no April Fools — I’m in Kansas
Marathon Maniac pal Stacy got a group of us Maniacs excited – signed up months & months ago for this weekend’s trail marathon in Kanopolis State Park. Rural Kansas, no hotels for 45 miles – no worries, Stacy thought of that too. Rented a cabin nearby…those go fast, she’s a thinker & a planner. Super lucky, I run with a good crowd 🙂
Stacy, husband Dan, Mike & Ed (both from Austin) travelled early Friday, snapping shots with the World’s Largest Czech Egg (who knew, right?), board cutouts of Buffalo Bill & Annie Oakley…among other wacky roadside attractions. I on the other hand, road tripped 7 hours alone. Sometimes work gets in the way of weekend plans. No arguments — I’m a huge fan of paying my mortgage — & ya’ll know I’m a car karaoke champ. LOL>
Grabbed a bag of roadside Fritos & gassed up in Burlington (last Colorado stop). Would be driving long stretches of Kansas highway with few opportunities for fuel.
*pre-race text from Stacy*
It will be cold in the morning, hot at midpoint, and breezy at the finish.
You can have a drop bag that you’ll see at 13 and again at 17. My husband will transport your bags for us.
There’s an unmanned aid station (jugs of water) at 7 and 22.
There are 5 water crossings, the last 2 are waist deep. Bring a Baggie for your phone. After that is the .25 mile sand pit much sandier than Bataan for sure.
We’re running around the lake. I’ll go over the map with you all fri night and sat morning during breakfast. Pretty hard to get lost but good bearings always help.
Get ready for “holy cow”!!!! Every 4 miles is something new!
We’re at Kanopolis State Park in the Buffalo Bill Cabin (#5). Anyone bringing a harmonica?
38°36′12″ N 97°58′33″ W
Yep, those are the GPS coordinates – state road highways thru rural ‘no cell service’ counties. High beam driving – only me & the bugs on my windshield. No people land. 11pm arrival; cabin door left unlocked – zzz’s ‘til 530am.
Sub-freezing temps, cool morning. Planted near a wood-burning fireplace ‘til our 630 start.
Narrow single trail thru rutted prairie. Blah, blah, blah – waist deep WATER CROSSING – those were the words rolling in my head.
Still early, feeling STRONG, rolled fast down a dry canyon gulch – runner jam, brackish water & mud ahead. Moved in front & leaped hard…in deep thick mud. How deep? Came out without a shoe. Maybe settle down & think before I leap, huh? Another runner helped me pull my shoe loose. Left hand smelled like sewer rest of day, not sure that was water 🙁
Up, down rolling canyon hills & long grassland treks.
IT band left knee: sharp pain, mile 11. Cruelest injury ever – could run as long & hard as I wanted UPHILL, but downgraded from run/trot/walk on all downhill stretches. Luckily I made peace with UPHILL last year.
Quick refuel at mile 13. Port-a-potty on a flat-bed trailer at mile 14 (kinda ghetto, but thanks), then looped my way up & down back to mile 18 – right foot still dry…log crossings every stream bed. What was Stacy talking about?
More Fritos (don’t be a hater, a guy’s got eat), climbed a cattle gate (another marathon first) then…WATER.
First baptism is a memory you soon don’t forget.
Cold river water. Guy in front of me was taking off his shoes but I knew better. This crossing only hit my thighs…they’re only gonna get deeper (Stacy’s never steered me wrong). Wore a pair of old Newtons today; they’d not make the Colorado return home.
Last 7 miles: canyon arroyos, deep rutted grassland and WATER. 9 crossings in total, 4 waist deep. As the day heated up, I warmed up to the water. By the last 2 [water crossings], no hesitation – I was a pro.
FAVE all-time trail run. Downed burgers & a hot dog – getting spoiled at these grassroots trail events. I’ll be back.
LOVE LOVED my finishers ‘medal’, a hand-welded Rockin’ K horseshoe. FAAANNNTASTIC day!
K R Haga
Rockin K – Marathon – Ellsworth, KS Apr 2, 2016
Overall: 40 6:13:43
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- planted near a wood-burning fireplace ‘til our 630 start
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- morning sunshine & prairie grassland
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- UP UP canyon bluffs in Kanopolis State Park
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- 5 water crossings — just wait…it’s coming
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- all trail, all day
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- mud, rutted prairie, water crossings & sand — this one had it all
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- waist-deep in chilly water
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- fave all-time trail run
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- mud & blood: earned today’s AWESOME horseshoe award
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- burgers & dogs — FAAANNNTASTIC!
Up before dawn Sunday, started the long road trip home.
Afternoon plans? Dinner & a movie. Fancy fish take-out & a soon-to-be movie classic, Avalanche Sharks, w/ Ash & Tom. LOL>
After a snowboarder inadvertently starts a major avalanche, the moving snowfield uncovers and wakes a prehistoric “snow shark” which had been trapped beneath. The shark develops an appetite for human flesh and the staff at the Twin Pines Ski Resort begins getting reports of missing people and strange finned creatures moving under the snow.
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- rural Kansas sunrise
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- meanwhile back in Colorado…
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- soon-to-be movie classic on Ash & Tom’s Jumbotron
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- Great White terror on the slopes — skiing will never be the same 🙂
Kansas Car Karaoke, 7 hours (in reverse)
March 2016 Maniac Newsletter
Road trip delay: woke Friday to heavy Spring SNOW – 7 inches…much more than the inch forecast.
Weekend bucket list destination: Bataan Memorial Death March on the White Sands Missile Range.
