Arizona Trail all the Way to Bismarck Lake

(23 runners are off!)

 

 

(Heading towards Kendrick Mountain)

For 12 years, I have never known what to expect for a turnout for a group run. My predictions are almost always off, as they would prove on Saturday. With the Team Run Flagstaff Snowbowl Road Uphill Climb on Sunday, I figured it would be fairly small. Wrong!  23 runners and 4 dogs went to Bismarck Lake and back on the Arizona Trail from Aspen Corner. For me, the greatest surprise was having Margot, Betsy, Howard, and Andy on the run. It was a throw back to the first days of NATRA, the thought of that always makes me smile! 

(NATRA throw back: Andy, Neil, Howard, Margot, and Betsy)

Since I had never completed this run all the way to Bismarck Lake, I was pretty much set on just doing my typical 3 miles out and back. However, at mile three, I caught up with Tzeidle and after a lot of chit-chatting, before I knew it we were at the 0.2 mile junction to Bismarck. She said "see, Neil, that wasn't so bad!" Not yet anyway...... As it turned out, I had made it pretty close in the past, but always turned back. At the junction I started feeling really, really good. I would soon find out why.

 

(My favorite places on the Kaibab National Forest in the background!)

 

 As we regrouped at the dry lake, Mark Thurston, Chris Gunn, and Myles Schrag met up with us and took a few photos. It was then time to turn back and I understood why my usual decision to turn back early was always a good one. The reason I felt so strong, was that the last part of the run was down hill. Whoops. Tzeidle and Stephanie pulled me through though and by the time I got back, I was pretty damn proud of myself, and knew I had earned my afternoon nap. We packed the Kickstand for our post run coffee, filling the outdoor patio and taking over most of the inside tables!

 

(Arizona Trail Bismarck Lake Junction)

Oldham Steps Getting Steeper!

14 runners showed up on a muggy but beautiful morning at Buffalo Park, several of them curious to determine if the Oldham steps are still getting steeper every year. They are.  Two newcomers to NATRA and Flagstaff joined us on a busy morning in the outback, with many hikers about - appreciating the monsoon's arrival. Coffee was at the Kickstand. (Thanks to Bruce Higgins for the post)

5th Annual Four on the Fourth

( Randy Wilson explains the tradition at Flagstaff's historic Flag Pole)

 



(For timing, I used the RaceSplitter IPAD Ap to allow runners to register themselves.)

 At the Northland Hospice Race Four years ago, I noticed Randy Wilson passing out fliers for a free "four on the fourth run" on the Karen Cooper section of Urban Trail. He told me that in his former small town of Oakland, Maine (think On Golden Pond), every Fourth of July the running community would crown their fastest runner. The only catch was that generally slower age divisions get "head starts." This was modeled after the Dipsea Race, the oldest trail run in America (founded in 1905) that handicaps faster runners.  

(Eight minute head start group)

 

Years back, when the Northland Hospice Run for Life race switched their race off July 4th, it left a void in the schedule for the burgeoning Flagstaff running community.   Thus was born a new Flagstaff tradition.

 

As the race has been kept very low key and family oriented, it has generally drawn between 50 and 60 participants. While the event has been word of mouth, the competition has been fierce!  The closest race occurred two years ago when Olympian Janet Cherbon-Bawcom outkicked 10 year old Nicholas Hall!  Past winners have included John Bogen (2009), Sara Wagner (2010), Janet Cherbow-Bawcom (2011) and last year, under the watchful eye of spectator Janet CB (who showed up while doing her last prep work for the London Olympic games), Nicholas Hall got his much anticipated title.

This year's race included several regulars and many new faces, and for the 5th straight year, Randy Wilson crowned a new winner, Ultra Marathon extraordinaire, Ian Torrence.  See Randy Wilson's race day coverage in the Arizona Daily Sun for some great quotes from Ian!

(Ian Torrence captures the title by outckicking Katie Landry in background)

 

Most importantly, participants collected 85 pounds of cans for the Saint Mary's Food Bank that Randy designated the food to help with relief efforts in Yarnell. 

Thanks to the great volunteer efforts of Coach Michael Elder, Randy Wilson and his daughter Caroline who have been there all 5 years.  Caroline's scoring expertise has freed up Dad to only serve as the race's front man!   A special shout out to Jack Welch, who, staffing the halfway point, ensures that no Rosie Ruiz's will ever try to shame our little "low-key" run.

