Trail Runner #35

TrailRunner 8 MOST ADAPTABLE SUNGLASSES FOR THE TRAIL CELEBRATING

One Dirty Magazine

5 YEARS

SEPTEMBER 2005 ISSUE 35

Courageous

COMEBACKS Trail runners rebound from life crises

GLITTER CITY Aspen’s well-heeled trail bounty

DISPLAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER 31 $4.99 US // $5.99 CAN

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HURTS SO GOOD

Agony and Ecstasy in the East’s Mountain Masochist

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Tempo Workouts

Farmer Blow Foot and Ankle Health Tips

FEATURES

SEPTEMBER 2005 | WWW.TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | ISSUE 35

36) COURAGEOUS COMEBACKS Life-changing events posed ultra-sized obstacles to these courageous trail runners.

Here are their heart-wrenching stories and what guided them in returning to the trails.

BY JIM FREIM

42) OCTOBER FEST Folklore and athletic fortitude collide at Virginia’s Mountain Masochist Trail Run, a trailrunning rite of autumn.

BY GARETT GRAUBINS PHOTOS BY DAVID CLIFFORD

DEPARTMENTS 4) EDITOR’S NOTE 6) LETTERS 30) TAKE YOUR MARK 50) GALLERY 53) 2005 TRAIL RUNNER TROPHY SERIES 63) RUN AMOK

8) MAKING TRACKS Teva honors trail

runners at the Oscars of outdoor sports; Upstate New York’s Rebecca Harman keeps it all in perspective; Race Day: Colorado’s inaugural Greenland 50K; NEW! Trail Debris.

16) BUSHWHACK Idiots of the Trail. When recreation becomes desecration.

BY JONATHAN THESENGA

18) NUTRITION The juice is loose. Pound those fruits and veggies—with a smile.

BY KYLE BOELTE

20) TRAIL RX Feets of strength. Thwarting trouble from the ankles down means shoes that fit, strong ankles and, perhaps, gaiters.

BY JOHN VONHOF

24) ASK THE COACH Stand up straight

like your mama said; overcoming newbie confusion; women and iron deficiencies

BY THERESE IKNOIAN

26) TRAIL TIPS The secret art of the

Farmer (Nose) Blow. It’s snot too hard, really. BY CAMERON PETERSON, M.D.

28) TRAINING Pain Is tempo-rary. Tempo runs boost your performance, but pacing is everything.

BY MARK ELLER

32) GREAT ESCAPES Glitter City. Aspen

may be the playground of the rich (make that eccentric), but its core mountain community and stellar wilderness trails offer runners an escape from the material world. An insider’s look.

BY MICHAEL BENGE

54) TRAIL TESTED 2005 Sunglasses

+

Review. With interchangeable lenses, wispy weights and sleek designs, trail runners have it made in the shade.

BY GARETT GRAUBINS PLUS: Go digie. The latest crop of highquality cameras are so compact there is no excuse not to carry one.

63) RUN AMOK Cleansing experiences.

Make the best of that hangover.

BY BRIAN METZLER

THIS PAGE: ALEX KAHL OF SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY, HANGS LOOSE IN THE EARLY MILES OF THE 2004 MOUNTAIN MASOCHIST 50. READ ABOUT THE RACE ON PAGE 42.

COVER: SCOTT JUREK TRAINS AT 12,000 FEET ON LOVELAND PASS, COLORADO, FOR THE 2004 LEADVILLE TRAIL 100-MILER. BOTH PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID CLIFFORD

(ONE DIRTY MAGAZINE)

CONTENTS

RACE #1 MASAI 5K, February 5, 2005 Observatory Hill Trails, Charlottesville, VA

Presented by:

EDITO R’S NOTE

by LISA RALEIGH

See the Light

RACE #2 KINABALU 10K, February 19, 2005 Foxhaven Trails, Charlottesville, VA

RACE #3 AND #4 BEL MONTE ENDURANCE RUN 50K AND HARDROCK 25K, March 26, 2005 Sherando Lake Recreation Area, VA RACE #5 HIGHLANDS SKY 40 MILE TRAIL RUN, June 18, 2005 Monongahela National Forest, Davis, West Virginia

RACE #6 VERMONT 100 MILE ENDURANCE RUN, July 16-17, 2005 Green Mountains, Woodstock, VT RACE #7 AND #8 GREAT EASTERN ENDURANCE RUNS 100K/50K, September 17, 2005 George Washington National Forest, Charlottesville, VA RACE #9 AND #10 VITESSE 10 MILE AND HALF MARATHON TRAIL RACES, November 19, 2005 Walnut Creek Park, Charlottesville, VA

Third Annual Great Eastern Trail Run Series

Got Trails?

We do...

Race Registration/Information www.badtothebone.biz badtothebone@adelphia.net Phone: 434-293-7115 Contact: Gill, Race Director

I have run roads all my life. In high school I lived for the 400meter dash. Later in life, I loved the ease, consistency and competitiveness of road running, and on any given morning you could find me pounding the pavement, in search of a faster mile, a better 5K time or the elusive perfect half marathon. I never considered myself a serious runner, but every spring, I would pencil in a couple of races to keep my motivation piqued throughout the season.

This past winter I won a lottery position in a crowded five-mile road race outside Moab, Utah.

Normally I would have embarked on my usual pre-race, sixweek training program with an enthusiasm and competitive spirit that, I’m occasionally told, can be borderline offensive.

But this time around, I didn’t want to train. I didn’t want to put in the time. I didn’t even want to lace up my shoes.

I’m lucky that as part of the Trail Runner crew I get to work and play with incredibly talented runners —folks who run 25 milers for sport on the weekend, while training for an upcoming 100. Around the office, there’s always plenty of emotional support and free advice about trail running. One suggestion: “Don’t worry about the race, either run it for fun or don’t run it all and try something different.” With my Type A personality, there’s no such thing as running a race for fun. But the idea of not running the race at all intrigued me. The potential freedom was liberating. I decided not to compete in the road race, and instead put on my trail shoes (which I had sometimes worn on the roads for more stability) and bumble around in the woods, and it wouldn’t even count as running.

Several months later, I couldn’t stay off the trails, from Red Hill just five minutes from our office, to weekends in the Utah desert. Through sick kids and work and personal commitments, I was up at the crack of dawn pounding the trails. Soon, my fitness improved, my body adjusted to the nuances of trail running and I looked forward to the lung-burn of the dusty hills and the acceleration through the sage flats. Although I still set my watch and checked my splits just as I used to do on the roads, I ran for another, less tangible reason.

At a recent after-work party, the Trail Runner editors and a few local, hardcore trail runners were discussing hill-climbing strategies and ways to improve leg speed. Someone mentioned a trail and wanted to know if any of us knew where it was. I snapped open my purse … and pulled out a topo map for that run. After 25 years of running, I realized that I had finally crossed over into exhilarating, uncharted territory.

4 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

DAVID CLIFFORD

REFLECTIONS OF A TRAIL CONVERT

LETTERS RE-INVENTING HISTORY

Party on, Gordy Ansleigh, and put the wild back into the wild [Faces, No. 34]. But the idea that someone “invented” ultra trail running—you might as well say that someone invented the dirt we run on—is an insult to the old runner messengers, whose rapid bipedal locomotion was literally the difference between life and death (check this out: www.peabody.harvard.edu/mcnh_running/ trade.html).

Pioneer? Yes. Inspiration? Yes. But inventor of ultrarunning?

This insular notion only fuels the narcissism that drags down our raw and raucous sport. Running is no longer about life and death.

It is about finding how large and lovely the nothingness is on the other side of self-preoccupation. Just run. Find nothing.

—Thomas C. Williams, Folsom, CA Sitting here at work with the May 2005 issue [No. 33] staring at me from my desk, I could not help but fire off a comment on how good [your cover subject] Ms. Wright looks—hair down, new threads and shoes, not a drop of sweat, bouncing along Oahu’s North Shore. She makes it look so easy. It makes me want to put in some more miles this week.

Keep up the great coverage. Start slow ... then taper.

—Chris J. Neves, Longmont, CO

BREATHE EASY Thanks for your recent coverage of asthma issues [No. 33]. I wanted to let you know that, per the American Thoracic Society, folks who experience adult-onset asthma should be tested for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which often presents itself as shortness of breath in the prime of life—20s, 30s and 40s—and can lead to major destruction of lung tissue. Although technically rare, Alpha-1 is seriously underdiagnosed and bears mentioning in any discussion of adult-onset breathing problems. Testing is a major part of the answer, since steps can be taken to reduce lung deterioration.

—Nick Senzee, Alpha-1 Association (www.alpha1assoc.org), Annapolis, MD

RING OUR NECKS …

Blaring out on the cover of your May issue [No. 33] is the declaration that, “We run 19 shoes through the ringer.” Is 6 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

that the telephone ringer? The bell ringer? Many people don’t stop and think about common sayings. The saying “to be put through the wringer” means to be asked difficult or unpleasant questions, often to determine whether or not you are performing a job satisfactorily.

Likely, no one on your editorial team grew up washing sheets for a 16-bed inn using a wringer washer. Every sheet had to be “put through the wringer” twice before it was hung on the clothesline to dry. If you weren’t dexterous enough your fingers could, and did, get caught in the wringer. Apparently your copy editors need to be put through the wringer to determine if they are performing their duties satisfactorily.

—Sally McLaughlin, Anchorage, AK

SECRET WEAPON “I see them running all the time as I drive to work,” my father would say in reference to a neighboring town’s highschool cross-country runners. “And they run year round, which probably explains their dominance.”

I had recently joined my school’s crosscountry team, although it was more a seasonal sport for me, something to pass the time until baseball season. We had no real “secret weapon” in our arsenal other than simply running, especially the standard interval training.

Our high school hosted the fourth meet of the season, and over a hundred participants raced through our familiar three-mile course. Halfway through the

race, many runners were harried by swarms of aggravated bees.

Huffing and puffing at the finish, our team noted that all the runners pounding the trail had stirred up the normally docile bees, which reacted in kind. A rival team member however, commented, “So that’s your secret weapon!”

—Bennett Tohara, Varna, Bulgaria

YOUR TAX DOLLARS NOT AT WORK First, I love your magazine, and usually devour it cover-to-cover the first day that I receive it. Somehow, I need to learn to prolong the experience ...

Regarding the Fee Demo program [Making Tracks, No. 34], philosophically, I am opposed to such a plan, because, ideally, our government should be using our tax dollars to maintain outdoor recreation opportunities. On the other hand, I equate the situation to the one my wife and I have experienced at my daughter’s school—we volunteer, raise money at an annual auction, paint walls and pull weeds and do whatever else it takes to provide a quality educational environment for our kids in an attempt to make up for what the state budget lacks. The school should be paying for all of this, but simply can’t.

PATITUCCIPHOTO

DOING IT WRIGHT

PEN397_NthnGrndTetns_TrailRnnr.qxp

6/10/05

3:05 PM

Similarly, given the fight over tax dollars between governmental departments and special interest groups, combined with a rapidly growing use of outdoor facilities, it’s easy to see how [public lands and their facilities] don’t receive the attention they deserve. And we trail users, as a party with a vested interest, need to step up and pay this rather insignificant amount to help out.

—Phil Orlowski, Portland, OR

P.S. Would you please tell me which trail race Jonathan Thesenga was referring to in his article about the “most screwed-up trail race ever” [Bushwhack, No. 34]? I promise I won’t tell.

Editor’s Note: Sorry, but we can’t reveal that information.

Caveat emptor.

■

EDITORIAL

CIRCULATION

PUBLISHER Duane Raleigh

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR

draleigh@bigstonepub.com EDITOR Michael Benge mbenge@bigstonepub.com SENIOR EDITOR Garett Graubins ggraubins@bigstonepub.com COLUMNS EDITOR Alison Osius aosius@bigstonepub.com PHOTO EDITOR David Clifford dclifford@bigstonepub.com CREATIVE ART DIRECTOR Bret Roedemeier broedemeier@bigstonepub.com ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR

Bonnie Hofto bhofto@bigstonepub.com PRODUCTION MANAGER

Quent Williams qwilliams@bigstonepub.com

Paula Stepp pstepp@bigstonepub.com

THIS IS HUMAN PROPULSION LABORATORY No. 32

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER

WASATCH MOUNTAINS Challenge: Wasatch 100 HPL Experiment #020: Dana Miller

Lindsay Brown lbrown@bigstonepub.com RETAIL SALES COORDINATOR

Rowan Fryer rfryer@bigstonepub.com

ACCOUNTING Mark Kittay CPA accounting@bigstonepub.com BIG STONE PUBLISHING 1101 Village Road UL-4D, Carbondale, CO 81623 Office: 970-704-1442 Fax: 970-963-4965 www.trailrunnermag.com

ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Lisa Raleigh lraleigh@bigstonepub.com

Most companies’ new products are born in the boardroom. Not the new Nathan Elite 2V. Because, at Nathan, our labs are the beautiful and grueling terrain in which we compete.

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Joanne Kneafsey jkneafsey@bigstonepub.com NATIONAL SALES Scott Mathews smathews@bigstonepub.com CLASSIFIED SALES EXECUTIVE Randall Lavelle

rlavelle@bigstonepub.com WARNING! The activities described in Trail Runner carry a significant risk of personal injury or death. DO NOT participate in these activities unless you are an expert, have sought or obtained qualified professional instruction or guidance, are knowledgeable about the risks involved, and are willing to assume personal responsibility for all risks associated with these activities. TRAIL RUNNER MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, OF ANY KIND REGARDING THE CONTENTS OF THIS MAGAZINE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. Trail Runner further disclaims any responsibility for injuries or death incurred by any person engaging in these activities. Use the information contained in this magazine at your own risk, and do not depend on the information contained in this magazine for personal safety or for determining whether to attempt any climb, route or activity described herein.

The views herein are those of the writers and advertisers; they do not necessarily reflect the views of Trail Runner’s ownership.

•Manuscripts, photographs and correspondence are welcome. Unsolicited materials should be accompanied by return postage. Trail Runner is not responsible for unsolicited materials. All manuscripts and photos are subject to Trail Runner’s terms, conditions and rates •Please allow up to 6 weeks for the first issue after subscribing or a change of address (to expect continuous service).

No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. © Copyright 2005 by Big Stone Publishing Ltd.

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Page 1

MAKING TRACKS

Queen and King for a Day: Van Deren (left) and Burrell (right) brandish their Trail-Running Everest Awards and six-liter bottles of Veramonte wine.

Red Carpet Treatment OUTDOOR SPORTS’ “OSCARS NIGHT” APPLAUDS OFF ROADERS JUNE 4, 2005, TEVA MOUNTAIN GAMES, VAIL, COLORADO —Billed as

the “Oscars of Outdoor Sports,” the first-ever Teva Mountain Games Everest Awards brought together world-class trail runners, adventure racers, paddlers, climbers and mountain bikers for an evening of pomp, class and formal attire—that is, if sandals and brightly colored ties can be considered formal.

A sell-out crowd of 250 people looked on as the winners were announced.

“The Everest Award for women’s trail running,” said Master of Ceremonies Corey Nielsen, a former U.S. Kayak Team member and competitive adven-

BY THE

NUMBERS

ture racer, “goes to Diane van Deren.”

Van Deren, 45, lives in Sedalia, Colorado, with her husband and three children. Her inspiring story is more about overcoming adversity than collecting race medals. Up until eight years ago, van Deren suffered from severe epilepsy and frequently experienced extreme seizures. After traditional treatment failed, she underwent a serious procedure wherein her brain’s right temporal lobe was removed. Her last seizure was the night before the surgery.

Today, van Deren competes in some of the world’s most-grueling trail races.

Number of metallic, reflective course markers Percentage of respondents to a Trail Runner website poll who claim on the Hardrock 100-Mile Endurance Run, held high in Colorado’s San Juan that an adult beverage is their mountains. The markers are removed favorite post-race indulgence. from the course shortly after the event.

Percent grade of the famed, nine-mile La Length, in miles, of Luz Trail Run in Albuquerque, New Mexico. the Snoqualmie Train The La Luz climbs over 4500 vertical feet Tunnel on the Cascade to the top of Sandia Crest Crest Classic 100-Miler course in in early August when the Washington. CCC100 runners describe average local day-time high the heart of the tunnel as the “darkest temperature is 91 degrees. place on the planet.”

8 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

She completed the 2004 Hardrock 100 and in winter 2005 ran in the Iditarod Invitational, a 350-mile human-powered race, to benefit the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI) at The Children’s Hospital in Denver.

After suffering a torn groin and stress fracture early in the race, she persevered for 260 miles before dropping out. Van Deren is also the official spokesperson for KPTI and a motivational speaker.

Van Deren dedicated her Everest award to Hunter Nelson, a five-year-old boy whom she met and befriended at a fundraiser for children with disabilities.

Hunter died of a seizure in his sleep several days prior to the Everest Awards.

