trail-running

Oregon Trail Run of Nebraska

Published October 22, 2016

While researching last week’s make-up marathon, noticed another late addition to the Maniacs calendar. 7 hour car ride. Long haul but would be trail running the Oregon Trail. Late registration, body feeling good…road trippin’ to Hebron, Nebraska.

Run history. Run beauty. For the Oregon Trail Run of Nebraska, we have combined a run on the route of the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Pony Express route with one of the most picturesque roads in Southern Nebraska. The first half of the Marathon will travel parallel to and intersect with the route that settlers took as they crossed Nebraska on their way to points west. The first half of the route is mostly flat and offers a view that stretches for miles. You can imagine the trail of “prairie schooners” keeping to the hilltops as they headed west together.

The second half of the route drops down into the Little Blue River valley, the gravel road that follows the river takes you on gently rolling hills through the cottonwood, oak, locust and ash canopies, by beautiful and fading farmsteads and limestone cliffs. The trees should be in their peak fall color on race day and the surrounding landscape and abundant wildlife offer up photo opportunities around every bend.

Out of work late, didn’t reach the [Nebraska] border ‘til past 9pm. Listened to a high school football game over the radio – like going back in time. Open highway last 4 hours, just me & a trail of truckers. Planned on camping near North Platte or maybe Kearney. Camping? Yep, marathoning on a budget. HA!

fun fact: Nebraska is in the Central Time Zone. ARGH! unexpectedly lost an hour. new plan: sleep in my Prius for 3 hours, then back on road – Hebron at 5:45am.

Race attire change (Maniac jersey, shorts & Newtons) in a gas station restroom (very classy LOL>), bib pick-up at a local church, back under blankets for one last 30-minute power nap.

Small group of runners racing today’s FULL. Piled into a school bus. Cool temp start, clear, no wind, perfect conditions. Flat dirt farm road. Tractors & farm combines would soon choke our shared path. Summer rain plus warm Fall weather = late grow season, good year for farmers.

Went out quick. Big FAN of the landscape – rows & rows of corn. No trees in Nebraska. Should the sun warm quick, I’m gonna cook. Stark difference from my Colorado panorama.

Dodged 4 BIG machines (stirred up a lotta dust), made the turn at mile 8…had the rest of the road to myself. Stayed top 3 thru mile 10, dropped to fifth at the Half. Cottonwoods intermittently dotted dry (seasonal) river beds. Rolling hills, more corn.

Field of runners grew as late-start Halfers caught [me] on the final 10K.

Entered Hebron, passed Thayer County High on 10^th Street, finished downtown in Roosevelt Park – SUCCESS – marathon #73, 6^th place overall.

Results

1 Wesley Hochstetler Oregon Trail Marathon M 3:41:42

2 Troy Pruett Oregon Trail Marathon M 3:46:23

3 Laurence Burnsed Oregon Trail Marathon M 4:07:41

4 Tim Pratt Oregon Trail Marathon M 4:11:33

5 Shane Sundermann Oregon Trail Marathon M 4:13:01

6 KR Haga Oregon Trail Marathon M 4:27:36

7 Gale Dingwell Oregon Trail Marathon M 4:34:08

Showered in the high school gym (much appreciated), then highway-trekked home. 7 hours up, 7 hours back. Marathoning on a budget. Listened to college football (Nebraska-Purdue) on the ride home. Nebraskans LOVE their Cornhuskers.

Next weekend: Narragansett, Rhode Island

: Prairie sunrise

: cornfields & tractors: ‘NEBRASKA’

: marathon #73 (24th of 2016)

UPDATE: Purchased corn-on-the-cob popcorn while road trippin’ ‘cross the Prairie. Ash contends the instructions were vague. Nothing said to cover the bowl while microwaving. LOL>

Posted in Heartland, Marathons/Ultras | Tagged trail-running | 3 Comments

Rockin’ K Trail Marathon, KS

Published April 3, 2016

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

: planted near a wood-burning fireplace ‘til our 630 start

: morning sunshine & prairie grassland

: UP UP canyon bluffs in Kanopolis State Park

: 5 water crossings — just wait…it’s coming

: all trail, all day

: mud, rutted prairie, water crossings & sand — this one had it all

: waist-deep in chilly water

: fave all-time trail run

: mud & blood: earned today’s AWESOME horseshoe award

: 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.

: rural Kansas sunrise

: meanwhile back in Colorado…

: soon-to-be movie classic on Ash & Tom’s Jumbotron

: Great White terror on the slopes — skiing will never be the same 🙂

Kansas Car Karaoke, 7 hours (in reverse)

March 2016 Maniac Newsletter

Posted in Heartland, Marathons/Ultras | Tagged car-karaoke, trail-running | Leave a comment

Trail Trashed Marathon, Henderson NV

Published March 12, 2016

Come TRASH those trail legs at this exciting and challenging race series! The race starts at the beautiful Hidden Falls Park and continues onto the Amargosa and Sloan Canyon trail systems.

Many of the trails in this race will be raced on for the first time!

2^nd flight to Vegas in 3 weeks, 5^th consecutive weekend marathoning – all but one on trail. Scenically MUCH more interesting than road. Gonna get STRONG…trail running won’t break me. Hydration & nutrition – KEY to success [it’s a journey, change is hard].

Randy, a marathoner I met last May in Fargo, reached out & offered a place to stay – his daughter’s home, 5 miles from McCarran International. FAAANNNTASTIC – super appreciative! Only the Half for Randy tomorrow, already registered for a 100 MILE race next week. Seriously hard core – a TRUE ultra runner. (again many thanks, man)

#dirtyflyer

Up early, easy 20 minute drive to Sloan Canyon in Henderson. Thus far, everything trail has taken 8 hours+ to finish. Today’s goal: 6 Not because I was feeling super competitive – had already bought a 3pm return ticket, months before I discovered trail racing would be so humbling. Yikes!

Pop-up tent by a trailhead, another small grassroots event. Super low key, LOVE LOVED it! Most of today’s elevation climb happened early, first 4.4 miles. Stayed hyper alert. Switchbacks & steep hill grades followed by quarter-mile speed descents over rock & trail sand.

Entered Sloan Canyon couple miles further. Rolling high desert – similar to last Saturday’s Las Cruces trek. Split from Halfers at the third Aid Station (mile 12). Not another human for an hour twenty. Lost trail, climbed a canyon wall, wandered thru the desert – then in the distance, a dog. Half mile later, BRIGHT PINK: Kim from Kentucky. Back on track 🙂

Training lesson learned – eat & eat often. *FRITOS* (don’t be a hater — the salt tastes great)

Again, no humans for 45 minutes. Rebecca, a Kiwi attempting her first 50 miler, came up from behind. We chatted, ran together thru the next Aid stop, Mile 24. She looped back into the desert; I exited Sloan Canyon, escaping the shin-deep shifting sand (past 4 miles, big trail negative).

Hot, caked in salt & sand – FINISH LINE SUCCESS, marathon/ultra #56 – just over 30 miles, just under 6 ½ hours. Best trail finish yet. Maybe I should schedule afternoon flights more often? LOL> Slice of post-race pizza, located my car, autobahn’d to rental return.

1:20 finish, 3pm flight. Cut this one close…but the gods were a smilin’. Sailed thru security, gate-arrived just as my plane was boarding. Shower’s gonna feel mighty nice when I get home 🙂