWAII – our island state, far far away in the vast Pacific. Most exotic of my 50; race started at 5am, but finished Hawaii’s ‘coldest’ marathon at a humid 82 degrees (in January). 5 full days from home – snorkeled nearby Molokini, feasted a Hawaiian luau, crater hiked Haleakalā, dined aside the mighty waves of Pāʻia.
Thankful I’ve blogged my 50 State experience. Such an amazing, diverse nation we share. Super proud to be an American!
| # | State | Marathon | City | Date | Time | Bib # |
| 37 | SD | Sioux Falls Marathon | Sioux Falls | 9/13/2015 | 4:35.06 | 1002 |
| 38 | WV | Morgantown Marathon | Morgantown | 9/20/2015 | 4:14.39 | 118 |
| 39 | OH | Adams County Run with the Amish | West Union | 9/26/2015 | 4:26.53 | 1425 |
| 40 | NH | New Hampshire Marathon | Bristol | 10/3/2015 | 4:29.43 | 11 |
| 41 | CT | Hartford Marathon | Hartford | 10/10/2015 | 4:35.41 | 1062 |
| 42 | MD | Baltimore Marathon | Baltimore | 10/17/2015 | 4:37.28 | 1864 |
| 43 | MA | Cape Cod Marathon | Falmouth | 10/25/2015 | 4:40.29 | 281 |
| 44 | NY | New York City Marathon | New York | 11/1/2015 | 4:53.58 | 23145 |
| 45 | DC | C&O Canal Towpath Marathon | Washington | 11/8/2015 | 4:39:55 | 208 |
| 46 | NC | Thunder Road Marathon | Charlotte | 11/14/2015 | 4:27.51 | 418 |
| 47 | PA | Philadelphia Marathon | Philadelphia | 11/22/2015 | 4:32.53 | 4496 |
| 48 | TN | St. Jude Memphis Marathon | Memphis | 12/5/2015 | 4:44.56 | 2074 |
| 51 | HI | Maui Oceanfront Marathon | Lahaina | 1/17/2016 | 4:47:27 | 151 |
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- South Dakota, West Virginia, Ohio & New Hampshire
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- Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York & DC
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- North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee & Hawaii
Swim, bike – hike…triathlon Colorado style.
Limited to only swim & cycling since St. Louis. Tough knowing the exact right thing to do (while injured), to successfully prepare for next weekend’s 50 State Quest finale – a double marathon weekend: 2 states, 2 days, 2 marathons, 2 time zones.
Physical rehab 4 days a week. Lap swimming. Cycling every other day. Running? No miles, nada.
Technically, no one prohibited hiking. Not as much knee impact as road running, but the downhill return over boulders & trail debris – probably not ideal physically. Mentally however, I needed a mountain hike as much as I need air.
trivia nite w/ Tom’s folks
Fair weather week so hoped high altitude sunshine had burned off much of last weekend’s snowfall to make a (8000ft) Boulder Flatirons hike possible. [Still another month/6 weeks before Continental Divide hiking would be doable.]
Street parked at Shanahan Ridge trailhead, met up with Ash & Tom for a fido-friendly hike; today’s destination: Devil’s Thumb. Hadn’t successfully summited this peak since my 52 hike year, 2012. Honestly, not even sure it’s still day-hike accessible since the 2013 Boulder Flood. Never mind trail destruction, road damage from this epic 500-year flood still exists today (County Road in Louisville remains closed ’til 2017).
Overcast cool start. Pups were LOVIN’ an off-leash day. Whole lotta mud – hike day would mean ‘bath’ day later 🙁 Followed Mesa Trail to Shadow Canyon, took the split toward Bear Peak (& South Boulder Peak, 2 bagger possibility here).
Sloppy seasonal swamp gave way to ice & exposed snow as we increased elevation.
If you’re ever short on time or expect an early afternoon weather change, Boulder summer hikes are definitely the way to go. Short mileage, but killer incline – I’ve tagged our trails: ‘butt busters’. Half-mile stretches where each step UP is slightly higher than comfortable, a real glute workout.
Bushwhacking & possibly ropes now required to top Devil’s Thumb. Trail ascent to Bear Peak moved/shifted ~100ft since the Flood; the original trail a maze of battered rock & fallen pine. Snapped a pic, closest we’d get (route no longer dog-friendly).
Up, up, up another 500ft – over ice & snow, toward Bear Peak. Clock stuck 11 & we called it. No summit this day.
First hike of the season: timing slower, steps a bit more labored, lack of oxygen still noticeable. Mentally though – FAAANNNTASTIC! Nothing like snow, thin air & Ponderosa pine. Happy day 🙂
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- Marty blazing down Mesa Trail
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- the Flatirons
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- remnants from last weekend’s storm
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- snow & ice trek to Bear Peak
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- Devil’s Thumb
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- off-leash hike happiness
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- mountain therapy, Colorado-style
Wed April 27th: More Than a Feeling
Tom’s parents in from New Jersey for a family wedding. First night in Colorado? Trivia night at one of Ash & Tom’s favourite local brew haunts. As luck would have it, tie score. Solution? Air-band playoff. Humiliating…but memorable 🙂
Ashton • April 27 • Brought in reinforcements for trivia!! ❤ these people!! — feeling determined at 4 Noses Brewing Company.
Ashton • feeling proud • Sooooo won an air-band play off to “More Than A Feeling” at trivia tonight. With our parents. It was epic.
