Stagecoach 100 Relay - A Day/Night/Day to remember

"Too many trees!" It is very seldom that I find myself complaining about the presence of trees. They are inspiring organisms that have given me places to play, air to breath, food to eat, shade to rest and homes to creatures I adore. They are vital to our global climate and imperative to most soils. They are even a future adornment to my body in the form of tattoo. But right now, there are just too many damn trees!

I am in the middle of my 13 mile relay leg of the new ultra-marathon race, officially called the "Flagstaff to Grand Canyon 100 Mile Stagecoach Line Ultra & Relay". You can't wipe the smile off of my face but the reason that I would willingly cast away these looming Junipers, if only for a while, is that somewhere out there in the sky just behind my right shoulder is a giant gorgeous high desert full moon. Oddly enough, this is coming from a guy who loves and respects the hell out of the juniperus genus.

Juniperus osteosperma

Their stubbornness to survive on the most crumbling of erosive cliff faces. Their bounty of food, fiber and materials that sustained the hardy indigenous peoples of the Southwest. The shade and talking points that they give me as I lead my group tour of foreign visitors along the South Kaibab trail. Their "no way I'm growing in a straight line" attitude that always seems to frustrate me when an axe is above my head. And the warmth I feel and smell each Flagstaff winter night as the wood stove crackles and radiates the remaining embers from their bark. Yep, the Juniper has a place in my heart, but for now they are merely casting stubborn shadows along my path.

 I'm not sure what is it about me that seems to draw in night runs but here I am again, running along a dirt path, headlamp bobbing along and my mind trying not to remember the large variations of carnivores out here. To say I am alone on this section is an understatement. From the time that the snap bracelet hit my wrist, there has not been a single peep in the woods, light on the horizon or voice in the distance. In fact, there will not be a soul to count until I make it to the Moqui aid station...and none after till the next exchange. I am not sure if this adds to the experience but at least it is something that I am used to. I am experienced in running alone in the dark in everything from the Ragnar relay in the middle of Sonoran desert nowhere to 13 mile Grand Canyon loops. So... I am happy.

GC at night

This is the race's inaugural year and I have no doubts that success will soon be this events pacer. Ian Torrence has taken on this long time goal and put together a course that not only has beauty in it's physical surroundings but an aura of AZ history that intrigues runners both before and after the event. It follows a section of the Arizona Trail from just Northwest of the city of Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon Park entrance town of Tusayan. This route is nothing new though. It is at the same time the path chosen for the brave tourists that dawned stagecoaches on a bumpy, usually multi-day, romp from Flag to The Canyon. Although I am on just a 13 mile piece of the path, 26 brave Ultra-maniacs had the entire course to finish (of which I believe 17 actually did in the 30 hour time frame).

Relay Teams Getting Set!

Eventually I finished my leg with a smile on my face and dreams already of next year. My teammate David was off like a bolt and I hobbled into a truck and drove around to the finish where I passed out in said truck for a couple hours of sleep. I was awoken by the last of our team, Charlie, who had just finished (can't believe I missed it) and we had won the men's relay division! Although like Neil said, "We only had ourselves to beat". None the less, we celebrated our victory and celebrated runners as they came across the line. It was a great race, a beautiful run and an experience that injected me with a little bit of Ultra fever.

The Author Getting A Fan Shot With Ian Torrence

** A HUGE thank you to all of the 100 braver than the runners volunteers for enduring their own ultra challenge of below freezing temperatures! Your night was many factors harder than mine and you made the event a complete enjoyment and success.

* Thanks to Kristin Wilson for the great pictures         

Petzl NAO Headtorch Run

Crisp, Fresh, Stinging. Winter is here in the High Desert and the words needed to describe the air have transitioned beautifully. You can feel the peaks waiting in earnest for their white, fluffy blanket to arrive. They were teased in early October with a dusting but now well into November, that big humid air mass of the future is receiving mental call after mental call from a good number of the people in our town. With this arrival of winter comes the continual chopping away of minute by minute. Maybe not so much of a chopping away as a transformation from a day minute to a night. That gentle leaning of our planet now gives me a new challenge. One that I am actually perceiving to possibly be the most interesting and enjoyable of my time out on the trails. I will now be pushing my runs far through the disappearance of the sun!

