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INSIDE DIRT OCTOBER 2011

This edition of Inside Dirt brought to you by INKnBURN

INKnBurn shorts for women are made with a lightweight soft-poly fabric to wick moisture and dry quickly. Features front pockets for storing salt tablets and energy gels. Leave the waistband up for great support or roll down for a lower-cut look and feel. www.inknburn.com

 


IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR TRAIL RUNNER READERS

We are pleased to announce that in 2012 we will add an extra issue of Trail Runner to our publication schedule. Due to popular demand, we are increasing our frequency from 7 to 8 issues a year, so an inspiration-packed issue will hit your mailbox every six weeks. A one-year subscription with this new 8-issue term is $21.95, and two years is only $32.95. Happy Trails!


MAKING TRACKS

Coleen Voeks, left, and Debbie Webster make their way along the Red Trail at Clinton State Park about 12 miles into the Hawk Hundred. A few hours later, Webster's race took a turn for the worse when she received a text message from her son stationed in Afghanistan.

Mom Goes Army Strong
And does battle at Kansas’ inaugural Hawk Hundred
By Chris Wristen

When Coleen Voeks, 38, of Kansas City, Kansas, glanced over her shoulder and didn’t see her friend Debbie Webster, 51, of Gardner, Kansas, right behind her, Voeks didn’t think much of it.

The rocky, rooty trails at Clinton State Park in Lawrence, Kansas, were taking their toll on all of the runners at the inaugural Hawk Hundred 100-Mile Trail Run, as was the sauna-like humidity in the woods. Maybe Webster had paused to pop some salt or take a sip of water, or perhaps a nagging left ankle sprain or raging right IT band was slowing her down, figured Voeks.

“I wasn’t worried until I heard her sobbing,” says Voeks. “I immediately turned and raced back to her. She was holding her cell phone and crying. I grabbed her by the shoulders and asked her what happened.”

Webster’s legs weren’t the problem. She’d received a text message from her son, Michael, an Army soldier stationed in Afghanistan. It read: “Hey, mom. We’re being mortared.” She was 23 miles into the race.

Webster composed herself, and then texted Michael back asking him to call her. “We had a really good talk,” Webster recalls. “It was kind of like he needed to hear my voice and I needed to hear his.”

Once the phone call ended, Webster broke down. “I figured her race was over,” Voeks says. But, back at race headquarters, race director Danny Miller wasn’t so sure. An ultramarathon veteran and 2011 Western States finisher, Miller had seen his share of beat-the-odds stories.

“I remember thinking that there wasn’t one person out on the course that day that would have faulted her for quitting. Heck, there wasn’t one person anywhere that would have questioned her decision,” Miller says. “Oddly, I also thought, ‘You know, this could be that motivation for her to keep moving through her troubles.’”

Webster and Voeks walked together for the next few miles and then the proud Army mom had a moment of clarity. “My son would not want me to quit,” she says.

She and Voeks walked most of the next 23-mile loop. Webster’s smile was gone. Yet, she marched on, ignoring the blisters forming on her heels and between her toes.

Around sunrise, Webster was on the verge of collapse when her phone buzzed. It was Michael. “He was OK,” Webster says. “He was more worried about me. He thinks running 100 miles is crazy, but he’s also really proud. Both of my boys told me I was a badass mom. To have that come from my sons who have gone through tortuous basic training in the military made me feel like a million bucks!”

One problem: She still had 18 miles to go and was on pace to miss the 32-hour cutoff. Webster’s friend and training partner Jim Megerson of Shawnee, Kansas, arrived to pace her final stretch. Megerson drove a steady pace, prodding Webster ahead with tales of runners who’d finished 20 seconds too late. They crossed the line with 24 minutes to spare in 31:36:11.

“I am proud because I conquered all of those things, but I also know there were times when I really wanted to quit really bad and I’m proud of myself for not quitting.” Webster says. “My son was with me the whole time.”


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FEATURED RACE

The Fourth Annual Grand Raid des Pyrenees

Rated by many runners as one of the toughest trail runs in the world, the Grand Raid des Pyrenees is arguably the most grueling event of its kind. This unique and exhilarating  80K and 160K stage race, showcases the natural splendor around the historic village of Vielle-Aure.

This tiny Midi-Pyrenees community, situated within the Neste valley, opened their homes, hotels, squares and restaurants to more than 1600 trail runners from 22 countries. “This is our biggest annual event, and we’d love to build on this to create a trail destination for people from around the world,” says Mayor Maryse Beyrié.

