Baker Lake 50k

I finished my 20th Baker Lake 50k in a row today. I'm pretty happy about that, and I'll wait and see how things go, but this may be the end of the streak. Or, I may switch down to the 25k next year. I don't know, but the 50k distance was a bit much for me today, aside from the finish.

The weather was great, as the pictures here show. The course is terrific, and it was dry, although the bridges were a bit slippery. A few mosquitoes later in the day.

I never felt right. I've been active, but I haven't really been doing marathon or ultra training. I basically ran a bit over 4 hours going out, and over five hours coming back.  I walked a whole lot on the way back.  My left hamstring started cramping, and so I had to be cautious, since that was happening about within the first hour of the return.

I've had a few streaks over the years. I ran something like 15 Seattle Marathons in a row, a Thanksgiving weekend tradition for a long time. Today's finish banks another year with at least one ultra or marathon. That goes back to 2001, I think.I used to have a list. But Baker Lake has been a fall routine for me. It's a wonderful race and I fully expect to be back, for at least one of the distances. Always my favorite.

 

Skagit Flats

I volunteered Sunday at the Skagit Flats races. My job was to monitor the half marathon turnaround. I guarded this cone with all due diligence. Honestly, watching the runners run around the cone, I felt like I wanted to be out there running too. We had good weather and a good turnout--lots to be happy about.

Cutthroat Classic

 Glad to get out, get east, and run the Cutthroat Classic again. Ran the event with three family members, which made it particularly special. Crossed the finish line together with Dan, near the back of the pack. Camped out the night before at Lone Fir Campground. Highway 20 was open--it's been shut much of the summer-- but near Blue Lake you can see trees smoking and active fire from the road.  

Little Bear - Cascade Crest 100

Last week I had the pleasure of once again visiting and volunteering at Cascade Crest 100.  I helped out at the Little Bear Aid Station with BJ, Rich, and many other friends, some new, some old. The aid station was at Mile 16 or so. The weather was warm to hot, but not so much at the aid station itself. BJ made some great signs coming into the aid station. 

The drive to Little Bear is a bit of a beast, out past Stampede Pass and lots of rugged forest roads. Glad to catch a ride with Chris and Suze--good times. A bit of mountain time felt like one extended exhale. Many laughs, too.

Props to all those who carried up the water to Little Bear on the day before. This is no small task--steep hill, worthy of tall trees, tough trails.

I got up and out the door from Mount Vernon at 4:30 AM, so I could meet at the start of the race. I got to see many old friends. This is a good place. It's a little harder to get up there with the Friday start, but I marked this day off on the calendar for some time.

After the aid station closed down, got to hang out a bit longer. Then I closed out the day with a drive further east to Thorp for some peaches and eastern WA fruit, and then the evening drive home.

A bit of a photo dump here...

 

The Great Sedro-Wolley Footrace

 

For the record, I participated in the Sedro-Wolley Footrace on the 4th of July, once again. My finish time was around 57 minutes for the 5.17 mile course. It was hot and I was very slow, as I just came off of COVID for the first time a week or two before. I felt it as I tried to shuffle through the loop. Glad to be able to run and be out there, nonetheless. Many of the usual suspects were there, and it was good to say hello to all before the race. After the race, I beelined for the car, home, and a movie on the couch.

I'm off pace this year for my once a month average. It seems like there are less 10ks around, and with the price of gas and other family and work duties, I'm not quite as anxious to find a line to toe. I do have a few things I'm signed up for in the months ahead. I'm also doing the GVRAT virtual run again, but I'm about 70 miles behind schedule as I write, due to travel and being sick in June. I'm not quire ready to throw in the towel though, and I can use the steady training.

Rock and Roll Half Marathon - Las Vegas

We went back to Vegas. A great weekend of work and play, with the Rock and Roll Half Marathon closing things out for me.

I took a bunch of pictures and just enjoyed the course. The music was fun, with bands and DJs mixing it up, mostly with classic rock sounds.  Many of the usual race course anthems-- I think I heard TNT by ACDC three times.  The picture above was at a place flagged as the "World's Largest Selfie", where they project your image onto the Resorts World hotel. Pretty cool. Then below are pics of a Blue Man and me and the mascot for the Vegas NHL team.

