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Run Rabbit Redemption

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Long Lake, mile 24 Preamble (TLDR: skip to “The Race” section) I hate running.  I also love it, and sometimes feel like I need it, just to survive.  My reasons for doing it have slowly changed over the years.  My first attempt to start running regularly was age 30, and I was desperately trying to stay sober.  I ran and trained obsessively… and got good at it - then I ran to compete.  I loved the feeling of winning races, and getting admiration from other runners.  Although I didn’t know, or acknowledge it at the time, running was almost a completely ego-driven pursuit for me. Then I started focusing on bigger races and had bigger goals.  For years, it felt like I was close to a big breakthrough, but I couldn’t quite put it all together on race day - my expectations of myself were always very high, and hard to live up to.  I started DNF’ing… a lot. Then, in the summer of 2022, about a month after DNF’ing Tahoe 200 (while in 2nd place), I finally caught the covid virus.  It was short-liv
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Ice Cream Challenge 2023

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The 5th Annual Ice Cream Challenge was held again on Memorial Day this year, and there was another great turnout. RD Joe giving the race brief We stuck with last year’s format - JV and Varsity divisions.  Here’s how it works: Varsity : Eat the ice cream treat specified below, then run the 1-mile neighborhood out-and-back. (8 miles total). Loop 1: Snickers ice cream bar Loop 2: Klondike Bar Loop 3: Drumstick Loop 4: Ice Cream sandwich  Loop 5: Snickers ice cream bar Loop 6: Klondike Bar Loop 7: Drumstick Loop 8: Pint of ice cream! JV : Eat the ice cream treats specified for loops 1-4 above.  Same 1-mile loop. (4 miles total). There are always some dramatic story lines at this race, and this year was no exception.  Let’s start with Varsity.. Only 6 brave, foolish souls attempted Varsity this year, which, if you’ve read the requirements above, shouldn’t be too surprising.  This year I thought it was pretty wide open, with 4 speedy dudes in the mix - Matt S (defending champion), Ulises (la
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Ice Cream Challenge 2022

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The 4th annual Ice Cream Challenge (ICC) took place on Memorial Day 2022, and had more competitors than any of its previous years. This year, we beefed up the caloric intake and shaved off a couple miles, to ensure that being a fast runner alone would not suffice - to win ICC 2022, your athletic abilities must extend to eating ice cream.. fast. Yes, that is an athletic ability. Pre-race brief The big news to start this year’s version was the late DNS of Tom Bowling, who won 2 of the previous 3 ICC championships - that would open up the chances for the field considerably. Here’s how it works, for those unfamiliar.  There are 2 divisions - Varsity and JV. Varsity : Eat the ice cream treat specified below, then run the 1-mile neighborhood out-and-back. (8 miles total). Loop 1: Snickers ice cream bar Loop 2: Klondike Bar Loop 3: Drumstick Loop 4: Chipwich Loop 5: Snickers ice cream bar Loop 6: Klondike Bar Loop 7: Drumstick Loop 8: Pint of ice cream! JV : Eat the ice cream treats specified
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Desert Solstice 24-hour

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My only race of 2020 was definitely a memorable one!  With this being an end-of-qualifying year for the US 24-hour team, the Desert Solstice Invitational was absolutely stacked with talent.  Among the 18 men starting, I was a legit back-of-the-packer!  Zach Bitter, Harvey Lewis, Oliver Leblond, Nick Coury, Ryan Montgomery, Bob Hearn...(I could keep gong, world and American record holders all over the place!).   It was easily the most competitive 24-hour race on the planet this year, and somehow, I got a late invitation off the ‘B’ list in November, as other faster people withdrew. In summary, this race went absolutely NOTHING like I expected.  I expected a bunch of elites to run 160-170 miles, and I expected to run 150-something myself.  The biggest surprise to me was how absolutely punishing and difficult this track format is.  Runner-up surprise was the impact of the afternoon heat/sun. Will break the race into segments below. 0-3 hours  I’d planned to do 21 miles in the first 3 hour
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2020 Pictorial Timeline & Training Review

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My last post was almost a year ago, because that was when my last race occurred.  Then COVID happened, giving me an entire year to think about the train wreck that was Brazos Bend 100!   Here’s a timeline of 2020 from this ultrarunner’s perspective. Jan/Feb 2020 Life is normal.  Joe makes two big running goals:  #1 - Win a golden ticket race for Big’s Backyard Ultra and run the championship in TN in October. #2 - Run a 24-hour race and qualify for the US National 24-hour team. Mar/Apr 2020 COVID becomes a thing.  Freedom is replaced by Fear, as unknowns swirl regarding the virus and pandemic.   Goal #1 is canceled.  Joe focuses training on Goal #2. May/Jun 2020 The world is having a meltdown.  Love is replaced by Hate.  Racial unrest everywhere. Joe keeps training. Jul/Aug 2020 Political tensions begin ramping up.  Social media fans the flames. Joe keeps running.  Joe and Julie escape with the family to the mountains - same as every year. Sep/Oct 2020 The country argues over which weal
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