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Month: June 2008

Logan Peak Trail Run – UT

June 28, 2008

I ran in the Logan Peak Trail Run.  This was a tough 28-mile run on single-track and dirt roads up and around beautiful Logan Peak above Cache Valley in Northern Utah.   I would compare this run to a tough 50K event.   The elevation gain is over 7,000 feet and we had plenty of snow to run through.

It was probably silly for me to enter this run because I had not yet fully recovered from running the Bighorn 100 just one week ago, but I felt up to the challenge.   My main reason for running this course was to preview the first tough 11 miles of the new Bear 100 course that will go end-to-end from Logan to Bear Lake.

Bighorn Mountain 100-mile Trail Run – WY

June 20-21, 2008

I ran in the Bighorn Mountain 100 Trail Run for the third consecutive year.   This is one of my favorite 100-mile venues.  I really enjoy it for several reasons:  1. The stunning mountain scenery in an area of the country few have seen before.  2. The Friday start, allowing me to return home and be ready for work on Monday.  3. The late-morning start, allowing me to get a great nights’ rest the night before.  4.  The creative way the other races (50-mile, 50k, 30K) merge in with the 100-mile course.  By 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, there are over 500 runners on the trails at the same time.  During the late afternoon, at the finish, friends and families cheer finishers from all the races.  5. A very professionally run race with superb aid stations and experienced volunteers.

Riverwoods 10-Mile Run – UT

June 14, 2008

My recovery after the Squaw Peak 50 went very well.   On Monday I ran 4 slow miles but each day after that felt better.  On both Thursday and Friday morning I ran 16 miles.  It felt like I had recovered about 90%.  With Bighorn 100 in only six days, I didn’t want to do a really long run on Saturday, so instead I decided to enter a 10-mile road race to use as a long tempo training run.

Squaw Peak 50 Mile Trail Run – UT

June 7, 2008

The Squaw Peak 50 is held in the mountains above Provo, Utah, and is only about 30 minutes from my home.   It runs in the Wasatch Mountains, in the next county south of the Wasatch 100 course.  The course is tough, and it is billed as being the third toughest 50-miler in North America.  Among the features that make it tough is:  over 10,000 of elevation climb, a strong likelihood of snow to run through, and a very tough steep climb at the 40-mile point.  The course starts in beautiful Provo canyon at a popular family park and does a complete giant 50-mile loop. The course climbs up onto high ridges with great views of the cities below.   It then has a very long descent down into another valley.  The climb starts again in a very remote area.  The highlight of the course that you always keep in the back of your mind, is a very steep, tough climb up above Windy Pass at about mile 40. The highest point is about 9,400 feet.   The last leg of the course is a long 4,200-foot descent over nine miles, to the finish.