Van Deren attended his wake the day before the Awards and her voice halted as she told his story. “Hunter’s passing solidifies what I feel my role is in sports,” she said. “It is a vehicle to motivate others who are meeting challenges and working through struggles.”

The men’s trail-running Everest Award went to Buzz Burrell. A 53-year-old swiftfooted fixture in Boulder, Colorado, Burrell has been running trails since before the days of sponsorships and media coverage—37 years to his recollection—and still places near the top at high-profile races.

Burrell’s Everest Award recognized his lifetime of achievements in promoting the sport. Over the decades, he has pioneered the concept of “Fastest Known Times” (FKTs)—running trails faster than anybody else. True to his ground-breaking spirit, he has conjured up countless trail challenges and tackled them with reckless gusto. His FKTs include such notables as Washington’s Mount Rainier, Peru’s Huayna Picchu (the cone-shaped peak that shadows the famed Macchu Picchu ruins) and Wyoming’s Gannett Peak.

Afterward, Burrell waxed reflective about his honor. “I’ve done a lot, and been a pretty decent runner,” he says, “but I think it’s the inspiration and influence I’ve had on people that is my biggest contribution to the sport.”

For more information on the Everest Awards, visit tevamountaingames.com.

BILLY DORAN

ALL THE TRAIL NEWS YOU CAN USE // BY GARETT GRAUBINS

» making tracks

Enjoying a Wild Ride BECKY HARMAN’S EPICUREAN APPROACH TO TRAIL RUNNING LORRIE TILY, PRESIDENT OF THE FINGER LAKES RUNNERS CLUB in

10 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

Trail Runner spoke with Harman about chocolate, red wine and the adventure of life.

Have you always been a runner?

I ran cross-country and track in high school [in Otego, New York] because I was too clumsy to play ball sports. In college [Cornell University], I played club rugby and ran a little bit to stay in shape.

And when did you start running trails?

For a while, I was too intimidated to run trails—like many road runners, I guess. Then I joined the local running group for a seven-mile trail run. It was a hot summer day and I started out way too fast. I bonked, tripped over a root, fell on my face and almost started crying … but it was fun.

How did it feel to complete your first 50-miler last fall?

I liked it and will probably do another.

For me, it was amazing and satisfying to think I could run that far. I thought, “WOW, I finished and I’m still standing.”

You’re not strictly a runner, are you?

I think I have Attention Deficit Disorder and that’s the real reason I bounce

around between sports. Right now, I’m training for my first Ironman triathlon.

Do you think cross training helps your trail running?

My body feels best when I mix things up. I love to meander through the woods on foot. I appreciate intense track workouts. Long bike rides make me feel powerful. Swimming adds grace and balance. As for weight lifting, I hate it, but having triceps makes it worth a few hours in the gym each week!

And you practice yoga, too?

Yoga is my training dessert. I LOVE it and I’m addicted. It’s increased my flexibility and when I start to feel problems in my knees or hips, I do yoga and it opens them up.

What are your long-term goals?

I have none other than to be healthy and happy.

And finish by sliding across the finish line with red wine and chocolate, right?

I do like red wine and beer—Bass on tap is my ultimate favorite—but I must admit that I am not a fan of chocolate.

How about chocolate energy gels?

Sure, I guess that counts. (LAUGH)

BRENDAN TOBIN

upstate New York, has a quote taped to her office wall. Fellow trail runner and friend Becky Harman gave it to her. “Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body,” it reads, “but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, red wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘WOOHOO, what a ride!’”

“That sums up Becky well,” says Tily.

Becky Harman, a 35-year-old molecular-biology research assistant at Cornell University, is one of the most-respected and well-liked members in this small, but fervent, trailrunning community centered around Ithaca. “We’re very proud of Becky’s accomplishments,” says local Diane Scherrer, “and feel very fortunate to have her in our club.”

There are simply not many local races that Harman—or “The Harmanator” as she’s sometimes called—has not won. Her racing catalog includes three straight wins at the Finger Lakes Snowshoe Race, back-to-back victories at the Hinte Anderson 50K, and first overall at the Monster Marathon, touted as one of the East’s toughest trail marathons. In 2004, Harman road tripped to Maryland for her first 50-mile trail ultra, the JFK 50. Racing in one of the nation’s most prestigious events, she finished fourth. In March, she outran 100 other women to take the HAT 50K in Aberdeen, Maryland.

But what sets Harman apart in the eyes of her friends, training partners and competition is her caring nature.

Says Scherrer, “When others come up to her post-race to congratulate her on a victory, she says, ‘Thank you. And how did you do?’ There’s no disappointment concerning her own performances.” And, perhaps most intriguing of all, Harman is not a single-sport ace. Her zeal for life drives her to continuously push beyond her trail-running comfort zone into other adventures.

making tracks «

RACE DAY By the time most runners were finished, the morning fog over the Rocky Mountain foothills had cleared, and the sun had swept away much of the snow. As post-race festivities kicked off, muddy finishers gathered around lawn chairs and beer coolers. With winter disappearing faster than the brewed goods, the grass seemed to grow greener by the minute.

Young at Heart

As the morning fog lifts, Jason Ostrom cruises his way to a third-place finish at the Greenland 50K.

Green and Bear It COLORADO RUNNERS CELEBRATE SPRING’S ARRIVAL

CHRISTINA KIFFNEY (ABOVE); DOUG NUROCK

APRIL 16, 2005, GREENLAND 25K/50K, LARKSPUR, COLORADO—Six days before

the inaugural Greenland Trail Races, a lateseason storm dumped three feet of snow on the rolling, scrubby paths of Greenland Open Space Park, 25 miles south of Denver.

Racers hoped that warmer temperatures would clear the course for the event, designated as the U.S.A. Track & Field 25K and 50K Trail Championships.

On race morning, frosty fog enveloped runners, forcing many to wonder aloud if they were in the faraway country of Greenland. “The course is half dry, one quarter mud and one quarter snow,” warned race director Derek Griffiths.

50K runners sent mud flying first (the race had staggered starts—depending on the distance), and Dan Vega of nearby Colorado Springs led the initial charge.

Tim Geldean, a roadster from Boulder running his first ultramarathon, kept a steady pace, and by the end of the second loop (the races consisted of 12.5kilometer loops), overtook the fading Vega. “My confidence surged as I realized I was in control of the race,” says Geldean. Geldean pulled away and won with a time of 3 hours 39 minutes 49 seconds. Scott Jaime of Littleton, Colorado, finished second.

Further back, 46-year-old Tania Pacev, also from Littleton, battled with Jamie

Donaldson of neighboring Denver. After two laps, Donaldson enjoyed a two-minute lead, but Pacev pushed on through the quickly melting course. Donaldson dropped after the third lap, and Pacev spent the final lap thinking she was a lock for second place.

“I didn’t know I had won until the finish,” says Pacev, 46, who used the race as a training run for the June 100K World Championships in Japan. Pacev won some green ($100) for her Greenland victory, as did Geldean.

While 50K runners paced themselves, 25K runners attacked the course with less-reserved abandon. Bernie Boettcher, 42, of Silt, Colorado, found himself in an unfamiliar position on the first lap—in second place—but found strength in the mucky sections of the course. “I knew I had an advantage in the nasty stuff,” says Boettcher. “That mud and snow made it a true trail race.”

Boettcher clocked a winning time of 1 hour 40 minutes 44 seconds.

A devotee of the pavement around her Englewood, Colorado, home, 30-yearold Heather Thomas chose Greenland as her first-ever trail race. And she made it look easy, as she donned a pair of “old beater shoes” and streaked through the mud, winning by 18 minutes over her closest competitor.

MAY 7, 2005, 27TH ANNUAL WILD WILD WEST MARATHON, LONE PINE, CALIFORNIA—More than 250 runners gathered at the base of California’s Mount Whitney for wavy hills, sunny skies and inspiring vistas of the Lower 48’s highest peak. Marathoners Marian Richard (Cupertino, California) and Dow Mattingly (Bishop, California) proved that age is only a frame of mind as they outran athletes half their age—they are 45 and 55 years old, respectively. Age also ruled the 10-mile event, with wins by 40-year-old Sandy Scrimgeour (Prescott, Arizona) and 42-year-old Damon Lymon (Thousand Oaks, California). Perhaps most remarkably, Dr. Ben Jones, a 71year-old resident of Lone Pine, completed his 27th Wild Wild West race, and 80-yearold Leila Robinson Stengel, also of Lone Pine, crossed the 10-mile finish.

For complete results, visit www. lonepinechamber.org.

Rockin’ and rollin’: Steve Roark dances through the Alabama Hills.

2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 11

» making tracks

TRAIL DEBRIS Tales from the front-of-the-pack on back

BATTLE OF THE BONK Shooting the Moon: Pichrtova outgunned her elite rival, Melissa Moon, in Vail’s springtime snow.

CZECH MATE On June 4, participants in the 2005 Teva Gore-Tex 10K National Trail Running Championships awoke to a patchwork of snow and mud coating the slopes around Vail, Colorado, home to this year’s event. Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic, a world-class runner who lives for sunny conditions, grunted her way to the women’s championship, besting Melissa Moon, a two-time World

“

“I’m going to drop,” said Sophie Speidel, 42, at mile 84 on the Massanuuten Mountain Trail 100 on May 7 and 8 in Virginia’s George Washington National Forest. Speidel, a high-school guidance counselor and mother of three from Charlottesville, had struggled to make it this far in her first 100-mile run, and she sat in the throes of a devestating bonk. “That’s when I experienced something

“I enjoy being the underdog, when nobody expects much of me.”

OVER-

HEARD

—SEAN ANDRISH of Leesburg, Virginia. Even though Andrish won the 2004 MM100, many prognosticators picked other runners to take this year’s event.

12 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

that I will never forget,” says Speidel, “Gary [Knipling, a friend], who is typically a jovial and fun-loving fellow, looked me in the eye and said sternly, ‘You are not going to drop.’” Fueled by Knipling’s pep talk and the thought of her students’ encouraging words— which they painted all over her car a few days before the race—Speidel continued and completed the race in 31 hours 48 minutes.

IT MUST BE IN THE WATER

There’s something strange in the Virginia water, because no other state seems to breed so many long-distance running eccentrics. On June 4 Virginian David Horton, 55, began his quest to run the 2650-mile Pacific Crest Trail in a record 63 days. If successful—he plans to reach the trail’s end on the Canadian/Washington border on August 5— he’ll break Georgian Ray Greenlaw’s (selfsupported) record of 83 days.

On the other end of the continent, another Virginian, 56-year-old Sue Norwood launched her south-to-north trek of the 2175-mile Appalachian Trail on April 30 and hopes to complete it in fewer than 103 days, thereby setting a new women’s AT speed mark. (Visit Speidel flirts with a DNF Norwood’s trail log at late in her first 100 miler. www.runtrails.net.)

“Today, I’m horizontal with orange juice, soup, the laptop … and Advil.”

—Trail Runner Trophy Series frontrunner ANGELA BRUNSON of Los Angeles, California, who caught a vicious cold after running the Vancouver Marathon and Malibu Creek Trail Challenge 14-Miler on consecutive weekends in May. “I’ve ruined two good shirts by putting Vaseline on my nipples before a race.”

—TODD RICHMOND of Carbondale, Colorado. Richmond found that the petroleum-based product caused unsightly stains on his shirts.

“My reaction was to immediately throw down my water bottle, and do a sort of anti-spider spastic dance, running my hands all down my legs, knocking off spider-web remnants, or the eight-legged beasts themselves.”

—Arachnophobic MICHAEL ROMIG of Austin, Texas. Romig encountered a parade of spider webs on the local Barton Creek Trails.

DAVID CLIFFORD (LEFT); SOPHIE SPEIDEL COLLECTION

Mountain Running Trophy champion from Wellington, New Zealand.

In the men’s race, Matt Carpenter of Manitou Springs, Colorado, found redemption on the same course where a wrong turn cost him the victory in 2004. Carpenter finished in 46:41, 50 seconds ahead of Timothy Parr of Gunnison, Colorado. Before the race, Simon Gutierrez, 2004 National Champion and perennial U.S. Mountain Running Team member, predicted a Carpenter win.

“Are you kidding? Matt is like an elk in this stuff,” he responded when asked how Carpenter would fare in the mud.

My feet say stop. My body says stop. My mind says go.

Dean Karnazes appreciates the cushioning of the Ultra Gore-Tex® XCR™ while gearing up for next year’s Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run. Mt. Tamalpais, CA. Photo: Corey Rich.

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B U S H WH ACK

by JONATHAN THESENGA

» Illustration by JEREMY COLLINS

Dorks of the Trail THESE FIVE (BLEEPS) SHOULD GET LOST

I don’t like people. They bug me. They give me a rash. Thankfully near my house I have the sweet serenity of trails that stretch for miles, where I can escape the pestering plebeians who orally lobotomize me with their inane chitchat and crotch-chafing personalities.

Lately, however, every one of my runs seems to get ruined by idiots who treat the trails as amusement-park rides, clogging up the scene with their low-rent trail antics. I have had it with these dorks of the trails. I want them out of my way, erased from my recreation equation.

16 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

I can just hear the fruitarian peacenik crystal healers at the Naropa Institute in Boulder saying, “Hey, now, Earth Brother, can’t we all get along?”

No, we can’t. If everyone was perfect like me, well, then, maybe. But that’s not possible. The dorks are everywhere,

and they need to wake up. Here then is my ranking of the Top Five Biggest Dorks (in descending order) found on my trails.

#5: HIKERS

stroke engines? The massive damage they wreak on the trails? If every one of these nut jobs (typically identified by their idling F350 diesel pickups, shaved heads, tuff-guy goatees and barking pit bulls named Skynyrd and Harley) BUM RUSHING DAYstayed at the bowling alleys and Wal-Mart HIKING FAMILIES, SO Supercenters and off my trails, I’d be a THEY CAN MAINTAIN less-angry man.

If they had a clue, these bumbling trail tourists wouldn’t even make my list.

I mean, how hard is it to realize that THEIR 78.5-% HEART RATE. someone is running up behind you and #1 TRAIL NO, “HI.” NO, “EXCUSE you need to get your RUNNERS ME.” JUST AN ABRUPT, fanny out of the way?

By far the worst of I’ve tried scuffing my the worst, trail run“ON YOUR RIGHT!” AND feet, coughing, spitners are the two-footA HAWKED LOOGIE ting, all sorts of noised dork plague of the es to alert these loltrails. Who don’t they IN FRONT OF LITTLE lygagging L.L. Bean piss off? Bum rushing JOHNNY JR. catalogs that they day-hiking families, need to hot step it to so they can maintain the side of the trail. their 78.5-percent Inevitably I have to ask them if I can heart rate. No, “Hi.” No, “Excuse me.” get by and only then do they awkwardly Just an abrupt, “On your right!” and a waddle off my line. hawked loogie in front of little Johnny Jr. And how hard is to yield to the downhill #4: HORSEPEOPLE side of the trail and let our equestrian Any trail that horses tread is marred friends amble through unimpeded? by the jackhammering of their hooves, Mountain bikers and motobikers briswhich widen it from a cushy footpath to tle at the mere site of these slow-ass, a rutty, sidewalk-wide dust trap. And my gel-guzzling hippies clogging the trails dog inevitably decides to eat and/or roll and preventing them from enjoying their in their steaming deposits of baseballwide-open dirt rallying. sized poop nuggets. Passing a horse is a They even look like world-class pain in the ass—one wrong move around dorks—cute little ankle socks, sidean ornery Seabiscuit, and it’ll terminally cut shorts exposing the entire butt, K.O. me with a well-placed kick or tramfilthy and unshaven bodies (includple me like the trailside flowers and veging the “ladies”) and mini-bottles of etation it crushes with each step. Don’t fancy-nancy electrojizz drink strapped get me wrong. I like horses—they’re to their waists as if they’re embarking mellow, charismatic animals. But they on a trans-Mongolian-Desert expedition belong in fields—not on trails. instead of a two-hour forest trot. If they weren’t so pitifully dorky, I’d almost find #3: MOUNTAIN BIKERS them annoying.

These kooked-out, speed demon fauxradsters think the trails are their own Nobody’s recreation is perfect—not race track, rutting them out into dusty even trail running. Being aware of your troughs as they lock up the brakes around recreation’s shortcomings will help allecorners and down hills. I can’t count the viate trail conflicts and make it easier number of times these hyper-consumer for everyone to enjoy the trails together. tech tools (oooooh, nice pair of JokePlus, you can save up your annoyances ley’s, Sport-o), riding toys that cost more and anger to be properly unleashed on than I make in a month, have blindly society’s truly lowest classes: people who rallied balls-on-fire past me (or into me), drive Hummers, eat boneless chicken oblivious to the possibility that someone wings at T.G.I.Friday’s, mow their lawns else (me) might be on the trail. at 7:30 in the morning or sell magazine subscriptions door-to-door.

#2: MOTOHEADS

What’s to like? The high-decibel ween ween weeeeen of their motorbike’s two-

After writing this column, the author has chosen to remain anonymous.

