Pawnee-Buchanan - A Probable

One of Jimmy's college friends, Ian, is writing a book with two others called "50 Classic Trails of America". Pawnee-Buchanan was on the "probable" list, so Ian was flying out from Maine to check it out and take some photos and was looking for some running partners. Having never run the loop before, I was down. The loop is about 26.5 miles with about 6,500 feet of vertical gain and it is less than an hour's drive from my house. We saw hardly anyone else on the trail that day (maybe because it was in the middle of the week), the aspens were gloriously golden, and the wind on top of the first pass was wild and dramatic, but short-lived enough that we were still having fun. Conversation was fun, waterfalls were flowing and the pizza afterwards was delicious as usual. All the photos are Ian's!

The Softest of Rocks

Matt, Johnny and I set out to run the Hardrock 100 course but over 3 days during the 4th of July holiday weekend. Running this course while resting in the towns is colloquially known as "The Soft Rock". We have friends based in Silverton and Ouray and we had a small support crew that was psyched for some mountain camping, who were happy to meet us in Telluride and for camping, so we had food, a camping set up and were largely living luxuriously. We were running about 30 miles per day. We moved pretty well as a trio, saw some amazing flowers, swam in the lake of our dreams and sustained only minor injuries on the technical descent of the snowfield. By the time that Johnny and I were running our final miles, we were pretty sad for it to all be over and were starting to feel well-conditioned for running lots of miles each day. Some themes were Matt waking the girls up with coffee every morning,  exploring the idea that Johnny taught me how to run, and some minor hip massaging each night to keep any IT band troubles at bay.

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The Glencoe Skyline Traverse

I went back to Scotland to run the Glencoe Skyline traverse, which was something like 32 miles with about 16,000 feet of ascent. It was very muddy and very fun. I had a totally killer crew, who were mostly there to enjoy their holidays but also were great supporters - Keith (my Dad), Susan (my Step-Mum), Sasha (my Colorado room-mate) and Nellie and Lottie (my parents' four-legged children).

I was pretty clean and dry at the start of the race, which was kicked off with a bag-piper.

I started to feel a bit better towards the end, so was able to move smoothly across the last ridgeline and into the finish line.
At the end of the race, I was feeling pretty happy, hanging out with my Dad and the dogs, but was definitely in need of a wash to clean up the blood and mud from my legs. It was nice to be so close to my Dad's home for a restful night.

This was an early section of the course where we scrambled up to the summit of one of the Munroes. Every time we were above ~2,500 feet of elevation, we were in a cloud, which felt pretty magical and also got us pretty wet.

I was given a beer at the finish line, so thought it would be best to crack it on the podium, a few minutes after finishing to add alcohol to the concoction of caffeine and painkillers in my bloodstream.

The NeverSummer 100KM

I had signed up for the NeverSummer 100KM with some friends... but for a variety of reasons, I ended up as the only one on the start line. I had gotten off El Capitan about 6 weeks before the race, which I thought would give me ample time to prepare. Unfortunately, I had tweaked my back doing some hauling on the wall and it was only cured to the point of being able to run when I saw Grace, the massage therapist of dreams, the week before. So, I was entering the race super nervous about my body's ability to withstand such a long distance. For this reason, my plan was to start slow and taper off from there. The course was so beautiful and varied that it ended up moving along really smoothly and I was able to finish almost before dark! Sleeping in the van by the finish line, I could hear lots of the others run in along with the fun facts that they had submitted, which made for a fun night!

The Perfect Run A.K.A The Four Pass Loop

I had heard nothing but good things about The Four Pass Loop in Aspen - 27 miles of pristine mountain running with beautiful wild flowers, clear alpine lakes and four passes above 12,500 feet - so when I was free one Sunday, I decided to give it a go. The people weren't lying. I cannot think of any way for the Four Pass Loop to be better... and I think what that means is that, to me, it is perfect.

Because I had claimed The Four Pass Loop to be the "perfect run", I had to come back the next year to run it again. With the horrendous Colorado fires in 2020, things looked really different the second time around. Still such a majestic course. Despite the smoke and being fueled by nothing but Snickers (I stopped to give my snacks to a person who was hungry while I was driving out of the city, so Snickers was the best gas station option), I think I was about an hour faster than the previous year... Shared some beers and some stories at the trailhead with some friendly hikers when I finished. 

The SpeedGoat ~50kM~

Given that we were racing in the time of COVID, there was a staggered start, so Matt and Frank, despite having inspired me to enter, started at a different time than me. Luckily, I was in the final wave, so I did get to watch their beautiful backs as we climbed to the highest point on the course and then I got to enjoy some watermelon with them at the penultimate aid station. An awesome race with each climb steeper than the last and a lot of very technical descents. The flowers were popping off and, earlier in the week, when I was warming up on the course, I saw a big old moose. During the race, the last 6 miles were brutal for me, so I am excited to try again next year and perhaps enjoy those last miles. Having the gang (Jami, Brynn and Sasha) at the finish line was my fuel for that final hour and remembering Jami's cheers of "he's not just a runner, folks; he also makes a mean Bolognese" in reference to Frank still makes me giggle.

Chicago Basin - Running from the Rain

After mildly disappointing results for me and Johnny at the Kendall Mountain Race the weekend before, we had a rest day in Durango and then met up with Ethan (from Santa Fe) and headed out to run the four Chicago Basin 14ers. It ended up being around 47 miles with 13,000 feet of ascent.. We almost lost Johnny around mile 20 to a brutal blister, but with the painkillers of some kind strangers, he was able to pop it and power on. We missed the final summit due to some crazy lightning storms. I was having a hard time with the downhill but the promise of pizza and beer in Silverton coaxed me all the way back to the car. 

Rim to Rim to Rim - The Grand Canyon

The Rim to Rim to Rim run in the Grand Canyon had been something I had wanted to do since I had seen the canyon for the first time in 2017. It wasn't quite the season for running through, given that it was 108 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade; however, this was my chance because I was driving through on route to Yosemite. So I got a late start and began the run. It was spectacular. I allowed the beauty to distract me from the heat. About 48 miles, 11,000 feet of ascent and an ungodly volume of lemonade later, I was back at the South Rim... exhausted and content. Can't wait to run this again in the spring.