USA Adventure

REVEL Mt Lemmon

Published November 2, 2019

Happy RUNniversary! 6 years, 72 consecutive months. Just WOW!

Streak near-miss after March’s DNF, my 2^nd 50 FAIL. Next attempt, next week. Tunnel Hill. Flat. Winter weather. BESTEST crew. And Sis. 50 miles of Possum Holler outhouse tales. LOL>

Wisdom from Pistol – find a Plan B. No guarantee next Saturday’s 50 won’t deliver a third excuse. So… REVEL Mt Lemmon. Hour-15 flight from Denver. Touchdown Friday, HOME 20 hours later. In-n-out. Streak secure. Tunnel Hill 50, no pressure. Just a long long fun-run in rural Illinois.

Hilton check-in. Phone alarm set. 4am school bus departure. Notta lotta sleeps but a whole lotta positives. Early run start = guaranteed hotel shower post-race. Bigger perk than ya think.

O’ dark hundred drop-off. Top of an Arizona mountain, surrounded by other Mylar-layered bodies. Porta-potty. Check, done. Big race, whole lotta marathoners. Hour sit & wait.

Lotta BQs at REVEL events. Not 100% on board with 4000ft elevation drops, weighted the same as KC’s hill fest…but for me, really doesn’t matter. As a male, BQ time is pretty ridiculous. Plenty of other Massachusetts gems. Falmouth, Holyoke, next year Hyannis. Ok, maybe not the same. HA!

Steady even strategy. Easy to tick 7-minute miles first 5 markers but hamstrings & quads pay later. Very different impact downhill. Goal race is next week. Easy comfortable, Arizona fun run.

Sunrise START. Piñon pine, sharp rock caverns. High above the desert, landscape explosion 🌵

Lined with the 4:05 folks. Young pace gal from Dallas. Runner from Prescott. 2 from Austin. Others weaved in, out again. Pack grew after the elevation steadied. Conversation-pace first 8 miles. No strain, easy downhill stride. Couple inclines, long stretch of flat.

Thermometer didn’t spike ‘til mile 19. 30 point increase. Heat-struggled next 2 miles. 82 degrees. Group goodbyes. Me & Prescott walked it out. She needed the company, I digged the camaraderie. Same medal, 4:05 or 4:30. 4-mile walk. Easy jog at marker 25.

Cactus FINALE finish. Well done, REVEL. Beautiful scenic course. Marathon 168, Arizona #5 😊

MT LEMMON

K r Haga – Nov. 2, 2019

Bib #   1007

Chip Time       4:36:48.25

TIMING POINTS

Start    6:31:01

First Quarter 7:29:40 6.55     58:38.29         8:57

Half Way 8:30:00 13.1      1:58:58.74      9:04

Three Quarter 9:30:24 19.65   2:59:22.79      9:07

5K To Go 10:13:36 23.1      3:42:35.00      9:38

1 Mile To Go    10:52:58 25.2     4:21:57.00      10:23

Finish 11:07:50 26.2     4:36:48.25      10:33

: early a.m. START

: piñon pine & canyon

: 8000-to-4000 elevation

: downhill ‘training’ run

: 6-year RUNniversary

: 3rd REVEL, Arizona #5

: the streak lives on

: Rover family LOVE

REVEL Mt Lemmon

Posted in Marathons/Ultras, Pacific/Desert | Leave a comment

Kansas City Marathon

Published October 19, 2019

Union Station

My 10-week marathon challenge ends here. Home of the Chiefs, baseball Royals & America’s BEST barbeque: KANSAS CITY. Whatta adventure! Iceland, Austria, 3x Canada. Not bragging (honest) – just amazed. SIX years ago my journey began; six CONTINENTS later. Seems I’m living someone else’s TV story. SUPER blessed 😊

Direct flight from Denver, Lyft-transport downtown, Westin Hotel check-in. EXPO literally across the street. KC’s Union Station. Both my run clubs booth-represented. GREAT to see Paula & Steve (50 State founders). Ya know they direct a hometown race every New Year. Charity supports youth-running in South Texas. 2020, hmmm….

Saturday 7am. Combined Full/Half Start. Thousands queued. Sea of runners. And RAIN. No forecast fail this week. Light precip (couple downpours) but steady.

National Anthem. Bluesy sax solo. Well done, KC.

[It’s a 2-minute tune; gals REMOVE your caps. ALL Americans share this freedom.]

Started way way back. Two miles of block-n-tackle. Dodge/zig zag, crowd-walks ‘round the curves. Caught my pace group at mile 4. Hung close for 15 miles.

Steady/strong/HILLY first-half. Bro’s Iron Warehouse tee soaked heavy with rain. Quads burning. Found myself hill-broken by marker 18. LEAD legs last eight miles. Jog, slog, walk. push, PUSH, push. Ugly endings can beat ya up, blanket the soul. Eyes forward.

5-hour FINISH, LONG 2^nd Half. [Perspective: same marathon medal an hour earlier.] We are not running anyone else’s race; we are running ‘the race that is set before us’. Message share from Mom (last Monday). Like she knew. Resonated strong ❤️

Kansas City, a USA hidden-secret. GREAT town, GREAT people, GREAT barbeque. Short hour-15 flight away.

Colorado Sunday HOME. Forecast: SNOW, our season’s SECOND ❄️

Your 2019 Kansas City Marathon Results!

848 K R Haga

Finish Time 5:05:22.06 11:40 min/mile

: historic Union Station

: EXPO Day

: Friday FOOD FEST 🍴

: pre-race devotional

: marathon START

: strong/HILLY first-half

: KC Masterpiece 🏁

: 10 week CHALLENGE

: GREAT town, GREAT barbeque

: Fall 2019 collection

Kansas City Marathon

Posted in Heartland, Marathons/Ultras | Leave a comment

Vienna 2.0

Published October 16, 2019

2nd chance 50: Tunnel Hill. Calendar: Saturday November 9^th.

Vienna 2.0, the sequel. Same Sis, different Vienna. VI-enna, not VEE-nna.

Not just Sis but the entire Hilo crew. Pollyanna recruited Paul. Stephen cashed in Delta SkyMiles. St. Louie reunion next month. FAMILY road trippin’ to Vienna, Illinois!

BEST CHANCE finishing a 50-mile ultra. Right time, right CREW, best Sis ever. Hoped to run first 20 miles together. Pacers not allowed ‘til sunset (Tunnel RD confirmed).

Plan B… buy Sis a bib. Run day-hours tandem, walk sundown stretch w/ Paul.

Sister’s plan… earn a new Garmin badge & finish 50 miles together. BOSS move. Told ya, best Sis EVER. Paul on navigation, Stephen singing 70’s tunes (Donna Summer, Bee Gees, ABBA – we’ve got a list). Wonder Twins UNITE. SUPER motivated!

Run, walk, crawl… but FINISH. FIFTY miles. Doing this ❤️