Soulstice Blogs

Read Jared Scott's thoughts on his Soulstice victory!

11th Running of Soulstice

One of the most gorgeous days of Soulstice ever. Great friends, runners from across the country, lots of PRs and tons of prizes from all of our generous sponsors!

War Dog Photos by Claire Nyce

The photos keep rolling in from War Dog! Here are the latest shots from Claire Nyce!

War Dog!

About twenty runners and 7 "newbies" met at Schultz Tank and ran the 30th Annual War Dog. With a quick War Dog Howl runners headed up into the Wilderness. As I once again pulled a calf muscle I failed to even make it to the Weatherford/Kachina cut-off. If anyone has more to report, please let me know. The aspen were just beginning to turn and next weekend's Soulstice race should have beautiful foliage.

Aspen Corner, Arizona Trail

As Waterline Road is closed for the foreseeable future, we ran north from Aspen Corner off Snowbowl Road on the Arizona Trail. It was still a gorgeous morning for a run with a chill in the air, the only reminder that fall is here. Well, that and Sabrina's 80s ankle warmers (see slide show). After running for a mile we laughed at the 670 miles to Mexico and 190 miles to Utah border signs. We can report that not a single leaf had turned yellow at this point, despite the endless groves of Aspens. Also missing were the abundant mushrooms of late summer. So most of us actually ended up running the full 7 miles. Most had never run this segment of trail and were very impressed. Afterwards we all filled up Late for the Train on Fort Valley Road and lots of folks had the Flagstaff Marathon and Soulstice on their minds.

Walnut Canyon, Arizona Trail

Given that it was Imogene weekend with most of NATRA running 17.1 miles from Ouray, Co to Telluride over the 13,114 foot Imogene Pass, we had a respectable turnout of 7 runners. Neil, David, Susan, Daryl, Sabrina, Elizabeth and newcomer Marci had a picture perfect fall morning to run along the edge of Walnut Canyon. David and Neil marveled at the most recent trail construction that has eliminated a very rough, eroded portion of the route. David thinks he might even be able to mountain bike the trail without dismounting! There was not a wisp of a cloud or even a breeze. A pocket of chilly air refreshed us at the bottom of the canyon, before taking very deep breaths to get us back up to the trails to the view points. At the end of the run we returned to enjoy the Campus Coffee Bean. We surprised the staff by nearly cleaning them out of their fresh fruit bowls. It is good to be back, and exactly one month until Soulstice. Check out the Imogene Pass Run results!. Congrats to all Flagstaff runners!

Kauai Half Marathon

After nearly a decade of directing races vs. running them, I could not keep myself from entering the Kauai Half Marathon on September 5th. The race started and finished just steps from our hotel door and it turned out to be such a blast, despite running the last 10 miles with a torn calf. I can be seen at the start of the race in the center of the video in my Salomon blue tank top at 22 seconds in. Given that I had not trained a lick this summer, picking more mushrooms than miles, my 2:06.53 placed me 268th out of 936 runners. Not too shabby as the race is considered extremely difficult due to the high humidity! Post-race walking for two days was a chore, but an event in paradise that I would definitely run again!


Most amazing finish line setting ever!


Diana helps me find the beer tent!