Texan, Joel Gat, was one of the small group of courageous (some may use other words) entrants excepted into the folklore-ish Barkley Marathons on the um, rather challenging terrain of Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee back on March 31.

Joel with his signature ultra fueling strategy: Beer in one hand, pizza in the other. (Photo: From Bandera 100 km)

100 miles – five loops. Or complete three for the 60 mile “fun run”.

A few have attempted, even fewer have finished.

Over 59,000 feet of climbing on some steep and rugged terrain. For reference Hardrock 100 has 33,000 feet of climbing.

30-ish runners started this year. It was the first year to have three finishers and a new course record of 52:03:08 by Brett Maune of California.

Enjoy as Joel recounts his Barkley adventure in a self-interview format.

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From November 15-18, the UltraCentric Experience will take place along the southern shores of Grapevine Lake within the Dallas / Ft. Worth metroplex of north Texas. This two mile hard-top loop event is once again providing both unique and significant prizes to the fastest male and female tread for the 24/48/72 hour events.

Loopy fun at the 2011 event. (Photo: Courtesy suannontherun.blogspot.com)

Win here and you could potentially pay for your trip and them some. The UltraCentric may just be one of the biggest ultra running prize purses in the country. One event that I can think of with a bigger purse is UROC at $20,000.

What is being offered at UltraCentric?

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Friday saw continuous rain throughout north-central Texas and Arkansas. During the night, the front moved through and brought a trail runner’s delight Saturday morning at Maumelle Park in western Little Rock, Arkansas, for the 22nd running of the Ouachita Trail 50. The day started in the high 40s with clear skies and a slight northerly breeze. Temps peaked out around 70F for the day.

A sold out event of 200 runners began their 50 mile or 50 km journey shortly after 6:00AM. A mostly out-and-back course that includes a few miles of rolling back-top before hopping on the Ouachita Trail that includes a mix of varied wooded and scenic terrain with one guarantee – rocks. Small, medium, and large, they were all there and they weren’t moving no matter how hard you kicked them.

One slight detour is included in the early outgoing miles – a 700 foot climb up and down Pinnacle mountain. Instead of a nice run-able or hike-able trail, it is more of a sadistic stair-stepper workout with each step being 2-3 feet high. With the sun gradually rising and showcasing the surrounding landscape, it was worth every step to enjoy the imagery from the top.

Results

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“We got a walker. Let’s catch him.” – One mile from the finish

Ouachita Trail 50 km in Little Rock, Arkansas was one of those last minute, fairly spontaneous decisions. Being four weeks out from the Jemez 50 mile, I was a little concerned with an ultra distance race so close since I have yet to prove I can stack ultra events like this and keep tweakage at bay.

After a few brief chats with my buddy Tyler about the run, my short-term ultra memory kicked in and we were both registered. I have to say I was pretty dang excited to run this classic race by Chrissy and Stan Ferguson in the heart of Arkansas. Hey, what Texas resident wouldn’t get a chuckle seeing “Arkansas Rules!” and “Texas sucks!” written on their race bib.

The night before the race I took a look at the course profile and aid station locations and decided to run with two handhelds (vs the Nathan Endurance Race Vest) and my classic Rockledge Rumble Nathan Running Vest where I stashed a Hammer flask, Perpetuem Solids, and the trusty Canon camera.

I really had no big goals for this one besides – run smart! This meant, stay in ‘easy’ mode through the Northshore aid station (mile 16.9) which is the far-end turnaround of what is a mostly out-and-back course (you fortunately get to skip Pinnacle Mountain on the way back). My 30 mile training weeks don’t allow for a lot of pacing mistakes. Burn too many matches early on can make for a long and painful back half.

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On April 7th, the inaugural Cedro Peak Ultramarathon took place in the Cibola Nation Forest, a short drive outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In the 45 mile or 45 km adventure, runners ran through sections of dense forest, rolling single track, some double-track, fire roads, a few steep climbs, and rocks that may look to grab a toe.

Photo: Courtesy Steve Pero

The 45 km is an out and back.

The 45 milers include a nice loop on top of the stick.

6600+ feet of gain for the English distance.

4000+ feet of gain for the Metric.

The course appears to remain in the 6000-7000 foot range.

Results

Amazing volunteers (Photo: Courtesy Steve Pero)

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It may have been toasty but that didn’t stop four new course records!

On April 4th, nearly 600 runners managed a bit of heat and visor dripping humidity at the Hells Hills Trail Run located on the varied terrain at Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, Texas. This event also brought some fast feet from the national scene as the 25 km scamper was the fifth stop of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup Series.

Photo: Copyright Enduro Photo / endurophoto.com

All races enjoy counter clockwise loops between 1 – 3 revolutions depending on your adventure of choice.

Results

Photo: Copyright Craig Mitchell / endurophoto.com

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Experienced Oklahoma race director, Chisholm Deupree, is bringing a new 100 mile trail run to the TALON region and this adventure is called the Angel Fire Endurance Run.

Since there isn’t a lot of info online yet, Mr. Deupree was kind enough to chat and share some of the current details that are still being massaged to some degree but plans are steadily moving forward.

For those that have no idea about this one, here are the basics.

Date: June 30, 2012

Location:  Angel Fire, New Mexico (start/finish from Angel Fire Resort)

Angel Fire is located in the northeast corner of New Mexico.

Distances: 100 mile, 100 km, 50 km

Time limit (all distances): 32 hours

Registration: Registration is open. Check out Ultra Signup.

Here are some additional highlights from our recent conversation.

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