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Month: August 2011

Cascade Crest 100 – WA

The Cascade Crest 100 is held in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state, on a loop course on high ridges and valleys near Snoqualmie Pass.  The race director, Charlie Crissman, bills this race as a throw-back, classic ultra that doesn’t seek fame or crowds, but just wants to share a remarkable trail running experience.  That is my kind of race and it lived up to its lack of hype.

Double Kings Peak Adventure Run – 53 miles

Kings Peak

Kings Peak is the highest peak in Utah at 13,528 feet.   All of Utah’s peaks over 13,000 feet are located in the Uinta Mountains.  I’ve summitted ten of them.   Kings Peak gets the most attention and each weekend in the summer dozens of hikers make the trek to the top.

Back in 2001, before I was a runner, I did the normal 3-day backpack with my brother and our sons to reach to top.  I remember seeing a guy with a daypack running.  I asked what he was doing and was amazed to find out that he was doing a Kings Peak summit in one day!  That really inspired me and just a couple years later I accomplished the same thing.  Now I had been to the top eight times and been to Anderson Pass, right below the summit an additional four times.

Skyline Drive (Wasatch Plateau) – 67 miles

Planned route to cover 110 miles in Central Utah

For my birthday, I wanted to try to run the Skyline Drive end-to-end, something I’m sure no one has even attempted before.   This is a 110-mile dirt road that runs from I-70 to Hwy 6, north-south in Central Utah.  Most of it is above 10,000 feet.  Craig Lloyd was interested in running it with me and we found a willing crew to drive along, Josh and Matt.  I had scouted out and driven about 40 miles of it a week earlier.  I received some good information from buddy, Bryan, who has spent many days up in that region.