There are three types of people in this world. There are the people who live fearlessly and eagerly do scary things like BASE jumping. There are the people who live cautiously and rarely do anything bolder than driving somewhere new without Mapquest. And then there are the cautious people drawn to scary things, the people [...]
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By Brian Sawyer I don’t remember the title (or much else) of the IMAX movie I saw years ago about a guy who crashes his plane in the mountains and has to walk some unheard-of distance through the snow to civilization, but his mantra made a big impression on me: “I’m walking … I’m walking [...]
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By Brian Sawyer All of a sudden, this Sunday in the park was no longer just a Sunday in the park. For the first time since beginning training (including a 22-miler, a couple 20-milers, 18s, etc.), I started to get muscle cramps. My calves seized up on me every few steps and I had to [...]
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By Brian Sawyer Like everyone else, I was really looking forward to running this part of the course, but beyond the possible bragging rights for the accomplishment, there really wasn’t much more to like about crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Engulfed in haze and mist, the road was wet, making footing difficult, especially on the [...]
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By Brian Sawyer After a short trip on Caltrain from San Jose, I arrived in San Francisco early Saturday afternoon, checked into the Hyatt, and jumped on the shuttle bus to the expo, where I picked up my bib, a nice official tech shirt, and new Fuel Belt to hold my phone and the several [...]
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Howdy, readers. Kristina’s enabler husband here. She gave me a spare set of keys to the site while she’s on runabout and let me run on with my own thoughts about running for a post or two. I can’t promise stories of bears or triple-digit mileage, but I’ll do my best to give you something [...]
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By Kevin Sullivan I don’t know where to start other than with the most important two words – thank you. Thank you to everyone who has been part of my Western States 2009, which as many know also includes the Western States 2008 that never happened (due to wild fires). Thank you to my family, [...]
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While I’m in Oz trying to avoid death by dingo (also kangaroo, croc, snake, spider, and koala), one of ultrarunning’s best ambassadors, Kevin Sullivan, has kindly agreed to distract you from worrying about me by sharing his race report from the Western States 100. I’m posting his epic in four parts–it’s 100 miles, folks: your [...]
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Running is rooted in our collective imagination, and our imagination is rooted in running. Language, art, science, space shuttles, Starry Night, intravascular surgery; they all have their roots in our ability to run. Running is the superpower that made us human–which means it’s a superpower that all humans possess. -Christopher McDougall I’ll be in touch… [...]
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There’s a silver lining to my fear about my trip: I am letting myself eat and drink with abandon this week. Ice cream, chocolate, pizza. You call it stress eating; I call it a week of meals for a dead (wo)man walking. It hasn’t gone unnoticed at home. Last night at dinner when I talked [...]
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A week from today, I leave for a flight to Australia to run for five days on the Larapinta Trail, followed by some trail running along the Great Ocean Road that goes southwest of Melbourne. I’ll be gone for 18 days. It sounds so romantic and adventurous. And nothing short of terrifying. People keep asking [...]
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Six weeks and 115 pages of writing later, I am back in Massachusetts with 60% of my book drafted and 10 days before I fly off for my run-about in Australia. Feeling kind of like a kid who cries to come home at the end of summer camp, I’ve reunited with muggy New England and [...]
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I am always on the prowl for more running music, and seeing Kara Goucher’s Nike+ Endurance Playlist on iTunes made me think to generate my own because, of course, I am Kara’s SWF stalker non-threatening admirer. In the spirit of community, here are 25 favorites on my iPod, and I’d love if you’d comment with [...]
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A few months ago, I went for a long run with my husband, who was just starting to train for his first marathon since 2002. I was training for the Covered Bridges Half-Marathon, and the final few miles were supposed to be at half-marathon pace. I smoked him when I picked up the pace, then [...]
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“Did you get a dangling fish hook in your eye?” someone asked when I mentioned I ran the Appalachian Trail on Tuesday. This is the kind of lore that gives the AT a bad rap. When I got to PA several weeks ago, I went to the local podunk running store to ask for trail [...]
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