A-1 Mountain Run

18 runners headed up the Urban Trail and most of the group went as far as the A-1 Mountain Meadow, 9 miles out and back! We had two new runners join in the fun, Chris from Phoenix and Ian from the University of Indiana! Remarkably, there is still standing water along some of the Forest Service Roads. While I was making pretty good time on the downhill return run, I ended up late for coffee at the Seasoned Kitchen as I ran into a bunch of longtime friends, Dana, Nat (The Godfather of our Urban Trail Sytem!) and Merk (Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff). After spending a bit of time chatting I returned to find the gang comfortably enjoying the Seasoned Kitchen. Download today's photos!

Sunset - Soulstice Sprint Course

19 runners and 5 dogs ran the sprint course of Soulstice. We again felt as though we were running through a rain forest. With the recent unusual wet weather, we found water ponds along Sunset! When we hit the Lincoln Logs, Little Gnarly junction, Schultz Creek was flowing! We barely kicked up any dust and marveled at the lush greenery throughout the run. Tony then served up some strong espressos at the Seasoned Kitchen and as we left the next round of large raindrops began to fall. Let it rain, rain, rain!!!! Download photos from today's run.

Waterline

21 runners showed to head up Waterline on another dreary, damp Memorial Saturday run! With drizzle and low clouds overhead, the usually hot and dry Forest Road made for a pleasant uphill run. With last night's rain and the cloud cover, it seemed more like a run through a rain forest! There were a lot of new faces including Erik from Minneapolis who found time to sneak in the NATRA run despite being just 6 days away from directing the newest Minneapolis Marathon! At the end of the run we all returned to the Seasoned Kitchen for Coffee and Brett provided samples of Uncle Buzz's delicious chocolates! Download photos from today's run!

Schultz Creek Trail

A whopping 17 runners showed up to run Schultz Creek. It was great to see so many new faces. In fact, for the first time, it was beyond me to remember all the new names! It was great to have a gentleman from Toronto, our first international runner! As we bolted from the parking area kicking up dust, we quickly got into the cool shade of the ponderosa pines. Several runners caught up in the beauty of the forest managed to trip and fall. We could not find the usual widow maker stumps or rock suspects and decided we had to blame it on the jumping trail sand pixies of Schultz Creek.

Dave pointed out the collapsed "Leaning Tower of Schultz Creek", a monumental snag (dead ponderosa) that stood mightily along the rock garden for as long as I can remember. On my first run up Schultz Creek in 1986, I remembered seeing the leaning tree and thinking that it could fall over at any moment. Well that moment came during this past year. The question is, did anyone hear it?! We took the obligatory runner under the fallen tree shot and moved on.

About 1.5 miles up the trail we encountered running water! What a sight to see and we wondered if there would still be some patches of snow near the Lincoln Logs. The further up we got, the harder the creek ran - well enough to hear the bubbling, flowing water, always a treat around Flagstaff! We made it to the Lincoln Logs (no snow) and notably, more than half the group continued on up Little Gnarly to Rocky Ridge. The rest of us only imagined the blazing hot sun those folks encountered on the rather open unsheltered Rocky Ridge Trail. We then returned to Tony's Seasoned Kitchen for some awesome Cranberry Muffins and Iced Cafe Lates! Download photos from today's run!

Oldham-Girls on the Run Day

Nine runners showed up to tackle the Oldham steps and Rocky Ridge on a blustery Saturday morning. Anne Marie, Mark, Neil, Tab, Peter, David, Sara, and Tony were joined mid trail by Michael. After finishing the run, they all enjoyed watching or helping with the Girls on the Run 5K. See the NATRA web page for photos of this outstanding event! Download today's photos.

Arizona Trail along Walnut Canyon

17 folks ran the Arizona trail on a blustery Saturday morning. Newcomers Mike, Joel, Jennifer, Jillian, and Melissa joined Bob, Don, Rhiannon, Eric, Janie, Mackenzie, Neil, David, Tony, Jut, Bruce, and Sara as they jumped over downed trees, battled the gale force head winds and climbed in and out of a side drainage of Walnut Canyon. The winds did not seem to slow Annika and Skylar. The downside of the outbound winds meant a return tail wind to push them home. Afterwards all headed to the Seasoned Kitchen and Tony's cranberry muffins, Chai Tea and made to order coffee drinks! Download today's photos

Margs Draw to Broken Arrow to Chicken Point

Christopher, Jenny, Neil, Eric, Janie, Daniel, Gayle (going long from I-40 down Schnebly Hill Road), Mackenzie, Amber, Noreen, Rhiannon and Tim ran Marg's Draw to Chicken Point. Gnocchi, Sklar and Soren dogged the run. Along the way they made the usual wrong turn and added a mile to the run. Later, they ran into more jeep tours than ever as tourist season in Sedona is hitting its peak. Spring surely seems to have sprung today as the temperature quickly heated up during the run. After 2 hours of running in the heat, all Tim could say was, "Running is stupid". We then all huddled around the shade at New Frontiers and enjoyed iced drinks, the scene a far cry from the chilly runs of late. This was the last Sedona run until next November.
Download today's photos.