20-JUL-2019 Ennis, Montana, USA BLT 215 Strava Link Garmin Link 2 years ago a group of my friends signed up for this marathon just outside of Yellowstone in a small town called Ennis (pronounced like tennis not like penis). The opinion among those friends was that this race is one of the hardest marathons in…
Grandfather Mountain Marathon 2019
13-JUL-2019 Boone, North Carolina, USA BLT #32 for Calendar Year 2019 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: All the beauty (and climbing) of a mountain trail race, but lots of blind corners on mountain switchbacks. After landing in the Charlotte airport there’s a 2 hour drive to Boone. Named for pioneer/explorer Daniel Boone, the…
Hatcher Pass Marathon 2019
06-JUL-2019 Willow, Alaska, USA Lifetime BLT #212 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: Climb 4,000 ft over 25 miles, natural beauty, HOT (even by Florida standards) The first time I’d heard of the Hatcher Pass Marathon it was because a friend, Jennifer Hatcher, had signed up for it as her Alaska marathon, because—well, because…
Wellington Marathon 2019
30-JUN-2019 Wellington, New Zealand Country #18 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: Perfect weather, weird course, undoubtedly not the best race in NZ, but still plenty good. “Why on earth did you come to Wellington?!” It was the incredulous question I was asked by nearly everyone in Wellington when I told them I had…
Charlevoix Marathon 2019
Lifetime Big Long Thing #210 Calendar Year BLT #29 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: Out-and-back on bike path with nice views of Lake Michigan, but overall somewhat dull. The Charlevoix Marathon in Northern Michigan is a reasonably flat out-and-back almost exclusively on bike path, though a small part weaves through the western part…
Adios, BookFace
Due to budget cutbacks here at Expert Knob Twiddlers, Inc. we have been forced to conserve energy and have made the difficult decision to unplug our BookFace machine. At this time we have no plans to return in the near future of this universe, multiverse, or spiderverse. Thank you, The Management
Manitoba Marathon 2019
Country 17 completed at the Manitoba marathon in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, a flat meandering course that seems to pass all the major landmarks in town and finishes in the University of Manitoba stadium (Go Bisons! Pedantic aside: Yes, I am aware that the plural of “Bison” is in fact “Bison”. It would seem that they…
Comrades Marathon 2019
I don’t remember when I first heard about Comrades, only that people who I deeply respected spoke very highly of it, and it became one of my earliest “bucket list” races. When I tried my first 50 miler and it took 14 hours, it felt like a distant dream to take on a hilly 55ish…
Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon 2019
Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon complete in Deadwood, South Dakota. A point to point race from Rochford to Deadwood on the George S. Mickelson Trail, a rail trail that offers stunning views of the surrounding Black Hills Nation Forest. A steady climb for 13.5 miles followed by downhill the rest of the way with the exception…