Goopy trails. Sunny skies. Smiles – Oh My!

And…records are meant to be broken.

Oklahoma enjoyed the dumping of rain earlier in the week which created more slip-sliding adventures on the Tulsa, Oklahoma trails but the sunny skies, bright smiles, and good people, created an environment of play. And play they did! Over 220 runners ran…slid…or slithered their way at the TATUR 3/6 hour Snake Run.

Photo: Courtesy TATURs / tatur.org

The format is pretty simple, even for a 100 mile runner at 3:00AM – Run 2.1 miles, turnaround, run back. Repeat for three to six hours. All trails and mostly tame singletrack.

Results

The start! (Photo: Courtesy TATURs / tatur.org)

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On March 17, over 70 adventure seekers played at the 10th race of the Run Arkansas Ultra Trail Series, the Big Rock Mystery Run.

So what’s the course? Sorry, it’s a surprise.

How far? 12-13 miles…or 10-ish. Something like that.

Photo: Copyright Joe Jacobs / arkansasoutside.com

Anything else you can tell me? Nope. Well, one thing…maybe two. Some trail, some road. And you need to pick up one of 13 cards at each checkpoint to make sure you got to enjoy the entire course.

Where’s it at? That we can tell you. Meet at Riverview Skateboard park in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The only guarantee – This will be fun!

Now you know where the “Mystery” in the name comes from.

Results

Photo: Copyright Joe Jacobs / arkansasoutside.com

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North Texas ultra athlete, Rochelle Frazeur (her site, FB page), is pushing the envelope once again and challenging her mind, body, and spirit on a 203 mile quest from Bastrop to Houston, Texas during the 5th running of the Texas Independence Relay. Where everyone else will have 8-12 member teams, Rochelle is doing it solo!

You may recall, this type of challenge is nothing new for Rochelle as she completed the Badwater Ultramarathon last year. Be sure to check out my podcast with her as she describes this amazing journey. (Rochelle Frazeur’s 2011 Badwater Adventure – Podcast)

Badwater 2011: Rochelle getting ice, spray down, and new bottle (Photo: Courtesy Rochelle's crew)

Rochelle will be the first women to attempt TIR solo! There have been seven solo attempts to date with three finishes, Austin athlete Allen Wrinkle once (his adventure report), and Houston local Dr. Chris Rampacek twice. I just became aware that Dr. Rampacek will be attempting another solo TIR scamper this year along with Rochelle.

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All seven members of the Baron family, ages 6 through 41, finish the Grasslands marathon!

Nearly 400 enjoyed the gently rolling terrain along double wide horse trails within the LBJ National Grasslands for the Grasslands Trail Run near Decatur, Texas. Beautiful early morning temps and a picturesque sunrise welcomed all to a memory-makin’ day. The significant rain the weekend before packed many of the sandy sections and also added a good number of wet piggy puddles.

The rising temps that reached around 80F in the mid afternoon hours added to the challenge causing pesky cramping and reduced pace, but that didn’t deter the determination of all to do the best they could on the day.

The trail system is a big old clover leaf of interconnected trails. The race distances included 50 mile, marathon, and half marathon distances. The farther you ran, the more of the trail system you saw.

Results

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Swim goggles anyone?

The second race of the Forge Trail Series, Head Hunter 10 km, required a last-minute venue change which also added a bit more adventure than most expected for this trail run – a short swim. Due to the recent rains, the water was up at a couple water crossing on this 10 km muddy scamper that required more than getting those toes wet.

Photo: Courtesy Claim Your Journey / claimyourjourney.com

Over 120 completed the adventure race mud fest trail run and were still smiling at the finish!

Results

Photo: Courtesy Claim Your Journey / claimyourjourney.com

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Shiny new shoes received a christening at the 11th Annual Prickly Pear Trail Run where rain in the lead-up and race day of the event created a slip-sliding puddle fest. Those 7 ounce flats now weighed three pounds. The muck didn’t stop over 350 from testing themselves as much physically as mentally, on the 50 km or 10 mile course down in San Antonio, Texas.

Courtesy Thomas Lake, SARR Historian/Photographer

Essentially a three loop and one loop scamper!

Get it done and have some fun!

Results

Courtesy Thomas Lake, SARR Historian/Photographer

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Not One, not Two, but Three days of trail running adventures for those wanting to complete the entire dirt lovin’ package. Or simply enjoy the day of your choosing.  Now put yourself in the Ozark Mountains in north central Arkansas and your have yourself the 3 Days of Syllamo!

Photo: Courtesy Jeremy Day

50 km, 50 mile and a 20 km wraps up the weekend.

So how much climbing is there?

• 50 km – 7000 feet
• 50 mile – 15000 feet
• 20 km – 3300 feet

“Approximately 96 miles; 26,000ft of climbing and 26,000ft of descending; 3 Days! It doesn’t get much better than that!”  - Steve Kirk, Race Director of 3 Days of Syllamo 

Results

Photo: Courtesy Jeremy Day

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