More information on the event, visit: www.grandraidpyrenees.com.


MASTER'S VOICE

Healthy, Fit and Happy
Pick two of the above
By Tom Mueller

A while back I blogged about the balance we strive to maintain in our ultra endurance lives. Things seldom fall into place as we would have it. On most occasions, we shuffle the deck and push forward with the cards we are dealt.

Bicycling pioneer and wheel king Keith Bontrager developed the mantra "light, strong or cheap, pick two." If you're into bicycle wheels, it's fun to play with the combos—you can have light and strong wheels, but they won't be cheap. You can have cheap and light wheels, but they won't be strong. It's a wonderful comparison model that can help you reason through how to design the product.

Our bodies are not that different. I'll bring forward the "healthy, fit and happy, pick two" scenario for your review and enjoyment.  For most any given day, you'll find yourself on top of two dimensions, but crashing and burning on the third. Let's play with it for a second:

Being healthy becomes a near impossibility for a master's-age competitor. Injuries are nagging and sometimes heal slowly, if at all.  I blew out my shoulder in a mountain-biking accident and had an anaphylactic reaction to a wasp sting; two ER visits a month apart is not what I had in mind this summer.  And, I've been fighting through a nasty case of plantar fasciitis in my right foot for the past eight months. It ebbs and flows but never releases me to run freely. I received an email from ultra icon Eric Clifton this week and he disclosed he was dinged by PF for 13 years! We may aspire to be healthy, but on a one to 10 scale, many of us train and race at a five or eight on a scale of 10.

“Fit” is a comprehensive package of food intake and training. The right fuels are being ingested and a mix of endurance and strength training is burning the calories. Weight loss feeds the desire for even better dietary intake and a higher intensity exercise. One may hit that mystical moment when you're "on the razor"... a term used by Tour de France competitors when they're prepped and ready to endure the brutal three-week contest.

I'm 6’1’’ and weigh between 160 and 175 pounds. Elite ultrarunners my height tip the scales at 145 or 150. I aspire to be lighter, which translates to faster, but it depends how engaged I am in my sport. Many times it comes down to a battle of the attitude, food or fit? At one point this summer I was carved at five-percent body fat and 160 pounds. Then work realities and injuries hit.  So as "fit" increases, so does the risk for injuries and that will pull one down on the healthy dimension. If the diet goes to junk or your exercise slumps, you're toast.

That leaves happy. It's a positive, all-is-well-with-the-world mindset that comes and goes. Take away healthy or fit and watch the happy man dissolve. A solid training base and clean diet are the rock solid cornerstones to my existence. I don't always like this about myself and wish that life could be measured on a more diverse scale, but after 28 years of daily adherence to the endurance sport lifestyle, it's a core part of who I am.

So we march forward, imperfect yet making sense of the world around us. I'm not completely healthy, not completely fit and working on being happy, but despite it all I'm glad to be facing each day. Despite our shortcomings, we stay in the game and enjoy what we have to work with. The clay may be lumpy, but we mold it into an interesting work of art.

Tom Mueller is an assistant professor of communication at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.  He blogs about his endurance-sport experience at www.mastercompetitor.blogspot.com.


ADVENTURE

Hooge running along Highway 7 with Mount Meeker and Longs Peak looming in the background.

Long Day
‘Racing’ to the summit and back
By Paul Hooge

After being wait listed for Hardrock, I thought it might be fun to make it a year of adventure runs.  I ran some 50-milers on trails and roads around my home at Walker Ranch outside of Boulder, Colorado.  I ran up and down Flagstaff five times, Myers Gulch 10 times and ran 50 miles across my basement—on a treadmill!—where I had my wife pass me water bottles while I yelled out things like, "Retrieve the blister kit!" to simulate racing. 

Many years ago when I first climbed the Keyhole route on Longs Peak I was convinced I had just conquered Mount Everest. Now it seemed the next logical step was to do the same route, but starting my approach from Boulder rather the trailhead. I did some Internet searches to see if this had been done. Google introduced me to the "Fastest Known Times" (FKT), a forum administered by Ultrarunning Legend Peter Bakwin that as best I can understand was developed to nurture people like me.

