David and Bob the dog lead the charge out of the parking lot.
The lead group stops for a break so no one misses the elusive turn onto the Loop Trail.
Immediately after the revival of
Soulstice in 2001, when 34 runners completed the race, Shelli Welch, Jay Yeager, Mike Prokopeak, and I thought we should start an email list of runners interested in meeting on Saturday mornings. In the back of our minds this was an opportunity to gather support and excitement for the Soulstice Mountain Trail Run that many of us started feeling a strong passion about. The following weekend, last Saturday in October, 6 runners met at the Schultz Creek Trailhead and ran to the Lincoln Logs and back. Afterwards we kicked around a few names, and NATRA stuck. By early 2002, we had the web site up and running, within 2 years Soulstice was a sell out event. 12 years later, 275000 web site hits, 600 group runs, about 36,000 trail miles, 7200 participant days, 3600 cups of coffee, priceless conversations, and countless new friends, NATRA is still going strong as witnessed by yesterday's large turnout for the Flagstaff Loop Trail! Add another 6 miles to the count and 10 more cups thanks to the post run gathering at the Kickstand.
Heather and Emily arrive at the turn.
What's missing? A matching Soulstice shirt on Jen. Don't worry, she has one now.
The hard part is over.
Charlie and Bruce lead the group down the Karen Cooper section of the Urban Trail.
The downhill return home.
