Category Archive

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 …

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 …

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 …

Community. That’s the one word that comes above all others when I think about the Aravaipa Group Trail Run and what it means to me. Building a community around the trail running scene is what we set out to do when we formed the weekly one hour trail run in 2011. Back then, the group met up each week in Tempe at Papago Park and a handful of us went for a run followed by a couple of beers at Papago Brewery. It was small, close-knit and a fun way to catch up with our friends each week outside of races and long runs. Aravaipa Group Trail Run has grown over the years and changed …