Sunday’s marathon has been on my wish list for a year – signed up opening day. More than a weekend 26.2 – this is a military March, replicating the WWII trek US & Philippine POWs took in 1942.
We honor these men; we remember their service. 3 remaining Bataan survivors would attend tomorrow’s opening day ceremonies – including 98-year old Ben Skardon.
Invisible Symbols – The Ben Skardon Story
Started my journey mid-week, self-tutoring on everything Bataan via YouTube videos. Unfortunately, much of WWII history studied in school is limited to Europe & Pearl Harbor. Battles in Asia generally only receive a single paragraph in the best of textbooks. My Grandfather served in the Pacific.
The Bataan Memorial Death March honors a special group of World War II heroes. These brave soldiers were responsible for the defense of the islands of Luzon, Corregidor and the harbor defense forts of the Philippines.
The conditions they encountered and the aftermath of the battle were unique. They fought in a malaria-infested region, surviving on half or quarter rations with little or no medical help. They fought with outdated equipment and virtually no air power.
On April 9, 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces. The Americans were Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marines. Among those seized were members of the 200th Coast Artillery, New Mexico National Guard.
They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. Thousands died. Those who survived faced the hardships of a prisoner of war camp. Others were wounded or killed when unmarked ships transporting prisoners of war to Japan were sunk by U.S. air and naval forces.
they were beaten and starved as they marched. Those who fell were bayoneted. Some of those who fell were beheaded by Japanese officers who were practicing with their samurai swords from horseback. The Japanese culture at that time reflected the view that any warrior who surrendered had no honor; thus was not to be treated like a human being.
To avoid Friday night metro traffic, didn’t leave Boulder ‘til 7 – overnight’d in Trinidad, 15 miles from the New Mexico border.
7am Saturday start – 6 hour drive remaining; boring all-highway trek.
Gas tank odometer bottomed ZERO 10 miles outside of Santa Fe. Would have never fueled in tiny Eldorado had I not been desperate but rewarded heartily with homemade green chile chicken tamales. surprise breakfast YUM – the gods were a smilin’ 🙂
BIG weather change.
Freezing rain iced my windshield first 2 hours of New Mexico – but from there, high mountain desert. Sunshiny skies, temps jacked up almost 50 degrees. Shed my sweatshirt, opened the windows & took in desert – no stopping ‘til the Mexico border.
Reached White Sands Missile Range 2pm. Whole lotta folks arriving today. Hour-half (long 90 minutes) to get processed. Without a military ID ‘speed pass’, just gotta take it in stride. Security of our bases is paramount – no argument here.
Parked, asked for directions. Quickly jetted to the PDC (fast learned military folk only talk acronyms – LOL>), listened to two Bataan survivors recall their experiences. It just got real.
Bib pick-up at Bldg 501, soaked in the atmosphere. Crazy proud to be an American!
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- road trip delay — Friday SNOW — much more than the inch forecast
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- Bataan Death March Statue
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- without a military ID ‘speed pass’, just gotta take it in stride
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- propane powered rocket
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- on base — crazy PROUD to be an American!
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- 98-year old Bataan survivor, Ben Skardon
New Mexico Car Karaoke, 10-hour road trip
11:25pm – boarded my last red-eye flight ‘til August, when I travel to Kathmandu 🙂 Landed in Boston at 4:45am EDT, hour half later caught my connection to Washington-Dulles. Rental car pick-up, 30 minutes to Leesburg to see my Aunt Joyce – before the 2-hour trek south to Charlottesville, this weekend’s marathon destination.
IHOP breakfast, hot chocolate at Starbucks – think I talked out my dear Aunt. LOVE, LOVE time with family. 50 State Quest has been great for seeing family & friends in 2015 🙂
Late start to Charlottesville, compounded by heavy Good Friday traffic – lotta folks travelling home for Easter. Starting to feel sleep-deprived, channel surfed ‘til I locked on a local bluegrass station. Nothing spells Appalachia like bluegrass – FAAANNNTASTIC!
Bib pick-up in historic Court Square, 15 minutes further to today’s pre-race destination: Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson has long been my favourite American President, expanding our shores from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Having always been enthralled with the American West, Jefferson best supports my present day life – commissioning the historic Lewis & Clark expedition, exploring modern day Colorado. Jefferson was a mega-mind, a thinker, an inventor, an agriculturist.
Entering iconic Monticello, one is immediately impressed with the dome architecture – first of its kind in Colonial America. Jefferson’s Grand Hall greeted visitors with exotic North American treasures – Native American art, buffalo hides, elk/bighorn/antelope/moose antlers, mastodon bones PLUS maps of all known continents (surveyed portions of Africa & the Americas).
Absolutely incredible all this existed in early America – before roads, before D.C. was built/created as our nation’s capitol. WOW!
Took the tour – Jefferson’s Book Room, his gardens, Parlor, Dining Room, bedchamber, wine cellar & Monticello Graveyard. What an amazing journey! Grounds closed at 7:30pm – yikes, time to go.
Quick shut eye, tomorrow will come soon enough. Marathon Day.
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- Look who I found in Virginia? My beautiful Aunt Joyce – LOVE time with family!
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- Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville VA
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- horticulturist: Jefferson grew 330 varieties of some 99 species of vegetables & herbs
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- wine cellar & French-style kitchen under Monticello (where pics were allowed)
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- everyone remarks of Monticello’s flowers; my best shot in early Spring on a rainy, overcast day
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- penned USA Declaration of Independence & expanded our borders West
bluegrass road-trippin’
