Lassen National Park

Bubbling mud pools and steam holes.

Views at Olympic Valley California

Looking down at Squaw Valley (you can see the haze from the smoke); Monument at Emigrant Pass;
vista from the hike up to Emigrant Pass; the bottom picture shows where the race would have continued from Emigrant Pass.

Cancellation! ... Dismay ... Reorganization

For the first time in 35 years, the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run was cancelled. We heard about it from Robert's pacer when we were halfway to our destination. The lightning strikes from a couple of days before had developed into fires, two of which were near the trail. The air quality was extremely poor and after much deliberation with the Forest Service and Air Quality, it was decided the race should not go on. After the initial dismay, Robert was already looking up other 100 mile races to run instead. As soon as we got home, he registered for the Lean Horse Hundred in South Dakota on August 23rd (Tanya's birthday). We'll get to see Mt. Rushmore while we're there.

Since it was too late to cancel our reservations for the next night, we continued to Olympic Valley. Forrest and Francie decided to come anyway and we had a nice stay there. Not much sleep though - the room did not have air conditioning and since we needed to have the window open, voices carried and it seemed people were out partying most of the night. The Western States organization went ahead with the talks they had planned and provided a dinner on Friday night as well as a breakfast on Saturday (in lieu of the brunch provided after the race). The entrants for 2008 are requalified for 2009 if they wish, instead of having to enter the lottery again. We ran (Robert and Forrest) and hiked (Tanya and Francie) the first four miles of the race, up to Emigrant Pass. Steep! Emigrant Pass is at 8900 feet. It's a beautiful area. Forrest and Francie went on to San Francisco and then up to a friend's wedding in Oregon. Robert and Tanya cancelled most of their other reservations except for the one at Crater Lake. We went up through Lassen National Park (steam holes and bubbling mud pools). Crater Lake wasn't as blue as usual, due to the smoky air, but still gorgeous. Most of the trails were closed because of snow, so we didn't get to do a lot of hiking. All in all, a nice trip, although not the one we were expecting!

Countdown

Only two weeks to go until the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run! Robert's legs are tired, but he thinks the training has gone pretty well. Forrest and Francie will meet us in Olympic Valley, CA for the start and will be support crew with Tanya. The race starts at 5 a.m. on June 28th and Robert hopes to finish by 5 a.m. June 29th, although since this is his first 100-miler, he would be willing to finish before the cutoff time of 30 hours. If anyone is interested in following the race, there are chip times on the website (http://www.ws100.com/) so you can check and see how he's doing at different points in the race. His race number is 386. On the way home, we'll stop at Crater Lake, visit Melinda and her gang in Sherwood, and swing by to see Silas, Sara and Eli in Richland.

Catching Up

We are so behind on the race report. Since we last blogged about races, Robert has run 5 ultras and 1 marathon. The marathon was the Flying Pig on May 4th in Cincinnati (12 of 50 states). The big excitement was a fire along the course. The race had to be diverted and was a little longer than the usual 26.2. No pictures - but the runner was 3rd in his age group and received a Flying Pig Plaque.

He also did well at the Washington State University 100K. There were only 4 solo runners (3 finished) and a lot of relay teams. Robert was the 1st solo finisher. Probably due to the great support along the course (see above right).

The picture above left is from the McDonald Forest Trail Run (50K) near Corvallis, OR. It was kind of nice to be back in the western Oregon coast range for awhile. And we got to visit Silas and Sara on our way down (pre-Eli) and Melinda, Jeff, Bryce and Joel on the way back home.

New Beginnings

It's been awhile since our last blog. The biggest and best news since then?

We have a new grandson! Elijah was born May 18th. Another boy to join the grandchild ranks, along with Bryce and Joel. By the time we got to the hospital, he was nine hours old, but his mom was as cheerful as ever. His dad looked kind of tired... so T-Papa was happy to hold him.

11th State

Robert completed 11th of 50 in his all-states marathon quest this morning. He ran in Austin Texas and finished at 3:08:28, 2nd in his age division. Not bad for a training run for the Western States 100! No pictures, since Tanya is at home in snowy Spokane Valley. Yesterday Austin had thunderstorms and tornado warnings, but the runner reported that the weather today was perfect.

It's good to be an experienced runner. A co-Austin runner new to marathoning thought the Vaseline handed out on sticks at the aid stations was an energy gel. Yummm.

Last night was the awards ceremony for the Bloomsday Road Runners Club. Robert was awarded Senior Male Runner of the Year. See his award below.