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Month: March 2015

Pickled Feet 100

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Pickled Feet 48/24/12/6 hour run is held at Eagle Island State Park, near Boise, Idaho.  This event is in its 4th year. They also provide a 100-mile option.  I was interested to finish my 4th 100-miler in the first three months of the year, so I signed up.  Last year I ran the 48-hour version and did pretty well, finishing in 3rd with 161 miles. The course runs on a mostly flat, smooth dirt road/trail on a 2.5-mile loop.  The scenery during the loop is great – rural farm land, by a small lake, and along Boise River.

I arrived at the park as the 48-hour runners were getting ready to start at 6 p.m. on Thursday evening.  I chatted with Israel Archuletta for a while.  He would go on to finish in 4th place with 120.280 miles.  I was happy to not be running for two days this time.  64 loops last year was tough and I knew that 40 loops for 100 miles would be plenty.

Monument Valley 100

logoMonument Valley is a region in southern Utah/northern Arizona that features a cluster of enormous sandstone buttes that tower as much as 1,000 feet above the valley floor.  Much of the area is included in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park with its impressive views that rival any national park.  This year, for the first time, the Monument Valley 100-mile race was held in this spectacular park.  You have seen many westerns filmed there, Marlboro Man commercials, and even a Forest Gump highway scene.

After coming up short (90 miles) at Antelope Canyon 100, three weeks earlier, I was anxious to get back on the desert trails and complete Monument Valley 100.   I recovered very fast and was even able to train 118 miles during the week between the two races.  I felt strong and ready.