Still on the catch-up game. (a proud Post Oak Tradition)

So a few weeks ago was the Post Oak Challenge. This is one of my special races every year. On Saturday they host a 10k, 25k, and 50k and Sunday has a quarter, half, or full marathon on tap. Now crazy runners have the option to do both (the doublers) and more than a few do. The race is in a beautiful part of Tulsa and the course in difficult, which I think is a great thing. This race began in 2010 as a very different style race with a quarter, half, and full marathon on Saturday taking place on the road, and all of the other events taking place on the trail on Sunday. Over the years the race has changed and grown, and all the directors have put their hearts and souls into the race making it the two-day trail party it is today.

I ran the very first Post Oak 50k in February of 2010 as my very first ultra. I had only began running in October of 2009, so this was a pretty big deal for me and 2010 would end up being one of the most important years of my life. However, we will save the recap of 2010 for the next blog post. Let’s focus on Post Oak. After running it I decided that I wanted to give back to this race, so in 2011 I teamed up with TZ to help run one of the aid stations at the base of the biggest climb of the race, Holm’s peak. It was awesome. And I don’t just mean that our aid station was awesome, in fact that year it was pretty basic just us and some music. But the runners were the best, they were as excited to see us out there as we were to see them. So I decided that we needed to bring this up a notch. I vowed from that day on that every year I would return to Post Oak to have the best aid station I could and do my part to make it a party for the runners.

Me Pre-Beard with My Mother at the end of 2010 Post Oak

Me at 2011 Post Oak working the aid station explaining running to Mitch

In 2012 TZ and Ed made the mistake of inviting me to be part of their aid station team, and I unloaded my scheme. So rather than having a normal aid station with all the supplies and what not that the race provided (which was all great stuff) we made breakfast burritos, had beer, and just for good measure decided that the station would have a disco theme. Why disco? Because my awesome friend Ame made me this sweet ass Disco Stu jacket for Christmas and I needed more reasons to wear it. So we went into this not really knowing how the people would react, and of course because they are runners and runners are awesome they went nuts. It was a big hit. And, thanks to Susan Westmoreland and Brynna who cooked all the food and what not; Ed, TZ, and I were able to just run around like idiots the whole time. But of course there was a downside. What could we do to top this and make it even bigger next year. I didn’t want this to be a one and done type of deal, I had made that stupid promise to myself that we would keep this thing going to make it the place to be, so we needed a plan for the next year.

Team Disco

Disco Stu does not advertise?

Mitch said this burrito was better than my pep talk last year

So in 2013 Ed and I hit the aid station again with a sketchy plan of two different themes for the two days. On Saturday we elected for 80’s glam rock, and Sunday would be the Mexican Fiesta. We had a blast with this, finding that there is a surprising amount of 80’s memorabilia at the local party supply store. So manned with plastic inflatable guitars we attached Saturday’s aid station with more music and crazier food. Now people knew we were coming so I was happy to find that we did not disappoint. The other benefit to us running an aid station (the first being that we are crazy) is that almost everyone that we had at our aid station was an accomplish ultra runner. So not only did we bring the party to help lift spirits, but we also had our own aid station supplies to help get people through low spots and knew when to push on people to eat more, or whatever else it took to get them through the race. We would all laugh hysterically when someone said they wanted to drop, because we knew that they came to the wrong aid station to do that. It is always a little rough being a runner at a race you are not getting to take part in, but if you have not spent time working an aid station at a race you need to get on it. It is one of the best ways to spend a weekend, and you quickly find those volunteers are working much harder than the runners. (No offence to runners). Sunday we had a Mexican Fiesta on tap, with the now infamous salsa challenge. See on Sunday they placed us at the bottom of the “Hill from Hell” it is a 0.7 mile climb straight up to the finish line. So we decided that was too easy and encouraged people to take a shot of salsa before running up the hill. And thanks to Danielle as a reward they got tiny plastic sombreros to wear up the hill. It is amazing what people will do for tiny hats, and we quickly ran out. Totally underestimating the number of people that would do this stupid challenge.  