2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 17

NUTRITION

by KYLE BOELTE

» photo by DAVID CLIFFORD

NOT JUST FOR VEG HEADS

I

“Juicing” means drinking fresh, 100percent fruit and vegetable juice, including smoothies made from whole fruits. It was once reserved for cult-like groups of vegetarians who claimed that juice—especially wheatgrass juice—had miraculous healing powers. While such unsubstantiated claims still exist, juicing has inched closer to the mainstream and its health benefits are backed by scientific evidence.

Scott Jurek, six-time winner of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, drinks wheatgrass juice daily. “If I don’t have wheatgrass for a few days,” he says, “I notice.” Although he uses a powdered wheatgrass juice mix during races, Jurek thinks that juice has the greatest benefit in post-run recovery.

Even those in the hinterlands can get their juice, provided they have a juicer.

Juicers differ from blenders in that they press the liquid from the source, so it’s nice to have both a blender (for smoothies) and a juicer if you really get the juicing bug. There are many juicers available on the market—the Champion 2000 and the Omega 8003 are great models (both retail for around $300) and can be found in health food stores and online. Remember, most nutrients are in the skin and outer-portion of fruits and vegetables—so juice the whole thing.

Daily dose. Juicing is the tasty, efficient way to get your fruits and vegetables.

The Juice Is Loose POUND THOSE FRUITS AND VEGGIES– AND ACTUALLY ENJOY IT

If you’re reading this magazine, you probably lead a healthy lifestyle.

Chances are, though, you’re still not getting as many fruits and vegetables as your body needs—two to four servings of fruits and three to five servings of vegetables a day according to the National Institute of Health. And those are suggestions for the average American eating 2000 calories a day. Many trail runners—from the 5K- to the ultrarunner—should strive for even more servings, proportionate to their caloric needs. This means up to four to eight servings of fruits and six to 10 servings of vegetables for those eating approximately 4000 calories a day. Reaching those goals can be difficult. Think about it: an orange with breakfast, an apple as a morning snack, salad and a banana with lunch, baby carrots for an afternoon snack, vegetables in your pasta dinner—and you just made the minimum recommendation.

There’s an easier way: drink your daily servings.

18 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

HEALTH BENEFITS Fruits and vegetables have several key nutritional components: vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. Vitamins are needed for muscle growth, maintenance, a healthy immune system and athletic performance. Vitamin C helps the body form connective tissue, aids in iron absorption and may help guard against illness.

Studies show that Vitamin C, taken before major endurance events, can reduce the occurrence of post-race upper-respiratorytract infections. Oranges and other citrus fruits are high in Vitamin C. Folate, a B vitamin found in green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits, is good for your heart.

Other important vitamins are Vitamin A, found in carrots, and Vitamin E, inherent in green leafy vegetables.

Minerals perform many tasks in the athlete’s body. Calcium—found in beets, spinach and wheatgrass—is renowned for its role in bone health, but also helps in muscle growth and function. Iron is

nutrition « vital to oxygen transport in the bloodstream and muscles. Runners—especially females—often need more iron in their diet than non-runners. Menstruation can also deplete iron stores, which can be renewed through dark leafy vegetables like kale and spinach.

Certain vitamins, minerals, enzymes (proteins that catalyze biochemical processes) and phytonutrients (the color in fruits and vegetables—think beta carotene in carrots) function as antioxidants.

These substances neutralize “free radicals,” by-products of normal metabolic activity that can cause long-term damage to the body in the form of cancers and cardiovascular disease.

Exercise increases the number of free radicals in the body, due to increased metabolic activity. A diet high in antioxidants helps by neutralizing them. A study by the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center found that antioxidants in fruits and vegetables are superior to those found in supplements.

Wheatgrass, tomatoes, carrots, apples and blueberries contain healthy phytonutrients and other antioxidants. A good time for these juices is within 30 minutes of the completion of your run, when you’ve released more free radicals than normal.

One of the few downsides to juicing is that it cuts out most of the fiber from the fruits and vegetables because you separate the juice from the pulp, the main source of fiber. If you’re doing a lot of juicing, make sure to eat a good diet of whole grains, beans and whole fruits and vegetables. A great way to keep the fiber in your juice is to make smoothies—perhaps the best tasting of any juicing options. Berries contain large amounts of antioxidants.

A banana or a dollop of yogurt will give your smoothie the “smooth” texture. Add a scoop of protein powder, a tablespoon of wheatgerm or a dash of cinnamon.

The best part about juicing is that juice tastes great. Just start out with something mild, like orange-carrot, applecarrot-ginger or a berry smoothie. Have a cold glass of juice when you get back from a run, when you’re thirsty and open to new tastes (and when you need those antioxidants). For the more adventurous, add some greens to your juicing routine.

Who knows, you might find you’re one of those people—and they do exist—who loves the taste of apple-grass juice. Get yourself some juice and drink to your health. Bottoms up!

Kyle Boelte is a former Trail Runner intern, who now freelances in Boulder, Colorado.

SQUEEZE THE JUICE VITAMIN A-BOMB 8 oz apple, 1 cup carrot Small piece of ginger

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1

Amount per serving

Calories 169 Vitamin A (15,406 IU) • 513%

APPLE-GRASS COOLER 8 oz apple juice 1 oz wheatgrass juice

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1

Amount per serving

Calories 180 Vitamin A • Vitamin C Vitamin E • Vitamin B Calcium (90mg) Phytonutrients

IRON HORSE

1 cup kale, 1 cup spinach 8 oz apple juice

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1

Amount per serving

Calories 158 Vitamin A 437% Calcium 12%

• Vitamin C Phytonutrients

VERY-BERRY SMOOTHIE

1 cup blueberries, 1 banana 8 oz orange juice

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1

Amount per serving

Calories 284 Vitamin C (138 mg) • 230% Folate 83mg • 10% Phytonutrients 2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 19

TRAIL Rx

by JOHN VONHOF

» Photo by DAVID CLIFFORD

Blister prevention begins with shoes that fit properly.

I

Feets of Strength THWARTING TROUBLE FROM THE ANKLES DOWN In a perfect world, shoes would always fit, and we would never twist an ankle or get blisters. But we live in a world of hurt. Shoes somehow never stay the same, wreaking havoc on our feet, ankle-wrenching roots and rocks hide under leaves and trail debris infiltrates our footwear.

Comfortably running trails requires a good system from the ankles down—shoes that fit, strong feet and ankles and, in certain environments and races, a pair of gaiters.

FIT TO BE TIED Trail running necessitates properly fitting shoes with a quality insole. If the shoes fit incorrectly, you will inevitably have problems, such as blisters, black toenails, sore arches and discomfort on the bottoms of the feet.

Consider these tips:

20 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

&

The shoes should feel comfortable.

Don’t save a buck at the expense of your feet—you shouldn’t do it with your car tires nor should you with your shoes. & The toe box should not be too short in height or length, i.e. your toes should have ample room to move and wiggle. Allow about a thumb-width in

the toe while you’re standing in the shoe.

The most common fit problem is not allowing enough toe space. When your foot is in the shoe, the arch naturally flattens. Since your heel is already held in place, your foot can only move forward. If you lack space in the toe box, your toes become cramped, and toenail problems, blisters and calluses may develop. & The heel counter should hug your heel and allow little up and down sliding. & The shoes should protect the bottoms of your feet from rocks and uneven terrain.

Look for a firm midsole (the plate that runs the length of the shoe under your foot) and ample heel cushion. & If the shoe’s insoles are flimsy, replace them immediately with a pair that provides better support and cushioning. & If you plan to use orthotics or special insoles, be sure they fit in the shoe without pushing your foot too high in the shoe’s upper or too far forward.

AVOID ANKLE RANKLE Whether running on rugged trails or fastpacking with a fully loaded pack, your ankles are constantly under stress, and even more so when you try to squeeze in a few extra miles in the dark.

Sidehills, roots, rocks and stream crossings conspire to send you off track and sprain your ankles.

You can minimize sprains by running smart and training your ankles.

For starters, always be aware of how your feet land. If you sense your foot starting to roll, quickly transfer your weight to your other foot. Pay attention to changes in the terrain, especially on downhills and in the late afternoon and evenings when shadows make

» trail rx

irregularities difficult to see. Get in the habit of looking ahead several feet, so you can better anticipate the terrain. Be especially careful when you’re tired and more susceptible to making wrong moves and are slower to respond to sudden terrain changes. Shortening your stride in this instance can greatly enhance your ankle safety.

Strengthen your ankles by focusing on proprioception, the neurological feedback from your feet to your brain that tells your body where it is relative to the space around it. For example, as your foot hits the ground, and signals “uneven surface” to your brain, you instinctively make a mid-stride adjustment. Proprioception strengthening exercises not only help prevent injuries but also with recovering from them. Try the following: & Balance with one foot flat on the ground and the other leg bent back at the knee, as if you were in the normal support phase of a running stride. Start at 30 seconds at a time and practice until you can hold your balance for several minutes. When you have mastered this step, close your eyes and do the same thing. Without eye feedback, it is harder to maintain your balance. Repeatedly losing your balance and then adjusting will gradually strengthen the ankles. & Use a wobble or balance board (a wooden platform that has a pivot point underneath; see “Support Systems” sidebar) to work on your balance and proprioception.

SPRAINS HAPPEN Despite your preventive efforts, sprains happen—your foot rolls and you experience sudden pain or hear a pop.

A sprain is a stretching or tearing of the ligaments that stabilizes the ankle bones. If you cannot walk after a few minutes of rest or if you hear the infamous “pop,” you can be fairly certain you have a sprain.

After a sprain, the ankle swells and becomes inflamed, discolored and painful. If you cannot bear weight on the ankle, a doctor visit and X-ray are in order. An X-ray will rule out a fracture, and the doctor may give you crutches to take the weight off the foot.

22 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

Delayed treatment of a sprain increases the risk of swelling and further injury. An ankle sprain will make you more susceptible to repeated sprains since the ligaments are left weakened, lengthened—and less flexible. (See “Sprain First Aid” sidebar.)

To rehab, once you can bear weight on the ankle, start with easy walking and slowly build back to the routine you had before the injury. Work on the proprioception exercises mentioned above. If the ankle is stiff and sore, keep going and see if it loosens up. If it doesn’t get worse or feels better, you are probably OK. If the pain increases, you should call it a day, go home and ice it.

Ankle supports are an important tool for treating an ankle sprain or strain. Use a support if you cannot bear full weight on the ankle. It will allow you to be up and about faster and provide comfort as the ankle continues healing.

LATER GAITER Many blister problems can be avoided with a gaiter, a nifty piece of nylon that fits around your ankle and covers the tops of your shoes, keeping rocks, dust, water-borne grit and mud from getting into socks or between the socks and shoe. These irritants cause friction, leading to hotspots and blisters. Gaiters either close on the side with Velcro and are secured with a strap or cord that goes under the shoe’s arch or are tube-like and pulled on over the foot and attached to the shoe’s upper (without the strap under the shoe).

We all love running trails. In fact, it can be downright addicting. But a glorious afternoon run can quickly turn sour if your feet slip around inside poor fitting shoes, a small pebble inside your shoe causes a bothersome blister or your ankle rolls on a tree root. Savvy prevention in these three areas, though, can keep you running healthy hill after hill after hill.

John Vonhof is the author of Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatments for Athletes (Wilderness Press). Subscribe to the free monthly Fixing Your Feet Ezine at www.footworkpub.com

FOOT NOTES Sprain First Aid ^The initial treatment for any sprain

or strain includes the classic RICE treatment—R = rest, I = ice, C = compression, and E = elevation. Early treatment within the first 24 hours decreases swelling and lessens the risk of additional injury. Apply ice for 20 minutes three to four times a day. A lightly wrapped Ace bandage will provide compression to help keep swelling down while providing support. The use of anti-inflammatory medications is usually warranted. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, commonly called NSAIDS, are used to control pain and swelling. The most common are aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen sodium (Aleve).

Support Systems ^Ankle supports help weak ankles

and provide support after a sprain, while wobble and balance boards strengthen ankles and legs.

AnkleGard (www.fabrifoam.com) Ankle Stabilizing Orthosis (ASO) (www.medspec.com) Cho-Pat’s Ankle Support (www.cho-pat.com) Perform 8 Lateral Ankle Stabilizer (www.brownmedical.com) Wobble & Balance Boards (www.fitter1.com)

A Tight Seal ^Gaiters

are a good, and inexpensive investment to keep trail junk out of your shoes and reduce associated blisters.

JoeTrailMan Gaiters (www.joetrailman.com) Dirty Girl Gaiters (www.dirtygirlgaiters.com) montbell (www.montbell.com) RaceReady Trail Gaiters (www.raceready.com)

A S K THE CO A C H

by THERESE IKNOIAN

» Illustration by JEREMY COLLINS

IRON-POOR BLOOD, FORM: LISTEN TO YOUR MAMA, NEWBIE CONFUSION IRON WOMAN Do female distance runners need a diet that is higher in iron?

—JENNIFER CIRIVELLO, TONAWANDA, NY

Iron-poor blood isn’t just an ad slogan, but a reality for many female endurance athletes. Many women, however, have no idea they may be deficient and often assume the lack of oomph in their running results from too little (or too much) training. Irondeficiency symptoms include extreme fatigue, lack of endurance and limited power at higher aerobic levels.

Earlier in my athletic career, I was anemic for two full years, but doctors never caught it—most aren’t focused on the unique physical demands of athletic women. Researchers estimate that a quarter to a third of female endurance athletes may have depleted iron at some level that affects performance and recovery. Iron deficiency is diagnosed by low plasma ferritin—or iron storage-depletion.

Why does it happen?

Insufficient caloric intake, less iron-rich foods (e.g. red meat) in the diet and increased iron excretion (through sweat, the GI tract or the menses).

To get enough iron, you don’t need a special diet, just a well-rounded one.

Vegetarians may find this especially challenging. “Nonheme,” or veggie, sources of iron aren’t absorbed as well (only three to eight percent) and must be eaten in abundance. “Heme,” or animal sources like red meat and poultry, stoke the iron fires better (about 23 percent absorption) and can in fact increase absorption of nonheme sources, like spinach or oatmeal. The problem is too much iron can be toxic.

Best bet: Talk to a doc

who has a solid sports background, get a ferritin test, eat a balanced diet that includes leafy greens and lean red meat and consider supplements only after consulting a medical professional.

FORM FOR FUNCTION Good trail-running form doesn’t seem to be the same as it is for road running. I find myself with a lower center of gravity on the trails, almost slouching. What constitutes proper trail-running form?

—JAY PETERSON, PLEASANTVILLE, NJ

“Stand up straight, young man,” as your mother always said. “Running is running when it comes to posture and mechanics,” says Jim Hunt, former University of California, Davis, cross-country coach and a USA Track & Field distance advisor. “It doesn’t matter whether you are running on roads, trails, uphill or downhill—your posture should always be upright and tall.”

When you slouch, you limit not only your breathing, but also range of motion in your legs and hips. Also, you’ll never be able to achieve higher foot turnover and overall speed and power.

Hunt advises that you align your head and shoulders directly over your hips, with your arms hanging loosely from the shoulders. The backand-forth elbow drive should not come from rolling your shoulders around. Imagine sliding your hands along a fixed bar at each side.

“Foot strike should be quick,” he adds, “on, then off the surface.” If you’re having trouble keeping your shoulders back and your body upright, consider strengthening exercises for your upperand middle-back muscles, such as rows. Stronger abdominal and back muscles also help.

24 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

TRAIL ASPIRATIONS I love mountain biking, and trail running seems like a natural progression. To get started, though, should I run the boring pavement or treadmill before going off road?

—ANDRES TOVAR, CHICAGO, IL

That’s easy. Hit the trails!

Purchase a trail shoe with a sole designed for rocks and mud for better stability and traction (see Trail Tested, May 2005, No. 33, for a review of 19 new models).

Pick moderate trails without huge hills or horribly rocky descents, and don’t be shy about walking sections.

“Don’t overdo it your first few times out,” says Rich Hanna, a long-time distance runner, author of The Ultimate Runner’s Journal and past winner of the American River 50, Way Too Cool 50K and Sunmart Texas

Trail 50K. “You’ll be working muscles that are not used in road running.”

Ask around at local running stores or find an area running club for advice on nearby trails. Many clubs organize weekly fun runs, which is a great way both to train and to meet running partners. Welcome to the trail-running community! ■

SHOE GIVEAWAY

Trail Runner would like to answer your questions on training, medicine, gear and technique.

Please send them to coach@bigstonepub.com.

If we use your question in an upcoming issue, you may receive a pair of INOV-8 trail runners.

The Terroc 330 offers great comfort and performance. Very flexible, light-weight and highly breathable for hard-packed trails and the occasional dirt road.

www.inov-8.com

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T R AIL TIPS

by CAMERON PETERSON M.D.

