2003-2004

Mt. Wrightson Ascent 5.2 mi. September 7, 2003

Geno Foushee 1:31

Jerry Riddick 1:32

Tom Wiper 1:35

Wayne Coates 1:38

Gene Joseph 1:41

Tony Celentano 1:46

Mahendra Jani 1:46

Ross Zimmerman 1:46

Jorg Hader 1:50

Tom Gormley 1:50

Alli LaCroix 1:57

Charlie Hangartner 1:59

Tom Iaci 2:06

Gabe Zimmerman 2:07

Laura Beer 2:15

Tracy Wood 2:37

Various Distances

Dori Arter —

Tonja Chagaris —

Nifty Chagaris —

Julie Mulvey —

Brian Walker —

Saturday, September 6

Joel O’Bryan 1:33

We had 19 trail runners start up Mt. Wrightson on this wonderful, cloudy, cool summer day. It had recently rained and the flowers were great and the spring was running. The view from the top was spectacular as usual, with the addition of numerous huge clouds, floating around in all directions. Geno said it looked like the view from Machu Pichu. Although there was an achilles injury, there appeared to be no blood shed, which I think is some kind of record. gj

Sabino Basin 13.2 mi. Sept. 21, 2003

Bill Cuculic 1:57:40

Geno Foushee 2:20:45

Tom Sohayda 2:26:18

Jerry Riddick 2:29:14

Gene Joseph 2:32:40

Bob Bachani 2:32:40

Paul Vyriotes 2:51:20

Wayne Coates 2:51:38

Pam Golden 3:00:47

Tom Iaci 3:03:25

Mahendra Jani 3:10:48

Nass Bardis 3:10:48

Tony Celentano 3:14 (Late start)

Ken Greco 3:15:00

Gabe Zimmerman 3:16:43

Ross Zimmerman 4:00 (-ish-I forgot to check)

Down the road–

Glenn Vencill —

Doug Kelly —

Saturday

Chris Fall 2:26

Alli LaCroix 2:47

I wasn’t expecting a great turnout for Sabino Basin, as it conflicted with a 10K several people had said they were doing. Even the run director, Chris Fall did the 10K (It was a benefit in honor of his friend’s son, Ben.). I told him I’d cover. I was wrong-we had a nice little crowd. Gene in fact got folks signed up, although there was bit of confusion regarding the starting location. We took off with Bill Cuculic immediately pulling away. It was reasonably cool, and the angle of the run up the canyon on Phone Line is such that one is in shade much of the time. The upper reaches of Phone Line trail are pretty eroded from the post-fire rains. In fact, it’s gone in several spots. A few folks came down the road, but most returned on Phone Line. Bill cruised to first overall. Pam Golden ran hard in the latter stages of the run to lead the women (Well she was the only woman…). Jerry Riddick and Bob Bachani had a serious competition in both running and humor categories. There were a few new folks, who did well. Ross Z

Bear Canyon Loop 16.8 mi. Oct. 12, 2003

Bill Cuculic 2:20:11

Chase Duarte 2:34:26

Geno Foushee 2:56:46

Gene Joseph 3:03:24

Bob Bachani 3:14:29

Tom Wiper 3:34:27

Jorg Hader 3:42:47

Charlie Hangartner 3:46:03

Tom Gormley 3:49:39

Mahendra Jani 3:57:49

Ken Greco 3:57:49

Tracy Wood —

Phoneline Finishers:

Jennifer Aviles 2:20

Enrique Aviles 2:20

Dori Arter 3:03

A small but ambitious group of runners showed up at Sabino Canyon for the fall edition of the Bear Canyon Loop. A beautiful fall morning greeted the runners as most had not done the course since the summer fires or summer rains. The trail has become tricky in places because after the fires had made the land a moonscape, the summer rains have made many drainage areas appear as false trails. The trail was not as gnarly as usual but new ground growth on the trail made for rough going. There were trees that had fallen across or along the trail with also ocotillo that made staying focused very important. Fortunately no one go lost, but Tracy opted to do Phoneline after originally starting the Bear Canyon Loop. Hope to see you all again next year. Thanks, Bill Cuculic

Romero Pass 14 mi. Oct. 19, 2003

Geno Foushee 3:29

Tom Sohayda 4:05

Jerry Riddick 4:06

Gene Joseph 4:09

Bob Bachani 4:16

Wayne Coates 4:54

Tom Wiper 5:01

Mahendra Jani 5:01

Early Start

Joe Dana 6:02

12 mi.

