Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona will heat up next week as hundreds of runners will converge on the spring training baseball home of the Dodgers and White Sox. This fixed-time multiday running event celebrates the New Year. Each racer is free to walk, stop, eat, and sleep whenever they wish, but the clock is always running on these ultra pedestrians. 16 different races begin at 9am on Monday, December 28, 2015 with the 6 day runners starting simultaneously with the first group of 72, 48, and 24 hour participants. The last group of racers will finish at 9am on Sunday, January 3rd. The route is a 1.05 mile loop that consists of 90% dirt paths with …
2015 Desert Solstice Preview
Central High School’s track in Phoenix, Arizona will again make history on Saturday, December 19th. Aravaipa Running is presenting the 5th edition of the Desert Solstice Track Invitational. This year’s event features 21 of the best endurance athletes in the world chasing numerous national and world records at distances ranging from 20 kilometers to 24 hours. Previous editions of this event have seen 26 national and 6 world records on this fast red 400 meter oval. The weather forecast looks ideal for runners with mostly sunny skies with a high of 67 degrees and low of 40. Katalin Nagy, a 36 year old Hungarian turned Floridian, is the reigning 24 Hour World Champion and current …
A Tribute to Volunteers
The whole reason I’m now a race director of trail running events is all because of volunteering. I started helping at events as soon as I started running. I was inspired by the performances and drive of the athletes I was helping. In some small way I felt like I was making a difference for them. As a runner myself, I benefit greatly from the hours of dedication of countless volunteers at every race I attend. Just this last weekend I was helped by hundreds of volunteers at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in Europe. They filled my bottles, fed me pasta and were sure to make sure I was OK in my lowest moments. Some …
Silverton Alpine Marathon & 50K 2015 Recap
The 10th running of the Silverton Alpine Marathon & 50K took place today on the Alpine Loop jeep roads surrounding Silverton, Colorado. This “low key” but spectacular running event rivals the Imogene Pass in beauty and toughness but leaves the crowds behind. The marathon course features a clean, single loop tour of some of the most iconic mining ghost towns in the San Juans: Howardsville, Eureka, Animas Forks and Gladstone. The 50 Kilometer ultra version adds an out and back to the beginning of the route. With the staggered start times, the two fields are completely mixed together by the finish line. 27 runners started the 50K at 7:00am and made their way reverse up …
Mesquite Canyon 2015 – Scorching Tough Year
As a few of us sat around Friday night preceding the 6th annual Mesquite Canyon Trail Runs finalizing a few details for the race, drinking a couple of beers, we would usually be sitting around a campfire. With warm temperatures already greeting the Phoenix area in mid-March there was no need. We sat around in short sleeve shirts and took in the night. The race starts on the Eastern end of the White Tank Mountains, a range that marks the Western boundary of the metropolitan Phoenix area. Looking towards the peaks we could see hundreds if not thousands of stars, constellations and more. Gazing back towards Phoenix, the stars slowly give way to a soft …
Copper Basin 50K Returns! – April 11, 2015
After a 4 year hiatus (it went off to college), the Copper Basin 50K returns to Prescott, AZ on April 11, 2015. Keeping in tune with the past two editions in 2009 & 2010, Aravaipa Running will be hosting this as an unsanctioned “fun run” on a new section of the Prescott Circle Trail that we’ve yet to incorporate into the previous two editions. We created the Copper Basin 50K to introduce trail runners to the Prescott Circle Trail and to escape to the pines as the valley begins to heat up into mid-April. Now that the run has “grown up”, we’ll be starting and finishing downtown on Whiskey Row. A short mile or so through …
Insomniac Night Trail Run Series Announces Official Charity Partner – Team Red, White & Blue
Team Red, White & Blue’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity. Team RWB members from the Phoenix chapter have been running alongside Aravaipa Running for a couple of years now. Our organizations typically cross paths the first Wednesday of each month at our Aravaipa Group Trail Run whenever we host a location at Papago Park in Tempe. Team RWB is easy to spot with their bright “eagle” logo shirts and positive attitude. Team RWB had a large presence at last year’s night run series and it is only natural to increase our partnership with them in 2015. Aravaipa Running is …
Mesquite Canyon Trail Runs – Origins and Thoughts
The 6th annual Mesquite Canyon Trail Runs are upon us. I honestly don’t know where the time has gone. Not just the time this year, these first two months of 2015 but even the last 5 years! Just 5 years ago I was preparing to direct my first ever 50K that I created from scratch at a mountain park that I’ve been hiking, camping and mountain biking in since I was a kid. This would prove to be not just your ordinary 50K either. I was sending runners through two “hazardous” sections of trail, deemed the “most extreme” by the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation department. So much so that they highlight the Goat Camp …
Black Canyon 100K Race Report – Aravaipa Ambassador Jeremy Pager
Now that the dust has settled and I can move around without any fear of the tendons in my feet ripping apart, I think the time is right for a Black Canyon 100k race report. A little background: I am not an elite runner. I am a hobbyist who started running a little over two years ago, and entered the trail running and ultra scene a year ago. Black Canyon 100K would just be my second 100k race. I am what Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab For Cutie fame) jokingly referred to as an “elite mid-packer.” Also, I spent much of November and December with a nagging IT band issue, so my training was not …
Hayley Pollack Joins Aravaipa Running
February 20, 2015 – Phoenix, AZ – Aravaipa Running is pleased to announce the hiring of Hayley Pollack as Director of Events & Operations. Hayley comes to Aravaipa with a background in retail management & operations at Best Buy for the past five and a half years. She brings an education in Strategic Leadership and experience in management to help lead and improve Aravaipa’s existing and future events. Hayley has been transitioning into this role for the past month, but will now be working full time along side Jamil & the rest of the Aravaipa Running team to continue to produce top notch events in Arizona and across the Southwest. Don’t be surprised to receive email correspondence …