» illustrations by JASON GREER

Air Hanky

How to perform a proper Farmer Blow Definition: Strategically clearing the nasal passage without the use of tissues, sleeves or other wiping equipment.

The following steps, with practice, will take only seconds, can be done in stride, and will result in maximum airflow through the nasal passage, enhancing your running efficiency. An effective farmer blow will make you look like a pro, while a blow gone bad will make a mess of your face, clothes and repu tation.

Ensure the area is clear of runners, hikers, pets and law-enforcement STEP 1 officials. A five-foot diameter is recommended.

Take a deep breath.

STEP 2 STEP 3 In stride, as your right hand comes forward, place your index finger firmly against your right nostril, completely occluding the nasal passage. Simultaneously rotate your torso to the left, and lean over slightly, clearing the left shoulder from any nasal shrapnel.

Close your mouth tightly, and raise the back of your tongue STEP 4 against the back of your hard palate to prevent air escaping.

Failing to do so will cause a decrease in pressure behind the mucous in the nasal passage, which may result in the disastrous half-farmer blow.

With maximum effort, rapidly and forcefully exhale STEP 5 out your left nostril. This will clear the majority of obstruction whether it is thick, thin or any viscosity between.

A small post-blow wipe may be necessary, but STEP 6 with proper technique, the amount of dribbling discharge will be minimal.

For clearance of the right nasal passage, repeat the above steps replacing lefts for rights and vice versa. You’ll know if you screw up.

Cameron Peterson M.D. is an intern at the University of Utah and manages www.mountaintrials.com, a new website where runners can post their times to some non-technical summits throughout the U.S.

Reader Wisdom SOLVING THE ENERGY-GEL CRISIS I have discovered a way to reduce gastrointestinal problems and my aversion to the thick, syrupy texture of energy gels.

In a gel flask (try www.fuelbelt. com or www.amphipod.com), simply empty your gel packets into the flask, add hot tap water (you can cool it by adding ice) and shake well to dilute.

Experiment with the gel-to-water proportions until you find what works best. This method makes it easier to consume—and hold down—proper amounts of carbohydrates during long runs.

—John Ostezan, Washoe Valley, NV

THIS TIP SUCKS If you find it annoying when the water in your hydration-pack bladder sloshes around, try this easy technique. After filling the bladder, simply turn it upside down and suck until you get water in your mouth, taking out the dead-air space, and you can run slosh free.

—Scott Anderson, Nashville, TN 26 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

©2005 CamelBak Products, LLC

TRAINING

by MARK ELLER

» photo by DAVID CLIFFORD

The key to tempo runs is hitting the right pace.

I

Pain Is Tempo-rary BOOST YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH TEMPO RUNS

In Running Tough: 75 Challenging Training Runs, Boulder-based writer Michael Sandrock takes the favorite workouts of elite runners and renders them into an entertaining book. Some of the workouts— like Czech legend Emil Zatopek’s “100 X 400 Meters” (that’s 30 miles of track work in one session!)—verge on the superhuman, while other workouts in the book can be easily adapted for mortals (see sidebar).

Chapter 6 of Running Tough is devoted the goal is quite different from highto tempo runs and includes testimonial intensity intervals. While most interval from University of Colorado cross-counworkouts push into the anaerobic zone, try coach Mark tempo runs are Wetmore: “The designed to teach “Tempo runs are strong greatest training your muscles to medicine,” warns Horton. “It’s effect comes right work aerobically at your anaerobic as long as posasking for trouble to do more threshold. That’s sible. For that where you get the than one long, hard run a week.” reason it’s vital most stimulus for that tempo runs adaptation.” don’t exceed the “comfortably hard” The key to these workouts is running level of exertion. at the proper intensity. In short, tempo AVOIDING THE runs are a sustained effort at a “comfortANAEROBIC PLUNGE ably hard” pace. Some tempo workouts call for a series of shorter efforts, which When you run at an easy pace, your makes them easy to mistake for speedmuscles convert stored fuel into energy in work or anaerobic interval training. an almost entirely aerobic state. Increase Whether tempo work is divided into your pace and you’ll gradually approach blocks or done as one sustained chunk, the point where your muscles can no

28 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

longer handle the stress aerobically; to meet the increased demand for energy production, you’re forced to supplement the aerobic effort with anaerobic energy production, or glycolysis. An unfortunate side-effect of glycolysis is buildup of lactic acid, which when produced faster than it can be cleared, impairs musclecell contraction—and hurts.

Once you’ve “gone anaerobic,” you’re running on borrowed time. Elite athletes can withstand higher levels of anaerobic activity than less-fit ones, but everyone eventually succumbs to the muscleseizing onslaught of excess lactic acid.

Unless you reduce the workload to the point that your muscles can clear lactic acid faster than it is produced, you’ll reach a point where the effort becomes impossible to sustain.

During a tempo run, you should push yourself just hard enough that your muscles begin to increase the production of energy from anaerobic metabolism. You should hold this effort for a predetermined amount of time, then wind down the workout with some easy running.

TEMPO RUNS FOR ALL OCCASIONS The threshold level of exertion is best thought of as a range, not a precise pace or a narrow heart-rate zone.

Since your heart is responsible for driving oxygenated blood to your muscles (to keep them functioning aerobically), your heart rate climbs along with your level of exertion. But heart rate isn’t an exact indicator of what’s going on in your muscle cells during a run. For that reason, “going anaerobic” can’t be expressed as a precise number of heart beats per minute, but it will generally fall near the anaerobic, or lactate threshold, pace.

“For most runners, a tempo-run pace will range between 10K and half-marathon race pace,” says Neal Henderson, Coordinator of Sport Science at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and a former elite triathlete. “Pushing harder than this level during a tempo run can be counterproductive. Save 5Krace-pace and faster efforts for interval sessions and all-out efforts for races.”

Instead of gauging your tempo runs by a specific heart rate, simply strive to attain a challenging level of effort.

Tempo pace means that running just

training «

a little faster would require a race-like effort, but running a few notches slower would feel like an average workout.

GOING THE (RIGHT) DISTANCE Trail-running guru and Liberty University exercise-physiology professor Dr. David Horton believes in the value of tempo runs and shares this advice: “The duration of the session depends on the length of the event you’re training for. Training for shorter races—anything under an hour— means you should do tempo runs on the high side of anaerobic threshold, at an intensity that’s quite close to what you’ll achieve in the event. But if multi-hour races are your thing, tempo runs should be done at a slightly more comfortable pace.”

Horton suggests that races under an hour call for once-a-week tempo runs lasting 20 to 30 minutes, plus a brief warm-up and cool-down jog. Training for ultra-distance events calls for tempo runs ranging from 45 to 90 minutes, and can be worked into a multi-hour training run. These workouts, he suggests, are best done every other week. “Tempo runs are strong medicine,” warns Horton. “It’s asking for trouble to do more than one long, hard run a week.”

Horton believes that the rolling hills near his Virginia home provide a perfect format for fast-paced workouts. “I look for mountainous runs of eight to 10 miles, and really try to fly on the downhills,” he says.

Vail, Colorado’s Josiah Middaugh—one of the country’s best middle-distance trail runners and a top-ranked off-road triathlete—also relies on tempo runs.

Middaugh does a weekly tempo session while he’s building aerobic power during his pre-race season. One month before his key racing schedule gets underway, he changes from tempo runs to interval training, in order to incorporate a higher degree of anaerobic work.

Horton adds, “When you’re working at tempo pace, you’ll feel it equally in your legs and lungs—it’s a great sensation because it lets you know your whole body is being challenged.”

Mark Eller, a regular contributor to Trail Runner, keeps his iPod loaded with up-tempo garage rock.

Get With the Tempo

Here’s a hardcore workout that will have you gasping just reading about it. Plus, a version for mortals.

10-Mile Top-Flite Tempo Run* Craig Young American record holder, masters half-marathon Young sometimes ran a 10-mile tempo run after 10 slower miles.

Three weeks before setting the American masters half-marathon record in 1998, Young ran the 10-mile tempo segment of this workout at 5:19-per-mile pace (on road). The total workout was 21 miles, including a one-mile cool down, and gave Young the confidence to go for the record, he says.

An even more difficult variation of Young’s workout is as follows: On a treadmill, start with a three-mile warmup. Next comes four miles in 19 minutes (4:45-per-mile pace) with a one-mile jog at 6:40 pace. This is followed by another four miles in 19 minutes, with a one-mile jog, and finally another four miles in 19 minutes, finishing with another mile jog.

The total distance is 23 miles, in two hours three minutes (an average pace of 5:21 per mile). “I was pretty tired when I was done,” says Young. You would hope so.

Hardcore Version

On your favorite rolling trail, begin with a 10- to 20-minute warm-up. At the end of the warm-up period, shift into a moderately challenging pace and hold this level of effort for 20 minutes. Ratchet down your pace for five to 10 minutes, then wind it up again for another 20minute stretch.

Two challenging 20-minute blocks of tempo running should be ideal preparation for races under the half-marathon mark. If you’re preparing for a half, a marathon or an ultra-distance event, consider adding a third 20-minute effort.

Pay attention to pace: If you feel like your speed fades at the end of the work efforts, or if your heart rate hits jackhammer intensity, you’re pushing too hard to get the full benefit of a tempo run.

Remember that your goal is to teach your muscles to avoid “the anaerobic burn.”

Mortal’s Version

(*Excerpted from Running Tough: 75 Challenging Training Runs, by Michael Sandrock, Human Kinetics Press) 2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 29

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TAKE YOUR MARK story and photos

by MIKE CALABRO by DAVE CLIFFORD

by GARETT GRAUBINS » Illustration

The Runner’s Edge is a fast-paced Chicago Marathon tune-up for some ...

(Non) Endangered Species SEEKING THE ELUSIVE MIDWESTERN RUNNER AT THE RUNNER’S EDGE TRAIL HALF MARATHON Just minutes from the Chicago skyscrapers lies Old School Forest Preserve, home to hooting owls, wandering foxes, whitetailed deer, croaking frogs … and the elusive Midwestern trail runner. It is also the site of The Runner’s Edge Trail Half Marathon.

There are no high mountain passes or technical downhills, and most hardcore trail runners would not even consider it a trail since there is no singletrack. The wide path is rut-, rock- and root-free. So why is this the region’s most popular off-road race?

30 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER MARCH 20052005

Certainly part of the reason is that Chicagoland does not have a plethora of unpaved running trails, and area runners are hungry for any chance to hit the trail. The real draw, however, is a beautiful course that meanders through dreamlike prairies of bright yellow daisies and crosses multiple bridges that seem plucked from Bridges of Madison County. Such painterly splendor puts many racers into an amnesic trance. As racer Pat Harder, who ran the 2004 race with his 12-year-old son, John, says, “I got out there and just forgot I was so close to civilization.”

The Runner’s Edge Trail Half Marathon attracts runners of all ages and abilities, including roadies ramping up for fall’s huge Chicago Marathon. In fact, many enter the race as an opportunity to hone their long-distance skills.

Bob Kline, owner of The Runner’s Edge, a running store rooted in Chicago’s northern suburbs, and the race organizer, feels that “a well-organized race is a necessity for a good time.” With the great parking (a rarity for Chicago-area races) and well-supplied aid stations, Kline’s philosophy is put into practice.

Kline assembles a strong support crew, and the aid stations are manned by coaches and athletes from local high school cross-country teams. The teams, accustomed to running on grass and golf courses, have been helping out since the inception of the race in 1997, and each year a completely new group of kids is introduced to trail running.

“Anyone can create a road race,” says Kline. “It takes a lot of work to create an event like this, and we wanted to create a completely new adventure, to get runners thinking in new ways by getting them off-road. It’s good to run in the trees and see wildlife other than the neighbor’s dog.”

take your mark «

... or a leisurely walk in the woods for others.

The fairly flat loop meanders along the Des Plaines River. But the south end has a few ups and down that surprise those accustomed to the area’s mostly horizontal surfaces.

The Runner’s Edge works hard to minimize the environmental impacts, e.g. using electric golf carts to deliver aid-station supplies instead of fume-spewing cars. Everything—empty water jugs, gel packets, water cups—is packed out after the race and participants are encouraged to pick up garbage and leave the forest cleaner that it was before the race.

Post race, participants are encouraged to partake in a hearty dose of revelry, and a party is held at the local microbrewery, Flatlanders. While the area’s terrain may be flat, the beer is definitely not, and it soon flows like the Des Plaines. The awards party includes a raffle overflowing with gear prizes, and the top finishers receive etched-stone trophies. One way or another, most walk away with a souvenir of some kind. ■

Runner’s Edge Trail Half Marathon Libertyville, Illinois Course Description: Start and finish at Old School Forest Preserve, an hour north of Chicago.

Groomed dirt and crushed gravel (and mostly shaded) trail along the Des Plaines River.

Race Date: September 5, 2005.

Entry Fee: $41 pre-registration (before 9/4/05); $50 race day.

Includes a huge race party and a pair of running socks. Race limited to 750 participants.

Info: The Runner’s Edge (847.549.1108); www.runswim.com Bonus: Best post-race party around! Complimentary food, beverages and snacks for runners in The Tap Room at Flatlander’s Restaurant and Microbrewery in neighboring Lincolnshire. Family and friends are welcome for a small fee.

GREAT ESCAPES by photographs

by CLIFFORD DAVID BRANSON byBRIDGET MICHAELCROCKER BENGE »»photos

by DAVID

Thaddeus Reichley and quaking aspens, Sunnyside Trail, Aspen, Colorado.

Glitter City

WHILE ASPEN MAY BE KNOWN AS THE PLAYGROUND OF THE RICH (MAKE THAT ECCENTRIC), ITS CORE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY AND STELLAR WILDERNESS TRAILS OFFER RUNNERS AN ESCAPE FROM THE MATERIAL WORLD. AN INSIDER’S LOOK.

32 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

A

“At every potluck, after a few beers go down, out come the topo maps,” said a friend and relative Aspen-area newcomer. “Then everyone hovers around and starts talking at once.”

It all depends on the crowd you run with, but the assessment is accurate in describing many of the folks who call Aspen and its “suburbs” home. The immediate Aspen area is so chockfull of great trails that even longtime residents always have fresh tick lists.

When you drive into Aspen on Highway 82, either snaking from the east over 12,095-foot Independence Pass or rising from the west through the quaint “downvalley” towns of Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt (where many locals—who self-deprecatingly refer to themselves as “downvalley trash”—live to avoid Aspen’s sky-highhousing), you can see why the area attracts trail runners, bikers and skiers.

Most athletes around here who actually have garages can’t park their cars there—the spaces are packed with kayaks, alpine, backcountry and Nordic skis, climbing gear, mountain bikes and trail-running paraphernalia. Say, maybe you do have to be rich just to afford the requisite gear for mountain fun, and of course a Hummer II to haul it all around, and fit in with the likes of Kevin Costner and Jack Nicholson, who have cozy 10,000-square-foot second homes in the area.

Nestled in the upper Roaring Fork River valley at 7900 feet, Aspen is surrounded by mountains, their steep flanks blanketed in pine, spruce and aspen. Higher, they fold into jutting, rocky peaks, many breaking the renowned 14,000-foot barrier. Aspen lies on the Western Slope of Colorado, three and a half hours removed from the bustle of Denver and the rest of the sprawled Front Range.

Just lace up your trail runners, grab your hydration rig of choice and a few energy bars, pick a direction and head out … make that “up.”

great escapes «

INTO THE WILDERNESS “Aspen doesn’t have a ton of short runs unless you go out and back because of the scale of the wilderness,” says Neal Beidleman, 45, a rare native Aspenite, who has been running area trails for the past 28 years. “Once you commit to runs of several hours, though, you’ll find secluded singletrack, see very few people and won’t be interrupted by any kind of civilization. You’re really on your own.”

While a few trails follow rugged Jeep roads, most of the surrounding high country is designated wilderness, which means singletrack heaven. No ATVs, no mountain bikes; just hikers, backpackers, runners and a few horseback riders. In fact, Aspen is encircled by four separate wilderness areas—the Maroon Bells-Snowmass, Hunter-Frying Pan, Collegiate Peaks and Mount Massive— totaling around 700 square miles.

TOP SHELF The sine qua non for the devoted trail runner is the Four Pass Loop, which

dishes up a marathon-plus worth of singletrack, all above 9500 feet, with the four pass crossings each touching up over 12,000 feet. This linkup of trails basically circumnavigates the worldfamous Maroon Bells, a pair of symmetrical, imposing 14,000-foot summits and perhaps the most photographed peaks in North America. No doubt you’ve seen them on a postcard—or superimposed right next to the highway in the cheeseball flick Aspen Extreme.

Time your run for mid-summer and you’ll likely encounter chest-deep wildflowers encompassing all hues of the rainbow, a surreal, head-spinning experience. Something unique about the Elk Mountains (the range that lies south of Aspen) is the juxtaposition of white to gray granite and outrageous brilliantred sandstone.

