I run ultramarathons: distances from 50K (32 miles) to 50 miles to 100 miles, and most everything in between, in the desert, in the mountains, on rough singletrack trails as much as possible. This is a collection of race reports, including Calico 50K in the Calico Mountains, Angeles Crest 100 in the San Gabriels, Mt. Dissapointment 50K, also in the San Gabriels, Old Goats 50 and Chimera 100 in Cleveland National Forest, Bishop High Sierra 100K, Javelina Jundred, Quad Rock 50, Black Canyon 100, and others.

Myriam Gurba on the Pacific Crest Trail
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Racism, Ultrarunning, and San Diego 100

Sunrise Aid Station, Cuyamaca 100K, 2018 Back in early June 2019, Myriam and I took a weekend to head down to Cleveland National Forest. We’d been there before, just a few months earlier. The town of Julian doesn’t look or feel at all…
Me, mile 50

Cuyamaca 100K Race Report – 2018

Here we go again. I’d put myself on the waiting list for this always sold out race sometime back in the spring. It seemed unlikely that my name would ever come up. I was a few weeks out from running Stagecoach 100 when I got the invite…
Stagecoach 100 Buckle

Lost in the Dark: Stagecoach 100 Race Report

Salida, Colorado I'd spent the week camping in near Monarch Pass, in the Sawatch range of Colorado, where only six weeks earlier I'd tried and failed at High Lonesome 100, dropping out angry, frightened, and miserable in the middle of a dark…
Me at unnamed pass
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Goat Rodeo: High Lonesome 100 Race Report

August 3, 2018, near Buena Vista, Colorado, in a field at the base of Mt. Princeton, 6am. This was the start of the second running of High Lonesome 100, up in the Sawatch Mountains of Colorado.It seemed the entire Southwest on fire. Smoke…
San Joaquin River
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San Joaquin River Trail Race Report

EconoLodge. "Fuck you!" "No, fuck you!" This is the sort of well thought out argument that takes place between two drunk women in the room next to us at the Econolodge in Fresno. A good night's sleep was not in the cards. Andrea…
Highline Trail Red Rocks

Mogollon Monster 100 Race Report

Frustration, bad spills, and broken bones.I'd signed up for Mogollon Monster 100 almost on a dare to myself. My success at 100 mile races has been, well, not very successful, with a lot fewer finishes than I have starts. Things always fall apart…
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Hardrock 100, mile 89: KT Aid Station

In the counter-clockwise direction, KT is the next-to-last aid station before the finish. At mile 89, the runners have just come up Grants Swamp three miles earlier, a harrowing climb, and then descended via the Ice Lake Trail followed by an…
Marisol Martinez
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Hardrock 100: Cunningham Gulch

Cunningham Gulch: Mile ~91 in clockwise direction, coming in from Maggie Gulch. "Fucking brutal" says 3 time finisher and Hardrock board member Andrea Feucht. A gentle midwesterner, Andrea is not given to cursing. "Difficult when you're…
Kilian Jornet with dislocated shoulder and homemade sling
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Ouray Aid Station Photos – Hardrock 100

Ouray.Mile 56.6 of Hardrock 100 when run in the counter-clockwise direction. Runners come down a long descent in Bear Creek Canyon, a cut into the side of a mountain trail, thirty switch-backs in broken shale, that I am told sound like you…
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Jemez Mountain 2017

New Mexico Clouds There are extraordinary clouds hanging over the Sandias right now. There are always extraordinary clouds in New Mexico. The air is incredible here, and the Sandias, out the back window of Ken and Margaret's house, are beautiful. It…
Me at Fish Hatchery
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Zane Grey 2017

Payson Arizona Thursday evening. The 28th annual Zane Grey 50 plus miler. I'm here for the third time. I first ran this race in 2015. It was one I'd been wanting to do for a while. A bunch of friends signed up, and one by one they all withdrew…
Cougar Rock
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Western States 100 – Meditation on Pain

Squaw Valley, 5 am I was nervous at the start. Really nervous. Being nervous didn't make that much sense, really; it's not like I was going to be competing for the win, or even a place in the top half. Still, there seemed to be a lot at stake.…
Western States Course

Western Time

It's six days before Western States. 105 degrees today. I headed up Sunset Trail from Chaney Trail head, running some, trudging mostly, 1pm, sun directly overhead, HOT. Two miles up and that was enough. The cold water I'd started with was…
Layers
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Calico 50K, 2016

Calico 50K was the first ultra I ever ran, six years ago. My bib number for that race was 666, which disturbed a lot of folks who urged me to request a new bib or at least wear it upside down. This year, 2016, was the sixth time I've run the…
Field

Let’s Roll, Baby. Cuyamaca 100K Race Report

Green Valley campground, 3 miles from the start. Grilled sausage and beans, my camping meal of choice when I'm bacheloring it.The first time I came through here was 1984 in a Jack Brown Cleaners van that had been converted into the Big Boys…