Marathons/Ultras

Black Hills 50K

Published June 29, 2019

Badlands-Sturgis quik trip. No regret, DIG our National Parks. Hour interstate to Rapid City, 30 minutes more to Sturgis. RV Park bib pick-up, 10 minutes to spare. WHEW! Tomorrow almost an expensive ‘free’ day in South Dakota. Uncluttered mind, ready for my 2^nd trail xtreme of the month.

Sleeps mile-half from our school bus pick-up. Morning more reminiscent of Bighorn than Deadwood. Trail cliques vs Maniac social-hour. Different motors. Maniacs are time-obsessed (BQ & pace splits). Trail runners, pure adrenaline junkies. Elevation climbs & battle scars (blood, broken limb talk).

Hour-twenty ride on forest dirt. Summer GREEN, African Queen dense. Crazy beautiful ride. High SUN & 6000ft elevation. ‘Tis the season, gonna be a warm one. H-O-T sizzle! 🌞

Dalton Lake trailhead. Cheered three 100-mile bibs before our 50K Start. Out there all-night, WOW! Never, ever? I wish. Goal stuck in my head. Next 50-mile try: Tunnel Hill, this November.

Hydration vest readied. Comfortable 70-degree morning. Last minute instructions. Right, quick left, then diamond-follow’d the Centennial Trail. Marker ‘89’ – well defined, easy read.

Long hike day. Lotta climb. Whereas Bighorn was crazy high elevation & straight UP, Black Hills quad-punished with multiple climb switchbacks. End of the day, similar gain stats – climbs just 4x as often. No water cups, no crew. Walk out or learn to mountain dwell. Trail day.

Run highlight? FIVE water crossings. Ropes strung to steady the trek across. CRAZY FUN. Way outta my day-to-day norm. Broke up the run, cool water REFRESH. Not just the legs – mental refresh too. Dipped my hat, washed off face salt. XTREME. Temp upper 80’s, sun HIGH and five back-to-back river baths. Plugged-in again.

7 hours, 18 miles. Dense jungle, wilderness isolated, no more human interaction. Popped on tunes to quiet the demons (filter out negativity). 11:25 my record long, Bighorn 2018 DNF.

9 hours, stomach bonk. Meadow laid 15 minutes; tall grass surrounded. Rolled to my side, emptied. Side of my face. In my beard. Yep, pretty. Not another soul. Even my Garmin died.

UP. Right leg spasm’d, popped another salt pill. Uncontrolled cramping. Walk’d it out, more painful to stop than keep moving. Reality: warm day but dodged yesterday’s Badlands heat. Overcast skies every exposed stretch. For us believers: felt a higher power moved clouds, brought cool water streams EXACT time I needed. Non-believers? Crazy string of good luck on a hot summer day. Grateful 🙏

Graveyard on my left, town of Sturgis must be close. Easy stomach after the meadow retch. Another HILL, ‘nother UP UP climb. Another playlist too. Push, push. Forward. Out-buildings, road, a bike path. Off Centennial, outta the forest. Calf rock-hard. Stuck mid-cramp, would not release.

Hobble-jog, hobble-jog. No DNF, no demons. I start, I run, I finish.

TEN HOURS, almost 11. Longest FINISH ever. No shame, MY journey. Key word ‘FINISH’. Two ULTRAS & a second 50 State completion month of June. Colorado HOME in the morning.

Monday: Dr. Josh. PT exercises, 3 days of ice, right calf flushed & horizontally-taped to relieve inflammation but no tear. Wednesday switch: heating pad, hamstring/calf re-taped vertical.

OREGON for the holiday. My first QUADZILLA. I start, I run, I finish. Anything is possible!

Black Hills 100

Sturgis, SD • 100 Miler, 50 Miler, 50K, 30K

Saturday, Jun 29, 2019

Keenan Haga Louisville CO 10:42:24

: RV Park pick-up

: Bighorn reminiscent

: Dalton Lake trailhead

: Black Hills START

: Centennial Trail

: FIVE river crossings

: run, hike, WADE

: 6th ULTRA of 2019

: no SHAME

: 10 hour+ FINISH

Black Hills 50K

Posted in Heartland, Marathons/Ultras | Leave a comment

7th Continent REALITY

Published June 24, 2019

7^th continent REALITY, my lottery name pulled.

Tradin’ turkey for sushi this year. Passing on the free entry to Abu Dhabi.

Path laid out; my globe now COMPLETE 🌏

Thanksgiving 2019 – JAPAN!

Moscow ⇨ Hamilton NZ ⇨ Toronto ⇨ São Paulo ⇨ Knysna SA ⇨ Antarctica ⇨ Osaka

OUT LOUD voice, speak it to the universe – PRAY. Stay faithful. Don’t get overwhelmed, DREAMS can’t always be planned. When/how. Pray to stay strong, that HIS will be done. ANYTHING is possible.

