Friday, December 21, 2012

Lottery Madness

The past 2 weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, a myriad of highs and lows.  Nothing earth shattering or life threatening has happened, but my 2013 race schedule has started to take shape after learning the results of several lotteries.  A common question many people ask me is, “are there other people who run these crazy races you do?”  I chuckle and try to explain that many races make you qualify just to get into a lottery, in which you often have a minute chance of getting into the race.  Yes, our sport is growing, and lots of people run these crazy races I like.  Over the past 10+ days, the results of the lotteries were announced for Western States, Hardrock, Miwok, and Massanutten.  I entered all 4, and my name was drawn in 2 of them.  Not bad, I suppose, but one of the races I didn’t get selected for is the one race I would give almost anything to do, the Hardrock 100.  This marks the 4th straight year I have failed to get into Hardrock.  I wasn’t selected for Western States either, but I was actually relieved about this.  I was lucky enough to see my name on the starting list for the Miwok 100K outside San Francisco and the Massanutten 100 in northern Virginia.  Both of these races appear to be spectacular in both their beauty and difficulty.  As if each isn’t daunting by itself, they are separated by only 2 weeks, meaning that if I run both, I will have to run 100 miles on rocky mountain terrain after completing a hilly 100K not too long before.  I have friends doing both races, and both have been on my radar for a few years.  With the way these races are growing in popularity, it’s no given that I will be selected again in the near future, so I might as well run them when I can.  In May of this coming year I will travel to both coasts and run 162 miles of mountainous joy.  Hey, you only live once!
            


(View from Miwok course)

(Elevation profile for Massanutten 100)

(One day I will get to kiss the rock) 


 (Island Lake from Grant-Swamp Pass on the Hardrock course)


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