Rocking with Ed

Just what runners need

So classy

Notice the Sombrero 

Ok, by 2014 this had become a thing. So we really had to step up the game, luckily we had some new recruits for the craziness. Adding to the normal gang of Ed, Brynna, Wes, and I we had Philip and Sarah. Plus, a gang of other friends and people that wanted in on this action. So to keep with the Saturday theme we went for 90’s grunge rock. In those days the aid station was at the Pole Barn (the starting line for the race back in 2010) which was really nice, because it has electrical power. We needed that power by this point as we had several radios and even more griddles going to keep the music and food hot. During the race that day Shannon was with me at the aid station when a guy who had been way out front came in after just having twisted his ankle. He really felt like he was going to have to hang it up and drop out of the race. Luckily Shannon and I were able to talk him into letting us wrap his ankle up and told him to promise us that he would at least try and finish the race. Having been so far in the front of the race he had plenty of time. He hoped off and I really didn’t think much of it after that, just continued my craziness for the next group of runners. A few months after the race I received a letter in the mail from the US Airforce Base in OKC, which seemed strange. I opened it to find a letter from Captain David Temple who was the runner we helped. He thanked me for my assistance and included a challenge coin from his unit that he carried into Afghanistan during his tour. I have to say this was one of the most touching things I have ever seen, Captain Temple could have never sent that letter and I would have still been happy to help him and never really given it another thought, but he did take the time to send the letter and it is one of the few items that I have framed and hanging in my office. And every time someone comes in and looks at it I get to think of that day and tell that story, it is amazing what happens when you are grateful and take the step to let someone know. I am grateful for that letter and love sharing that story.

For Sunday we had to pull an all-nighter. We kind of forgot to make a plan for Sunday and did not want to do more 90’s rock. There was a lot going on with our friend Wes at the time so we had a little excuse for being distracted. However, thanks to the Wal-Mart in Sand Springs and a lot of felt we came up with a plan. And as the sun rose over the course on that day the Monty Python’s Holy Grail aid station was born. Complete with coconuts for horse noises for the runners (a suitable alternative to cowbell if you ask me). It was a blast and by the end of the day we had the surprise of Wes joining us out at the aid station. So we had a lot to cheer about. Also, we may or may not have convinced a running legend (I mean a for real running legend) to do a keg stand from a keg we stole from another aid station. But there is no way to confirm this, other than the photos. To this day I am not sure why Johnny has not kick us out of his race, but I am sure glad he hasn’t.

Pip and Sarah (she is the evil bunny)

Me knighting Eddy James

We really class up any race

For 2015 we did a mashup with the LMFAO v. Michael Jackson aid stations. This quickly just devolved into a be as crazy as possible aid station. That year someone made the mistake of not only allowing us to bring a much more powerful sound system, but allowing me to have a microphone. So you can imagine how that went. But our crew keeps growing and if anyone questions the dedication of this aid station group just take a look at Sarah’s fingers by the end of the day. She will have worn all the skin off her hands from shaking the cow bell of every person coming through. I mean come on people you have to love this group.

We somehow got on the website (pretty sure it was hackers)

The man, the myth, the legend

This year we decided to do an Oktoberfest theme, complete with costumes, polka music, brats, potato pancakes, and homemade pretzels. Not so German but totally awesome were the electrolyte cookies Pip and Sarah made and the just badass cookies that Danielle made. To add to that Johnny (the race director) brought us a for-real professional sound system, and the brew master Frank made us two kegs of beer. You heard that right friends, he brewed us beer just for our ridiculous aid station. And as awesome as this all was, we had some real competition from the other TATUR aid station down the hill where TZ had set up a Cantina (or as most would call it just a full bar). All in all, a great couple of days, and just the best people all around. The runners, the other volunteers, the race directors, and the spectators. If you have not taken part in this race in the past do yourself a favor and put it on your calendar right now. I will promise you, if you come out and run it we will offer you a beer. What more do you need? Now Go Run Tulsa.   

Grill master Wes with Ed creeping in the background

Me filling in when Wes got called into work

Frank prepping more beer behind me

Part of the Crew

Good times

So it has been a few weeks but we have stories to share about my running adventures.

