Unbreakable: The Western States 100

By -
Recently Susan and I watched, "Unbreakable: The Western States 100", which follows 4 top ultra runners and their journey to win the The Western States 100 mile race. It was an interesting film to watch, especially since it features Hal Koerner. Hal is the owner of Rogue Valley Runners and race director of the Lithia Loop trail marathon. I don't personally know Hal, I only met him briefly after the Lithia Loop marathon, he put on an amazing race and was extremely nice. It just made the movie a little more interesting to have crossed paths with one of the runners.
It was nice to see even the elite ultra runners sometimes have to walk up hills. I always feel a bit like a wimp when I have to walk, it is nice to know everyone does it at some point. Without giving the end of the movie away, I will just say that Susan and I said, "wow" more than once.
I thought running 30+ miles was quite a feat, but after seeing all these people run 100.2 miles, I am just in awe. Susan and I agreed that the movie didn't make us want to run 100 miles, but it made both of us want to a lot more trail races this year. I think we will stick to 25k and 50ks this year and maybe work our way towards a 50 miler in 2013.
If you love running or our curious about ultras, check out the move.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

24 for 2024

By -
Image
Top of Saltzman 2024   Susan and I decided to run 24 miles to kick off 2024. As I was looking through our previous routes, I found one called ' 24 mile taper run ', which seemed perfect - how hard can a taper run be? I didn't scrutinize the route closely. Nine miles in, I realized we had to run from the bottom to the very top of Saltzman. Who does that as part of a taper? Apparently, we did, ten years ago. Upon reaching the summit, I had Susan take a photo in the same spot as before. It felt great to push ourselves, which we plan to continue in 2024. Same route, different year -- 2014 Honesty, I love that we are still running routes we created 10 years ago, may be a bit slower though but who cares. I love that for us! 
Read more

Three days in Wonderland

By -
Image
Mt Rainier, glaciers, alpine forests, and a trail through the heart of it all 16-18 Aug 2015 No run has reshaped the borders of my soul like circumnavigating Mt Rainier. No run has infiltrated my dreams like spending three days just running and not much else, in the middle of the longest summer in the Pacific Northwest's recent memory. No run has made me fall so deeply in love with the magical combination of mountains, wilderness, and summertime. Like all of our great long runs, Ann researched and planned this one. She discovered that most people run the 93-mile Wonderland Trail clockwise, and that we could split the route into three days with a cushy hotel stay each night. We, however, would run the route counterclockwise to start with the longest day of running first. We had a beer with our friend Heather McGrath, who had run around Rainier the previous year, to hear more about her trip, get tips, and make sure that our plan wasn't too crazy.
Read more

Deception Pass 25k: Race Review

By -
Image
Welcome back to our blog and our only race review of 2023! This time, we're sharing our experience at the Deception Pass 25k – a true PNW trail runner's dream in the heart of Deception Pass State Park.  A Weather Miracle! We feel incredibly fortunate about the weather during the race. Having known the 50k runners battled through some pretty tough conditions the day before, we geared up for the worst. But, as luck would have it, we were greeted with near-perfect weather on race day. Clear skies, gentle breezes, and just the right amount of sunshine made our run more enjoyable than we could have hoped for. Lollipop Loops: A Sweet Surprise One of the most exciting aspects of the Deception Pass 25k is its infamous 'lollipop loops'. These trails, winding and unpredictable, add an element of surprise and fun that you don't often find in other races. Every twist and turn brought a new landscape into view; we ran through rocky trails, dense forest and a seaweed laden beach...
Read more