Rocky Mtn West

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.

Your Results – Bighorn Trail Run
Sat, Jun 15, 4:57 PM

Congratulations K R HAGA on completing the 32M
Your Finish Time: 08:57:03.874

2 days later, results check. Not last. 173 of 327 participants (85 DNFs). Go ME!

: Bighorn SUNRISE

: Dry Fork Ridge

: single-track trail

: Wyoming’s Rockies

: high sun & WILDFLOWER

: WHITEWATER gorge

: trail ANGEL finish

: 3rd time LUCKY ☘️

: humbled & INSPIRED

WYO Redemption

Published June 14, 2019

Dream Big and Go For It

As a runner, you’ll fail lots, and you’ll fail publicly. That’s part of the point.

You will have crap races? Race anyway. You will get injured? Run anyway.

So go for it. Run with passion, race fearlessly, chase your craziest dreams without caring too much about how realistic they are. Do that, and yeah, you might fail.

And that’s pretty much the whole point.

Sheridan WY

2017 DNS. 2018 DNF. 3 times lucky?

January 5^th. Alarm set. Registered before sell-out, third year in a row. BIGHORN!

Custer’s Last Stand (an hour away). 2019: my last stand. Know what to expect, getting it done.

Never soooo much MUD in my life, this year SNOW & water crossings. Heavy winter in the high country. Purchased Lekis (trekking poles). NO fear, ready to battle.

Friday flight to County Airport Sheridan. Easy afternoon of diner food, introspective walk downtown. WYO Country. Real deal here. No Deadwood shoot-out for tourists. Honest cowboy vibe.

Best Western bib pick-up. 32-mile tag retrieved.

New year, new distance. Start 3 hours later than the 50 (past two Bighorn attempts). Most miles logged EVER (life-to-date), last year’s DNF. [Didn’t quit, missed the time cut-off.]

No pre-race museum, no Nat’l Park drive. Serious face this year. Game on.

Early to bed, early to rise. 45-minute drive to Dayton. 6am school bus from Tongue River Valley Community Center. Head demons tamed. Unfinished business.

: County Airport

: Wyoming MOOSE

: diner LUNCH 🍴

: downtown Sheridan

: Fruits of the Good Earth

: Welcome BIGHORN

: my year, my time

: experience of a lifetime

: historic SNOW ❄️

Posted in Rocky Mtn West | Tagged moose, native-american | Leave a comment

Rocky Mountain 50K

Published May 26, 2019

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 49^th 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 ❤️