I am sorry that I have been a little lacking in the blog posts as of late. But with all the traveling I have been doing for work plus some big weekends it has been tough to get some time to sit still and write an update. So this morning I am using a flight to Carlsbad NM as my chance to get some writing in. I will share what I can and maybe in a few post  we can get caught up to current.

One of the biggest highlights for the last few weeks was the fastpacking trip we did for Shannon's birthday. Shannon for those of you who do not have the pleasure of knowing him is a great person with a great heart, and on of the reasons we make so many trips to the northwest Arkansas area. Being a big time trail runner there was only one way in his mind to spend a birthday, and that was in the woods with friends. The previous year he took on the Buffalo River Trail solo and had a bad fall coming up short on finishing. This year we (John, Pip, Stan Ferguson, and I) came along to offer support and ensure that he got it done. So on Friday the 12th of February we headed to Rogers Arkansas to crash at Shannon and Jody’s for an early departure to the trailhead. I had John and Pip with me for support and that night when we go into Rodgers we met Shannon and Jody at a cool dinner spot in town.

Shannon and Jody

Pip eating all the bacon as a sacrifice for all the non-meat eaters

When we got to Shannon's house after dinner we found a massive stash of GU products that we stole most of. Just in an effort to punish him for his hospitality. Before we hit the sack I asked Shannon about the plan for the next day. You know the kind of thing normal people would do before driving to another state with limited supplies and whatnot but we are geniuses. So we ask after we cannot do anything about it. “Will this be a trail run or a hike?” He was adamant that it will be a fast pack. Which in my tired state I took as hike, rather than asking questions of clarity. Now if I had bothered to do one second of math I would have put together that if we were going to cover 34 miles in one day before it got dark we would have to run. But I am dumb. So even in the morning when I got up and saw that Shannon, John, and Pip were all in running clothes I still dressed like we would be on a slow hike all day. And it is not like we were in a rush, Shannon had got up to cook us all breakfast before the departure, and Jody’s 11 cats made sure everyone did not need an alarm clock. About 1 mile into the trail I regretted every choice I made on gear, but those are the breaks and we had a big adventure ahead of us so no time for looking back.

Pip and John (notice the running gear)

Shot heading to the trailhead

Unloading from Stan's war wagon

Maybe we should have taken a photo of the map

Our plan was to park at the end of the trail and meet up with Stan Ferguson (the RD for Arkansas Traveller) who would ferry us to the start line and join us on the trail. His sister agreed that she would drive up and pick up his car later and move it back to the end of the trail. Not only was this a baller move on his sister’s part but it meant that we would get to share the trail with a running legend. Not the kind of thing you get everyday (the man has finished more than twentyfive 100 mile races).

The entire hike (really a run) was beautiful. Arkansas has some of the most wonderful trail systems in the area and the biggest bonus is they are really not much of a trip from Tulsa. I highly suggest checking them out if you are unfamiliar, it is worth the 2 hour drive. Now my assumption going into this was that we had some kind of plan and Shannon knew the trails. Both of these proved to be false. Despite the ungodly amount of food I was carrying it was just impossible to carry enough water. Now Shannon like a good man came out the day before and dropped some water off on the trail. The only issue was it was 20 miles in. And as we got lost several times the distance kept growing. So only about 8 miles into the run we found ourselves off the single track after leaving a campground and on a country road. And it looking like we were trespassing on a homestead with a SUV parked out front. As we stupidly stood in the middle of the road having a heated debate on who got us lost and where we had the best chance to get back on trail, we heard some shouting from the SUV. Great here we go, I thought, we are going to get killed for trespassing during this run. But rather than an angry landowner we got the surprise of the year. It turned out it was Chris Cantwell, who parked his car facing the part of the trail we should have come out on.

Cantwell's aid station number one

This is the magic of our running community, unprovoked Chris and his wife drove out to the middle of nowhere to guess at when we would be coming by on the trail to provide us aid. It truly was one of the greatest things I have ever seen. So awesome. This would not be the last time we saw them and that evening we even talked them into eating dinner with us. So spoiler alert, we totally lived through the the run. Not only did they have water, the best peanut butter sandwiches you could get (with the exception of TZ’s wife Dana), and Pringles. They also gave Shannon gloves because he did not bring any and it was just cold enough to make that a very bad decision, and they called Stan’s wife to find what aid station food he liked and had his favorites on board as well. It was truly amazing.  

