Copper Canyons 2011
Visiting the village of Urique in the Copper Canyons was truly an amazing experience. From the two day journey through Mexico by train and bus, to the two 18 mile group hikes in the days leading up to the race, and the cultural exchange all made for one of the best weeks of my life! Though I wasn't very fast, things went surprisingly smoothly on race day, I started out at a nice easy pace that I held for the flat sections, and walked the uphills. I felt pretty strong until about mile 22, when I started to hit the wall. At that point I slowed to a pace alternating between walking and running, which I kept up through the toughest climp of the course. Then surprisingly I started feeling stronger as I neared the 30 mile point. I guess it was the adrenaline and excitement of how close I was to completion of my first 50 miler. From then on things went pretty smoothly, I wasn't moving very fast due to my stiff ham strings, but slowly but surely I was inching toward to finish line and feeling stronger and more excited with each passing mile. I crossed the finish line in just over 12 hours and was awarded a voucher for 500 pounds of corn, which I gave to Caballo Blanco to distribute among the local schools and people of Urique. I think it's very unfortunate that Mexico has such a bad reputation right now, when in reality the majority of the people down there are very friendly and hospitable. Caballo Blanco has dedicated his life to helping support the Tarahumara and their running culture, in working hard to collect donations, and organize the race, in addition to Supplying the money for all of the corn out of his own pocket. I strongly recommend this race to anyone not only for the running and beautiful scenery but for the cultural exchange, and what is truly a remarkable experience!
More Photos...
Master's Team: 1st Place Masters Division!
Surf City Half Results: Owen 1.29 PR, Steve A. 1.37, Tyler 1.44, Richard Di Bacco 2.18 PR and at the Rose Bowl Half Ed at 1.51 for 2nd Place in his age group. Congratulations to all.
Just wanted to share that running with you, and especially the the track workouts/hill work really helped me prepare for Twin Cities Marathon. But one thing I did lack, was working on tempo runs. I had a great first half, but I started getting knee pain about mile 16/17. I had to walk most of the last miles. I started off too fast, and felt great, not realizing I was going to pay for it later. So lessons learned. Other than that, Twin Cities is very beautiful course to run on. Weather was great (high of 75 at the end), but you do get a lot of shade and cool breezes. There is steady incline after mile 19 to the finish. Everything is well organized, and bus transportation was provided to start line from St. Paul. Free breakfast too on race morning if you stay at Embassy Suites in St. Paul.