Indeed, I discovered that accomplished Paul Pomeroy ran a 115-mile mostly trail version of this route in 28 hours 44 minutes. After reading his report I understood this was just a fun run for a runner of Paul Pomeroy's stature that he did on a lark in 2003. Something like, “Should I go to a movie or run to Longs Peak and back?” I knew right then it was my time to go for the FKT.    

I have heard of too many ultrarunners eventually being unable to distinguish between their spouse and a roving aid station and the subsequent DNF of their marriage.  I have not quite reached the point where I look into my wife’s eyes and see only GUs, powdered drinks and electrolyte tablets. When I suggested I would be making drops to self support myself along the way, my wife, Robin, insisted she be there. I was touched initially until she informed me, sure she was willing to toss me the occasional bottle, but more importantly she had tickets, popcorn and a front-row seat to watch me suffer. She was not about to miss this full-day matinee.

With my extensive and supportive crew in place and all the confidence that I could at least walk to the “Leaving Boulder” sign, I announced my intention on the FKT website. I would take the most direct public roads and trails to the top. I decided on the Pearl Street Courthouse, Old Stage, Jamestown, Peak to Peak, Highway 7 to Longs Trailhead then the Keyhole Route. This came to a little over 90 miles and 13,000 feet of ascending round-trip. For planning purposes, I consulted my algorithm. The run calculated out to around 11 blisters, three breakdowns of “I can’t go on” and 1.37 vomits.

At 8 p.m. on Monday, September 12, 2011, I left downtown to the roar of cheers from my own mouth and the irritation of passerbys. As the website suggested, I had been training for this since I took the first steps in my mothers womb and I should document it in a verifiable manner. I had announced it on the website, had witnesses, carried cards to pass out for independent verification and wore a SPOT tracker. I also saved all my GU wrappers, lost toenails and bronzed my running shoes immediately afterwards.

I love the night. I work nights. Cool and calm, just like me, I thought.  With my torch in hand I glided through the evening out of Boulder. As usual, at about mile three, I hit the wall and stayed squarely pinned against it for the next 87 miles. Curiously, I discovered dogs don’t like people running by at night. They all sounded like some mountain hillbilly’s Pit Bull/Wolf breeding experiment with dinner held. As I scooted along I wished I had brought a gun to shoot myself before they tore me to bits. I had the occasional thought about mountain lions as well, but took comfort knowing that no matter how far it dragged my disemboweled carcass, I would eventually be found, with my SPOT tracker on.

I gained Peak to Peak Highway with Pink Floyd drowning out the night sounds. I was astonished that only two cars passed me for the next 15 miles on the highway. Robin crewed me from the window of the car and sometimes drove next to me for extended periods while we talked.

For 37 miles I averaged just under 12-minute miles with the difficult-to-watch shuffle-wobble,-limp-thing I like to refer to as running. I had arrived at the trailhead. Now a simple tag of the summit and I can skip home.

I passed out verification request cards to a few people along the way to the summit. Everything was hard. I was moving so slow I was convinced I was going backwards. Fortunately everyone else was going backwards faster than I and I passed about 20 people. A thick black cloud descended on the peak. It started snowing and the wind began to blow hard. I kept moving, taking comfort in the wise decision I had made to leave some of my critical warm clothing at the trailhead. After reaching the keyhole the next couple hours is a blur of freezing, hypoxia and exhaustion. I was the first person to make it to the top that day. I took a couple pictures with my phone and made an “X” on the register using the numb stump at the end of my wrist and headed down.

I had made the summit in just less than 12 hours and was happy to be headed home. The wind subsided and the sun came out. I passed about 40 people on the way down. Word got around as to what I was doing and everyone was very supportive. The rangers even took my picture when I made it to the bottom.  As I hit the trailhead again, I changed into shorts and a T-shirt, grabbed my bottle and headed home. 

Did I mention I love the night? This was day, sun and cars. I was quick to realize that the most dangerous part of this trip was not me stumbling along the narrows on the face of Longs, but the 90-year-old lady that barreled past me in her truck at one second faster than the speed of light while drinking a beer and text messaging. Eventually, the traffic lightened and the shoulder widened. I got into a rhythm; eat, drink and pity myself. At the turn off to Jamestown I could not take it any more. I sat down, put my feet up and enjoyed 180 seconds of pure bliss before returning to my fate. 

I made it over Old Stage and was surprised by my friend Drew Geer greeting me on his bike with his large camera. He followed me all the way into Boulder snapping pictures. The break from my pity party was appreciated and he got me in. About a mile out Peter Bakwin joined me. We finished to my wife’s cheers back at the courthouse. The time was 7:18 p.m. The run had taken me 23 hours 18 minutes. I had consumed just over six gallons of water and 10,000 calories.