Some sites from the trail

More

Steel Creek Campgrounds 11 miles from end of trail

The trail had all kinds of cool waterfalls and rock formations to check out. And as we continued to get lost we got to see all kinds of extra sites. The sites helped to take away from how rough the trail really was. In terms of both technical foot work and sheer climbing. Towards the end of the trail our little group got a little split up, my legs were giving me a little trouble on the downhills so I was pushing it in hopes of banking time in case I ended up needed to walk it in. John ended up having a little bit of stomach trouble as well. So it was late in the day when I suddenly got to a major road and was cursing everything as I was sure I got off trail again. It ended up that is was the end of the trail and the parking lot we had used that morning was just on the other side of the street. It took me several stressful minutes to come to this conclusion. But we all made it in before dark and felt completely wiped. It was a great experience and something I will not soon forget. But it seems to be becoming a tradition that Shannon's birthdays have been memorable experiences for me.

Old Structure at the end of the trail, a great site

In the end we made it back to Shannon's place and talked Jody into getting ready and joining us for dinner before John, Pip, and I headed back to Tulsa. We found a place and John sweet talked us into a table for our large group. The restaurant was very accommodating for a group of 10 on a Saturday night in a busy part of town. The table became a place for good times and stories about the day. It was the perfect end to another amazing adventure, and the best part is we would see Shannon and Jody again the next weekend when they made their way to Tulsa for the annual Post Oak Challenge. So everyone left happy.  

From this trip I got some good lessons. First gear is not all that important. Now I would have been much more comfortable with some proper running gear, but at the same time after a few miles it was only a minor annoyance compared to the amazing scenery and wonderful company. This is an important consideration, you will find yourself in a running sanario when you don’t have all the gear or whatever for a race or run. You can let it ruin your day and ensure your running is a disaster, or you can just roll with it and figure out that it is really not that important. Next, downhill running is a difficult thing to master and I will need to seriously focus on it in the build up to Western. Finally, as with most of these stories I have shared, running is the most minor part of it. Truth be told I almost bailed on this whole weekend. I have been traveling so much for work the prospect of spending more time away from home wasn't ideal. But if I had not succumb to peer pressure I would have missed this experience that I will remember forever. Not because of the running, but because of the time with friends. People that I care about and don't most likely don’t deserve to have in my life. I only wish that there was more time to spend with all the great people that I have the chance to be around. Look at this deal with the Cantwell’s I have a whole new level of respect and gratitude for them (even if I already knew they were awesome). They drove out of their way to help some fellow runners. If they had not decided to do that we would have never known any different but now we all got to share this special moment. And at the end of the day feelings like respect and gratitude are things we could all use more of in our lives.

Keep running my friends, and find some people to share the trail with. Hope to see you out there.

Zoe update, she is fitting right in and is happy they we let her be in charge of our whole house. The most amazing part is how well Rush has been with her.

A Week of Hills

So here we are, another week of running in the books and we tried to keep this week vertical for the most part. During the week I was able to get my runs in but I had my first college test in 11 years, so I was understandably distracted for most of the week. I did however have a great run at the Botanical Gardens with Philip, Sarah, Brynna, and Kathy Hoover. Kathy would be running the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler in Texas that weekend, and I have to admit I was super jealous. Rocky Raccoon is one of my favorite races and the people down there are just the best. Kathy looked very strong and unsurprisingly killed it at Rocky. But she was not alone, we had a whole group from Oklahoma and Arkansas down there and for the most part everyone did great. A good old running buddy Russell the Iron Horse even came through with a crushing sub-24 run. Great job Iron Horse, I don’t know what magic training program you are using, but you need to share that stuff. All the excitement around Rocky helped to really boost my spirits about my upcoming race, which is just what I needed this week.

