What is Aravaipa Strong?

Jamil CouryCommunity, News, This Week In Aravaipa Running, Ultra Thoughts

When we decided to create a virtual race event in response to our core business (large scale trail running events) shutting down indefinitly due to the COVID-19 situation we wanted a name that would draw us closer together as a global community of trail runners. Something that would inspire others, but also ourselves. I’ve yet to face a challenge like COVID-19 and its far reaching effects to the events business in my time as an entrepreneur and I fully understand that this may be one of the most trying times I will ever face as a business leader in my career. We knew we wanted to hold a virtual event since that was really our …

Crown King Scramble 50K: Virtual Edition

Scout PhillipsRace Report, This Week In Aravaipa Running, Uncategorized

I put on an old t-shirt Saturday morning, you know the kind; it’s soft from multiple wears and washes, maybe even a little threadbare in spots, but it means something special to you so it has yet to be turned into a rag or donated to the local clothes closet. My t-shirt is green. It has the old Crown King Scramble 50K logo on the front, and the elevation profile of the race on the back. I’ve had it for a few years, and I wore it all day last year as the Race Director for the 2019 event. I woke up feeling a bit disoriented on Saturday, it was 4:47 a.m. and I wasn’t …

Dam Good Run: The Virtual Edition

Scout PhillipsRace Report, This Week In Aravaipa Running

Traditionally, the Dam Good Run that happens each spring out at Lake Pleasant Park, provides runners with a unique experience. Runners traverse the dam itself, an area generally restricted from the public, and they delight in seeing the lake from a different vantage point. This year, as we are all looking at the world from a new and unfamiliar perspective, some of the registered DGR participants got out for a virtual Dam Good Time. Our running community is adaptable. While we may create and adhere to training programs specific to a goal race, there are always factors we simply can’t control. Perhaps you were lucky and had nothing but great training weather leading up to …

2019-2020 Desert Runner Trail Series Final Standings

Noah DoughertyCommunity, Race Report, This Week In Aravaipa Running

We’ve officially finished our Desert Runner Trail Series with the completion of the Mesquite Canyon Trail Runs on March 7th. This was the 10th year for some of these races and a nice little milestone for Aravaipa Running and how far we’ve come. We again saw the most participants throughout the series and we just can’t thank you all enough for your continued support. It really is a pleasure to be a small part of your race experience! We’re constantly looking for ways to improve this series and will continue to do just that.We added the Hummingbird Pass to the Spring series that flutters around the 5K distance, we have two kid’s fun runs held …

Rumble Reminiscence

Hayley PollackUncategorized

By Jen Laughlin | January 13, 2020 If you know me, you know that Coldwater Rumble is an extremely sentimental race. It was my first trail race, my first 50 mile, my twin sister’s first ultra, and my daughter’s first running race of any kind. But more than anything, it was the race that introduced me to the unique and incomparable trail running community, consequentially changing my running life in the best possible ways. Back in 2014 while approaching the milestone age of 40, I decided I wanted to do something “big”: I wanted to be an “endurance runner”. Yep, I laughed when I said it out loud too, but after a lifetime of playing …

Adventure Weekend in the San Juans

Scout PhillipsUncategorized

Painting a Picture The tents have been broken down, put away, and made the journey back to Phoenix in our box truck. The last of the course marking ribbons, signs and pin flags have all been collected. Sitting on the second floor balcony of the Coffee Bear, above where we had our packet pick-up two days in a row, I find myself searching for the right words to encapsulate this past weekend. How do you paint the picture of all the highs and lows? The sun, the snow, the rain, the triumphs and the days that didn’t quite play out as planned… for those of you who participated, I hope my memory of the weekend …

A Postcard From Steep Camp Sunrise

Scout PhillipsRace Report

In my youth, during our mandatory quiet hour at summer camp, I would struggle to compress the activities of one day into the 3×5 space of a postcard to send to family and friends. Once again, I find my mind so full of things I want to share about our inaugural Steep Camp Sunrise weekend, that I simply don’t know where to start. Perhaps the best place to start is with gratitude. I am incredibly grateful to the White Mountain Apache community for inviting us to their land to create this event. I am equally grateful to all of the runners, families, and friends who chose to make this a most memorable experience. We promised …

Glass Half Full

Scout PhillipsUncategorized

FROM THE DESK OF YOUR LOCAL TREE-HUGGING, CONSERVATION-LOVING, IMPACT-REDUCTION-ADVOCATE, & RACE DIRECTOR -scout I know, I get it, it can often feel like the marketing teams behind some of your favorite events are just working overtime to get you suckered into making another superfluous purchase to fill their pockets. For just $5 extra you can run in honor of your imaginary friend and we’ll write their name in the sky with invisible ink!! What a deal! It can be frustrating at times to feel like you’re being asked to pay more only to get less in return. So, what’s the deal with “Going Cupless?” Isn’t it just another money making gimmick? The fact of the …

Desert Runner Trail Series Final Standings!

Noah DoughertyCommunity, Race Preview

I mentioned it in our thank you email to the runners who came out to our Mesquite Canyon Trail runs this past weekend but it’s hard to believe we’ve already closed the books on another season of the Desert Runner Trail Series. A lot can happen over the course of the series beginning in October and this series always seems to find a way to bring these changes to the forefront. We had a couple runners finish in first place following their Mesquite effort despite entering the race off of the podium. We had some of our largest races to date in the DRT Series and we’re so grateful to have had you join us …

The Future of Steep Camp & The Silverton 1000

Jamil CouryNews

This story has two parts. A long and a short. I will start with the short as it has important information regarding this year’s Silverton Steep Camp (formerly known as the Silverton 1000 Multi-Day Challenge). Cancellation of 2019 Steep Camp Silverton Due to increasing costs with renting the venue at the Kendall Mountain Recreation Area which is owned by the Town of Silverton we have had to make the tough decision to not hold this event in 2019. We hope to find a way forward to again hold Steep Camp in 2020 but just cannot do so at the current revised rates. As you will read below in the long version, this event is very …