Millions of people will never see the spectacular sights you can see when you run on trails. This ultrarunning video by Matt Hart, member of the Montrail National Ultrarunning Team, illustrates some of the reasons why I love trail running…You have to see it.

Congratulations to Joan, my friend from Indiana, who knocked 6 minutes off her previous marathon time to score a PR at the Eugene Marathon – 5:23! Race day started out rainy and chilly, but about 30 minutes after the start, the skies cleared up and we had perfect running weather.

Joan is quite the success story. In 2002, she completed her first marathon…as a race walker. She trained with the Chicago Arthritis Foundation’s Joints in Motion program and walked the Chicago Marathon faster than many people can run it. Bitten by the marathon bug, Joan is now on a quest to run either a marathon or a half marathon in all 50 states! Eugene was marathon number 9!

Joan has started implementing the run/walk method of training, and it has paid off. Not only did she set a new personal record, but she also felt great the next day. She didn’t even have to walk down the stairs…backwards!

As a spectator on Sunday, I had the opportunity to see it all…the front runners who look like they aren’t even touching the ground and the ones at the end of the race whose goal is to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. All were an inspiration to me.

One thing that is so amazing about the marathon is that we’re all covering the same 26.2 miles in the same race.  It is a challenge at every level – some just cover the same amount of ground a little quicker. And, most runners have mutual respect and admiration for all their fellow runners and walkers.

Watching the finishers come in, I had to struggle to keep it together as I saw kids jump over the railing to run in with their mom or dad…grandkids running in with their grannies and grandpas, and parents and grandparents running in with their kids and grandkids.

Finishing a marathon is a huge accomplishment whether it’s the first or the 51st. And, they never get any easier.

So, Congratulations to Joan for finishing her 9th marathon…and congratulations to all those who crossed the finish line in Eugene!

Last week as I was running along the Crestline trail in the Boise foothills, I came upon a most unusual sight (for me at least) – thousands of sheep! They were on the trail, down in the valley, on the hillsides. They were everywhere!

When I run the foothills alone, I generally take my cell phone with me (just in case I fall down a steep hillside), so I was thrilled that I could get some photos of this spectacular sight. I saw a man and his dog coming up the trail, and he told me that this is an annual occurrence – “the trailing of the sheep” – from the lower elevations of southern Idaho all the way to Ketchum.

I did a little research on this and I found that since the early part of the century, sheep migrate north each spring from the lower elevations of the Snake River plain of Southern Idaho, traveling in bands of around 1,500 sheep, through the Wood River Valley to summer high mountain pastures. This traditional route takes them up Highway 75 through newly populated, residential areas and the towns of Bellevue, Hailey and Ketchum. Some continue their journey over Galena summit into the Sawtooth Mountains. In the fall, the animals retrace this trail south to desert fields. Every fall in Ketchum and Hailey, they hold a huge Trailing of the Sheep Festival as the sheep make their way back to the south. This year, the festival is October 9-11.

I felt so fortunate to see something that most people have never seen nor will ever see. I was definitely in the right place at the right time. Running can take you to amazing places – I love running the trails and hills around Boise, and I love seeing the deer, fox, coyotes…and now sheep!

“Never stop chasing your dreams. They will tire and you will catch them.”

Dane Rauschenberg said that, and he didn’t just pull that out of the air – he is living proof that it is true.

See Dane Run: One Man, 52 Weekends, 52 Marathons is the name of Dane’s new book. In his book, Dane writes 52 chapters – one for each marathon he ran…in 52 weekends. To some, that may sound a little crazy…it may sound like he is a superman. But it’s not crazy, and Dane is a regular, down-to-earth guy who happens to have the mental fortitude (and good genes) to accomplish such a task.

As I listened to Dane talk about his adventures, he got more excited the more he talked. Like so many others who have followed their passions, he says we should find what we’re good at it and just do it. That may seem a little simplistic…but truthfully, it is not that simple. If it were easy, everyone would be doing what they love to do all the time. Dane left a corporate job to follow his dream – he loves to run and he loves to talk to runners. And, that is what he is doing.

If you’ve ever doubted that you could accomplish extraordinary things, you need to read Dane’s book. You can get a copy of his book at http://danerunsalot2.blogspot.com/.

On the celebration of Patriots’ Day, the Boston Marathon makes it appearance as an annual rite of spring on April 20. Runners all over talk about it, train for it, live for it. But only those who qualify, run it. Boston is the only marathon – other than the Olympic marathon – that requires a qualifying time to get in…for regular runners, that is.