Sunset over Kendrick 

 Now, I have always been quite the collector of headlamps. My time climbing out on the multi-pitch cliffs of the West, usually produce the need to carry one deep in my pack. My yearning for full moon excursions into The Canyon, whether on a Rim-to-Rim or marathon distance loop hike, necessitate not one, but two headlamps on occasion. Anyone who knows summer in The Canyon knows that "sunset starts" are the most comfortable of options and a good headlamp is not only nice but vital.

Grand Canyon night fun!

Enter, night trail running. As I have become more and more hooked on my Ultra goal, I have been seeking (and finding) inspiration through Podcasts. They give me ideas, tips, and stories to use throughout my runs. One of the tips that constantly comes through is the recommendation of the Petzl NAO headlamp. What? Are you serious? $175 for a headlamp! That's insane to a budget watching, gear mongering, school teacher like me. But wait! What's this? An old gift card from Bass Pro Shops? I already have 3 kayak/boats; I am set with my fishing gear; I have yet to be drawn for an elk tag. Ooooh, headlamps! OOOOOHHH, the Petzl! This dropped the unreachable 100 to an...eh... "affordable" 75 bucks. Click, click... sold.

Sometimes UPS tracking #'s can be fun, sometimes they are a curse. It seemed to take forever to slug across the country (man, how spoiled are we these days?). Eventually, that little brown box was waiting for me at the front door. Open...cut...pull...unfold...scan...plug...click...smile. Wait, plug and click?  The NAO comes with the ability to program different activities right into the product. Complete customization! Because the NAO has a sensor that receives light and adjusts the output accordingly, you will no longer get blinded when looking down at your guidebook or map. I have also found that it is nice when I look up to the side of the trail to check out a peculiar shape. The torch will sense the darkness that it is pointed towards and beam a 300 lumen spotlight at, what turns out to be, a large stump. How sick is that? I now have a program for my backpacking, one for Grand Canyon and one that I am currently tweaking for trail running. Don't worry if you don't want to mess with it too much or at all. I found that 2 of the pre-programmed options are actually really good for just about everything.

Slightly Excited

So, this past Tuesday evening was my 4 mile run and the way things were looking, I better take torch. I cruised through the run at aerobic pace, but somehow still made it back to my driveway with no need of external illumination. The next evening I came home from work and had my 6 miler on the schedule. This time I almost spaced the torch, having to turn around mid driveway and retrieve it from the counter. I set off knowing this was sure to be the first of many experiences with my new friend...partner...coach...& tool. Its performance was great (once I got used to the different modes and how to find them). The weight was surprisingly light for a rear battery headtorch too. All in all, I love the tech, I like the feel, and I can't wait to turn to my running partner and NOT blind them off the edge of the Canyon!



Peace

Here we go...

Here we go!
Paradise, absolute paradise! This is how I usually have to explain my awesome little mountain town. With almost 300 days of sunshine, four somewhat distinct seasons, mountain views and a humidity destroying high desert climate, I tell you again... paradise! It also doesn't hurt to have a 12,000 ft mountain out my front door, 4500 ft elevation slick-rock less than an hour South and Grand Canyon just over an hour North.
Whatever your outdoor pleasure, be it hiking through the forest, gliding down the slopes, hopping rocks on an MTB or testing your fortitude against craggy basaltic cliffs, this area never quits; oh, but don't come here cause as I always say, "everybody wants to be the last immigrant to paradise."

So in my adventures here on top of the Colorado Plateau I have come to do quite the flip flop. I used to call runners idiots. Who would want to run for fun? Sure, I used to do quite a bit of running for soccer. Sprints, hills, long distance, I did it all. But for fun? Hmmm, somethings wrong with these people. Well, now there is something wrong with me. I caught the bug up here and I have very little doubt that it was a double whammy of beautiful trails and some of the greatest people in the world.

I started the way I usually start things... full throttle and zero practice. My first trail race was a half marathon at 8200 feet with PLENTY of ups and downs! Next, I saw a post that a team was looking for a Ragnar relay partner...I'm in. But my next task, the real inspiration for this digital account of happenings, will probably need some practice if I hope to cross a few chalk lines. I have caught the bug of the Ultra.

Goal #1 - 50K     ... here we go...  

+TheCanyon.com

*I am hoping to complete the Mesquite Canyon 50K on the next Spring Equinox