The San Francisco “Ultra” completed in San Francisco consisting of the Nohtaram Ocsicnarf Nas (the San Francisco marathon in reverse) followed by the regular old marathon for a total of 52.4 miles. About the air quotes, this isn’t so much an ultra as two distinct marathons with common start times for each race. So that…
Author: Seth
World traveler, with a particular affection for America. Mediocre marathon runner. Excellent ice cream consumer.
8 Hours of Hell-July 2018
I love that ultras could be confused with a family barbecue sometimes. Marathon or longer number 164 was the July installment of the 8 Hours of Hell series in Oscar Scherer Park just outside Sarasota. The course is a 3.25 mile loop consisting of 1 mile of beautiful Florida trail run followed by a mile…
Zermatt Ultra 2018
10th country and 163rd big long thing down at the Zermatt Marathon in the Helvetic Confederation (aka Switzerland). Barely an ultra it was 45.5 km so I thought “How hard can it be?” Well, it was kind of like one of those Revel races but instead of starting at the summit and falling down it…
Athena War Trail 6-Hour
Today was supposed to be big long thing number 163, a 6 hour race near Tampa. Unfortunately not enough participants for it to “count,” coupled with the fact I’ve been in a major funk lately (lots of aborted runs for me lately and people avoidance. The good news is that my therapist doesn’t think it’s…
Maratona do Rio 2018
Marathon country number 9, Brazil, at the Maratona do Rio in Rio de Janeiro. A muggy day on a flat coastal course. Today was a tough day for me for the strangest of reasons: a sore neck and shoulders. By mile 7 it hurt just to hold my head up. Not sure what that’s about…
Keys 100 2018
Confucius say, “If at first you don’t succeed, congratulations, you found something hard.” Big Long Thing #161, the Keys 100, a 100 miler from Key Largo to Key West. Flat, unusually cool this year (70s as opposed to 90s), with off and on rain. I failed in my first 100 attempt at Rocky Raccoon. I…
8 Hours of Hell – May 2018
Big long thing #160 and Keys 100 dress rehearsal/taper madness relief 50k today at the 8 Hours of Hell Trail Race in Alva, Florida. Up and down BMX trails in the midday heat (although luckily coolish today) amidst old Florida charm of rooty live oaks and one for real snake (harmless corn snake). It was…
Flying Pig Marathon 2018
First, congratulations to Halbert Walston on his 200th marathon. After years of conflicts I finally got the chance to try the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. The much ballyhooed “hills” were little to write home about. It is a moderately hilly marathon (less than Mad, Atlanta, San Francisco, but more than Pittsburgh and New York)…
Glass City Marathon 2018
Please forgive while I brag on my childhood neighbor’s first marathon today at the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio. Joseph R. Elder somehow found time to train while working a more than full time job and raising two kids. Apparently he fell in with the wrong crowd on a Z Adventures cruise and caught…