The Care Bears vs The Fates
Scotty Danger
Be careful what you say at Quiz, the Fates are always listening! Care Bear Elite had some parents in town tonight, and they brought them to Quiz. Then I went and opened my big mouth about, “how this one time, at Quiz…” Anyway the story was that another team had parents in town and how funny it was that they ended in a tie for 2nd, hence they forced to get up and rock out in an Air-Band Competition for the decision. Haha, laugh laugh, I said, “so just know that there’s that possibility…”
Having heard me say that, Murphy, the Fates, and I’m pretty sure some mischievous garden gnomes decided it was going to happen. Swear to Quiz, I did nothing to rig it, but after a 13-point Round 8 with a Joker, guess who ended up in 2nd place, tied with Christopher Robin had No Friends. Anyway, at that point I had to reprise the original encounter, so Air-Band they did, and to none other than the greatest of Air-Band-able songs, More Than a Feeling, by Boston. Classic, simply classic…
The video is now in my own personal archives, and I will enjoy it when I’m feeling down and need to laugh and someone trying to play air… oboe? I’m not really sure what was going with Christopher Robin, they seemed to be just going down a list of instruments throughout the competition. But congrats to the Care Bears who took it by applause. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t wish they had a good memory of Air-Banding with their parents!
The rest of the night was fairly status-quo, which for us means a better time than most would have on a Wednesday evening! Good Beer, Good Teams, Good Questions, and Good Doggies all around the bar.
Oh, except for Eve and her bunch who decided to ruin our new “Silent Seventh” tradition. Don’t worry Eve, I’m coming for you…
Stay Dangerous, people,
Scotty Danger…
LOVE that my employer never forgets Earth Day – one of the million & one reasons I HEART living in Colorado.
Tough to beat last year’s excursion to NOAA (super interesting). This year PS purchased plants & shovels – so we shared a sunny afternoon hour & beautified our entrance stoop. Not too many employers allow you to play in the dirt on Earth Day. Pretty cool, huh?
Unfortunately my mind diverts to global warming, when I think of Earth Day – the horrible man-made disaster we’ve indebted future generations…polluting resources, increasing ground temps +20 degrees until half the US is a virtual Arizona.
My interest in Antarctic iceberg calving is akin to voyeur-viewing a car accident – you can’t help but slow down & stare.
This year’s focus was much closer to home: Durango, in southwest Colorado. Colorado is like the Earth’s playground – evergreen forests, snowy mountain peaks, glacier-fed streams. Last August’s eco-disaster, makes me CRAZY. Polluted, chemically-induced mining water fed local streams in the Four Corners. Most long-term damage only affects the Navajo Nation in western New Mexico…so who cares, right?
Wake up – it’s OUR planet.
Be good to Mother Earth folks, we share space on this beautiful, live-giving planet. If not for you, do it for future generations 🙂
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- employer sponsored planting
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- not too many employers allow you to play in the dirt on Earth Day 🙂
What The Colorado Waste Water Spill Tells Us About Mining Contamination
By Justin Worland, Time Magazine
PUBLISHED Aug. 10, 2015
Scientists grappled with the consequences of a spill of toxic wastewater on Monday, one day after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that an accident had led to 3 million gallons of mining runoff flowing into a river in Colorado used for drinking water. But researchers who study water resources in the region say the spill, while significant on its own, is just the latest example of the much broader problem of water contamination from mining processes.
“In the Rocky Mountain area, acid rock and acid mine drainage is a major water quality problem,” said Diane McKnight, a professor civil, environmental and architectural engineering at the University of Colorado. “This is certainly an unfortunate event, but the impact of acid rock and acid rock drainage is well recognized and understood in Colorado.”
Acid drainage results when water flows through acidic minerals that have been exposed due to mining. Water that contains these minerals in high volumes becomes unsafe for drinking. Colorado alone has hundreds of mines that have created acid drainage—but rarely on the scale of last week’s incident.
Last week’s event was the result of an accident inadvertently caused by EPA workers looking into reports that a mine was leaking contaminated water. During the process, loose material gave way and released millions of gallons of contaminated water, turning the Animas River orange and yielding it unusable for days. Water is still spilling into the river at a rate of 500 gallons per minute, though the EPA has set up a filtering system aimed at removing toxic elements, including copper, lead and manganese, according to regional EPA administrator Shaun McGrath. Still, officials urged local residents to await further tests, which should happen within the next few days, before using the water. The river has been temporarily disconnected from the public water supply.
The consequences of last week’s incident could have lasting repercussions. Events like heavy rain and melting snow that disturb sediment settled at the bottom of the river may release some of the toxic minerals deposited there by the spill. If that happens, local officials will need a game plan to test the water and inform those who may be at risk, said Williams.
The spill has angered local residents, many of whom depend on the river for livestock and tourist businesses. Still, this is hardly the first mining wastewater spill in the area. Largely due to mine pollution, the water doesn’t support a very robust ecosystem, though some organisms manage to live in it. “It’s not correct to say these are lifeless streams,” said McKnight. “There’s certainly bacteria and some algae growing.”
Ultimately, Williams says he hopes the incident raises awareness about the bigger problem of mines polluting waterways throughout the region. The technology exists, Williams says, and efforts by the EPA and other agencies to remediate toxic sites need to be funded fully.
“You hear about pollution, it doesn’t really register,” he said. “Then you see this blob of yellow running down the river.”