Although you may not be alone on these popular trails, go self-sufficient with plenty of snacks and spare gear to survive a typical, violent afternoon thunderstorm. The storms can be so

predictable, however, that you can plan your day around them. Just head down by early afternoon.

Several tiers up the difficulty scale is Beidleman and his partner Jeff Hollenbaugh’s 1996 linkup of the seven 14ers in the Elk Mountains—now a legendary trek called “The Elk Traverse.”

This brutal, roughly 70-mile point-topoint included 25,000-plus feet of elevation gain and took 35 hours (including the mandatory hour in the Conundrum Hot Springs; see below). The pair were unsupported, save for a buried jug of Dr. Pepper and bag of Cheetos that they devoured in the middle of the night.

Their feat awaits a repeat.

LEAVE YOUR OPTIONS (WIDE) OPEN More normal humans should hit the out-and-back classic of the area—the 16-mile roundtrip to Conundrum Hot Springs, which offers two body-wilting, 102-degree pools at treeline with Castle and Conundrum peaks (both 14ers) tow-

Singletrack nirvana—an after-work jaunt on the East Snowmass Creek Trail, gateway to miles of wilderness possibilities.

2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 33

» great escapes

Trailhead

Aspen, Colorado

GETTING THERE. Aspen lies on the Western Slope of Colorado, a threeand-a-half-hour drive from Denver. You can either fly into Denver and rent a car, or fly directly into Aspen, which is more costly. You can also fly into Grand Junction (a two-hour drive) or Eagle (an hour-and-15-minute drive). Once there, and if you don’t have a vehicle, trails can be accessed via local public transportation (bus), taxi or old-school thumbing.

SEASONS. The prime time is early July through early October (although early season snows can shut down the high country). Wildflowers are blooming in July and August, while late September through early October features the blowup of fall colors.

CAMPING/ACCOMMODATIONS .

Options run the gamut, from great National Forest Service campgrounds to five-star hotels. For campgrounds in White River National Forest, see www. f s .fe d .us/r2 /white rive r/re creation / campgrounds/table/index.shtml. For accommodations with a roof, visit www. aspenchamber.org.

FOOD & DRINK. Dining possibilities

Jen Gee on one of Aspen’s close-in runs—the Hunter Creek Trail.

ering above. The trail is mostly gentle singletrack, with steeper climbing in the last mile and a half. Don’t expect solitude or fellow bathers wearing clothes.

Heading east from Aspen, the winding two-lane highway to Independence Pass offers numerous access points to fantastic high-country trails. Near the top, the Lost Man Loop is a nine-mile excursion at the headwaters of the Roaring Fork River.

The trail—most of it above treeline—features a nearly 13,000-foot pass, alpine Independence and Lost Man lakes and a plethora of wildflowers. On the high tundra, you may see and hear peeping ptarmigan, and marmots and pikas belt34 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

ing out their warning screeches.

For a longer trek (about a marathon) check out the Midway Pass to Hunter Creek to Aspen point-to-point (you’ll need to work out a shuttle). This combo probes into some of the wildest country in the area, with likely elk and deer sightings (and, if you’re lucky, black bear).

“In-town” options are also excellent.

“One of the best things about the running around Aspen is that you can access so many different runs right from town,” says Bob Wade, proprietor of the Ute Mountaineer and 20-year veteran of the local trail scene. “And the city has done a great job connecting them, so you have

are copious, with just about every style and ethnicity. Local favorites include The Cantina, La Cocina, Su Casa, The Mother Lode, Kenichi and Takah Sushi.

Places for your morning joe and carbs include Café Ink!, Main Street Bakery & Cafe and Zélé. Aspen has a compact downtown area, making walking the preferred mode of travel. Local bus service is reliable too.

RESOURCES. Aspen/Snowmass Trails, Hiking Trail Guide and Aspen & Central Colorado Trails, A Hiking Guide, both by Warren Ohlrich (Who Press), and Hiking Colorado’s Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, by Erik Molvar (The Globe Pequot Press), cover all the trails mentioned here and many more. Local mountain shops include The Ute Mountaineer in Aspen (www.utemountainer.com, 970-925-2849), Bristlecone Mountain Sports in Basalt (970-927-1492) and Summit Canyon Mountaineering in Glenwood Springs (www.summitcanyon.com, 800-360-6994).

greatescapes escapes«« great to run on very little road to reach the outlying trails.”

If you’re pressed for time, for example, you can crank out a quick burn on the Sunnyside-Hunter Creek Valley loop (10 miles; go in the autumn when the scrub oak on the ridges is scarlet and the aspens orange and yellow) or the Ute Trail (a quick and dirty 1200 feet in 2.5 miles to a rock promontory with great views of Aspen and across the valley to Red Mountain).

And there are always plenty of folks ready to suit up for a trail run. Out-of-towners can drop by the Ute Mountaineer, and perhaps snag a partner or leave a note on the community bulletin board.

The preceding litany scratches the surface of the trail-running potential near Aspen. A multitude of other trails are covered in local hiking guidebooks, but you won’t find any information on one of the area’s more esoteric, spontaneous runs: the Basic Aspen Mountain Marathon, a very “unofficial” race that sometimes happens around Labor Day weekend. If you’re in the area around that time and ply a local trail runner with suds, the maps might come out. ■

Ready to Race?

The ultimate race in the area is the ASPEN GOLDEN LEAF, a singletrack half marathon that runs from Snowmass to Aspen during the peak of the fall colors. This year’s event—the 27th annual running—takes place September 18 (www.utemountaineer.com, 970-925-2849). Other great Western Slope races include:

AUGUST 13: Aspen Mountain Uphill. 4.41 miles, 3400 vertical feet, nuff said (clkeleher@hotmail.com, Chris Keleher 970-927-2172).

AUGUST 20: Leadville Trail 100. One of the classic mountain races in the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning (www.leadvilletrail100.com).

SEPTEMBER 4: Breckenridge Crest Mountain Marathon. Mostly above-treeline, 24.5-mile course treading the crest of the Tenmile Range (includes 5- and 13-mile options) (www.boec.org/marathon, 800-383-2632).

SEPTEMBER 10: Imogene Pass Run. 17.2-mile run from Ouray to Telluride in the rugged San Juan Mountains (970-728-0251, www. imogenerun.com).

SEPTEMBER 25: Lead King Loop Half Marathon. A 13-mile loop from the historic mining town of Marble. Bursting fall colors and the famed Crystal Mill (cmacek@rfsd.k12.co.us, 970-384-5887).

JULY 2006: Leadville Trail Marathon. America’s highest marathon, starting at 10,000 feet and climbing to over 13,000 feet (www.leadvilletrail100.com).

S U O E G A R S U K O C C MEBA CO

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36 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

By Jim

EMERGING FROM THE DARKNESS I will probably never recollect the events that sent me to the hospital on Easter Sunday 2003. My wife and I were running Barr Trail in Manitou Springs, Colorado. I finished and started back up the trail to find her, and that is the last thing I remember.

I awoke from a stupor about a half mile from the point that I last remember when a kind passerby asked, “Are you OK? You’re bleeding.” I was unaware of the blood streaming down my hands, feet and clothes or how I arrived there. A split in the back of my head, retrograde amnesia and a severe concussion led to a stay in the hospital, but the details are surreal, like a passage from a Dean Koontz novel. For weeks, the head pain was so intense that shots of morphine had no effect.

At home, my wife and daughter provided 24/7 care for three weeks. My 20/20 vision was gone; trying to read newspaper headlines caused severe pain. To eliminate

my extreme sensitivity to light, we became cave dwellers and covered all windows with shades and extra drapes. I could tolerate no noise and required assistance for mundane tasks—shuffling to the bathroom, getting out of bed, eating. Over the next three months, I progressed from two body catchers to one to a cane.

CAT scans confirmed that my brain swelling had dissipated; however, severe migraines, dizziness and balance problems persisted for months. I went from winning my age group at the Pikes Peak Ascent to feeling like a convalescent-home reject.

My physical recovery started on a treadmill. I would hold on and someone would supervise and, if needed, catch me. The first day I managed two minutes before the head pain, dizziness and imbalance became too intense. I gradually increased my treadmill time. At one point in my “training,” it took me 12 minutes to cover a quarter of a mile. I thought the treadmill readout was broken; my 100-year-old grandmother moved faster.

No light existed at the end of the tunnel. Mentally, I was devastated. But I was determined to return to trail running in full form—with my hair on fire.

With my cane, three months after the accident, I began to walk outside. How my perspective had changed!

I struggled on trails that I never considered worthy of training. On the slightest incline, I puffed like an overweight American slogging to a fast-food restaurant. I eventually worked up to 60 minutes per day—albeit at a snail’s pace. Like never before, I enjoyed the brilliant wildflower fields of blue, red, yellow and purple. Even today, I remember the heavenly smell of the tiny white orchids.

I am left with tinnitus (a ringing in my ears that changes in frequency and intensity) and sensitivity to noises—no more rock concerts or even loud restaurants. I am able to trail run now, but when I bump up the pace or distance, I experience imbalance and increased ringing in my ears. Nevertheless, I’ll stay the course and when you see a trail runner with smoldering hair, please say hello.

My story is not unique. Many other fellow trail runners have suffered and persevered through far worse situations. READ ON.

At one point in my “training,” it took me 12 minutes to cover a quarter of a mile.

2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 37

DREAM IT, DO IT Chris Ballard of Seattle, Washington, is smiley, outgoing and relentlessly optimistic; all characteristics the 52-year-old emergency-room nurse has needed to recover from the trauma she suffered when a drunk driver plowed into her truck in August 2004.

“After years of caring for car-accident victims, it was my worst nightmare come true,” says Ballard.

“And if it had to happen, why not in an event more befitting my lifestyle, such as falling off a cliff or being recycled by a bear?”

Dreams of ultra trail runs (she finished Washington’s White River 50-miler in 2003) vanished as she dealt with multiple fractured ribs, a collapsed right lung, lacerated liver, broken lower right leg and—the most serious damage—a lumbar-vertebrae burst fracture.

Avoiding surgery and thus sparing her potentially significant loss of mobility, Ballard was wrapped in a back brace for three months. “At home, we turned the whole scene into a party,” says Ballard, “friends coming and going, fixing dinner, playing music, decorating the body brace.” Family and friends had to turn, bathe and put her on a bedpan. Her right leg was fixed with a rod and screws. Her husband, a finisher of the Wasatch Front and Western States 100-milers, was very empathetic and supportive, and over a period of three months, helped Chris progress from a wheelchair to a walker to a Stairmaster to outdoor walks.

“Getting back my life was similar to falling during a trail race—you just get back up and keep going!” says Ballard. The mental side of healing boosted Ballard’s physical recovery. Listening to music, reading books (running related, of course) and recalling past joyous events lifted her spirits and inspired her. Through core-muscle strengthening, she taught herself how to pull up her right leg. She’s now back to trail running and expects to return to her pre-accident physical ability. She has several trail races planned for 2005.

If it had to happen, why not in an event more befitting my lifestyle, such as falling off a cliff or being recycled by a bear?

Real Survivors A few issues back, Trail Runner requested your stories of amazing comebacks.

The response was, well, amazing. Here are more tales from some very inspiring trail runners .

Peter Sheard of Luton, United Kingdom, suffered an industrial accident in 1997.

He fracture d several vertebrae that required major surgery. At the same time, Sheard was diagnosed with a lung condition, which caused him to lose half of his lung capacit y. When the post-op doctor implied that Peter would not run again and should think about wheelchair racing, he rose to the challenge.

In Novemb er 2004, Sheard did his first trail marathon and hopes to finish a 100K this August.

Dan Marinsik of Sunnyvale, California, lost his inner ear during an operation to remove a benign brain tumor. A year later, he has returned to normal and, like all trail runners, is training to improve his times.

What’s more, he’s aiming to again compete in the Badwater 135 miler (he has finished the race twice).

Diane Van Deren of Colorado Springs, Colorado, suffered breath-stopping seizures. She was diagnosed with adult-onset epilepsy, and when traditional medical treatments failed, the right temporal lobe of her brain was removed. Undaunted, Diane regularly competes in 100 milers, and is a spokesperson for the Kiwanis Foundation, a worldwide children’s health and safety service organization.

(Read more about her on page 8.)

Mike Piercy of Swannanoa, North Carolina, suffered a heart attack in 2000. His recover y didn’t slow him down; rather it has made him reach for new goals. Percy has completed several trail races and is now logging five-hour training runs with hopes of completing an ultra.

Tommy Manning, a former high-school cross-country runner in Oklahoma, had outstanding times and prospects when he was involved in a motorcycle accident that fractured his right tibia, fibula and patella. Seven years later and defying the odds and the advice of doctors, he is running again and even completed the 2002 Boston Marathon in 2:42.

TAKE CONTROL Take the case of Tom Mueller, 48, of Westerville, Ohio, who has finished six 100-mile trail races. A few days after getting a flu shot, he came down with what appeared to be the flu.

But his condition worsened, with jaw pain, impaired vision and loss of mobility in his legs and arms. He eventually spent 11 days in ICU, completely paralyzed and on a respirator. Contemplating 100 milers disappeared as he clung to life.

The diagnosis was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder where antibodies Take control of your eat away the sheath covering the nerves. In lay terms, personal situation, and don’t your body short circuits. let others define it for you.

Mueller spent six weeks in the hospital and another six weeks as an outpatient.

Mueller’s recovery began with using his hands and fingers, and re-learning to swallow food. Eventually he could sit up, stand, walk and then run. Tom told a nurse in January that he wanted to run the Ice Age 50-Miler in May 2004. She replied that he would be lucky to be using a walker by then. Driven by the challenge and angered by the comment, Tom pushed his recovery and viewed it like an ultra, employing “patience over a long period of time.”

Mueller credits the support of his wife and his strong Christian faith with his recovery. He is back looking for new challenges and recently set a PR (personal record) in 2004 at the JFK 50-Miler. His advice: “Take control of your personal situation, and don’t let others define it for you.

You set the boundaries of your recovery.”

SAINTLY AMBITION What appears to be an instrument of medieval torture is, actually, a halo, a device that is screwed into the skull with support bars on the chest and back to stabilize the head. Can you imagine someone doing a trail race wearing the contraption?

Enter Patty Giebel, a 59year-old high-school physical-education instructor from Agoura, California. An extremely active athlete, she had been a trail runner for eight years when she had a bicycle accident in April 2004. Patty’s husband of 35 years, Mark, found her in a heap, tangled in her bicycle, not breathing, gurgling blood, her nose sitting on her cheek, teeth missing, deep facial cuts. So severe were the injuries that Mark says he couldn’t recognize her. Most serious, however, was an invisible injury—a broken neck.

Giebel’s first coherent thought when she regained consciousness and realized she had broken her neck was simply: “This is going to be a challenge.”

“The mental and physical side of recovery go hand in hand,” says Giebel.

As soon as possible and with the halo in place, she was walking, doing abdominal crunches, stretches and climbing stairs.

Giebel was most determined to get back on the trails as soon as possible, complete with halo. She taught herself to “scoot”—her word for a quick, smooth run-walk movement with no bouncing. “When I would scoot around the neighborhood with my halo, people would warn me that I was endangering myself,” says Giebel. “It was depressing, so I went out on the trails. There, people understood.”

Only four weeks after the accident, she entered a 20-mile trail run that was raising money for emergency medical services. She scooted it, “halo and all.” The finish was emotional, since many of the doctors and nurses who had treated her at the hospital were at the finish line to cheer her on.

A major setback occurred on the date of Giebel’s halo removal. She had dreamed of taking a shower and wearing her own clothes. Instead, she underwent an unexpected six-hour operation to insert a metal plate and have a bone graft at the broken cervical vertebrae. What followed was another three months in the halo, then a hard collar, a nose operation, a tooth implant and physical therapy to re-learn how to turn her head. Undaunted, she recently completed the Catalina Avalon 50-Miler.

Her message for her students and the rest of us: “No matter what, stay determined, and keep a positive attitude.”

When I would scoot around the neighborhood with my halo, people would warn me that I was endangering myself

AGAINST ALL ODDS Even a brain tumor could not slow down Richard Burton, 49, of Annapolis, Maryland. Prior to his diagnosis, Burton had been running trails for nine years and completed the Boston Marathon. An eight-hour operation removed an acoustic neuroma, a large benign tumor on the cranial nerve.

The results were devastating. He was deaf in his right ear, had facial paralysis that affected his speech and he couldn’t blink his right eyelid. He also lost his equilibrium.

“Early on, the mental side of recovery was very difficult,” says Burton. “My face was disfigured by the paralysis, and it was difficult to look in the mirror. It was also difficult to think I may not be able to do all the physical activities I enjoyed in the past.”

Quick head movements caused his “whole world to be thrown into a blender.” For a person accustomed to vigorous outdoor sports, his first exercise after the operation was “humbling’’—walking while slowly turning his head left and right. Any jarring would send him back into “blender world.”