Kathy on the Rocky Course

Oh, and running legend Gordy was on course

I would have killed someone for one of these cookies

The Iron Horse with the coveted Painted Sub-24 buckle

As the week wrapped up, on Friday my plan was to already have my Calculus test done and just leave work to get my run in. However, things got in the way and I really felt like I needed the extra day to prepare for the test so I used Thursday as an extra study day and left work on Friday for the test center downtown. Man I was nervous, this is my first ever online class so I was not sure what to expect. Plus this would be a big weekend for me so I didn’t want to start it off with a bust. I walked into the test center and started the exam, of course I found that the test was nothing like the practice exams and most of the notes I had worked up were of no use to me. The test was on a computer so it was a little nerve racking, with that system there is no credit from the work out of the problem it is all about the answer here. So, after checking everything a dozen times I pressed the button to submit my exam and to my surprise got the results back immediately, 100%. BOOM! What a weight off my chest. I know this was the first exam and the others would be much harder but I walked out of the test center on cloud nine. I was in knots over this test, which on the good side really provided a good distraction from the crazy 50k trail run I had signed up for on Saturday. I hit the house and started my run for the day even getting in a bonus mile before getting to the Executive Club Meeting (FYI the Executive Club is at McNellies each Friday and open to all). And there I found Wes as always ready to discuss the problems of the world.

At the meeting Wes, Jenn, Allyson, and I needed to discuss our plan for the trip to the White Rock Classic 50k in Arkansas the next morning. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive, and the race start is 9am so we selected to make it a day trip. Well I say we, it was Wes and I because Allyson and Jenn were no shows. From there we made it over to Chimera for dinner (guys this is one of the best food spots downtown and if you haven’t made it over remedy that problem immediately). After dinner we tried to hit Antoinette Bakery for pie day, only to find they had sold out of all the pies. Which begs the questions: why are they sold out of pies at 7pm and if they are sold out why are they still open. “Forget it” I said and decided to head back home to get some sleep before the race tomorrow. I needed to use this race as a training run, but decided I did want to push it a little bit to see where I am at. Also this course with it’s almost 5.5k of climbing and 5.5k of descending offers something that I can’t easily get in our area, very long downhill sections.

Sweet Salad From Chimera

I woke up that morning feeling really good, but got some bad news right away. In a text from Wes, he woke up with a fever and sore throat so he was out for the race. What a bummer, at this point I was just hoping that Jenn and Allyson would show. They did and Allyson even agreed to drive us, which was awesome. We made our way to the race, and left in plenty of time to not be in a rush. I tried a little different pre-race plan for this as opposed to Switchback and ate a lot more food which seemed to work out but I was nervous about it at the time. A wrong move with your stomach can end a race faster than almost anything. There are not a lot of sights on the drive in the dark to Arkansas but the moon was out and we could see Venus which was cool, and of course there was plenty of pointless conversation about race plans (other races, not strategy), what we would eat, and a lot of talk about music from the 90s. When we got close to the race start we stopped at a little gas station that was being swarmed with the runners and bikers about to take part in the race (there is a 50k mountain bike race on the same course that starts 30 minutes after the runners) this was a great deal for us as we had never been to the race and they gave us the final directions on how to get to the start. It seemed really cold out at that point (and it was 25 degrees) but somehow it magically got a lot warmer before the start.

A shot from the White Rock course

When we got to the race we heard from our good friend (and the a-hole that talked us into this race) Shannon, he and his wife Jody (the Queen of the Road) would be taking on the mountain as well. I was very excited about the whole start and felt cautiously optimistic that I was in for a good day. These free races on crazy courses are some of the best around. Everyone out there is just in it for the love of running and could care less about who wins or whatever; they are just out there with one goal “Good Times Running”.  The race (if you are not familiar) starts with a two and a half mile climb of 1000 feet, you know to get the lungs warmed up, and then you descend back down the other side go over a smaller climb and then turn yourself in for the major climb up White Rock. This whole race takes place on very good condition forest service roads, and let me tell you it has some of the most beautiful views that you can see on a race. With the exception of the controlled burn that they were doing at the very start (which even that was not that bad) there was nothing to complain about. The temp was just about right, it was sunny, and the aid station at the top of the mountain had homemade hummus pre loaded in tortillas, it doesn’t get better than that folks.

