Wyvern Running

After running the hilly Helvetia Half Marathon last weekend, I needed a 27 mile training run before the Tahoe Rim Trail Ultra . I picked SunRiver for 2 reasons. 1) it has a little bit of altitude and 2) it is usually warm. Both of these conditions coupled with a few others kicked my butt last year at Tahoe.

The race started at 7:30 AM. SunRiver is a golf resort in the high desert of Central Oregon. I tried for an early start but it was not granted. They walked us to the start line, about 3/4 of a mile. I was surprised how much the mere 4200 feet of elevation affected my breathing. Continue Reading »

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The Deadwood-Mickleson Trail Marathon was awesome. The course was breathtakingly beautiful. The setting was South Dakota’s black hills, home to Mt Rushmore, jewel caves, mammoth site and near the Badlands and Devils Tower. There is a little altitude involved. The course starts at ~5300 feet, and climbs steadily over the next 13 miles, (yes I said the first THIRTEEN MILES is up hill!) to 6200 feet – then it turns downhill for about 5 miles. From mile 18 to 19 you have a one mile uphill section, but then it’s down until the finish at 4500 feet on the main street of Deadwood. This was run mostly on trail, with very little auto traffic to deal with. You cross some 30 bridges and go through a tunnel. The course was patrolled by volunteers on bicycles, and there were aid stations situated at every other mile. We were quite well taken care of. The “medal” was actually a rock. Apparently there’s a thick vein of alabaster that runs through the black hills. A local artist was contracted to make the “medals”. At the finish line we were presented a polished disc of alabaster on a ribbon with the race logo and date on the front. It is quite a unique ‘medal’.

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