Memorial Day 2019
- Today we REMEMBER. Honoring those who Serve & Protect.
- Today we CELEBRATE our democracy/our freedom. USA – Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.
After last year’s FUN RUN experience, vowed I’d never miss another Bolder Boulder. Memorial Day Monday, a Colorado tradition. Unfortunately, no convincing my neighbor to run 2019’s 10k – HA! – but me, alarm set, run shorts ready, RTD Bus to the Start.
Ran my first Bolder Boulder 2001 (almost 20 years ago) – long before I Colorado rooted. I knew, this place, somehow, someday.
7:13am. With so much marathoning in my life schedule, didn’t bother uploading a qualifying wave time. It’s a 10k, a FUN RUN – with 41,000 of my Colorado besties. HUGE! Super organized. Amazed how seamless this event kicks. Well done, Boulder 🇺🇸
Tight first mile. Legs stiff after yesterday’s near 7 hour, 50K elevation climb in Vedauwoo. But miles 2, 3, 4, 5 – Front Range Flatirons surrounded – the JOY was there. sub-8:30/min pace. Picked off ‘EA’ & ‘E’ wave runners, worked my way thru the double D’s.
Won’t have to worry ‘bout qualifying next year. Yep, already registered: May 25, 2020. Mark your calendar. Better yet – come to Boulder & run America’s BIGGEST BEST 10k, the Bolder Boulder. LOVE this place, this race! Gotta/hafta/MUST RUN ❤️
BOLDERBoulder
May 27, 2019 in Boulder, CO
EB100 KEENAN HAGA 8:18 8:25 8:33 8:31 8:23 9:11 53:40
Number of finishers: 41,197
Number of females: 21,676
Number of males: 19,521
Average time: 1:21:52
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- we RUN, we REMEMBER
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- ‘EB’ Wave Start
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- 7:13 Mountain Time
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- course SUMMIT 5,391ft
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- CU Stadium FINISH
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- a Colorado tradition
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- LOVE this race ❤️
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- our Flatirons, whatta VIEW!
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- mark your CALENDAR 😊
Memorial Day 2019
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- black bean SALSA – YUM!
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- bring on SUMMER 🌞
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- holiday HIKE
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- phantom Thad (only seen in pictures, fake cat?)
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- wounded Warrior
Bolder Boulder 2019
2019 EB100 KEENAN HAGA 53:40
2018 FB501 KEENAN HAGA 1:14:29.24
2014 DA255 K R HAGA 48:26
2013 DA218 K R HAGA 51:24
2009 H721 Keenan Haga 53:51
2007 JC370 Keenan Haga 57:34
2002 CA217 Keenan Haga 51:28
2001 CC373 K R HAGA 49:38
7am Start @ the Lincoln Monument.
Nope, not that Lincoln Monument. Exit 323 I-80 East, 10 miles outside Laramie. 8,640ft elevation. High point of the Lincoln Highway. Park Ranger greeting: “Welcome to the Summit” 🗻
Buffalo NY Memorial Day last, Buffalo image on today’s state flag – high flying beside a WYOMING roadside museum. Museum? Yep, I’ll be back ✅ First… 32 miles of Ponderosa Pine, Colorado Aspen, dirt trail, old Highway 30 and HILLS. Billed as Wyoming’s toughest marathon – it’s a high elevation hilly one. Training run for Bighorn? Third times a charm me thinks, only a few weeks away.
Chilly/foggy/overcast Start, dodged another hot one. Notta lotta tree cover after 6 miles. Pine are scenic aromatherapy but not broad leaf green. Cup-less course. Hydration vest ready. Let’s roll.
Downhill first 2 miles. Wonky gut only 4 miles in. Elevation, lotta trail bounce. Slowed pace. Gonna finish, finish with a smile. That’s the Milano mantra. “Be the person your dog thinks you are.”
Strong headwind past the Halfers’ turnaround. Asphalt next few miles, old Highway 30. 10% grade (and wind) but pavement appreciated under my feet. Change is good, mixes it up. Lost all the crowd (notta lotta 50k or marathoners). Cranked up my tunes, head/body feelin’ good by Vedauwoo.
5-mile stretch of trees & campers on a dirt ranch road. Memorial Day weekend. Grills & lawn chairs early-morn abandoned, waiting for holidayers to waken. Breakfast cooking on my return thru town.
Marathon turnaround. HILL. Two miles more ‘til my orange cone & race rep check-in. Good bit of climb between the respective half-way points. Sun HIGH, getting warm. Run, walk. Refuel’d, dumped sand/rocks outta my shoes before the short 3-mile highway reverse. Easy steady pace – NO WALK, NO STOPPING ‘til I see dirt on the other side. Goals are good 🙂.