50k Profile

View at Turn Around

At the start of the race Shannon and I ran together for a while, but somewhere along the way got separated. At this point I feel I should tell you that Shannon was a little under the weather, and by little under that weather I mean that he was in the minor emergency room the day before due to some sinus issues. But, Shannon is an incredible runner and very strong on the downhill running (and area where I am very weak) so I figured it was just a matter of time before he passed me. The race for the most part was lonely, which was fine and gave me plenty of opportunity to check out my surroundings and think about how lucky I was to be having such a great day out here. Also it was warm enough to rock my Runner’s World Tulsa trucker’s hat, rather than the beanie I had to use at the Switchbacks. To think I almost skipped this race, thank God for Shannon twisting my arm about it and Jenn and Allyson signing up right away. When I reached the turnaround I was surprised to find myself in 5^th place overall, I didn’t plan to do anything about it but it was nice to know that the training was paying off. After the turn I crossed paths with Shannon who was coming into the turnaround, he yelled to me that he was coming to catch me and I yelled to him that they have hummus at the top. We all have our priorities. The trip back would be a lot of downhill running, until the final major climb, so I tried to just keep an easy pace and not blow myself up. During this section I found myself move into third by the bottom of the finial climb. As I made my way up the climb I got within sight of Chris in Second place but the second the road turned back down he was gone and that was ok by me. I came into the finish feeling great, with a PR 50k time of 4:42:40 (beating my 2010 Lake McMurtry time of 4:48 on a much easier course) and third place overall. I didn’t have to wait long for Shannon to come in, and he swore revenge at Western. It was good times for sure and it is always nice to run on a course with enough climbing that you can beat most of the mountain bikes while running, lol.

The white on my hat is salt.

The fast ladies

Allyson had opted for the 25k, but I think she has her eye on the 50 for next year, and Jenn was signed up for the 25k but was shamed into the 50k and had a great race despite getting into a fight with a thorn bush while trying to use the bathroom in the woods; the bush won. Right before we needed to leave to get to Scott’s house for a painting party for Erin’s birthday we got to see Jody finish, so the whole thing worked out just perfect. Upon leaving we decided that we would all die if we did not get food soon, with the only issue being that we were in the middle of nowhere. I told the ladies that the only highly rated place on Yelp that was within an hour (and not a BBQ joint, not good for no-meat options) was a place called Kountry Xpress an Indian food place. When we got there, it was a gas station with a sign out front that said “India Food”, not sure what that means but at this point we were committed and needed to get something. Amazingly, either because of level of hunger, low expectations, or just sheer luck, the food was great. I mean some legit India Food and we were fueled up to hit Scott’s party. The gas station also had 35 flavors of Soft Serve ice-cream which the girls got in on, but I said no way I will save my treats for the cake at Erin’s party. When we got to the party (after showers and what not) we found Bob Ross painting fun, way too much pizza, and no cake! It was still a great time and I am happy that Scott let us ruin his house with paint.

India Food complete with Gambling

Really pretty good

He makes it look easy

The next morning we met for a shakeout run at Chandler Park with the dogs, and ran into several other running buddies on that trails which is always a welcome surprise. The legs felt good and even if the pace was slow I was happy to be out there. After the run we went our separate ways only to have a group of us descend on my parent’s home to watch the Super Bowl that night. I always enjoy having people out to my parent’s house, not just because my mom is one of the best people in the world, but it is so peaceful out there; and a fantastic place for some gravel road running by the way. It was fun and we brought way too much food as a result of a miscommunication between my mother and I. One would think that if she says that she is worried they might not have enough food for everyone that bringing food would be a good idea. But, when they cook for an army all the time there is always enough food. Jeff, Ame, Sarah, Pip, Wes, Brynna, and I lasted until about half-time before we decided that we did not know anything about football and we had work in the morning, so we went ahead and called the weekend a wrap; a pretty successful few days, if you ask me.

This is hockey right?

This last weekend was just what I needed to recharge my running. I got to see so many of my friends complete their first or whatever number 100 miler. I could really see White Rock fire up both Jenn and Allyson about trail running again, and I even got to run with Rush the wonder dog out on the trails. These moments out there running have to be held on to. It is easy to get down on your running this time of year, with it still being dark in the mornings or after work which can make getting runs done depressing. And the weather is so all over the place you can hardly know how to dress or even what temp you will encounter after the run starts. But good friends and a positive attitude can lead you right to where you need to be, “Good Times Running” have fun my friends and GO RUN. 