Recently, I read an article by Amby Burfoot about “Boston qualifiying.” He cited a statistic that “only 10.4% of marathon finishers achieve a BQ.” That is pretty impressive: Of the thousands of people who run marathons, only 10.4% run fast enough to get into Boston.

I know many friends who have qualified for and run Boston, and I am proud and happy for them. It is a great achievement. Personally, I have attempted to qualify many times but have come up just short of my BQ.  I’m okay with it now, but that was not always my outlook.

Amby’s article brought this back into the front of my brain when I saw the article sidebars entitled “Real Runners.” It has long been implied, and conveyed in articles and books, that the only “real runners” are Boston qualifiers. I used to buy into this thinking … about others and myself. That is, until I met “real” runners.

Don’t misunderstand me. Boston qualifiers are indeed “real” runners; however, I just do not believe that they are the ONLY “real” runners.

“Real” runners:

• love to run
• raise money for worthy causes
• sacrifice their “time” to stop and help a fallen runner
• run a race with a first-timer
• teach others about running
• sometimes do a run-walk
• encourage beginners and veterans alike
• love to talk about running
• love to listen others’ stories about running
• feel nervous for their friends who are running a big race
• are happy for their friends who run a great race
• believe in themselves – that they are real runners
• and sometimes…even qualify for Boston

On March 29th, my friend, Coach Bill Wenmark, completed the Bataan Death March Marathon at the White Sands Missile Base in New Mexico. Not only did he complete the grueling event, he won the 60-69 Civilian Heavy (35# pack) category in 7:29:56, a new age group record.

In Bill’s words: “A great moving experience for civilians, young high school ROTC units and lots of veterans, men and women. Most of all the Walter Reed Wounded Warriors who did the March missing legs and arms. The Bataan survivors in their 80’s and 90’s sat along the start area and greeted each starter….they were back at the finish to greet every finisher.  Some of them will not make it back next year, but those who can will be there again…just like they were for their fellow men in the Bataan Death March.  Some of these men were POW’s for over 3 years – tortured, starved, beaten.  Some of them were too tuff…they made it home so we would never forget.”

Bill is founder and president of, and coaches, the Active Life & Running Club (ALARC), the country’s largest marathon running club. A 2006 World Senior Games gold medalist, Bill has run 96 marathons, 2 Ironman triathlons, and completed the Leadville 100-mile run, in addition to the 100-mile bike race, which he’s done 11 times, one of only 20 in the world to do so.

Bill is also a coach at the Dick Beardsley Marathon Running Camp, which takes place every September in Waubun, Minnesota.

When I first moved to Boise 18 months ago, I was so thrilled to see “mountains” out my upstairs window.  I expressed my excitement, and people often asked me, “Exactly where do you live in Boise where you can see mountains?” When I told them, their response was usually, “Oh, those are just foothills.”

They may be called the Boise Foothills, but when you run them, they seem like mountains. That’s probably because I moved from pancake flat Chicago…well, there is one hill on the lakefront…the famous “Cricket Hill.” I’m not that good at estimating distances less than a 1/4 mile, but Cricket Hill is about 25 yards of climbing. So, when we wanted to do hill repeats, we just ran up and down that hill dozens of times. And, on a training run, if you ran up and over the hill on the way out and again on the way back, you could say you ran “hills” that day.

Hills used to scare me – I guess because I just didn’t know any real hills. Don’t we sometimes fear the unknown? I have discovered that, in the case of hills, FEAR truly is False Expectations Appearing Real.

I started running mountains about 9 months ago – the Boise Foothills – and that is when I discovered what hill running is all about. I was awful at first. How can you be awful at running hills, you wonder? Let’s put it this way: “Running” is not the proper word for what I was doing. I was walking, plodding, slogging, struggling…you choose the word for it. It wasn’t running. But I was getting up a lot of hills.

One of my current and long-term goals is to continue to become a better hill runner – both up and down hill. And, I’m getting there slowly but surely.

Ultrarunning guru Coach Mike says about hills: “If you can walk up the hill as fast as you can run it, then walk it.” There are times when I can actually walk up faster than I can run it. But I continue to practice “running” my metaphorical mountains both on trails and roads. And, I feel better, physically and psychologically, after I’ve had a good hill run day.

I do not FEAR hills anymore – I seek them out. It’s even more fun now because I can map the elevation on my Garmin. I am so psyched after I run hills! They are still not easy for me, but I look forward to my hill running days.

So, I’ll continue to admire the “mountains” from my upstairs window, and I’ll keep running the mountains surrounding Boise. And, maybe one day when I get really good at it, I’ll say, “Mountains – those are just foothills.”

What a terrific day! The Prickly Pear 50K was even better than I had expected – and harder than I expected. Each race has a personality of its own, and the Prickly Pear 50K was no exception.