STRONG legs, stomach a-ok, smile on my face. I’ve got this. 6-hour goal in my head. Well, that’s not happening. Would miss 6:30 too, but enjoying the ride. Steady. AND know what’s coming – 2 miles of UP – then FINISH BANNER a blowin’.
My first belt buckle, fourth ultra of 2019 and my 49th state. Eyes on Deadwood & a SECOND 50 State finish. 7 days.
Highway drive HOME, shower, quick sleeps. Bolder Boulder tomorrow! It’s a Colorado tradition ❤️
2019 Wyoming Marathon Series
50K Results
KR Haga Colorado M 6:52:47
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- Lincoln Monument
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- 32 miles along the Lincoln Highway
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- 4th ULTRA of 2019
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- high elevation & HILLS
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- WYOMING roadside bonanza
Pact made, solid plan in place. Round 2 a reality now, bring on the USA East. And rain. Whole lotta water. Would tag 10 states in 12 weeks AND continent #4. Brasil!
Ran my second Maryland 26.2, thirty minutes outside Baltimore. George Washington’s Birthday. Generously attended by the local DC Run Club; nice Support! Louisiana x2 took me to French Acadia. Wild mix of y’all, Cajun & bluesy Zydeco. Fell in a pothole mile 14. Tried to quit (DNF). Po’ folks, no cars (luckily, notta heart attack). So…3 hours later, finished, collected a medal, done. North Carolina’s Tobacco Road. Easy rail-to-trail towpath. Reconnected with friends of marathons past, an unofficial 50 State reunion 🙂
Trail in PA, in March? Was the $1 a mile [cheap] registration that grabbed me. Midnite flight to Philly, 2-hour drive north, Saturday a.m. start. Lederhosen, accordion tunes & sauerkraut. Aid stations FULLY stocked, trails snow-free. Upbeat, German & FUN. Totally unexpected. Fave of my third Dozen. Organizers done good. Hidden gem.
April showers, May showers too. Athens Ohio – college town. Wilmington Delaware – urban town. Holyoke Massachusetts – ski town? Trail/road mix thru abandoned (hilly) Mt Tom Resort. Trail portion – leafy GREEN. Northampton road – meh, not so much.
FARM CHARMED in Vermont. Country roads, rained the entire day – but GREEN & New England & COWS & Vermonter accents. Big SMILE memory. Vienna Illinois, Day 7 of Mainly Marathon’s Riverboat Series. Easy forgiving dirt towpath. STRONG 50k day. Returning November 2019 for my first 50-MILE finish (key word ‘finish’). Tunnel Hill. Fingers crossed. GOAL run.
Memorial Day sweltered in Buffalo New York. July sunburn (& altitude) in the high Rockies of Ennis MONTANA.
ALASKA. Place it where all began, state I ran marathon #1. Round 2’d on the peninsula, in Alaska’s ‘Rainforest’ capital Juneau. Hiked UP Mount Roberts, kayaked UNDER Mendenhall Glacier. King Crab feasted, Douglas Island marathon’d. Salmon JAM in Cordova next July (music fest not jelly). Bringin’ home a cooler of fresh-catch SALMON (another marathon medal too). A-L-A-S-K-A!
Why do you marathon? Folks, it’s the adventure.
African elephants, Antarctic penguins, Moscow’s Red Square. DREAM & dream BIG! ❤️
| # | State | Marathon | City | Date | Time | Bib # |
| 109 | MD | George Washington’s Birthday Marathon | Greenbelt | 2/18/2018 | 5:00.13 | 164 |
| 111 | LA | Zydeco Marathon | Lafayette | 3/4/2018 | 5:39.31 | 134 |
| 112 | NC | Tobacco Road Marathon | Cary | 3/18/2018 | 4:37.04 | 481 |
| 113 | PA | Naked Prussian Trail Marathon | Leesport | 3/31/2018 | 5:58.03 | 189 |
| 115 | OH | Athens Marathon | Athens | 4/15/2018 | 4:49.05 | 188 |
| 116 | IL | Riverboat Series Day 7 50K | Vienna | 4/21/2018 | 5:33.14 | 27 |
| 117 | DE | Delaware Marathon | Wilmington | 4/29/2018 | 4:18.58 | 1053 |
| 118 | MA | Race of Champions Marathon | Holyoke | 5/6/2018 | 4:35.41 | 41 |
| 119 | VT | Shires of Vermont Marathon | Bennington | 5/20/2018 | 5:01.35 | 330 |
| 120 | NY | Buffalo Marathon | Buffalo | 5/27/2018 | 5:00.38 | 579 |
| 123 | MT | Big Sky Marathon | Ennis | 7/22/2018 | 5:37.23 | 625 |
| 124 | AK | Juneau Marathon | Juneau | 7/28/2018 | 5:09.32 | 88 |
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- Maryland, Louisiana, North Carolina & PA
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- Ohio, Illinois, Delaware & Massachusetts
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- Vermont, New York, Montana & Alaska
