rafting

Missoula Marathon, Montana

Published July 14, 2014

WHY RUN MISSOULA…

“Fireworks at the start. Sun rising over the distant mountains. The only hill worth mentioning was so gentle and brought you up along a ridge line overlooking the river on one side and endless supply of shady trees on the other. Two spectators sitting atop their horses to encourage runners up said climb, which was also the image on the well-designed race shirt. The number of spectators is about what you would expect from a relatively rural marathon, but their enthusiasm and offering of support (food and mist stations) was enormously helpful – one guy played his piano on his yard. A truly enjoyable event!” — SK from New York

Earliest race time to date – 630am start – but no argument here. Hottest day of the year forecasted for Missoula. Ugh – not a fan of heat. After securing primo parking downtown (near the finish line), walked to UM where runners took a yellow school bus to neighboring Frenchtown for the Marathon start.

Firework ignited start – took a mile to work my way thru the initial herd of runners. Surprisingly, today’s course was relatively flat. After spending the last few days in Glacier, I had expected a lotta hills. Folks flew by until the first stretch of rolling hills at mile 12 – hills proved to be my strength, wow how times change.

Duluth spoiled me. I now know sub-4 is possible – that’s the new bar, my expectation.

The sun soared & I seared. At mile 17, I felt its heat on my cheek & neck. At mile 21, the 4 hour pacers caught me in a quiet neighborhood, turning on 4th heading downtown. Stayed close for a half mile. Mentally knew I could not match their pace 5 more miles. And then they were gone.

Many residents turned on lawn sprinklers to help [runners] combat the heat – thanks! Steadied myself on an orange traffic cone at mile 24. I struggled. A lady asked if I wanted ice. Back of my neck, exactly what I needed.

The day topped out at 97 degrees – crazy hot, but I finished. 8 consecutive marathon months, 9 states completed.

K R Haga

2014 Missoula Marathon

Full Marathon – July 13, 2014

4:27.21

Overall Place 580

Age Place 35

Body felt good so spent my last day whitewater rafting on the Clark Fork River through Alberton Gorge. No grizzlies this day, but spotted a lotta bald eagles – ‘baldies’ to locals.

BIG, beautiful, imaginative, scenic, inspiring. I’ll be back Montana.

Whitewater Rafting (Clear Creek CO)

Published May 24, 2013

LOVE showing off my adopted home state. Ashton & Tom flew in from Jersey, Stephen from New Hampshire. What better way to kick off Memorial Day weekend than whitewater rafting in Colorado? Yahoo!

Woke early on Friday to drop Ro at Camp Bow Wow and squeeze in a mile-half glacier hike at St. Mary’s near Idaho Springs. Talk about troopers, my East Coast bunch faced snow & 10,300 ft elevation less than 24 hours after leaving their (almost) sea level homes. Up, down in an hour-half…then back on the road – destination: rafting company, Liquid Descent on Clear Creek.

Signed us up for an advanced ½ day rafting trip (Class 4 rapids) so asked my visitors not to share actual skill levels until we got on the boat. No regrets. Go big or go home, right? 🙂

Forward, backward – no worries. It was the multiple commands where we struggled – left back, right forward. Think I’m reaching an age where I need 5-10 seconds reaction processing time.

No more than 15 minutes into the trip, Alan (our guide) shouted ‘High side left’. Ash went left (correct), I went right (wrong) & suddenly 3 of us were out of the raft floating in the rapids reaching for hands. Ash got trapped under the boat but came up quickly & subsequently pulled in by Alan. All back in the boat & catching our breath, Alan asks Ash to let him up so he can steer our raft — yeah, we’re still floating down Clear Creek.

Gotta say the 4 of us now actively listened to Alan’s commands much more closely.

For the record, (1) the water was crazy cold (created by snow melt) & (2) Stephen was today’s only non-‘swimmer’ (often razzed for swimming during a raft trip a few years ago on Lake George, NY – guess that will have to stop :)).

On the bus ride back to Idaho Springs (shared ride with 2 other raft groups), Ash was crowned ‘swimmer’. Why Ash? Near the end of our day, Ash took a 2^nd dip & this time not successfully pulled back into the boat. She did all the right things, laid on her back with feet pointing downstream, kicking boulders to protect her head as she personally rode the rapids. Another boat guide ahead of us rescued Ash, and kept her shoreside ‘til we caught up. Bruised tail bone & some arm bruises (from being pulled out of the water) but no cuts or broken bones. Yeah she’s tough as nails. Super impressed.

Awesome way to kick off a 4-day holiday weekend. Sign me up again!