Paul Hooge would like to thank his wife who made this possible, his friends for cheering for him from behind their computers while watching his SPOT locations and Peter Bakwin for providing a forum to encourage such personal challenges.  

You can see the route along with pictures and download the KML or GPX file from SPOT Adventures at:  http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view/?trip_id=278395


UPCOMING RACES

Don't miss these upcoming races! For more information on any of these races, click here.

10/29 Napa Valley Wine Country Marathon Castoga, CA 10K, 13.1M, 26.2M www.envirosports.com
10/29 Cactus Rose Bandera, TX 50M, 100M www.TejasTrails.com
10/29 McNaughton Park "McNotAgain" Pekin, IL 10M, 30M www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=09304IL
10/29 Jenkinson Lake Fall Trail Runs Pollock Pines, CA 8.5M, 17M, 25.5M, 34M www.Ultrarunner.net
10/29 Halloween Hustle 5K Palatine, IL 5K www.halloween5k.com
10/29 Trail Creek Sun Valley, ID 10M www.sunvalleyrunning.com
10/29 Hot Potato Trot Tyler, TX 5K, 15K www.SteelSports.net
10/29 NJ Trail Series - Fall #3 Long Valley, NJ 5M, 10M, 15M www.njtrailseries.com
10/29 XTERRA Austin Warda, TX 5K, 10K, 21K www.xterratrailrun.com
10/29 Cave Creek Thriller Cave Creek, AZ 10K, 30K, 50K www.aravaiparunning.com
10/29 Tiadaghton Trail Challenge Half Marathon - Reverse Course Mile Run, PA 13.1M www.parunners.com
10/29 Bad Apple Ultra Greenville, MI 12H, 6H, 3H www.badappleultra.com
10/29 Illinois Ozarks 10k Bluff Trail Run Valmeyer, IL 10K RKeightley@ymcaswil.org
10/30 Evansburg Challenge Collegeville, PA 10M www.compeer-subphilly.org
10/30 Fall Trail 5.5 Miler Kingston Twp, PA 5.5M www.home.ptd.net/~rrrawls/wyoval.htm
10/30 Blue Springs 50/50 Blue Springs, MO 13.1M, 26.2M, 50K, 50M www.bsrun.com
10/30 Fall Backyard Burn Trail Running Series #2 Laurel Hill, VA 5M, 10M www.ex2adventures.com
10/30 Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon & Squirrelly 6 miile Albany, NY 6M, 13.1M www.albanyrunningexchange.org/hgh
10/30 Busa Bushwhack (GFRC) Trail Race Framingham, MA 5.3M, 10M www.gfrcrun.org/bushwhack/bushwhack.htm
10/30 Laguna Lake Mud Mash San Luis Obispo, CA 5K, 10K www.mudmash.com
10/30 ZombieRunner Halloween Run Palo Alto, CA 10K, 13.1M www.coastaltrailruns.com
10/30 Hidden Valley Trail Half Marathon Jefferson, ME 13.1M www.docs.good.com
10/31 Pure Screamin' Hell Louisville, KY 6.66M www.trailraceseries.com
11/01 Race to Read Jacksboro, TX 5K brookemccurry@wildblue.net
11/05 Lake Chabot Trail Challenge Castro Valley, CA 50K www.coastaltrailruns.com
11/05 Stinson Beach Marathon Stinson Beach, CA 7M, 25K, 26.2M www.envirosports.com
11/05 Mountain Masochist Lynchburg, VA 50M www.eco-xsports.com
11/05 Wild in the Woods Trail Run Series - Broemmelsiek Wentzville, MO 5M www.stccparks.org
11/05 Jack London Trail Race Nashua, NH 10K www.jacklondontrailrace.com
11/05 Turkey & Taturs Trail Race Tulsa, OK 10K, 25K, 50K www.tatur.org
11/05 XTERRA Georgia Battle At Big Creek Roswell, GA 8K, 15K www.xterratrailrun.com
11/05 Paris Mountain Trails 15K Greenville, SC 15K www.greenvilletrailrun.com
