Saturday, November 27, 2010
Christmas at the End of the Road 5k and 1k Results
Friday, November 19, 2010
Christmas at the End of the Road 5k and 1k (updated)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Winter Running in the Methow
Winter Running in the Methow Valley
You may have been led to belive that you could only ski (or ice skate or snowshoe or snowmobile or knit, etc) in the Methow in the winter but there really is a whole other world out there to explore-- in running shoes! My first winter here in the valley for a little while I did what I was told: forget running, buy skis and enjoy the snow. And that's what I did for oh about a month. But I'm a runner and I couldn't just ignore that fact for 3 or 4 months and just wait for the snow to melt. So I started running on the paved roads which were plowed often enough and for when they were icy I used my yak tracks. But really I'm a trail runner so I started getting tired of the roads and that's when I realized that the MVSTA snowshoe trails at Sun Mountain would be packed hard enough to run on. With more than 10 miles of trail to run I thought I was in heaven and I was but soon I started getting bored--when trying to run 40-50 miles a week 10 miles of trails soon became not enough. But that's when I was told that the dirt roads out at/near pipestone had become bare or atleast the snow was packed enough to run on thanks to the 4wd trucks. So now I could do run more than 30 miles of fun and scenic mountain roads and rarely see a car or human. But the event that has fully knocked my socks off was discovering 100s miles of GROOMED snowmobile trails. These trails are intended for snowmobiles so I'll be prepared to yeild the trail in a hurry but unlike the groomed ski trails I see no reason why we can't run on them. So between all those options and of course running on top of the snow when the snow has firmed up overnight we literally have the "run" of the place!
Some Resources for the Winter Running in the Methow:
Maps and Grooming Reports
Region 1 Sno Park Map(twisp-winthrop-mazama-loomis-loup-concolly)
Region 2 Sno Park Map(lower methow-chelan-leavenworth)
Sun Mountain(note that some of these trails are off limits to runner/hikers!)
Big Valley(note that some of these trails are off limits to runner/hikers!)
North Summit(note that some of these trails are off limits to runner/hikers!)
More Christmas at the End of the Road 5k and 1k
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Christmas at the End of the Road 5k and 1k
I'm squeezing one more race into the year: Christmas at the End of the Road 5k and 1k. This first annual race is part of the weekend long Christmas at the End of the Road celebration in which the town turns on the christmas lights for the first time of the year and includes the very popular fireworks, holiday shopping, food, music, santa, wagon rides, caroling, and much more! The first 30 runners to sign up will get a free race t-shirt(since this is a first year race if you're not one of the first 30 to sign up you might not get a shirt). All runners will have a chance to win randomly drawn prizes donated by Winthrop Mountain Sports
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Rainshadow Running in the Paper
This was in the local paper back in September a few days before the marathon. I kept meaning to put it up here but i've been super busy getting things ready for next year... anyhow thanks to ultrarunner and local artist Erik Brooks for letting me re-post his work here.
Big news-- new logo and the 2011 race calendar
Mar 12 Gorge Waterfalls 50k Cascade Locks, OR
Apr 3 Yakima Skyline Rim 50k/25k Ellensburg, WA
May 22 Sun Mountain 50m/50k/25k/1k Winthrop, WA
Jun 12 Beacon Rock 50k/25k N. Bonneville, WA
Jun 25 Cle Elum Ridge 50k/25k Cle Elum, WA
Aug 13 Angels Staircase 50m/50k/25k Carlton, WA
Sept 18 North Cascades PCT 100k/50k Mazama, WA
Sept 25 Winthrop Road Marathon Winthrop, WA
Oct 8 Mt Spokane 50k/25k Spokane, WA
Dec 10 Deception Pass 50k/25k Oak Harbor, WA