(Group shot with all participants, winners to left).

Picture Canyon Celebration Run

Because many of us won't be able to make it to the Picture Canyon celebration next week due to the Northland Hospice Race, NATRA celebrated the City of Flagstaff's purchase of Picture Canyon a week early!  On June 29th, the public is welcome to head out to Picture Canyon to celebrate the amazing preservation and restoration that Flagstaff residents can enjoy for years to come. Read about the history of the successful efforts to buy this very special piece of land!

Considering most of Flagstaff was rocking at Run with Laura races, we had a great turnout of 16 runners, many new to this section of the Arizona Trail. As we descended on the black sands from Flagstaff's last volcanic eruption (Sunset Crater ca. 1080 AD), we encountered the hard working Coconino Rural Environmental Corps, fixing up the trail.

 

Once we reached the bottom of the canyon it was remarkable to see the changes that have taken place.  We could not find noxious weeds and the ditch that created them was barely visible. We enjoyed discussing the scattered petroglyphs and decided to make a loop around the canyon.

 

After crossing the Arizona Trail footbridge, we headed up onto an old logging road and then took a quick stop at Flagstaff's only year round "waterfall". We spied a few more petroglyphs, took a deep breath, and headed into the baking cinders.

The return is always rough as running is cinders is even tougher than on the beach. At least on the beach you can run to water's edge and have a well packed surface. The ascent from Picture Canyon was all uphill, throw in the cinders, and you have a lot of walking runners (and don't forget Bob the dog!)

Once back to the trail head, we decided with the large group that Wildflower Bread Company would be yet another option to replenish our worn out bodies. As we sat in the shade, a cool breeze made it a bit uncomfortable and we all found it funny that summer had just arrived, yet the days were already getting shorter. Just 90 days and we should be running in snow again!  Ha!

Fort Valley Trail System: Tzeidle and the Guys

What started out as a 5 runner gathering soon turned into 10 when the Flagstaff Ultra Club meet us on the Schultz Creek Trail. Once we joined forces, Tzeidle was unphased as the only woman, enjoying the rare 9 to 1 ratio. Lately the split has been 60% women to 40% men, so this was a very unusual change of events indeed.

In typical fashion when navigating the Fort Valley Trail system, we stopped at every trail junction to carefully make sure we were generally headed towards the trailhead off Highway 180. Every runner in Flagstaff can tell you a story about an epic run that began by taking a wrong turn on the Fort Valley system. With its many closed roads and game trails, it is easy to find a different route to get lost on each run! As we neared the turn around spot, the searing heat began to take its toll. There was even some talk about turning around early...but we reached the end soon enough.

 

After a brief reprieve in the shade of the trailhead kiosk, we headed back. In the distance we heard the roaring rev of a dirt bike engine, but most thought it was just our proximity to Highway 180. Within minutes a motorbike slowed behind us and carefully passed by. Most runners were surprised to find out that the Fort Valley Trail system is multi-use. As the Forest Service has recently closed 1000s of miles of roads to motorized travel, pressures have increased on places for motorized dirt bikes to recreate. While the biker kicked up dust and our quiet was disturbed for about 2 minutes, we got back into the rythym of our run. The discussion turned to how fortunate it is that those of us who are powered only by our feet, now have several thousand additional miles of dirt roads run and explore that are closed to motorized vehicles.

Once we all hooked back up at the "Y", we headed to the Kickstand and eschewed the overpowering sun to rehydrate in cool confines of the indoor tables. Time to recover because next week is Gaspin in the Aspen!

Neil pontificates about the benefits of his aerodynamically designed new Run Flagstaff shirt.

30th Annual NACA Sacred Mountain Prayer Run

Well, Bill Harris pretty much captured everything I had to say about the race in today's Arizona Daily Sun! A very special day indeed! Results are now posted at virtualroster.com. Contact us with any errors.

Along the Edge of Walnut Canyon

Saturday's turnout for the NATRA group run had 22 runners including Flagstaff Ultra Club members, but no dogs.  About half the group did the 5 mile run to the first overlook and the rest went the full 8 miles. Along the way Spring's blooming wildflowers distracted those with cameras. It was great to see Erika Friedberg running alongside Sara Wagner, the only two women to win Soulstice in the past 7 years (Sara 6 times, Erika once)!  Afterwards we filled the outdoor seating area at the Kickstand and enjoyed the warm spring sun.