October 29, 2017

The Running Thread

Moi, John D and John W on the PCT

The stories just kept coming this weekend. There was the one about Brian cat getting thrown into a rag doll like cartwheel on the buss ride back from the St. George marathon. Still wearing his marathon medal, the post race beer garden had taken its toll on his sense of balance.

Then there was “Big Gulp” Karl. Karl rode his Gold Wing motorcycle through a traffic light one evening.  Oblivious to the dead end just ahead, he launched himself Evel Knievel style into the air. He walked away from it. “Big Gulp” was for showing up to a trail run with two 7-11 big gulp cups to meet his hydration needs.

Some of the stories have taken on a life of their own.

Like the one when John W and I were each smoking a cigar in my hot tub one evening. I looked over and saw a gargantuan sized cockroach on the cinder block wall some ten feet from us. We just laughed and joked and continued smoking. Then, a few minutes later, John W experienced something that belongs only in your worst nightmare. He took a puff from his cigar but didn’t realize the roach was sitting on the tip of it. By the time he realized what was happening, the roach was in his mouth running around! It was not a small roach. It was a gargantuan roach.

We runners share a common thread that we use to stitch our lives together. I call it the running thread. I hope to keep stitching for some time to come. How about you? 

October 23, 2017

Your Seed


What if I were to tell you that you and your thoughts are controlled? That the desires and feelings you have are being directed by something – or someone – other than you? Seem absurd? Maybe, but then again, reality does have a way of disappointing us. Which is why most of us live in our own altered form of it.

Think about it this way. What if your thoughts were a tree that grew atop an open field? Would they be free from the elements? Would wind, rain, drought or fire have any influence on them? Most importantly, if you were a tree, would it matter where your seed was buried?

Still with me? If you are, you’re probably having a hard time imagining a tree, let alone how your thoughts could have anything to do with one. This is why I included the picture. Do you think this tree would be shaped differently if it were protected from the wind? If it were not in an open field? Do you think your thoughts would be different if you changed your daily routine? Changed what you read and listen to?

We are nothing more than our thoughts, which control our actions. So shouldn’t we want to understand our thoughts? Or better yet, regain control of them?

If I handed you a seed, and that seed was to grow into a large tree representing your thoughts and ideas, where would you plant it? Would it be in front of a television and computer? Inside a novel or music hall? Would you want it to be around other plants that were green and growing? Or ripe and rotting?

What we read, watch, listen to, discuss, learn and ponder are what we eventually come to believe. Who we become to be.

Where is your seed buried?

October 15, 2017

Run for Our Little Roses - And Then Some

Starting Line - In front of Mutt Lynch's

This weekend I entered the Run for Our Little Roses half marathon. This was a true fund raiser event for a very worthy cause, that being to provide a full-time residential home for abused, abandoned and neglected girls in Honduras. The organization behind the event is dedicated to transforming broken lives into productive, joyful young women.

Our Little Roses provides a home for young girls that come from abject poverty, physical or sexual abuse, abandonment and oppression. They are infants, toddlers, young girls and teenagers. According to Our Little Roses, these girls have endured extreme neglect, abandonment, and abuse. They often are left alone to fend for themselves --unable to care for or protect themselves.

Here are some pictures from what turned out to be a fun and worthy event in Newport and Huntington Beach, CA. What followed the run was a bit of a crawl...though Newport's finest dive bars.

Pre Race Strategy Meeting - Mutt Lynch's

The Elvis Mobile 

Aid Station Mile 11ish 

Scotty's Finest Moment 

Scotty Back to Reality

Sunset On Balboa Ferry (w/Cracker, Jeff P and Scotty) 

Jeff P 

Haunted House - Balboa Island 

"Uh...Uber...you said 5 minutes a half hour ago"

October 1, 2017

Giving Back Sets Ultra Running Apart


I finally submitted my service form to be signed for volunteering at Hardrock 100 in July. Yes, it took me a while, but with several lottery applications coming due in early November, I thought I'd "get ahead of the curve" and get that box checked off sooner than later.

Gone are the days of nonchalantly deciding to enter a race and sending an application in a couple weeks before the event. This approach only leads to frustration and angst. And you can forget worrying about training, because that's the easy part. With the advent of lotteries and the requirement to do volunteer service, getting into a 100 mile race takes real planning!

Actually, I'm really happy I chose to go to Hardrock to volunteer this year. I didn't go because I had to, I just wanted to immerse myself in the race culture. It was worth every minute. I learned some important intel about how to run that course. It was also a lot of fun. In fact, I don't think I've had a bad experience volunteering at a race or doing trail work. Whether swinging a McLoed on the PCT or the Angeles Crest Trail, cooking breakfast burritos at the HR finish line, or handing medals out at the finish of a marathon, there is something special about giving back to the sport.

I think the service requirement is a huge plus for ultra running. It weeds out the less than serious, and contributes to multiple good causes - be it staging races, supporting runners, maintaining trails and the like.

The requirement to give back, to volunteer at a local race or help maintain the trails, is something special about this sport. I believe it is what sets ultra running apart from the highly charged, spandex  burdened endurance crowd.       

Keep it real runners!