Wyvern Running

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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The state of Delaware is, according to the AAA tourbook, 67 square miles. Putting a 26.2 mile course together in that state would definitely be a challenge. Since the only marathon in Delaware had not been organized for the last several years, Steve Boone, Houston, Texas resident and treasure of the 50 States Marathon Club, set out to put together a marathon distance race in Wilmington, Delaware to help club members satisfy the 50 state requirement. With the help of experienced organizer Wayne Kursh and his lovely wife Barbara the “Coventry Health Care Delaware Marathon Riverfront Wilmington” was born. Continue Reading »

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The Discovery Walk Festival 42K event started in North Portland on an asphalt trail that begins on Marine drive. In need of a long training run, I chose to jog the event to enjoy the company and meet new people. I ended up chatting with several folks from the Netherlands, as well as some folks from Spokane, Vancouver and Portland. Much of the course was through parks on asphalt trails through Delta Park past the golf course, then some city streets near the St John’s Bridge and through the University Of Portland campus. Then we circled back around Portland International Raceway where cars were racing around the track at high speeds. From there we passed under I5 then turned up toward Washington and headed across the Interstate Bridge. We waited there for what seemed like a very long time for a sailboat with tall masts to pass under the raised bridge. Then we headed out along the riverfront in Vancouver. Once we left the river front we went up a MONSTER steep hill. Then we passed through some neighborhoods with some grand homes. From there we headed up through Clark College, then down Ft Vancouver Way to head back to the finish at the Red Lion at the Quay. The course was fairly well marked, traffic was never really much of a problem despite the city streets, but they handed us maps to carry just in case. About every 5K we passed through a checkpoint to have our card stamped. It was a warm and sunny day. It was a generally a lovely course, but I was quite happy to see the finish! Yes, I took pictures!

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