11/05 Ozark Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run Steelville, MO 102M www.ozarktrail100.com
11/05 Lake Chabot Trail Run Castro Valley, CA 5M, 9M, 17M, 26.2M www.coastaltrailruns.com
11/05 Bergkonig Delafield, WI 5K, 10K www.mountainkingrun.com
11/05 Antelope Island Buffalo Run Syracuse, UT 100K www.buffalorun.org
11/05 Lake Padden Mudfest Bellingham, WA 6M www.gbrc.net
11/05 Sage to Summit Winter Race Series Bishop, CA 10K www.sagetosummit.com
11/05 Moab Trail Marathon Moab, UT 26M, 13.1M, 5K www.moabtrailmarathon.com
11/05 Moab Trail 1/2 Marathon Moab, UT 13M www.moabtrailmarathon.com
11/05 Moab Trail 5K Adventure Run/Walk Moab, UT 5K www.moabtrailmarathon.com
11/05 Mud & Chocolate 4.5 and Half Marathon Trail Run Redmond, WA 4.5M, 13.1M www.mudandchocolate.com
11/05 Run to End All Runs Liberty Township, OH 5K www.online.ccfa.org
11/05 Running Wild 4 Mile Trail Run Frankfort, KY 4M www.fw.ky.gov
11/05 Trail Run for Healthier Babies Frederick, MD 2M, 7M www.marchofdimes.com
11/05 Broken Toes 50k Waynesville, OH 50K www.ORRRC.org
11/06 Narrows Dayton, OH 5M www.ORRRC.ORG
11/06 Veteran's Day Fantastic Four Mile Trail Run Kansas City, KS 4M www.psychowyco.com
11/06 Rails To Trails Marathon Norwalk, WI 26.2M www.railstotrailsrace.com
11/06 Bobcat Trail Marathon Glouster, OH 26.2M www.bobcattrailmarathon.org
11/06 Run the Mounds Anderson, IN 5M www.andersonroadrunners.org
11/06 Diablo Trail Adventure Walnut Creek, CA 5K, 10K, 13.1M www.brazenracing.com
11/06 XTERRA Wild Horse Tampa, FL 5K, 10K, 16K, 21K www.TampaRaces.com
11/06 XTERRA Trail Run TBD, AZ www.aztrailrace.com
11/06 Griffith Park Marathon Los Angeles, CA 26.2M www.pctrailruns.com/Woodside_Feb.htm
11/06 Q50 Ultra USA Manderville, LA 50K www.q50ultras.com
11/07 Highland "Rugged Man" Highland, MI 4.8M www.stayintheshade.org
11/11 Harriers Thetis Lake Relay Victoria, BC 20K www.pih.bc.ca
11/12 Qdoba DINO Trail Run - Ft Harrison Indianapolis, IN 5K, 15K www.DINOseries.com
11/12 Stinson Beach Stinson Beach, CA 12K, 25K, 50K www.pctrailruns.com/
11/12 Javelina Jundred Fountain Hills, AZ 100M, 100K www.javelinajundred.com
11/12 Louisiana Trails Shreveport, LA 13.1M, 26.2M, 50K www.xmaonline.com
11/12 Sweet Go Deep North Vancouver, BC 10K, 20K www.clubfatass.com/events/godeep
11/12 Loco Moose Portland 5K Cross Country Portland, ME 5K www.3craceproductions.com
11/12 North Boundary Challenge Oak Ridge, TN 15K www.ktc.org
11/12 Dogwood Canyon Lampe, MO 15K, 25K, 50K www.basspro.com
11/12 Upchuck Chattanooga, TN 50K www.rockcreek.com
11/12 Phantom Trail Race North Vancouver, BC 12K, 19K, 24K www.mountainmadness.ca
11/12 Siltstone Trail Half Marathon Louisville, KY 13.1M www.trailraceseries.com
11/12 Desert Dash Moonlight Madness Boulder City, NV 5K, 10K, 13.1M www.desertdashlv.com
11/12 OVT Revolutionary Run Wilkesboro, NC 10K, 25K www.ovttrailraces.leetiming.com
11/12 NJ Trail Series - Fall #4 Long Valley, NJ 5K, 10K, 13.1M www.njtrailseries.com
11/12 Carkeek Park Seattle, WA 5K, 10K www.nwtrailruns.com
11/12 Camp Croft Half Marathon Spartanburg, SC 13.1M www.campcrofthalfmarathon.com
11/12 HRCA Backcountry Wilderness 1/2 Marathon Highlands Ranch, CO 13.1M www.highlandsranchraceseries.com
