I've been looking for Hope these days....

Resurrection Pass Pre-race Report: Dave and I made it down to Yvonne's in Soldotna in one piece (barely). Yv and I watched as Dave packed for the race. Amazing. 40-50 gels. And WAAAY too much body glide. This morning, he packed the car with all of his gear. Willow barely fit after he was finished:

Then, we headed on over to Hope for the start of the 100-miler at 3PM. There was a huge field of 6 runners (apparently a good turn-out). This trail is Dave's nemesis from both his 50-miler and 100-miler previous experiences, so he's hoping to shake off the demons. Laura McDonough is going to be some stiff competition- she's smart and will wait for everybody to make a mistake...She just came off a great Crow Pass run. Dave's ready, as long as he doesn't run into any Evan-esque mishaps.

First we drove to the Res Pass North trailhead to drop off a bag for Dave at the 12/ 88 mile aid station. Please note my smiling, rested face at the bridge, below:

I'll have a comparison shot for you in a couple days when I get to this spot, my 38-mile aid station. It will have been the farthest I've ever run at that point in the race.

On to the pre-race meeting at the school, the official finish. Low-key, easy-going. Best kind of race. Then we drove up to the start of the 100. And I got to see "The Hill". Oh my. After mile 38, the 50-miler heads up a gravel road for an out and back to tack on the remaining 12 miles. There is a 4-mile hill climb that 's going to be.....a bit challenging. We'll see how that goes.

So off they went, the 100-milers, and Yv and I took off for some lunch, exploring Hope and back home to pack up my gear for a 6AM start in the morning. Dave told me I should eat 3 gels an hour. Hmmm. If it takes me 10-11 hours, that's 30-33 gels. Yuck. And who the hell has room for all that? It's bit overwhelming for a first-timer:

I'm off to bed for a few hours' sleep before 4am rolls around. Dreaming of dry trails, blue skies and a Guinness at mile 50...

Catch Up

Well, here I am, almost 2 months later and playing catch up with the summer. It's the seventh inning stretch up here, time to call in the relief. So for now, a quick list of happenings. Hopefully tomorrow, a more detailed description, as well as musings about the past calendar year's changes (oh, goodie, you're thinking, that sounds boring). Dad arrived. The fish didn't. Went to a Miner's Ballgame for Father's Day, day 2 of sun the whole summer. Fishing with DeeDee and Justin. day 3 of sun. Still no Kings. Mayor's half. Under 2Hrs, passed by Dave on The Hill. Rain. Rain. Rain. Freedom 4-miler. With rain. There's a 340 mile Kayak race down the Missouri River! Now added to the to-do list. Hatcher Pass Marathon trial run. Day 4 of sun. 4 days, 40 miles. Rain. 35 more minutes of 33 yrs old. "The sun, it tries to warn me, 'boy, those wings are made of wax'. And the things I do to kill me, they just tell me to relax." R. Adams Tapering- 10 days until Res Pass.