Category: Marathon Man
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Run for your life!
My favorite sport is running. It can be done anywhere, doesn’t depend on expensive equipment (other than shoes) and is a return to the primal – putting a cerebral writer in daily touch with his animal self. It is therapy, it’s “moving meditation;” it’s a spiritual practice in physical form. I could write a book…
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ST. GEORGE, UTAH
[slideshow_deploy id=’1418′] A tribal pre-start, with 7,000 runners in October seated cross-legged 4,000 feet up in the mountains around mesquite fire-pits to stay warm. A hilly, scenic course, mostly downhill through red rock country. Like running through an old western movie.
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SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA
[slideshow_deploy id=’1411′] A beautiful run in Paradise. Santa Barbara is the very essence of the laid-back, palm tree, gentle surf, and sunshine California vibe and the only area along the Cali Coast that curves southward. After crossing the finish line — a slam dunk in the Pacific Ocean!
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San Francisco Marathon
Like your first girl – you never forget her. And the first one usually ends up breaking your heart! I hit “The Wall” (Mile 20) big-time after getting carried away on those enchanting curves (hills)! My fastest finish, the first time – (typical of the over-eager male!)
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Grand Canyon Marathon
A solo, 21-mile “journey run.” At sunrise, flew in a small plane from the south rim over to the higher north rim; then raced the descending light down the rock walls to the Colorado River… then up the brutally steep Bright Angel Trail. Awe- inspiring to be moving among the towering, timeless vermilion cliffs…
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Skyline Marathon
50-K on rolling hills through East Bay Regional Parks above Oakland, California.
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Pikes Peak Marathon
28 miles – all the way up from town of Manitou Springs, Colorado to the 14,110 foot summit; then switchback swoops back down. Pikes Peak’s purple mountain majesty inspired Katherine Lee Bates to write the song “America the Beautiful” in 1893.
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Jedediah Smith Marathon
50 miler – over wild trails outside Sacramento, California. Named in honor of mountain man Jedediah Smith who, in the Rocky Mountains, found a pass that was the key to the settlement of Oregon and California. Jed Smith wrote: “I wanted to be the first to view a country on which the eyes of a…
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Western States Marathon
100 miles from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California! Not just extreme distance to endure, but 18,000 feet of cumulative uphill, 22,000 feet down; and do battle with snow, stifling-hot canons, rattlesnakes, a raging river, and some of the most rugged, rocky, ankle-twisting terrain in the west!! Finish in less than a day and you…
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Lake Tahoe Marathon
One lap – 72 miles! High in the sweet pine air as you circle a liquid topaz jewel!!