His only option was to learn to use his left side and eyesight to balance. Burton resolved to take control of his own recovery, researching options, therapy and exercises. “My wife, Lynda, was instrumental in holding me accountable and keeping me from ever feeling sorry for myself,” says Burton. “Caring is a lot like running.

Sometimes it hurts, but in the end it’s good for you.”

A determined Burton did an off-road duathlon seven months after the operation. “The idea was to push my-

“My wife, Lynda, was instrumental in holding me accountable and keeping me from ever feeling sorry for myself,”

self and my limits. You can handle life or let life handle you,” says Burton. For example, he could not shut his right eye, and it would subsequently dry out, so he used eye drops to lubricate it. During winter runs, his eye would grow very cold as the eye drops began to freeze. His solution: run with swimming goggles. But the long-term fix has been a 1.2gram gold pellet implanted into the eyelid, which allows it to close.

“Trail running is an integral part of my rehabilitation,” says Burton. “It challenges and strengthens my balance, coordination and vision. It gives me a sense of satisfaction.” He hopes to complete a trail ultra run this fall.

overy? To raordinary paths to rec Fighting Fate Y FOLKS who blazed ext AR DIN OR sical. All ESE phy TH M the GAIN FRO overy drives

WE e of rec WHAT INSIGHTS CAN , you can.” The mental sid pped their ld, “If you think you can Cou t tha ine medical advice, they ma Eng ded le hee Litt y quote The their future. While the for an-norle r-th sib cke pon qui res to re led we pe tor— eal in superb physical sha believed they—not a doc ord the g rtin ilies sta t fam , tha nds beyond. All agree ing support of their frie own recoveries by going island; all credit the lov an is gh son tou a per is no e t rac tha l recognized ge just as running a trai mal recoveries. They also a ir recovery as a challen m the d fro y we vie awa y ath the bre up, rt ined gro never more than a sho and spouses. A determ ause they know you are bec , life for on iati rec app test. All have a greater have life-altering event. the couch. No one would h the flow and rested on wit e gon , lime fate ir hav y the ed the have accept our community. But These trail runners could little to anyone outside ans to me e nt rac me l mo trai r g yin the -pit ano running d, “Why me?” in a self criticized them. After all, by p.” They may have uttere ned “sto or defi it” ly tial “qu e par s lud wa inc e not aning and purpos ited vocabularies that do en fleeting. Their life’s me but the thought was oft return to trail running. a ant me which they are entitled, lcy, again, to return to norma ole wh e om bec To . their athleticism

Virgina’s Mountain Masochist Trail Run is a rite of autumn

42 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

Fall guy: A Masochist runner savors the area’s colorful backroads—and one of the rare flat spots on the race course.

By Garett Graubins Photos by David Clifford 2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 43

radition runs deep in the Virginia Commonwealth. The country’s first settlers planted cornerstones here. Virginian Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence. And the sounds of Civil War cannons and clashing bayonets once filled the valley’s hollows.

Trail running is steeped in tradition here, too. Every October since 1983, when mountainsides glow in fiery reds and the frosty air smells of smoldering leaves, trail runners celebrate another season’s harvest of earthen miles. This end-of-the-season, trail-running jubilee is the Mountain Masochist 50-Mile Trail Run. A masochist, by definition, loves and craves pain. So it seems strange that the night before the race, hundreds of smiling faces gather at Heritage High School in Lynchburg, Virginia. The town of roughly 96,000 people in the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains serves as base camp for the Masochist. And Heritage H.S. is Masochist central.

Founded in 1786, Lynchburg was a flashpoint between Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. These days, the North and South are at peace.

Instead, East and West do battle at the Mountain Masochist. In the 2004 race, a powder keg of talent from both sides of the country amassed: Dave Mackey

44 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

(Boulder, CO), Todd Walker (Amherst, MA), Nikki Kimball (Bozeman, MT), Annette Bednosky (Boone, NC), Hal Koerner (Seattle, WA), Sean Andrish (Leesburg, VA), Luanne Park (Redding, CA), Eric Grossman (Lousiville, KY) and Karl Meltzer (Sandy, UT), to name a few.

This cornucopia of trail mastery is a tribute to the promotional efforts of Race Director David Horton, the storied history of the race itself and the Mountain Masochist’s status as the Montrail Ultra Cup championship. In order to win the Ultra Cup, runners are virtually required to run in the Masochist. And they do so, with sick pleasure.

Fast Times at Heritage High As Masochist runners congregate at Heritage High School, the scene is both orderly and chaotic.

Lines of people lead in several directions throughout the cavernous cafeteria.

Packet and goodie-bag pick-up to the right. Chow

(top left) All smiles in the Masochist’s early miles. (bottom left) The country’s toughest trail-running talent toe the starting line in the pre-dawn darkness. (this page) Corey Handelsman arrives at the wet and wild Otter Creek aid station.

2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 45

McDonnell’s MASOCHIST

Melody (excerpt)

Well there’s lots of rules for both runners and crews You know it’s all done by the book But if you think that Horton Miles add up Well let’s take another look.

46 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

is served against the far wall—100 pizzas, 30 pans of lasagna, 16 pounds of spaghetti, salads, and four extra-large sheet cakes decorated as course maps.

In the near corner, people buy copies of David Horton’s book (A Quest for Adventure) or Neal Jamison’s latest writings (Running through the Wall: Personal Encounters with the Ultramarathon). Fit-looking trail runners laugh and the elite runners sandbag.

“How are you feeling?”

“I have a cold, so I’m not expecting much.”

Meanwhile, Horton is frantic with frenzied task mastering. He cradles his grandson, L.J., in one arm, and shakes hands with a fellow wearing a “Virginia Happy Trails Running Club” shirt. He shouts to nobody in particular, “We’ll need more food.

“The evening preceding the Masochist is such a social event,” says Horton, who is known as much for his gregarious nature as his lifetime support of the sport.

“Socializing makes for the best ultras.”

After dinner, Danny McDonnell of Fallston, Maryland, strums a guitar and croons a ballad about the Mountain Masochist 50-Mile Trail Run. McDonnell, a four-time finisher of the race, smirks between lyrics (see sidebar, left). In the crowd, Masochist veterans nod knowingly to the song’s words and warnings,

while first-timers look confused.

“What are ‘Horton Miles?’” asks one Masochist rookie.

“You’ll learn the hard way tomorrow,” replies a fellow standing next to him.

The party breaks up before nine o’clock.

Race Day starts early tomorrow, as runners need to catch shuttle buses to the Masochist starting line at five o’clock. As athletes file out of Heritage High School, nervous energy and dry leaves swirl around the parking lot.

Morning Glory Horton always has butterflies on Masochist race morning. By the time runners unload from school buses in the parking lot of the James River Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, preparations are complete, but that doesn’t mean the race is on cruise control. “Race Day is like a tornado,” says Horton. “You know it’s coming, so you batten down everything and brace yourself, but the howling winds can catch one tiny thing and wreak havoc.”

So far, race morning flows smoothly.

The sky is still as dark as a dead toenail, but the starting area bubbles with vigor.

Under the glow of floodlights and buzzing of power generators, Horton leads 262 anxious runners in pre-race prayer. With an “Amen,” he yields to Masochist runner Annette Bednosky, who bellows the Na-

tional Anthem. “Horton threatened that if somebody didn’t sing it, he would,” says Bednosky, “and I’ve heard him sing.”

This will be Bednosky’s second Masochist. A relative newcomer to trail ultras, she has proven herself as one of the East’s top female runners, and she’s excited to compete against the West’s best.

“The Masochist is one of the East’s races worth traveling to,” she says. “Traditionally, Easterners would hop on an airplane and travel West.”

Soon, Bednosky and the rest of the Masochist field disappear into the blackness of a paved, forested road. Elite runners jockey for early position on a three-mile out-and-back section and slower runners shuffle their first steps of a long day. Once they leave this short pavement section, the sky lightens up to reveal the glory of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains.

If the western Rockies are the younger, sexier stars of the North-American trailrunning scene, then the East’s Blue Ridge Mountains are the more refined and handsome elders. Think Ashton Kutcher or Lindsay Lohan versus Paul Newman or Annette Benning. The older Blue Ridge Mountains have endured many more years of the elements, and it only magnifies their magnificence.

With thickly forested, gently rounded peaks, these mountains don’t inspire exclamation points. Instead, their rugged beauty lies below timberline, in hilly waves of lush forests and hollows alive with thriving floral and fauna. The Masochist provides an entrancing tour of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Winners Aplenty While many of the nation’s best runners compete at the Masochist, the race also attracts its fair share of “recreational” trail ultrarunners and first timers. Says Horton, “I never want the race to be elitist—every single runner is important.”

True to his all-inclusive M.O., Horton encourages all runners to write stories of their Masochist experiences and he posts them to the race website (www. extremeultrarunning.com). “The stories I love the most come from the first timers,” he says.

The Masochist salutes every person involved in the event. At the post-race awards ceremony, Horton invites all runners who do not complete the race to stand up and be recognized. “It’s a tough thing to DNF, and I’ve been there,” he says.

The Masochist recognizes other excep-

(top left) Breakfast of Champions: at an early aid station, the author (#12) and Paul Carrasco (#42) inspect a smorgasbord of sugar, salt and carbohydrates. (this page) After 10 hours of backwoods hardships, Jonathan Whitehead earned a rest.

commemorate the accomplishment. He also wins his first Fastest Fat Boy Award and celebrates with a fitting feast. “After the race, I went to McDonald’s for two double cheeseburgers and two McChickens,” he says, “and I’m still hungry.”

Horton once considered an equivalent award for the—ahem—bigger-boned female runners, but couldn’t think of a tactful way to do it. “What could I possibly call it?” asks Horton rhetorically.

Horton also honors the 100 or so volunteers who work behind the scenes and at the Masochist’s 16 aid stations.

“They are the unsung heroes,” he says, “because they’re helping so many runners achieve their dreams.”

Legends in the Fall

Hurts so

Good

Master the Mountain Masochist 50-Mile Trail Run When: October 15, 2005 Where: Blue Ridge Mountains, northwest of Lynchburg, Virginia Interested? Go to www. extremeultrarunning.com, train hard and brace yourself for 50 miles that feels mysteriously like 53 miles.

Note: The 2005 Mountain Masochist is limited to 300 runners and is expected to fill up.

48 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

tional efforts as well. Records are kept for the fastest times at each age (not agegroup), from the youngest-ever finisher (16-year-old Richard Green in 1986) to the oldest (70-year-old Ken Karcher in 1999), and every age in between. The fastest local runners receive the “Mountain Man” and “Mountain Woman” Awards. The “Horses Rear End” Award goes to the last person to cross the finish line before the 12-hour cut-off.

Lifetime Lynchburger Neal Bryant, 34, knows the distinction of one of the Masochist’s more unusual awards. The former Liberty University football team noseguard had completed the Masochist nine times and in 2004 was shooting for the “Fastest Fat Boy” Award as the fastest runner weighing over 200 pounds. “I used to laugh at runners in tight tights and short shorts,” says Bryant, recalling his gridiron days when he weighed 250 pounds. “Who would’ve thought that I would end up one of them?”

Later on race day, Bryant celebrates another finish. It is his tenth Masochist, and he receives a souvenir jacket to

With the morning sun’s rays piercing bronzed foliage, runners arrive at mile 11, the Otter Creek aid station, and the Masochist’s first major checkpoint. Volunteers work frenetically as racers arrive and Appalachian Mountain hymns (e.g. “Amazing Grace”) blare over a loudspeaker. “Amazing Pace” might be a more appropriate song title, as front runners sizzle through here. They splash across the creek, refill their water bottles and exit past several poster boards put up by the aid station crew displaying inspirational Bible passages.

Lou Basten is the Otter Creek aid-station captain. “This is a fall ritual,” he says in a gentlemanly, southern drawl.

“There’s a mystique about these mountains that draws me back every year and we’re blessed to be up here.”

Slower runners don’t look very blessed when they arrive at Otter Creek. “This is where we revive them and their spirit,” says Basten. Once the last of the runners trickle out mid-morning, Basten and his crew hurry to their next aid-station assignment, Buck Mountain.

The Mountain Masochist traces a network of dirt and gravel roads paralleling the Blue Ridge Parkway from south to north. Elevations vary from 600 feet at the starting line to approximately 4030 feet on Elk Pond Mountain (mile 45).

Overall, the race climbs 9000 vertical feet and descends 7000. Says two-time Masochist winner and course-record holder Dave Mackey, “It never stops climbing or descending. It’s non-stop vertical that all adds up.”

One of the race’s highest points is Buck Mountain and Basten normally races by the Masochist leaders driving up there. Runners reach Buck Mountain after running nearly 30 miles, their

legs heavy after an eight-mile climb and their spirits sagging with the knowledge that there’s still roughly 20 miles left.

Adds Basten, “And it’s cold up there— especially when the wind’s blowing.”

Arriving at Buck Mountain, volunteers know exactly what to do; they’ve been doing this for 20 years. They position their beefy stereo amplifier so it faces the oncoming runners, turn up the volume and insert a cassette tape.

Miles below Buck Mountain, runners hear the music. Salli O’Donnell, a 45-year-old woman from Chesapeake, Virginia, has finished the Masochist 11 times—more than any other woman.

She says, “I listen for that music. I hear it wafting across the valley and then it will fade away, before coming back.”

About a half mile away, runners can identify the melody. It’s the theme song from the movie “Rocky.”

“God bless those [volunteers],” says O’Donnell, “They have to listen to that song over and over.”

“We get tired of it, but we do it for the runners,” says Basten. “It’s a great piece of music for Buck Mountain.” Basten describes how runners, upon hearing the music, muster enough strength to run the climb’s last 100 yards.

more than eight hours, she arrived in Montebello as the fourth woman. And, as Horton has done for nearly every Masochist finisher in 22 years, he stood waiting, poised to deliver an exuberant bear hug.

“I had never seen a race director wait for every finisher,” said Africa later.

Horton Miles After changing into warm clothes, many Masochist finishers indulge in another race-day tradition by visiting the nearby General Store for some postrace replenishment. The General Store is owned by the same folks who own the land where the Masochist finishes.

Adrian Squires lives in Montebello and works the General Store’s counter.

“They buys lots of drinks,” she says. “It could be the busiest day of the year.”

“Those folks have been very gracious, so I can at least visit their store,” says Tom Green, whose post-race choice is Popsicles (“Even when it’s cold out,” he says).

“The chili is awesome,” says Mackey,

Feeling Loopy After Buck Mountain, the Masochist course exacts a toll on runners. “The second half is far more difficult than the first,” says 22-time finisher Tom Green of Columbia, Maryland. “There’s a series of climbs and a lot of singletrack in the last 15 miles.”

The race’s first major singletrack section hits at mile 33. Known simply as “The Loop,” it’s five miles of rockstrewn and leaf-covered enchanted forest. “The Loop will make or break your day,” warns Horton.

“Once I get through The Loop,” says Green, “I have the race under control.”

Most runners agree that once The Loop is behind them, they are finished.

“Except for mile 47,” says O’Donnell, “It seems [Horton] had us on one side of the mountain and then said to himself, ‘They need to be on the other side, so I’ll just make them climb over it.’”

So as afternoon sunlight slants through the few remaining high-mountain leaves, runners crest the Masochist’s final climb and descend three miles to the finish in the mountain hamlet of Montebello, Virginia (pop: 100).

Darcy Africa of Boulder, Colorado, enjoyed a strong finish in 2004. After

(top left) 20-year-old Jenn Shelton sets her cruise control. (this page) Trail of tears: Race Director Horton welcomes another runner to the Masochist finish.

who noshed at the General Store after winning the race with the third-fastest time ever.

As runners stream into Montebello, finishers sit in the General Store or stand cheering outside. With decorative cornstalks, pumpkins and the forested surroundings, it’s an idyllic scene from a Norman Rockwell painting.

One finisher collapses on the grass, saying, “There’s no way that’s only 50 miles!” Standing above him, Horton giggles and feigns ignorance.

“I won’t speculate on how long,” says Bednosky, “but it’s longer than 50.”

Mackey agrees, “Oh yeah, I think it’s at least 54.”

Months later, in a hushed phone conversation, Horton ends the debate.

“I think it’s 53 miles, and that’s being conservative,” he says. “Besides, it gives people something to talk about.

“That’s where ‘Horton Miles’ comes from.”

Garett Graubins is Senior Editor of Trail Runner.

Bid me run and I will strive with things impossible. —Shakespeare

Abi Watras moving out near Lake Sunapee, Enfield, New Hampshire.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS MILLIMAN

Âť gallery

Hot fun in the summertime: there’s nothing like high-country wilderness trails. Here, runners clamber up an alpine ridge in the Elk Mountains of Colorado.

PHOTO BY DAVID CLIFFORD

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T R AIL TES T E D

by GARETT GRAUBINS

» photos by DAVID CLIFFORD

Reaching into my fanny pack, I grabbed a pair of replacement lenses—a soft orange that would protect my baby blues from UV rays, while still allowing me to see what lay ahead. In less than 10 seconds, I exchanged the lenses. “OK,” I said, “vamoose!”

