This past Friday I headed up to Blackhawk to run in the 13th annual Golden Gate Dirty 30, a tough 50K race in Golden Gate Canyon State Park that makes for a perfect spring training tune-up and excuse to dive from ski season into running season. It was my 5th time running the race, which made for a cool milestone and came along with a special bib and “5 year finisher” embroidered jacket. Megan’s attention to small details like these is what makes Dirty 30 a great race and one that’s easy to return to year after year.
It was a good day out there for me. Snow season in the Vail Valley ended awhile ago below 10,000 ft so I was able to log several long runs with decent vert heading into race day. Each year the course seems to get slightly easier too, mentally if not physically as well. The weather was also nearly perfect this go around, even for 8am starters, as things stayed nice and cool in contrast to the 80 degree heat of the past few years. Keep reading…
Earlier this year I signed up for the Dead Horse 30K thinking it’d make for a good excuse to head to Moab for a weekend in late-November. The Dead Horse Ultras put on by Mad Moose Events offers three distances – 30K, 50K and 50-mile – which all start from the same point and wind up and around through the Magnificent Seven Trails area northeast of Dead Horse State Park. The courses feature lots of miles running on red slickrock and through creek beds and sand washes, which lends to a true desert race feel. Keep reading…
Fall is in the air. Soon the days will be cold and dark, trails will be snowed in and we’ll be well on our way to ski season. But not quite yet. At least not before it was time to head up for the 7th running of the Devil on the Divide trail race in Empire, Colorado this past Saturday.
This was my last carryover race from last year’s cancellations, and having never run it I was pretty excited to finally check it out. Zambo ended up joining for the 22K and Anna-Lisa came up and hung out with our friend Sarah Banks who was shooting race photos near Herman Lake. Overall there’s a lot to like about the Devil on the Divide. Despite the elevation gain and sustained time up high the course felt more enjoyable than difficult. Lots of time in the alpine means it’s easily up there with the most scenic races I’ve done in the state. Keep reading…
I have tried, and failed, to run the San Juan Solstice ever since I got into trail running. Ben always talked about what a great race it is, and I certainly knew it went through some of the state’s best areas, so I was keen to try it for myself. But year after year, it just kept not happening. Suffice it to say, this was a long-awaited race that I was very excited to finally run. Last year we actually still made it down to Lake City on the days of the cancelled race. We had our reservation in an Airbnb saved, so we figured why not make the best of it? Keep Reading…
