About NATRA Blog

This page is meant for folks to post their thoughts on the Saturday group run. I (Neil) will post a blurb about who showed up and where it was held. From there, I hope that other runners will share their thoughts since we often have different experiences on the same run. Enjoy!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

The Thudding Echoes of Sandy Canyon

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12 runners went to Fisher Point and back on a picture perfect spring morning. We were joined by Phoenix's very own ultra-marathoner extraordinaire, Mark Hellenthal. If you have not heard about Mark's inspirational story, here is the link to the Arizona Republic article. If you have heard the story, it is worth revisiting!

Running through Sandy Canyon is always an adventure. While much of the path is soft and "sandy", there are patches where it abruptly transforms into a slippery and rocky stream bed. The thuds of runners crashing to the forest floor could be heard echoing off the canyon's limestone walls.

Luckily, all returned intact to a very quiet Campus Coffee Bean that was soon filled with hungry, tired and thirsty runners. We learned from David Blanchard that this morning's headline news across the country regarding a 12 mile-high Dust Devil on Mars, was actually a massive typo that has yet to be discovered! Apparently it was a 1/2 mile high phenomena that is not that unusual. It will be entertaining to see how newspapers correct themselves today! We also learned that next weekend we may have to put our Kahtoola snow traction shoes to make our way across the Fort Valley Trail System! Never a dull moment with this gang! Thanks to Don Bayles for sharing photos below!