P.S. Foster pup Zoë joins the herd as an offical member of the house. 

Better Late than Never

Well I have just been buried at work, and because I have so much free time I decided why not go back to school. So I am taking some classes and my first big test is this Friday. So the blog has been on the back burner. But I did have some thoughts I wanted to share about last week.

The training during the week was pretty uneventful, and with the exception of Tuesday’s run I did most of my training solo. On Tuesday I had a great run with Philip and Sarah out at the Botanical Gardens. This is becoming a regular part of my training rotation and I am really happy about that. The course is shortish (3 miles) but challenging enough to make it not boring for the 6-9 miles I get out there during the week. And everyone that I have taken out there seems to have the same feeling. There is an extra bonus too when running out there this time of year. At the top of the big climb every lap, because the sun is always already down, you get this awesome view of downtown Tulsa. Very cool, and it is super quite out there too. In fact that night we were running and these coyotes started barking all around us, which understandably is something you just don’t get running in town.

While doing some of my solo runs this past week I was thinking about how individual a sport running is. This is an activity that you have to battle with all on your own. When you are out there, you have to rely on whatever you can pull out of yourself to complete each run either training or racing. And, while we tend to do it in group it is a profoundly personal effort every time. And that is what makes it so amazing. You get this solo triumph each run but at the same time you get to share that with a group of people that have an understanding about what you are going though that no one else can, or even wants to, compute. And this deep connection is what brings us together and while running is far from a team sport I feel a stronger connection to many runners than I ever felt in more traditional sports.

Proper Pre-trip Parking

That brings me to the weekend and an adventure with my running family. This past weekend we spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday running and running-around in one of the most magical places on earth, Eureka Springs Arkansas. If you have not been to this sleepy mountain town you need to go there right now. And if you live in Tulsa, what are you waiting for it is only like 2 and a half hours away. On this occasion we made the trip to celebrate Jenny and Chris’ birthdays. We ended up with a crew of 13 people, in two different houses, and we all got a chance to do what we love the most, run! Well except Jonathan he rode his mountain bike (BTW Eureka is a mountain bike Mecca as well) but the rest of us ran. We came in Friday night after a dinner stop in Rogers Arkansas to eat with Shannon and Jody. They would be coming out to ES Saturday afternoon, but we could wait and need to see them right away. In my car we had seven peeps, so Shannon made reservations at a cool spot called Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese, a place all cheese lovers should check out. After we all ate too much we made it into Eureka to drop some of the folks (Wes, Jenn O, and Allyson) off at the downtown house and talk with Jenny, Chris, Rachel, and Jonathan who were all already there, then we (Brynna, Pip, Sarah, and I) made our way out to the Lake Leatherwood cabin with the plan that we would all meet out there at day break for running on the Leatherwood trails.

Some Wisdom

Not a Local brew but a good one

Food shot from Pip

Lake Leatherwood is one of the best trail running spots around and almost no one has ever heard of it. There was in the past a great race out there (a 15k called the Freakin Eurekaen) but it has long since disappeared. The trails are magnificent and there is some very serious climbing. When everyone arrived we made our way out. It was quickly decided that staying together as one big group would not be a good plan so we broke up. Which at the time seemed like a good idea, but ended up meaning that Chris and I were the only ones to make the full loop around the lake, plus some bonus to make a 10 miles day, Pip and his group ended up doing the hardest climb twice and never making it to the far side of the lake getting 8 miles, and Brynna and Allyson ended up taking the trail to Eureka before heading back to the cabin. You would think that all this misdirection would lead to some annoyance, but everyone had a blast and no major drama came out of it. So we decided to wrap this thing up and everyone shower then meet at the bigger house in town for breakfast. We had a plan for breakfast but it turned into a lot of grazing on various fruits and veggies then sweet potatoes (with some eating bacon) and finally huevos rancheros. But the time our 100 hour breakfast was done Shannon and Jody showed up and we decided to quite literally descend on Downtown Eureka.