This race is a bit of a pain to get to the start, with a corral system and about a 1.5 hour wait. Not as bad as New York, I suppose. But the runners were reasonably spread out. The race starts in the late afternoon, and the course turns to dark, with the huge bulletin boards of the Las Vegas Strip. It's pretty cool. The course is well supported and I've really enjoyed it these past two years. 

Afterwards, it was a long walk back to the Luxor (Pyramid hotel), where we stayed, but that was just an opportunity to check out some of the stores and food options along the way.

 

Highlights from 2022

 Here is a list of highlights from 2022.

 

1.     New York City Marathon

 

It was great to have a second go at this spectacle of a race. The Marathon itself had a bit of a renaissance, after the Covid years, shall I call them. I was glad to be one of the 50,000 ants, weaving through the streets, to that Central Park finish. 

 

2.     Honolulu Marathon

 

Aloha in December! This marathon was different than any I’ve ever done. It’s a big city one, with 30,000 runners or so. But half of them are walkers! And it started in the dark at 5 AM, and then it got hot when the sun came up. But we had pretty kind weather, considering. Pretty cool to walk to the shuttle to the start from the condo, and then walk to the condo from the finish line. And then Oahu, Waikiki, and the so much aloha!

 

3.     Desolation Peak, North Cascades National Park

 

Mike and I knocked this one off my bucket list, and it was long overdue. I’ve wanted to go here since forever, but never ordered up the water taxi or did the long hike…until this summer. It turned out to be pretty easy to arrange, but the hike was a bit grueling in the heat. The views were everything. And nice to meet the lookout ranger.

 

4.     Couer D’Alene Marathon

 

My first ever DNF at a marathon. I did not feel good at the start or at mile 16, when it was easy to pull out. Parts of the course were pretty, but the big joy was hanging with friends over that way and catching Bob Dylan live the night before in Spokane.

 

5.     Skagit Flats Marathon

 

I’ve done the half marathon many times, a favorite, and volunteered many times, but this was only my second time doing the full. It was very smoky, making it a hard day. But this is Skagit, and so there were views of farms, Mount Baker, folks fishing the Samish River, and friend sightings.

 

6.     Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon 

 

Another modest life goal has been to run the Las Vegas Strip at night, with all the neon lights shining. I’ve done a few of these Rock & Roll events over the years, including the very first one in San Diego. This was easily my favorite, and I’m not much of a Vegas person. The whole run at night in the cool Nevada air things works.

 

7.     Baker Lake 50k

 

It was a good weather year at Baker Lake, with great views of the mountain. A little warm, even, I think. #19, and the wheels were a bit slower this time around. I ran the whole event with a serious ankle brace. So great to see many friends on trail, before, during and after.

 

8.     The Great Sedro-Woolley Foot Race

 

Only 2 miles this year, but I walked them with Deb, which made it specialer. 

 

9.     Kalakaua Merrie Mile

 

And I walked this 1 mile race with Deb too, and this one was even better, down the main drag of Waikiki, followed by a Olympic class miler race and breakfast on the beach. 

 

10.  Circumpolar Race Around the World- The Official Finish

 

My team of internet runners finally completed our virtual relay race around the globe, a 30,000 mile project we started together during the pandemic. This event may have been virtual, but it was really good for me, getting me out on the flats of the Skagit on many weekend mornings. We still have some extra credit work we’re working on, for an extra 15,000 miles or so, to fill out our map, and we should finish that in 2023.

 

I found 2022 to be a hard year, but when I list the events, I see I kept moving and there was a whole lot of goodness. I didn't include the Chuckanut DNF, which I didn't really feel up to, and which was not a highlight, from any spin. I guess it was an ok morning walking around int he rain. There were many, many runs along the Skagit River and out to Bellingham and back from Fairhaven, which were highlights. And then there were shorter walks. There also was that day Deb and I decided to go for a hike in the North Cascades but ended up driving to Winthrop for a late lunch instead. 

There were the visits with family in Virginia and the Carolinas. These were really special. I hadn't seen my siblings since before the pandemic, and seeing the kids was terrific. Much joy there. Much ado in my work and volunteer activities. A few ball games. And so on. As I write this, I'm not sure why I say it was hard, but I think there was a lot of anxiety in the world, holding over from the pandemic. Uncertainities. I'm grateful for all the good stuff, and glad as always to be able to get out there.