Alli LaCroix 3:38

Pools and back

Mary Croft 1:50

Friday

Chris Fall 5:35

A hearty bunch showed up at Catalina State Park for the run up to Romero Pass. A 7am start seemed late as it has been unseasonably warm lately, even for Tucson. The trail was trashed, Julie and I ran the Friday before and put up a lot of cairns to help guide the pack. The trail is totally washed out in places and the fire burned so hot near the top that everything is gone. The switchbacks at the very top were only contours on the side of the hill. Geno lit the trail

on fire again as he ran a 3:29, an impressive time considering the conditions. Hope to see more of you at the Agua Caliente run. PV

Agua Caliente Ascent 15 mi. Nov. 2, 2003

Gene Joseph 3:08:48

Ron Beard 3:23

Ken Greco 3:25:50

Pam Golden 3:27

Jörg Hader 3:27

Charlie Hangartner 3:38:50

Tom Gormley 3:42:33

Laura Beer 4:15:38

Nick Longo 4:15:38

11 miles

Tonja Chagaris 3:12

Tracy Wood 3:28

Dori Arter 4 hours +

12 hardy souls turned out for this year’s Agua Caliente Loop. An overcast sky held in the warmth, so the start wasn’t chilly like some years past. On the other side, some found it a bit too hot by the end of the run. There were several new faces, so I spent quite a bit of time talking about the route, which is a bit harder to follow than some. You run from our house (2920 ft.) to Agua Caliente Trail, climb across a couple of canyons to a saddle, then take a steep ridge line to Agua Caliente “Hill” (5369 ft.). Then you back track to the saddle, and continue north across Agua Caliente and La Milagrosa Canyons. You emerge on the roads and come back to our house for breakfast. This is an extraordinarily rocky, rugged, and scenic route. Since I’m in bicycle mode right now and a bit tired from the Soul Ride, I got people started and rode a bike up Mt. Lemmon Highway a ways, timing it to be back before the runners. I went to look for runners and found Tonja on the road-she was one of several people who did the 11 mile version of the course, where you don’t take the side trip to the top of the Agua Caliente hill. Gene Joseph wasn’t too far behind. I scurried home and laid out breakfast and refreshments. Runners started to appear. Gene reported that the trail in Agua Caliente Canyon was getting hard to follow, although Pam Golden didn’t think it had changed much. Pam was

the first woman in who did the full 15. A lively social scene developed, which I got to participate in, since I wasn’t out on the trail bringing up the rear this year. I should mention that the reason we stage this run from our house is that the when I started and finished it at the Agua Caliente trail head the first year, I had to prod runners to continue past the treats in our kitchen and finish the run. Laura and Nick turned up after a couple of interesting side trips, then Charlie got a concerned call from Dori (Aren’t cell phones handy?!). He and Pam went to find Dori. Turned out she was fine, and on course a mile or so up La Milagrosa trail, just tired and uncertain of her position. She hitched a ride rather than run the last couple of boring road miles, so I didn’t get a running time for her. Several people (like Charlie) were impressed by how much work this is for a 15 mile course. A serious dent was made in the food and drink. I thought everyone did pretty well. Ross Zimmerman, RD

Sabino Fat Ass 12 Hour Nov. 16, 2003

Chase Duarte 62.2mi.