The Lake

Trail Shot

Runners Coming in

The main town of Eureka is mainly an artist community (with some bikers, cowboys, and bars you know like you do) so the place is full of cool little shops. We spent too much time and money in the hat store and a store specializing in crazy spices, but before we knew it the group had congregated at a little bar on the far side of Eureka called the Cathouse and we knew that if we were going to drop all of our spoils off at the house before the Mardi Gras parade, and whatever shenanigans we were going to get into that night, we needed to get a move on. Did I forget to mention that it was Mardi Gras in Eureka? Well it was and the place was busier and crazier than usual. So highlights from that night included a Mardi Gras parade that is exactly what you would expect from this town with the mayor looking like the wizard of Oz and this old guy dressed in all white just dancing up a storm down the street, then a crazy old west photo shoot (which is all Jenny wanted for her birthday) and a great dinner at Local Flavor (one of the best places to eat in town and if you go you need to eat here). The night ended with a little too much drinking and more drama than we would have liked but as we would see in the morning it did not dampen our spirits.

The Cathouse and Brynna with a new hat

Red 11s Must be a running store, right?

Just an everyday scene in Eureka

Ridiculous 

The next morning we decided to run the 10k course from the Victorian Classic. This little race holds a special place in my heart and is one that I am finally coming back to run this year. But since the house we rented in town was on the course we decided that it would be fun to do our own invitational version to close out our weekend. The course starts high in the town and the first 5k runs mostly downhill, and then the next 5k is almost all uphill. So not the easiest run but this time we all stayed together for the most part. About 2 miles into the run Chris and Pip were a little in front of the group when we saw Pip go down on this little downhill. We all had a little laugh at his expense, as it did not look like a serious fall, and we talked about how it was that we could run all day on the trails and not go down but we couldn’t handle the roads. It was assumed that he slipped on some gravel, but as I soon found out that was not the case. As I approached the little downhill I took the high side to avoid the spot where Pip fell only to find that it was oil, not gravel, which he slipped on. At that point I thought it would be a good idea to show Pip how you really fall on a road. So I went rolling down the hill and got my knee good and bloody for the rest of the run. Have to love those roads. After I pealed myself off the ground we continued the run and down the road found some cool caves on the side of the road, some of the group took some time out to explore them. As we got to the bottom of the hill we found a cool little musical park. Not sure what else to call it, just a lot of large random chimes and things to bang on as we went by. Then we reached the turning point and it was a long climb out of the hole we were in. On the way back up the hill Pip decided to show his mastery of the falling skills I demonstrated for him earlier and this time lost a good amount of skin from his hand. Basically we cannot handle the road at all. We eventually made it back to the house without everyone dying and agreed that we would clean up and find a place for breakfast. So we cleaned up, packed everything up, and I called around to see who could handle a party of 13 with no notice. It turns out that one of our favorite places that closed down a few years back (Pancakes) reopened with a new name The Filling Station. So we made our way over there, to find an amazing breakfast buffet that changed as we continued eating and basically we ate way too much.

Going up through Town

Good times and great Pancakes

At this point we all knew that we needed to start heading back to T-Town, but we didn’t want the weekend to be over so we made a last second decision to add the Turpentine Creek big cat rescue to our trip. This is a very large site just outside of town in which they take in old or injured exotic cats to live out their lives. It was a very cool place and to see these animals up close it is a site to behold. If you are in the area this is worth your time. And all the money goes to keeping the rescue open, so you can feel good about handing over the $10 a head. There is a half mile walking tour that is guided by one of the rangers working out there (they made sure to ask us to let them know if the walk was too far and they would bring a car down to get us LOL) and there is a bunch of pens in the top part to walk around. All it all a great end to the weekend. I will try not to blow up this whole blog with all the photos from the rescue but I took a bunch, and I have the feeling that if you go there you will too. It is amazing sometimes when you look back at it, but running can take you some pretty amazing places with some people that I am so grateful to have in my life. I can truly say straight-faced that I love all of this running family. Till the next adventure, go out there and run!

Showoff

Western States is mocking me

Just watching planes go by

Sarah needs that Fish and Shannon will not help