September 30, 2006
With a week’s rest from the epic “Polar” Bear 100, I felt recovered and ready for another run. I decided to join in a local informal race, a tough trail Marathon going from Brighton to Millcreek Canyon.
September 30, 2006
With a week’s rest from the epic “Polar” Bear 100, I felt recovered and ready for another run. I decided to join in a local informal race, a tough trail Marathon going from Brighton to Millcreek Canyon.
September 22-23, 2006
“There are a bunch of dern fools running a 100-mile race in the mountains”
Overheard in a convenient store in Preston, Idaho
The Bear 100-mile race is held near Preston, Idaho (Gosh, yes, Napoleon Dynamite territory) in the mountains west of Bear Lake. With only 12 days since finishing the Wasatch Front 100, it would be an interesting test to see how well I could run in another 100-miler so soon. One of my goals this year was to complete my own “Western Mountain Slam” consisting of four 100-milers: Bighorn 100, Tahoe Rim 100, Wasatch 100, and The Bear 100. With the first three accomplished, I only had to finish this race to achieve my goal. I had recovered fast from running Wasatch. I didn’t run during this recovery period, but did walk 20 miles. My aches and pains were gone and I felt very ready to run the trails again. However, I was hit by a terrible cold five days before the race. I wasn’t fully recovered from that illness, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me.
September 9-10, 2006
In 2004, at a family gathering, a brother-in-law listened to tales of my recent long-distance hiking exploits. As we talked, the Wasatch Front 100 race came into the conversation. Neither of us knew much about it, but we knew it was run on trails “in our back yard,” here in Utah. Somehow I went away determined that I should some day attempt it. I was naïve and had never heard of ultra marathons before. It was June and I found the website, disappointed to learn that the race was full. I discovered other ultra races and soon entered the crazy world of ultrarunning.