Roger Wrublik 42.9

Joe Dana 35

Wayne Coates 32.5

Mahendra Jani 26.8

Joel O’Bryan 26.1

Charlie Hangartner 26

Ken Greco 24.4

Trish Duarte 22.9

John Mark 22.1

Angie Bommersbach 20

Bob Bachani 19.5

Jorg Hader 18.6

John Litteer 18.6

Tom Boyle 16.8

Tom Sohayda 16.8

Chris Fall 15.2

Alli LaCroix 12.7

Tonja Chagaris 12.7

Gary Norris 11

Tom Gormley 11

Bart Erickson 10.9

Laura Beer 9.4

Jerry Riddick 9.2

I’ve found another alternative to paying the $5 parking fee at Sabino Canyon. Get there before the kiosk opens and stay there until after it closes. While waiting, run your fatass off for 12 hours. Three hearty souls with less than hearty asses ran the whole 12 hours from 5am to 5pm. Joe Dana, Roger Wrublik and myself hung out for the entire day while Bob Bachani also joined in for the 5am start. It turns out Bob just celebrated his 50th, err I mean 48th birthday the day before the Sabino Fatass 12 hour Fun Run. It really turned out to be an amazing day for runners of the Tucson area to come out to Sabino Canyon area and enjoy the weather and greenery from the recent rainfall. As John Litteer commented, “It feels like running in San Diego today.” Actually the most interesting thing about the day was the number of runners who got caught up in the event before they knew what was going on like John. He encountered Bob on the trail experiencing dizziness from the multiple loop format and signed up the next time he came to the parking lot. After one Phoneline out’n'back Charlie Hangartner called Tom Gormley and said “Dude, where are you? You’re missing out on all the fun.” Uncontrollably, Tom called two friends and then Gary Norris called his friends and by the end of the day 24 people attended. Due to the format of choosing whatever routes and directions appealed to you, we were able to cross paths and run with one another a lot more than I would have expected. It was fun and motivating to continually see each other while one is coming down the road from a Bear Canyon loop while the other is running up Fatass hill at the end of the road and then see each other again on the Phoneline Trail. Here are a few statistics for those of you (Ross and Gene) that like that kind of stuff: 24 runners signed in, 17 people ran multiples of some sort, 20 ran over 2 hours, 11 ran over 20 miles, and 5 ran past the marathon distance. The breakdown on route selection is as follows: Eight different routes were selected for a grand total of 56 avenues. The most popular route was up and down the TRAM Road at 17 times and 6 partials. Trish, Mahendra and Angie were responsible for 8 and a half of those. Coming in second was the counter-clockwise Phoneline loop up the trail and down the road at 13 times. John Litteer and Jorg Hader had 2 each. Jorg, also known as “Bavarian Creme” and Chris Fall (Eskimo Pie Diver) were reported to have hashed an additional 10k later that afternoon. Other remarkable performances were made by Roger Wrublik running two Bear Canyon loops and then sitting on his ass for 25 minutes before completing a Phoneline. Also, Joe Dana ran 35 hard miles by going to Sabino Basin twice and then a Phoneline. I managed to reach the 100k mark by running two TRAM outn’backs, three clockwise Phonelines (up the road, down the trail), one counterclockwise Phoneline and one outn’back Phoneline for an actual distance of 62.4 miles. Check this, the three runners who ran over the whole 12 hours total running time were within a minute of each other equaling each other for rest taken. Roger ran 10:57, Joe ran 10:57, and I ran 10:56. Wayne Coates didn’t run the whole 12 hours but put in a solid 7:14 running time at 32.5 miles. It was good to see a couple of 100 mile performers from last weekend’s Javelina Jundred in the form of Jerry Riddick-9.2 miles, John Mark-22.1 miles and Ken Greco-24.4 miles. I didn’t plan it this way but the highest mileage female and male runners were Trish Duarte at 22.9 miles and Chase Duarte (me) at 62.4 miles. If you are a fan of age-graded results then Joe Dana actually ran 102 miles (35 miles + 67 years old). Much thanks goes out to Joel O’Bryan for letting us use his house and hot tub afterwards for a great BBQ. Joel came up one tenth of a mile short of the marathon distance due to an injured or sprained ass. I think this event turned out to be a great success in place of the traditional Mt. Lemmon Ascent. Hopefully next year we’ll be back on Mt. Lemmon and also keep this event although I may be inclined to change it to 10 hours to avoid starting in the dark and allow more time to sit on our fat asses afterward and drink beer. On On,Chase?

Sabino 50ishK Nov. 30, 2003

Female Ghost Runner 43 6:27:42 Down road, then lower Bear Road, short

trail segment

Gene Joseph 51 7:17:24 Phoneline

Ron Beard 41 7:23:38 Phoneline

Ken Greco 36 8:03:10 Phoneline

Wayne Coates 56 8:15:22 Phoneline

Joe Dana 67 8:48:28 Early start, came down road.

28 mile finishers (turned at Molino Aid Station)

Pam Golden 49 7:37:00 Road descent

Tracy Wood 10:24 Road descent

Stopped at Molino 15 mi.

Chase Duarte 36 3:02 Out to Molino, then up to saddle and back

Alli LaCroix 27 3:50 Out to Molino

Tonja Chagaris 30 3:50 Out to Molino

Bill Paulsberg— Out to Molino

Molino to Sabino

Rich Hastings 43 4:14:44 First run since the birth of Garrett 7

weeks ago. Congratulations!