Interchangeable sunglass lenses have arguably revolutionized the sunglass industry and, more importantly, saved many trail runners from tumbling downhill or nuking their retinas.

Interchangeable or not, it is vitally important to wear eye protection. “Reliable, long-term medical research makes clear that our eyes need UV protection,” says Dr. David Eberhardt, an Optometrist in Carbondale, Colorado, “especially to prevent and reduce the risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, which may result in blindness.” With the amount of time trail runners spend under the sun, the decision of whether to wear shades becomes a no-brainer.

Trail Runner evaluated several of today’s top interchangeable sunglasses.

They’re all lightweight—weighing one ounce or less—and provide 100-percent UV protection. Most are ideal for medium-size faces, unless otherwise noted.

As you shop, take fit and face size into account—as well as your fashion preference. After all, direct UV rays can harm your eyes, but looks can kill.

Spec-tacular Interchangeables WITH SUNGLASS LENSES FOR ALL CONDITIONS, FLIP-FLOPPING IS COOL. We didn’t crest the 10,000-foot pass until high noon. As we enjoyed a snack and a 100-mile view, the scorching sun sat suspended directly overhead, bombarding my expansive, 32-year-old forehead with harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays (I should have worn a cap). My eyes, meanwhile, lounged safely behind a pair of dark-brown sunglass lenses.

From the pass, we descended down a dicey scree field and, a few thousand feet lower, dropped into a thick pine forest. I suddenly couldn’t see the forest for the trees—literally—as my dark lenses were overkill in this shady section. “Hold up a second,” I said, as I stubbed my foot against an unseen root and nearly tumbled into a trash-can-sized boulder.

54 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

OPTICALOPTIONS When that radiant orb is blasting the trail and there’s little shelter, go with color-neutral lenses that lessen the intense brightness without distorting colors.

Recommended: mirrored, black, brown, dark gray, green In the trees or on a partly cloudy day, you’ll be fine with less overall brightness protection. These lens tints will deliver better depth perception and emphasize contrasts in tricky light conditions.

Recommended: orange, yellow, gold, amber Even in the rain, shine or at night, it’s always critical to wear eye protection on the trails.

Guard against that eye-level tree branch or swirling dust, and you’ll never need an eye patch.

Recommended: clear, rose, light yellow

GEAR FINDER

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Honey Stinger introduces Strawberry flavored energy gel packets. Strawberry is the sixth gel packet flavor offered by the Colorado manufacturer and second to include caffeine.

Other ingredients include; B vitamins, sodium, potassium, 32mg of caffeine from kola nut extract and all natural flavors.

Honey Stinger delivers pure, natural energy!

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When your Best Friend is your biggest Motivator The Buddy System is an innovative, hands free leash designed for walkers, runners, hikers, and anyone who likes both hands free yet, still wants to take along their best friend. It is set apart from other hands-free leash systems by its built in safety mechanisms and the ability to store the unused leash on the belt when the dog is off-leash.

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» trail tested

RYDERS COILER

$69

www.ryderseyewear.com FRAME OPTIONS: black, tortoise, silver and white (pictured) LENS OPTIONS (all included): clear, brown or gray, orange (pictured)

The Coiler’s funky look—seemingly a cross between ski goggles and sun shades—will make you an instant trail hipster. It has a snug fit and seriously durable frame, while the rubberized temples gripped and minimized sweaty sliding. The gasket-style lens-swap system doesn’t require you to bend or force fit the optics. What’s more, the lenses will never accidentally pop out. An alternative

SMITH FRONTLINE MAX

Coiler model accommodates prescription lenses, and the handy, zippered soft case scored bonus points. Excellent value. One-year warranty.

Shades of Gray: Peripheral vision somewhat obstructed. The bulkiest model we tested, but still weighs only one ounce.

$109-$119

www.smithsport.com FRAME OPTIONS: smoke, black, silver, midnight blue (pictured), white LENS OPTIONS: platinum mirror, brown, blue, orange (included), yellow (pictured/included)

Ultimate protection for your peepers, the Frontline’s lenses are shield-like. A rimless and sleek—but also sturdy—frame kept a vice-like grip on the lenses, while allowing easy interchangeability. An adjustable, no-slip nosepiece and rubber temples prevent slippage. Trail runners with medium- to planetoid-sized heads

RUDY PROJECT JEKYLL

will like this model best; the smaller Frontline is better for smaller craniums. The Frontline comes with a semi-hard, Velcro case. Limited one-year warranty.

Shades of Gray: Vice-grip fit can be uncomfortable for some larger faces (especially behind the ears), and glasses tend to sit up high on the nose.

$105

www.rudyprojectusa.com FRAME OPTIONS: green sand, salmon, cristall, matte black, tobacco, demi turtle (pictured) LENS OPTIONS: two pairs included, depending on frame.

TINTS INCLUDE: bichromic pink, bichromic green, laser clear deg, laser red deg, laser brown deg (pictured) and laser bronze deg, polarized gray, polarized brown and smoke

Make a seamless transition from the sun-blasted trails to the espresso bar with these chic sports specs. The frame is ideal for small- to medium-sized melons.

Lenses snapped in and out quickly, and stayed secure. Open-ended frames mean you can spot that deer out of the corner of your eye (or is that a lion?).

A hard-shelled, protective case keeps these darlings safe in between runs. RP

JULBO MAGIC

provides a limited frame warranty against defects and a stellar replacement lens guarantee program (new lenses are available for a reasonable processing fee, approximately $15).

Shades of Gray: Slippery when wet: rubber temples and a sticky nosepiece would help. Metallic hinges are strong, but lack support other models provided.

$79

www.julboinc.com FRAME OPTIONS: steel gray, silver (pictured), blue LENS OPTIONS (all included): hi-contrast orange (pictured), gray mirror, brown

The Magic is a stylish, modestly-sized number that will not scream “RUNNING GEEK!” when you stop at the grocery store after a quick spin. And they perform, too. Thanks to ergonomically curved temples, the arms glide over the temples and almost instinctively curl behind the ears to create the finest fit of any sunglasses we tested. Rubber-tipped temples provide non-slip grip. Lenses snap

56 TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2005

���������������

and slide in from the sides. Best for small- to medium-size profiles, the Magic comes in a dandy hard-plastic case. Priced right. One-year limited warranty.

Shades of Gray: Lens-changing system cumbersome at first. Our female tester’s hair snagged in the curved, rubber ear pieces.

trail tested «

THE NORTH FACE $140 ADRENALINE OVAL PACK www.thenorthface.com FRAME OPTIONS: red, black (pictured), light blue, steel, steel/yellow LENS OPTIONS: Three lenses included.

TINTS INCLUDE (depending on frame): gray, blue, orange, silver, brown, pink silver, clear (pictured)

There’s beauty in simplicity. Case in point: the lightweight and streamlined Adrenaline. You may even forget you’re wearing these shades. One large, single lens piece avoids the possibility of mixing up pairs of lenses. A textured rubber nosepiece is adjustable and will not slide no matter how slimy your sniffer gets. The sticky temple pieces also help to limit bouncing. Best for medium or

OAKLEY HALF JACKET

small faces. Unobstructed sides maximize your peripheral vision. Comes with a convenient, zippered hard case. Limited lifetime warranty.

Shades of Gray: Tough to swap lenses without smearing them (just use the chamois to clean them). Rubbed against some testers’ eyebrows. A bit pricey.

$109-$119

www.oakley.com (price varies according to lens/frame combo); FRAME OPTIONS: midnight black, copper, jet black (pictured), black chrome LENS OPTIONS (one pair included): Black iridium, 24K, black, fire (pictured), ice titanium iridium

There’s a reason Oakley is such a clout-wielding brand—its eyewear is high quality. The Half Jacket offers excellent eye protection from both the sun and high-velocity, high-mass impact (they meet the American National Standard Institute’s (ANSI) criterion for eye and face protection). Its wrap-around design shields your eyes while affording full range of vision. The cushiony soft rubber on the temple pieces and nosepiece prevent slippage and contribute to a fit that’s

NATIVE NANO3

surprisingly comfortable considering the ruggedness of the frame materials. The dark lenses withstand the harshest, sunniest conditions. Frames accommodate prescriptions lenses, too.

Shades of Gray: At this price, we’d like an optional longer-term warranty (it’s currently a one-year limited) and additional pair of lenses. A pinching fit for larger faces. No case included.

$115

www.nativeyewear.com FRAME OPTIONS: asphalt, charcoal (pictured) LENS OPTIONS: polarized brown (pictured), orange, yellow, clear, polarized green, polarized rose

Native’s sunglasses have become the Trail Runner office favorite, delivering mucho bang for the buck. For the reasonable cost, they offer four pairs of lenses and a no-strings-attached lifetime warranty. But do they perform on the trail?

You bet. They weigh a helium-inspired 0.7 ounces, provide side-to-side, nearly 270-degree peripheral vision and ventilate extremely well. The lens system is

180s MORTISE

effortless and reliable, too. If you crave comfort, it’s here. A cushioned eyebrow piece tempers bouncing on those technical downhills.

Shades of Gray: Not the most durable model in the Review. The hinges felt unnecessarily loose.

$99

www.oneeighties.com FRAME OPTIONS: orange (pictured), brown, black, silver, chrome LENS OPTIONS (all included): clear, gray, orange, brown (pictured)

These shades actually made us feel faster! Credit the Mortise’s lightweight (0.7 oz.), no-nonsense design. The temples are ultra-flexible (think undercooked linguine noodles) and gently hug a variety of head sizes and shapes. They also fold around to the front, protecting the lenses in storage. The gummy

temples and nosepiece stayed put on the trails, and the glasses provided owl-like peripheral vision. Lifetime warranty.

Shades of Gray: They tend to sit very close to the eyes, which make them prone to fogging. Lenses popped out when the frame was stressed to the limit.

2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 57

T R AIL TES T E D » text and photos by DAVID CLIFFORD

Navigating the Digital-Camera Trail NEW SUPERLIGHT TECHNOLOGY IS PERFECT FOR OFF-ROAD SHUTTERBUGS OLYMPUS

$215

POWERSHOT STYLUS VERVE 4.0 mega-pixel, 2x zoom Lens focal length: 5.8mm – 11.6mm (equivalent to 35mm – 70mm) Dimensions: 2.2” x 3.8” x 1.1” Weight: 4.7 ounces PROS: The Verve got oohs and aahs for its bright colors (six options available) and chic looks. The camera was so easy to use we didn’t even need to look at the directions.

The Verve takes an xD-Picture card to capture your images, and has a host of cool after effects, including black and white, sepia tone (a rich brown tone on a black-andwhite image) and fisheye. Available in a 5.0 mega-pixel version for $249 (black only).

CONS: Slightly more bulky and less ergonomic than the others. Too large to fit in an Altoids breath-mint case.

CANON

$299

POWERSHOT SD300 DIGITAL ELPH 4.0 mega pixel, 3x zoom Lens focal length: 5.8mm – 17.4mm (equivalent to 35mm – 105mm) Dimensions: 2.1” x 3.4” x .8” Weight: 5.3 ounces PROS: The Elph was an immediate favorite among our office testers for its cigarette-box size and light weight. It also features nine easy-to-choose scene modes (e.g. “auto” or “night-time”) and even a movie mode (all models tested offer this feature), which actually allows you to take short video clips. Although the camera comes with a 16mb card, you should purchase a larger memory card (the Digital Elph takes a Secure Digital Card).

CONS: The abundance of features makes this camera slightly less intuitive.

SONY

$230

CYBERSHOT DSC-L1 4.1 mega pixel, 3x zoom Lens focal length: 5.1mm – 15.3mm (equivalent to 35mm – 105mm) Dimensions: 3.7” x 1.8” x 1.0” Weight: 5.1 ounces PROS: The Cybershot scored points for its ease of use, and the Carl Zeiss optics were as sharp as David Letterman on Ginko Biloba. You will want to purchase a larger memory card than the one included; the Cybershot takes a Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo. CONS: Takes Sony proprietary Media Stick (which is virtually the same as a standard memory card but a tad smaller and not as easy to come by) for memory.

 DIGITALS FOR DUMMIES All of the cameras come with a battery and charger, a USB cable for downloading your pics to your computer and a very-small memory card that will hold only about 16 pictures. I suggest buying a bigger memory card—at least 256mb (approximately $40) or, if you can afford it, a 512mb card (approximately $60)—which will yield a few hundred images.

Downloading digital images is as easy as plugging your camera into your computer with the supplied USB cable. Once you’re plugged in, your photos should automatically download to your computer.

Gearing up for a running adventure in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota, I sought a lightweight, digital, point-and-shoot camera to capture the area’s beautiful lakes and trails. Since I would be fastpacking the first two days, size and weight would matter. I found a few models in the wispy four-ounce range

(the weight of two energy bars and one gel) with 4.0 to 5.0 mega-pixel (four or five million pixels respectively) resolution.

Four mega-pixels would provide sufficient magazine-quality resolution. All I needed now was a friend who could write and tell a few whoppers, and we’d have the perfect ingredients for an adventure story.

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09/10 Imogene Pass Run 17.1M; Ouray, CO; staff@imogenerun. com; www.imogenerun.com See p. 53 or trailrunnermag.com for info PACIFIC/DESERT 08/06 Round Valley Run 5.3M; Greenville, CA; theshowers@frontiernet.net; www.roundvalleyrun.com 08/06 Plasses/Silver Lake Trail Run 6.3M; Silver Lake, CA; jshaw5@volcano.net 08/14 Haulin’ Aspen Trail Run 13.1M, 26.2M; Bend, OR; haulinaspen@freshairsports.com; www.FreshAirSports.com 08/20 Where’s Waldo 100K; Willamette Pass Ski Area, OR; thornley@wpsp.org; www.wpsp.org/ww100k 08/27 Headlands 50K USATF National Trail Championship; Sausalito, CA; guypalmer@headlands50k.org; www.headlands50k.org 09/17 Cle Elum Ridge Trail Run 50K; Cle Elum, WA; kmoehl2000@yahoo.com 09/24 RWT San Pablo Bay Trail Run 5K, 10K, 13.1M, 26.2M; San Rafael, CA; info@redwoodtrails.com; www.redwoodtrails.com/ final/sanpablo.html ROCKIES 08/20 HURL Elkhorn 50-Mile Endurance Run; Helena, MT; mpmiller93@yahoo.com; www.elkhorn100.com 09/03 Meeteetse Absaroka Challenge 5K, 10K, 15K; Meeteetse, WY; meetrec@tctwest.net; www.meetrec.org

09/10 Mid-Mountain Marathon 26.2M; Park City, UT; info@mountaintrails.org; www.mountaintrails.org

09/25 WORS Trail Runner Series #7, Sunburst Showdown 5K, 10K; Monticello, WI; trevents@wors.org; www.wors.org/trailrun EAST

09/17 Mount Helena Classic 5.6M; Helena, MT; mpmiller93@yahoo.com;

08/07 18th Annual Cranmore Hill Climb & Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team Qualifier 13.8K; North Conway, NH; info@whitemountainmilers.com; www.whitemountainmilers.com

09/18 Golden Leaf Half Marathon 13.3M; Aspen, CO; paul@utemountaineer.com; www.utemountaineer.com

08/14 Half Wit Trail Run Half Marathon 13.1M; Reading, PA; rhornpcs@aol.com; www.pretzelcitysports.com

09/25 Lead King Loop Half Marathon 25K; Marble, CO; cmacek@rfsd.k12.co.us

08/14 Turkey Swamp Race Day 5M, 10M, 25K, 20M, 50K; Freehold, NJ; martyfrumkin@comcast.net; www.njrrc.org

HEARTLAND 08/07 Escape from Turkey Mountain 5M; Tulsa, OK; oklaking@sbcglobal.net 08/20 DINO Trail Run Series #5 - Westwood Park 5K, 15K; New Castle, IN; Brian@DINOseries.com; www.DINOseries.com

09/11 Helvetia Mountain Trail Run 10K; Helvetia, WV; irun@starband.net; www.wvmtr.org 09/17 Great Eastern Endurance Run 50K, 100K; Charlottesville, VA; badtothebone@adelphia.net; www.badtothebone.biz CANADA

08/20 LeanHorse Hundred & Half Hundred 50M, 100M; Deadwood, SD; leanhorse@rushmore.com; www.leanhorse.com

08/06 MEC Five Peaks Trail Series - Camp Fortune 5K, 10K; Ottawa, ON; info@5peaks.com; www.fivepeaks.com

09/10 Dances with Dirt Ultra XI 50K, 50M; Hell, MI; susan@runningfit.com; www.danceswithdirt.com

08/06 MEC Five Peaks Trail Series - Quebec City 5K, 10K; Quebec City - Mont Sainte Anne, QC; info@5peaks.com; www. fivepeaks.com

09/10 Horsethief Canyon Trail Run 6.5M; Horsethief Canyon, KS; psheridan@classicnet.net 09/17 North Country Trail Run 26.2M, 50M; Manistee, MI; steve@stridersrun.com; www.stridersrun.com

08/06 MEC Five Peaks Trail Series - Terwilliger Park 5K, 10K; Edmonton, AB; info@5peaks.com; www.fivepeaks.com

09/04 Breckenridge Crest Mountain Marathon 5M, 13M, 24.5M; Breckenridge, CO; jim@boec.org; www.boec.org/marathon

09/24 Newton Hills Trail Challenge 8M; Canton, SD; marathnr@hotmail.com; www.siouxfallsarearunningclub.org

08/08 Northwest Passage Marathon 13.1M, 26.2M, 50K; Resolute, Nunavut; mail@CanadianArcticHolidays.ca; www. canadianarcticholidays.ca/ArcticMarathon.html

09/04 Steamboat 10K at 10,000 Ft 10K; Steamboat Springs, CO; info@runningseries.com; www.runningseries.com

09/25 Rock Cut Hobo Run 25K, 50K; Rock Cut State Park, IL; larrydswanson@cs.com; www.rockfordroadrunners.org

08/20 MEC Five Peaks Trail Series - Whistler 5K, 10K; Whistler, BC; info@5peaks.com; www.fivepeaks.com

09/05 American Discovery Trail Marathon 5K, 13.1M, 26.2M; Colorado Springs, CO; sultancat@adelphia.net; www.adtmarathon.com

09/25 Wild Wild Wilderness Trail Run 7.6M; Danville, IL; krr@kennekuk.com; www.kennekuk.com

09/10 Moose Mountain Trail Races 16K, 29K; Bragg Creek, AB; jen. silverthorn@shaw.ca; www.members.shaw.ca/moosemountain

Other Must-Do Races Breckenridge Crest Mountain Marathon and Trail Races September 4, 2005 Breckenridge, CO This famed course has a little bit of everything: sky-tingling ridges over 12,000 feet, nearly vertical slopes, spongy single-track trail, bomber downhills and breathtaking Rocky Mountain vistas. There’s also a racer expo, live music and picnic. Race the Crest and have an unforgettable Labor Day Weekend. www.boec.org for info.