SEVEN continent REALITY!

Gettin’ my holiday SUSHI on – Osaka JAPAN, December 1^st – whoop, whoop!

: my last CONTINENT

: Asia Plan B (sorry, Abu Dhabi)

: Europe, Australia, N America

: Antarctica, Africa, S America

: holiday SUSHI 🐟

Posted in Asia, Goals & Resolutions, Marathons/Ultras | Leave a comment

Bighorn FINISH

Published June 15, 2019

Soak up all the good and let this be an experience of a lifetime.

Showered, layered up. Leki poles, 2 pair of shoes, socks, sunblock, water – race ready. Snow, mud, high altitude sun, my 3^rd Bighorn attempt. Fail & walk away? Not my DNA.

45-minute drive Sheridan to Dayton. Wyoming Rockies. 6am school bus, Community Center departure. Finish Banner in nearby Scott Park. 8pm, Cinderella hour.

Custer (South Dakota) seat mate. Small world. All roads led to Deadwood, 2 weeks ago. Run groups from Bozeman, Rapid City & Fort Collins represented. Only Wyoming runner I’d meet all day, Cheyenne-native first 5 miles on the loop to Cow Camp.

Slow ride UP, lotta mud. 35 minutes to Start; not much time to overthink things. Aspens, runner chatter. Hat, shades, sunblock. Poles, porta-potty, bug spray. Check-in, bib 803. High elevation ENERGY. I got this, no pressure. Ran my ‘Wyoming’ race Memorial Day Sunday; 50 States done – today, here, present. BIGHORN. My year, my time.

Out-n-back loop from Dry Fork, single-track trail next 13, ATV-dirt final push to Dayton.

Chatted a few minutes with NH Maniac, Kerri Haskins – and the show began. Long haul UP UP UP. One mile, two miles, 35 minutes of altitude. Run with poles, don’t run with poles. Made the ABSOLUTE RIGHT decision. Lekis were graphite light. Helped anchor the high climbs, push thru day’s mud, provided stability for the fast boulder descent.

Fave single-track of the day: 6-mile run to Cow Camp. Lodgepole pine, 8600ft temps & SNOW – mostly drifted in piles, couple spots up-over-thru. All clear on the descent. Shoe punched thru ankle-deep bog. Pole thankful. Last year’s experience remembered.

Cow Camp. 8 miles in, first Aid Station (lost one for weather). I was here last year, mile 28. Like a dated Civil War triage. Littered bodies, waiting for transport. 2019 (only 8 miles in): runner chatter, laughter, outreached hands for BACON. Fan FAVOURITE.

Warm, shed to a single shirt. High SUN & WILDFLOWER MEADOW. 6 miles to Dry Fork.

Long 25-minute Aid Station break. Shoulda/coulda/woulda, but it happened. Done, history. Slice of pizza, dry socks, sunblock reapply. Stuck with my weathered Newtons. Why trash 2 pair of shoes?

Pace struggled; got comfortable with a pack of walkers. Ear buds, tunes, back at it. GAME on! Wrist buzz, another mile, ‘nother aid station. Water refill – and UP. Mile 20 HILL, a mountain of UP. Head down, arms working the poles, steady, overcast sky, wind blew cold. Caught a team on the descent. Drafted their lead, navigating the boulder field down. Quick footed, ticked off distance.

Mile, mile, mile. Runner-on-your-left. Two of us broke away. Like a 14er descent, cool air, felt ALIVE. Cliff walls left shoulder, powering whitewater canyon-right. Lotta rock, lotta trail. Move move move, push push push. Feeling tired, robotic. Body compressed, beat up. Age reality.

Tongue River Trailhead. Laid ‘cross a boulder, back arched. Turned my head, first puke of the day. Up. Upright. Gotta keep moving. 7 hours in, 27 miles travelled, FIVE more per the watch.

Get’s ugly here. Walked 2 miles. Sat on a large rock. Blank.

Ultrarunner Nikki Kimball on a bike. Encourages me UP, pushes ice in my buff (neck gaiter). Says Pam Reed is coming up. Am I on another planet? Feeling meh, sitting on a rock – then, this happens? So…I joined two-time BADWATER WINNER Pam Reed & her pace team for two miles. No joke.

Walk-a-thon finale. Dizzy, really warm, dry heaving.

Quarter-mile to go. Down. Literally. Hands-n-knees, wretching black bile. Pushed too hard, too long. What happens before you die. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Trail angel talk (2 Rapid City gals, 18 mile event). UP. On my feet, nausea gone. Not dead. We run.

BIGHORN FINISH. Crazy EPIC life imprint. Longest FINISH of my life.