Prologue: Over a thousand miles of trail, countless hours, and hundreds of thousands of feet of elevation gained and logged in a variety of beautiful places and events--Lake Sonoma 50, The Grand Canyon R2R2R, Canyons 50K, The Tahoe Rim Trail, and the entire length of the Western States Trail as well as up and down Stagecoach and around and around the Clementine Loop, some at night but mostly by day--since the day my name was drawn; I finally finished off the year with three Hundos: WS100, Pine to Palm 100, and Rio Del Lago 100.
It all started in the month of December in a dimly lit auditorium, over a year ago. After five long years of waiting, my name was finally drawn in the WS100 lottery. Let the training runs begin....
 |
Beaming from ear to ear...lucky entrants for the WS100.
|
|
 |
We could finally run to the bottom of Devils Thumb.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
My first glimpse of the "missing" bridge.
|
Next, in April, I ran part of the AR50 course as a Safety Runner, enjoying helping runners along the way and giving back to the trail running community. A week later I completed my first Lake Sonoma 50 in 10:34, and only six days after that, I did the Grand Canyon R2R2R with a side trip to Ribbon Falls in 13:16. The Grand Canyon is a trip I will repeat. From these adventures, I gained a little more insight into what I could possibly do as an athlete.
 |
My "Popeye" pose 'cause I eats me spinach.
|
 |
Hurting with stomach problems but getting LS50 done.
|
