Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/9868911356 My friend Mark called me out of the blue in February 2023 asking if I had any interest in joining him for a week or so of travel in Scotland sometime in the fall. Exploring the Scottish highlands was one adventure I couldn’t say no to. During…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/9007463278Race website: https://cocodona.com/about/ & https://cocodona.com/course250/ The Cocodona 250 is an ultramarathon covering diverse Arizona landscapes between Black Canyon City and Flagstaff. The course winds through the Sonoran desert, runs the length of the Bradshaw Mountains, passes through historical mining towns, takes participants along the red rock formations of…
Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/8584907717 Black Canyon Ultras 100K is definitely up there as one of my favorite races and runs I’ve ever done. I had a good race, the course is amazing, and I got to spend lots of time with my Michigan and Arizona friends over the long weekend trip…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/8044430399 I signed up for Javelina Jundred as soon as registration opened on January 1, 2022. I had first heard about this “ultra Jalloween party” in the desert from my 2019 Ragnar Trail Michigan relay race teammate Jens Lundy. At that time I had run a marathon and…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/6093360537 After DNF-ing my first official 100 mile race (Mohican 100) on Halloween 2020, I trained for nearly a full year before I would get another crack at it at the Indiana Trail 100 on October 9-10, 2021. While failing to finish Mohican stunk, that was a good…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/5265232908Instagram: joshu_ultra Going rim-to-rim-to-rim (R2R2R) entails a double-crossing of the Grand Canyon in a single push. There are a few ways to do this and the route I chose (BA-NK-BA) was to descend from the South Rim to the Colorado River via Bright Angel Trail, ascend North Kaibab…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/5145001781 I ran the Gemini Adventures! Desert RATS Trail Running Festival 50K on the tenth day of a whirlwind road trip that, up to that morning, had already included 120 miles of trail running and hiking with no rest days. I had run the Zion Ultras 50K the…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/5105339116 With my friends Jessica and Jacob already registered for the 2021 Zion Ultras 50K and my long-standing desire to explore the desert southwest, it was an easy decision to grab my own spot in the race once registration opened up in 2020. We booked airfare and lodging…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/4269422540 My friend Amie Martin had run the Mohican 50 mile ultramarathon several times and her enthusiasm for this race encouraged me to register in 2020. Due to the pandemic and issues securing event permits for Mohican State Park, the course was altered to follow roads and private…
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3783377589 This year has been a dumpster fire when it comes to race events. Race cancellations, of course, are a small inconvenience compared to the greater concerns of living through a pandemic, but it is frustrating and disappointing to see all the races you’ve paid and trained for…