East Temple Fast!

Saturday June 28th, 2008

After an excellent day involving a fast descent of Imlay Canyon, Buzz and I decided to follow-up it up with a quick ascent of East Temple, one of the more iconic peaks in Zion National Park. Our buddy Ryan had to return to Pocatello for family matters so that left just the two of us. Buzz had done it before so he had good beta on the route. A slight variation had been described by Aron Ralston to Bill Wright to Buzz so we had that up our sleeve as well. Buzz had done it prior with his girlfriend and they brought ropes and gear and had to do all the route-finding, so Buzz figured that with our “light-and-fast” style (no gear) it would take us no more than 6 hrs.

Multi Multi Days

Here’s a summary of notable multi-day action:

RUNNING AMERICA

Well known ultra/adventure runners Charlie Engle and Marshall Ulrich announced plans last winter to set a new record running across the US.  They had major funding, publicity, and an extremely ambitious plan: 70 miles per day.

Their May 24 start date came and went and I didn’t hear anything.  A recent web search disclosed that they apparently have made the project even larger, by combining it with a National Geographic documentary, and the run appears to be still on for Aug 8.

Other than that website I know nothing; if anyone does, please post a Comment.

CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL RECORD ATTEMPT

An even better known ultra runner (one of the best actually), David Horton, set out on June 7 to set a new record on the CDT.  This had obvious appeal, as David is the current supported record holder on the PCT as well as the previous speed record holder on the Appalachian Trail.  The CDT would complete his Triple Crown of long trails.  The plan was to cover the estimated 2,959 miles in 69 days (42.9 mpd).

However, the CDT was not to be.   The effort was abandoned at the end of the first day due to dehydration and exhaustion.  Yikes.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL RECORD ATTEMPT

Starting on August 5, Karl Meltzer will attempt to do the 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail in less than 47 days (46.25 mpd).  Like David before him, Karl is one of the best-known and accomplished ultrarunners in the country.  It’s gonna be good.

This blog will have more updates and a live “chat” with Karl in mid July.  In the meantime, there is excellent info here, including interviews with David, Flyin’ Brian, and Trail Dog:  http://www.mountainrunning.com/

The Wasatch “Fun Run”

I’ve always been attracted to events that involve lots of vertical.  Naturally some of the more mountainous 100 miles races (Hardrock, Wasatch, and this year UTMB) have caught my attention.  Hardrock is 33,000 ft of vertical gain.  I also like nice round numbers, so naturally tripling it to 100,000 seemed like a good platform to start an adventure/goal.  I discovered over the years that doing 100,000 ft. of gain in a month while holding a full-time job was certainly possible and something that I’ve worked into my repertoire quite consistently now.  So, last year I figured I’d see if I could condense it down to a shorter amount of time.  5 days seemed like a good target as it equated to ~20,000ft per day, a manageable amount.  

Extra Mile Endurathon

 

     The “Extra Mile Endurathon” is sort of a bizarre event.  There’s one taking place in Boulder right now,  I just checked it out, so thought I’d share – – –

     A group of people start walking.  The group must stay together, walk at the same speed, and at pre-determined intervals they all stop together for a 10 minute break.  This goes on for DAYS, until only one person is left standing, and he or she must walk one more mile (thus the name), and is declared the winner.