I left Boise Friday morning with snow on the ground – I arrived in San Antonio to 80+ degree temperature and lots of humidity. What a shock to the system! But I wasn’t complaining – I was so happy to be able to run without 3 layers of clothes. I met up with my friend Isabelle (from Ithaca, NY) who was also running the 50K, and we went to check out the course. Even walking the first 3/4 mile of the course, we figured it could be tricky in some spots given the rocks and roots we saw. But the first section was just a tiny snapshot of what was to come.

Ten minutes before the start, the race director gathered the troops for a pre-race briefing. The highlight of his talk for me was his advice: “The rattlesnakes are waking up after winter…just be on the lookout for snakes on the path.” Fun! I wasn’t too concerned though because I figured since I wasn’t going to be in the first half of runners coming through, the snakes would get the heck out of there before I got to that part on the trail. Read the rest of this entry »

This Saturday is the Prickly Pear 50K in San Antonio, Texas.  It will actually be the 3rd race in my personal “Ultramarathon Series” on my way to the big one: my first 100-miler. The series started back in November with the Stinson Beach 50K followed by the Running From An Angel 50-miler in Boulder City, Nevada.

Although there’s nothing easy about running marathons…or ultramarathons, I find that as I run the longer distances both in training and races, the longer mileage gets a little less intimidating. Am I nervous about this race? Not nervous so much as excited. I love my long runs (and I ran a 30-miler in training a few weeks ago), so I feel confident that I can do it. But my running has been a little “off” in the past couple of weeks because of my hand surgery, and I’m not going into it as prepared as I usually am for a race of this length. However, I know from experience that a forced rest is sometimes a good thing.

So, my “race strategy” is to relax, have fun, and enjoy the morning running on new trails.

People often ask me why I run…and not just why I run but why I run such long distances. And, like many other distance runners, I’m usually thinking, “If you have to ask, then you wouldn’t really understand.”  However, sometimes, even I don’t understand. I don’t always analyze “why.”

For me, running is a lifestyle. It’s something I love to do – whether it’s a fast 5-mile run or an comfortable 30-mile run. And, running long miles tests me – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

Does it hurt? Yes, sometimes. But it’s good pain.

Somebody said, “Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” You spend 10 hours on your feet pounding the pavement, and you’re going to experience some painful moments. But the overall experience outweighs the pain. When I’m out there running on trails, through mountains, past rivers, lakes and oceans, or even on roads…seeing sunrises and sunsets, wild animals, storm clouds rolling in…deep down, it really feels good.

So, back to the question: “Why do I run?” Maybe I run because running stretches me, challenges me, teaches me.

But probably the best answer to that question is simply this: Running makes me happy.

Here I am – back on this topic again. I talked to my friend Michael yesterday who ran the Napa Valley Marathon on Sunday. Tired, thrilled, and worn out, Michael was still jazzed about his adventure from Calistoga to Napa Valley.

In our post-race recap, he told me how Bonnie had run with him for a large portion of the race and supported him in his rough patches. (We all have rough patches in our races.) He also told me how Bill took the finish line race photos – a role Michael is accustomed to playing. And, he talked of all the folks who were out there cheering him: Joe, Jan, Dick, Jill, Mary, and more.

Bottom line: It is running that has brought us all together. If it were not for Dick’s running camp, I would not know Michael, Jan, Bill, Joe, Mary, Anita, Kathy, or even Dick. If it were not for my running group in Chicago, I would not know Lori, Joan, Roz, Trina, Sherri, or Jim. If it were not for Boise RunWalk, I would not know Mike, Steve, Matt J, Ann, Sparkle, Matt B, Bob, Amber, or Jay. And there are so many others – I can’t even begin to name them all.

I have met runners through running groups, camps, on Facebook, on Twitter, and other running forums. We are all connected by that one thing that we all love to do: Run. We all know when the other ones are running a race, and we all wait to hear the post-race report. Was it hilly? Was it hot? Was it raining? But the main thing we all want to know is “Did you have fun?” And, strange as it may sound, even after what seemed like a awful day as it was happening – the pain, the struggle, the heat, the wind, the cold – when it’s over, we miraculously feel terrific. The magic of crossing that finish line is the (almost) instant cure for all ailments and weather conditions. And, the answer to “Did you have fun?” is almost always, “It was awesome!”

I am so proud of Michael – he had a wonderfully tough day – as we all do in so many of our races. He did the “under 5 thing” and by my account, he won his race. And, in a note he wrote to me – in reference to his running friends, he says, “You people are the best people I know…”

Way to go, Michael – you’re the best, too!