11/12 Maine-ly Moose 5k Portland, ME 5K www.3craceproductions.com/RacePages/LocoMoosePortland.htm
11/12 Bakersfield Ultra-Marathon Madness Bakersfield , CA 32M www.bakersfieldultramarathonmadness.weebly.com
11/12 Last Chance 50 Granite Bay, CA 30K, 50K, 50M www.sneultras.com
11/12 Ganehaven True CC Run Rochester, MN 5M www.gamehavenrun.blogspot.com
11/12 Crusher Ridge 21K Birmingham, AL 21K www.ultraracedirector.com
11/13 Fall Backyard Burn Trail Running Series #3 Wakefield, VA 5M, 10M www.ex2adventures.com
11/13 Media Mud Stain Trail Run Media, PA 5M, 10M www.trimaxendurancesports.com
11/13 XTERRA Oak Mountain Pelham, AL 10K, 21K www.xterratrailrun.com
11/13 Miles Away Hudson, OH 5K www.milesawayusa.com
11/13 Marshall Mangler Pittsburgh, PA 8K, 22.5K, 50K www.race360.com
11/19 Living History Farms Off-Road Race Urbandale, IA 7M www.fitnesssports.com
11/19 XCX - Cross Country Xtreme Columbia, MO 4M www.xcxtreme.com
11/19 Clear Water Outdoor's Turkey Trot Lake Geneva, WI 1M, 5K, 10K www.clearwateroutdoor.com
11/19 Chimera Lake Elsinor, CA 100K, 100M www.oldgoatrunners.com
11/19 Dizzy Fifties Trail Run Huntsville, AL 50K www.dizzyfifties.com
11/19 JFK 50 Hagerstown, MD 50M www.jfk50mile.org
11/19 Wilde Hare Warda, TX 10K, 25K, 50K, 50M www.TejasTrails.com
11/19 Spooner's Cove Los Osos, CA 5M, 7M, 25K, 50K wwww.coastaltrailruns.com
11/19 Los Pinos San Juan Capistrano, CA 50K www.lospinos50k.com
11/19 Harriers Gunner Shaw Cross Country Victoria, BC 10K www.pih.bc.ca
11/19 Pass Mountain Mesa, AZ 11K, 26K, 50K www.aravaiparunning.com
11/19 Stone Mill 50 Mile Damascus, MD 50M www.stone-mill-50-mile.org/
11/19 Duncan Ridge Trail 50K/30K Blairsville, GA 30K, 50K www.duncanridgetrail50k.com
11/19 Goose Creek Trail Races Washington, NC 7K, 10K www.goosecreektrailraces.com
11/19 Twisted Turkey Trail Tussle Fairfield, PA 10K, 10M www.strawberryhill.org
11/19 Grand Ridge Trail Run 2 Issaquah, WA 5M, 13.1M, 26.2M, 50K www.EvergreenTrailruns.com
11/20 X-Country Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 30K, 5K Tampa, FL 5K, 13.1M, 26.2M, 30K www.TampaRaces.com
11/20 Fall Backyard Burn Trail Running Series #4 Fountainhead, VA 5M, 10M www.ex2adventures.com
11/20 Santa Monica Mountains Malibu, CA 9K, 18K, 30K, 50K www.pctrailruns.com/
11/20 Malibu Creek State Park Trail Run Malibu, CA 10K, 20K www.active.com
11/24 XTERRA Topanga Turkey Trot Trail Run Calabasas, CA 5K, 10K, 15K www.trailrace.com
11/24 Nitro Turkey Thanksgiving Run Pinole, CA 5K, 10K www.brazenracing.com
11/24 Free Thanksgiving Day Marathon Bronx, NY 5K, 10K, 13.1M, 26.2M www.TheThanksgivingDayMarathon.com
11/25 Gabe's Run XC Race Hamilton, MA 5K www.gabesrun.org
11/26 Quad Dipsea Mill Valley, CA 28.4M www.run100s.com/qd.htm
11/26 Seymour Super Fun North Vancouver, BC 27K www.clubfatass.com/events/seymoursuperfun
11/26 Feel Good Farms Lyndeborough, NH 9K www.3craceproductions.com/RacePages/FeelGoodFarm9K.htm
11/27 Dirty Bird 15K Trail Run Birdsboro, PA 15K www.pretzelcitysports.com
11/27 Navesink Challenge Middletown, PA 5K, 15K www.navesinkchallenge.com

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