RockCreek.com StumpJump 50K October 8, 2005 Chattanooga, TN Come race the premiere 50K in the Southeast. The StumpJump 50K (and 11-Mile race) benefits the Cumberland Trail Conference, a non-profit working to complete a 370-mile recreational trail running along the Cumberland Plateau. Details and register online www.rockcreek.com. Race director Mike Owens, StumpJump50K@comcast.net Durango Double October 8-October 9, 2005 Durango, CO Featuring on Saturday, October 8th the Telegraph Trail 50K & the Horse Gulch Trail 25K and on Sunday, October 9th the Durango Marathon & Half Marathon. Held each October, under the changing fall colors, the Durango Double, is a weekendlong festival celebrating running, health and fitness and the spirit of human achievement. www.rundurango.com or contact Matt Kelly: mkelly@durangomarathon.com, 970.375.2413.

Bizz Johnson Marathon October 9, 2005 Westwood to Susanville, CA Arguably the country’s most scenic marathon, the trail dives through the magnificent Susan River Canyon, crossing the river twelve times on picturesque wooden railroad bridges and passing through two railroad tunnels, 800’ & 450’ in length.

The Bizz Marathon takes you the fast way through the mountain, instead of over it. 1/2 marathon, 10K & 5K races, too. www.redwoodtrails.com, info@redwoodtrails.com, 650.364.8256.

Himalayan 100 Mile Stage Race & Mt. Everest Challenge Marathon October 21-28, 2005 North-East Himalayas, India Course beta: Mountain passes ascending from 6350 ft to 12,000 ft with spectacular views of Mt. Everest, Kachenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu (four highest peaks in the world!). For more info: www. Himalayan.com Patagonia Argentina Mountain Marathon 3 rd edition 42K Adventure Run October 30th, 2005 42 km Cross Country. Also 14 km noncompetitive race. For further details: www. questpatagonia.com (videos, programs, and much more about this race) or contact us: info@questpatagonia.com Enjoy Patagonia your way: RUNNING!

The All American Trail Running Association (AATRA), is a 501 (c) not for profit corporation founded in 1996 to represent and promote trail and mountain running.

Join today and support our sport. Visit our web site, www.trailrunner.com In addition to benefits that include our newsletter Trail Times, $8 of your $25 annual membership entitles you to one year, six issues, of Trail Runner.

(Current Trail Runner subscribers who join AATRA receive 6 additional issues.)

P.O. Box 9454, Colorado Springs, CO 80932.

Questions? Call (719) 573-4405

OUTFITTERS

LIST YOUR STORE! contact ROWAN FRYER 877-762-5423 ext. 17 or rfryer@bigstonepub.com

ALABAMA

2750 Carl T Jones Dr Ste 1200T Huntsville AL 35802 256-650-7063 www.fleetfeethuntsville.com dink@fleetefeethutsville.com

ARIZONA

GORD’S RUNNING STORE 919 Centre St. NW Calgary, Alberta T2E 2P6 403-270-8606 F 403-283-8341 www.gordsrunningstore.com info@gordsrunningstore.com RUNNER’S DEN 239 Newport Dr. Port Moody, BC V3H5C9 604-461-8330 www.runnersden.ca

COLORADO FLEET FEET TUCSON 6538 E. Tanque Verde Road Tucson, AZ 85715 520-886-7800 FOOTHILLS RUNNING COMPANY 4025 E Chandler Blvd Ste 54 Phoenix AZ 85048 480-706-3103 www.foothillsrunning.com foothillsrunning@cox.net RUNNING SHOP 3055 N Campbell #153 Tucson, AZ 85719 520-325-5097 www.runningshopaz.com SUMMIT HUT 5045 E Speedway Tucson AZ 85712 520-325-1554 www.summithut.com SUMMIT HUT 605 E Wetmore Tucson AZ 85705 520-888-1000 www.summithut.com

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE 16 1116 W. Pico Blvd.

West Los Angeles, CA 90064 310-473-4574 for other SO CAL locations see: www.adventure16.com

1850 Douglas Blvd Roseville CA 95661 916-783-4558 F 916-784-9150 www.fleetfeet-fairoaks.com danelle@fleetfeet-fairoaks.com

FLEET FEET SPORTS 32411 Golden Lantern Ste H Laguna Niguel CA 92677 949-488-3356 www.fleetfeetln.com scott@fleetfeetlagunaniguel.com RUNNING REVOLUTION 511 E Campbell Ave Campbell, CA 95008 408-374-9310 www.runningrevolution.com info@runningrevolution.com

WALK & RUN 4140 Bonita Rd Bonita CA 91902 619-472-2500 www.walkandrun.com jeff@walkandrun.com

CANADA NORTH SHORE ATHLETICS 1200 Londsdale # 101 N. Vancouver, BC V7M3H6 604-990-6888 www.northshoreathletics.com info@northshoreathletics.com

BOULDER RUNNING COMPANY 2775 Pearl St. #103 Boulder, CO 80302 303-RUN-WALK www.boulderrunningcompany.com BOULDER RUNNING COMPANY 3659 Austin Bluffs Pkwy #32 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 719-278-3535 www.boulderrunningcompany.co BOULDER RUNNING COMPANY 8116 W. Bowles #C Littleton, CO 80123 303-932-6000 www.boulderrunningcompany.com

209 W. Hampden Ave. Englewood, CO 80110 800-841-0707 www.mountainmiser.com Free Shipping!

RUNNER’S ROOST LAKEWOOD 437 S Wadsworth #B Lakewood CO 80226 303-991-1851 www.runnersroostlakewood.com SUMMIT CANYON MOUNTAINEERING 732 Grand Ave Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 970-945-6994 F 970-945-7586 800-360-6994 www.summitcanyon.com shop@summitcanyon.com THE TRAILHEAD 707 Hwy 24 North Buena Vista, CO 81211 719-395-8001 F 719-395-8002 866-595-8001 www.TheTrailheadCO.com info@TheTrailheadCO.com

FLORIDA FAST FEET RUN SHOP 1930 Park Meadow Dr Fort Myers FL 33907 239-274-9786 F 239-274-9786 www.fast-feet.com mike@fast-feet.com RUNNING WILD INC. 1133 N Federal Hwy Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-565-9400 F 954-565-9421 www.runningwild.com runwild4@bellsouth.net

INDIANA THE EXTREME OUTFITTERS 2271 Pointe Pkwy Ste 110 Carmel IN 46032 317-818-0860 F 317-818-0941 www.theextremeoutfitters.com info@theextremeoutfitters.com

MARYLAND FALLS ROAD RUNNING STORE 6247 Falls Rd Baltimore MD 21209 410-296-5050 www.baltimorerunning.com jim@baltimorerunning.com

MASSACHUSETTS CARABINER’S INDOOR CLIMBING INC 328 Parker St New Bedford MA 02740 508-984-0808 F 508-984-7577 www.carabiners.com info@carabiners.com

MICHIGAN RUNNING & WALKING SHOP 1453 W Hill Rd Flint MI 48507 810-238-5981

MONTANA

FLEET FEET SPORTS 448 East Main Street 1A Bozeman MT 59715 406-587-1135 F 406-587-2532 www.FleetFeetBozeman.com staff@FleetFeetBozeman.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE ENDURANCE 122 Key Rd Keene NH 03431 603-357-3232 info@gotendurance.com www.gotendurance.com TED’S SHOE & SPORT 115 Main St Keene NH 03431 603-357-TED’S (8337) www.tedsports.com tedsports@juno.com

NEW JERSEY CAMPMOR 810 Route 17 N Paramus NJ 07652 201-445-5000 800-CAMPMOR (226-7667) www.campmor.com customerservice@campmor.com THE RUNNING COMPANY OF MONTVALE 14 A Chestnut Ridge Rd Montvale, NJ 07645 201-391-6008 F 201-391-6012 www.njrunningco.com montvalerunning@aol.com

NEW MEXICO TAOS MOUNTAIN OUTFITTERS 114 S Plaza Taos NM 87571 505-758-9292 www.taosmountainoutfitters.com info@taosmountainoutfitters.com

NEW YORK PEAK PERFORMANCE SPORTS 184 Main St New Paltz NY 12561 845-255-8200 www.hvsports.net peakper4mancesports@earthlink.net

ROCKVILLE CENTRE RUNNING COMPANY 220 Sunrise Hwy Rockville Centre NY 11570 516-594-3405 F 516-594-3406 rvcrunco@aol.com www.rockvillecentrerunningco.com WESTCHESTER ROAD RUNNER 179 E Post Rd White Plains, NY 10601 914-682-0637 F 914-949-4166 www.westchesterroadrunner.com westchesterrr@aol.com

NORTH CAROLINA JUS RUNNING 523 Merrimon Ave, Ste. 1 Asheville, NC 28804 828-252-7867 F 828-252-7817 www.jusrunning.com jusrun@bellsouth.net PERFORMANCE SPORT SHOE 693 W King St Boone NC 28607 828-264-0577 F 828-264-0577 www.performancesportshoe.com

OHIO ENDURANCE SPORTS 6056 Wilmington Pike Dayton OH 45459 937-848-6250 F 937-848-9065 www.endurancesports.com endurancesports@aol.com

PENNSYLVANIA

BUCKS COUNTY OUTFITTERS 64 E Swamp Rd Doylestown PA 18901 215-340-0633 F 215-340-9621 www.buckscountyoutfitters.com info@buckscountyoutfitters.com ELITE RUNNERS & WALKERS 5992-E Steubenville Pike McKees Rocks, PA 15136 412-490-0881 F 412-490-0882 877-RUN-WALK www.eliterunners.com shoes@eliterunners.com

AUTHORIZED DEALER

(ONLINE) CAMPMOR www.campmor.com customerservice@campmor.com 800-CAMPMOR (226-7667)

www.rockcreek.com info@rockcreek.com 888-707-6708 100 Tremont St. Chattanooga, TN 37405

www.summithut.com summit@summithut.com 800-499-8696 5045 E Speedway Tucson AZ 85712

www.TheTriathleteStore.com sales@TheTriathleteStore.com 216-849-5468 3570 Bainbridge Road Cleveland Heights, OH 44118 Free Shipping!

TRISPORTS.COM www.trisports.com customerservice@trisports.com 888-293-3934 F 602-532-7971 2555 N Coyote Dr Ste 111 Tucson AZ 85745

VERMONT SKIRACK 85 Main St Burlington VT 05401 802-658-3313 F 802 658-5083 800-882-4530 www.skirack.com info@skirack.com

WASHINGTON

TENNESSEE ROCK CREEK OUTFITTERS 100 Tremont St. Chattanooga, TN 37405 423-265-5969 and 2220 Hamilton Place Blvd.

Chattanooga, TN 37421 423-485-8775 www.rockcreek.com RUNNER’S MARKET 4443 Kingston Pike Knoxville TN 37919 865-588-1650 www.runnersmarket.com runnersmarket@nxs.net

UTAH

WASATCH RUNNING CENTER 8946 S State St. Sandy UT 84070 801-566-8786 www.wasatchrunningcenter.com info@wasatchrunningcenter.com

FLEET FEET SPORTS 19685 State Route 410 East Bonney Lake WA 98390 253-862-8890 F 253-862-5211 www.fleetfeetbonneylake.com staff@fleetfeetbonneylake.com ROAD RUNNER SPORTS 7020 Woodlawn Ave NE Seattle WA 98115 206-517-5100 800-551-5558 www.roadrunnersports.com SOUND SPORTS 80 Madison St Seattle WA 98104 206-624-6717 F 206-622-3121 800-279-7551

RUN AMOK

by BRIAN METZLER

» Illustration by JEREMY COLLINS

Running on Empty THE PERFECT HANGOVER CURE Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz … Either Someone has played a cruel trick on me or my alarm clock is going off. Struggling to open my eyes, I can’t recall what day it is, let alone why in the world I would have set my alarm for 5:30 a.m.

As I slowly sit up, the pain in my head reminds me of what I did the night before. Oh, yeah. The Fourth of July barbecue. The margaritas.

Buzz, buzz …

When I finally slap the clock into silence, I remember what the commotion is all about. We’d parted the night before amid loose, loud talk of running the Devil’s Thumb Trail in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. Like a lot of parties around here, this one had been made up primarily of people who spend their weekends trail running, mountain biking, cycling or adventure racing. We’d all split vowing to run a five-hour loop near the Continental Divide.

Now I am sorry. “Why can’t I have

normal friends who want to jog around town for an hour?” I think. “Or friends who sleep in?”

Fortunately, when I meet three buddies at a local bagel shop, they are moving as slowly and gingerly as I am.

After some much-needed nourishment and lots of caffeine, we drive 30 minutes to the trailhead, mount up our hydration packs and hit it.

I’ve run once while under the influence of alcohol. I was in college and I had just lost a lot of money in a poker game (about 50 bucks, which at the time was a lot) when I decided, to prevent bankruptcy, to go for a run. Having a few beers in my system certainly impaired my judgment,

but it turned out to be an idyllic 13-miler, one of the better runs of my life.

Since then I’ve run with a hangover a few times, and, believe it or not, it’s a great way to cure the sluggishness, headaches and angst. It’s just the first mile or so that can be a problem. Smelling alcohol in your sweat, dizziness, dry heaves and worse are among the many nasty things that you might encounter on such a run.

Running uphill at 10,000 feet is brutal anyway, but especially after a margarita bender. I feel shaky as we start, definitely not ready for a big mountain run.

Fortunately, at least one of my friends must feel much worse than I do because he looks like death warmed over—pale, sweating and apparently a little dizzy. I decide to lead the start of the run so I can dictate a very slow pace, something that would certainly benefit all of us.

Just a mile into our jaunt, I look back to see Jason puking a large amount of yellowish fluid at the side of the trail.

“Dude, I shouldn’t have had that orange juice,” he says.

“Or that fourth margarita,” Mark chimes in. We all chuckle, and think, a little ruefully, how plenty of hungover people are still sleeping.

Once the blood gets flowing and the endorphins start popping, life gets better and we have an extraordinary run in perfect weather. I swear I’ll never drink alcohol again, at least not the night before an early morning run. Then I wonder how many times I’ve said that in my life.

My hangover dissipates somewhere amid the towering ponderosa pine trees and abundant wildflowers under vast blue skies. But when my normal self returns, he’s very hungry and thirsty, dreaming of a large plate of pancakes and a frothy Coke.

When I get back to town after a truncated two-hour run, I retrieve a voicemail message from a non-runner friend who was also at the party. “Hey, it’s me, it’s about noon and I’m thinking about grabbing some lunch. But I feel like crap right now, so I think I’m going back to bed to take a nap first. Call me when you wake up.”

Perfect. A post-run nap.

Once a year, Brian Metzler microbrews a batch of “50K Ale” and shares it with his running buddies.

2005 SEPTEMBER | TRAILRUNNERMAG.COM 63