“Stick them with the pointy end” was the actual phrase that popped into my head while climbing up and out of Homeward Ski Resort and the start of one of the most difficult foot races in the U.S. – an epic 200 mile journey over rocky mountains bordering the beautiful deep blue glacial waters of…
Skypilot And the Wild Kingdom – A Mt. Whitney Day Hike
Why not? Jim is an engineer at one of the companies I put in a lot of time at. About a month ago he asked about my past experience climbing Mt. Whitney, which I tackled 24 years ago with a good friend. Excited to share stories of time spent and the challenge of higher elevation, we…
The Road To Higher Ground – Bishop High Sierra 100K
AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE One of the things I enjoy about endurance racing is putting myself through the emotional ringer, almost in complete self-deprecation…overcoming the second-guessing and nagging self-doubt, even lamenting the outcome before race day. When things go normally, meaning life just drops your silly meticulous plans in the shredder, it just seems natural to fret. That’s…
Grand Canyon – Rim To Rim And Back Again, or, Honeymoon in Runner’s paradise
October 9. It’s three thirty in the morning and we’re flying across the Arizona landscape at eighty as pavement disappears into desert darkness ahead and behind. Tired, up since that train wailed by after midnight back in Williams, ready but with reservations about what to expect over the next two days – I feel under-trained,…
Rio Del Lago 100.
“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.” – John Muir It started off innocently enough. I signed up for RDL100 after my epic fail at States just to qualify for next year’s lottery and to try to get…
23 Miles To ALT – WS100
A manifesto. I will admit to anyone who bothers to listen that I romanticize running. I am a loudmouth about it. When I first discovered the concept, it was amazing. I wanted to shout – “hey! I ran four miles, this is incredible!”, before four became eight, and so on. If faith can be…
Come ICE and FIRE. Western States 100
“What they had done, what they had seen, heard, felt, feared – the places, the sounds, the colors, the cold, the darkness, the emptiness, the bleakness, the beauty. ‘Til they died, this stream of memory would set them apart, if imperceptibly to anyone but themselves, from everyone else. For they had crossed the mountains… “ …
Mountain Lakes 100. A Lesson Learned.
Last year’s 100 taught me to overcome any obstacle. It was the turning point when the shattered pieces of my life fell away. I emerged from that experience stronger, knowing I could find a way around, up, over, or through any challenge. Pine 2 Palm was special. No cheering crowds, no crew or pacer- just…
Something a Little Different, Pine to Palm 100
I have documented my experience running the Pine To Palm 100 Mile Endurance run in two parts – one with stats and facts, and one as a narrative that allows me to grab the memories bouncing around in my head and pin them down while they’re still fresh, before they inevitably drift away on the…
On Rabid Rabbits and 38 Miles of solitude
38 miles of trail running in East Fork State Park, Ohio
Run for your Life. 