Well, the uncertainty regarding the true distance of this run led to a diversity of choices for the return trip. As most of you know, I send people up Phone Line to Sabino Basin, then east on the Arizona trail to the saddle just east of Molino Basin. The return gets ambiguous. When the Forest Service was laying out the trail segments east of top out above Sycamore Reservoir, they quoted me one or two wildly inaccurate distances. Since I was uncertain and didn’t want tired people to have to come back down Phone Line if they don’t want to, I say on the return trip come down the road unless you’re really concerned about the getting an honest 50K out of this. As always, people are welcome to do whatever fraction of the course works for them that day.

Sunday was a great day, albeit a bit warm in the afternoon. I got folks started, then Rich Hastings and I went to my house, where we finished organizing aid station materials and headed up to Molino Basin. Pete Chagaris was just starting out to meet Tonja as we drove up (Pete just came off a 4:39 at El Tour, which is pretty speedy!). Rich started back down to Sabino Visitor’s Center. Jorg Hader showed up to help a few minutes later. We chatted a bit about various topics including his work on quantum physics of semiconductors. Chase showed up, feeling a bit the worse for wear and decided to stop after going up to the saddle. Others began to turn up. Julie won the award for most determined looking runner, and it clearly paid off. Kermit (Alli’s fiancé) drove up with a tall, well spoken, attractive woman who turned out to be Alli’s mom. I told her daughter had fallen in with the lunatic fringe, but she wasn’t disturbed. Ron Beard was probably looked the most relaxed of the folks who headed back to Sabino. Pam unfortunately won the award for most scratched up runner, with a long scratch on her upper arm, but she was in good spirits and headed back. A hasher friend of Chase’s, Bill Paulsberg, showed, having started late without a map, but managed to make his way safely to Molino. I left Jorg minding the store to catch the finishers at Sabino.

I had left a results sheet under Chase’s windshield wiper. I asked him to move it to Ken Greco’s jeep. I looked–no sheet. I thought a minute and started checking other jeeps in the parking lot. It was on the second one I checked, which left about 5 minutes later. Rich Hastings turned up, then Duane Arter (Duane had dropped a weight on his knee the day before and was laying low.). Jorg appeared and reported that Tracy Wood had made it to Molino and was headed back. After a bit Julie appeared, saying it was a hot finishing effort. Gene Joseph was the first male finisher, catching and passing Ron. About half the runners came down Phone Line. Wayne was one of those. If you saw his note, a Phone Line descent is a bit over 50K. A straight road descent would be about 3 tenths of a mile short. Julie’s variation, where she turned off at the Lower Bear Road and then cut back to the alcove on our starting route, works out to right at 3 tenths of a mile. So it appears she has established the future “official” route. Thanks Julie. Wayne’s altitude data help explain why this is a demanding run. 6000 feet of climb is comparable to Crown King 50K, which starts at about 1500 feet and tops out at 6570. Joe Dana, who had started early, was the first ancient finisher. Tracy took a tumble on the return, but finished before dark. Several people reported getting off trail, typically in the Sycamore/Bear Canyon area. The fire damage made for a very exposed return. Thanks to all who participated, either running or helping! Ross Z

Soldier/ La Milagrosa Loop 15.2 mi. Dec. 14, 2003

Female Ghost Runner 3:05.47

Bill Cuculic 3:05.47

Gene Joseph 3:14.49

Ken Greco 3:21.50

Wayne Coates 3:31.10

Tom Gormley 4:05.53

Ross Zimmerman 5:14.32

Joe Dana 5:14.32

We had an absolutely beautiful day for the run. There were 8 runners who started up the road toward the trail head on Catalina Highway. Julie Arter and Bill Cuculic came strolling in, not even breathing heavy in just over three hours. They had a great run, and said the trail was easy to follow, even though the flag that was put out the day before by Kim Ferranti and Alli LaCroix had disappeared. Gene Joseph (3:14), Ken Greco (3:21) and Wayne Coates (3:31) all came in with smiles, especially Ken, who said it was “a good day, no falls”. We all hung around, basking in the warm sun waiting for the rest of the crew to finish. Tom Gormley finished in 4:05 after getting off trail for a bit near the end of the trail. Other than that, he had no complaints. Ross Zimmerman and Joe Dana finished (on the road) in 5:14. Ross was touring Joe along a different route. A successful run for all!

Alli LaCroix and Kim Ferranti – ran Sat 4:45 ran the trail backward and were misplaced for a few miles. Have the record time for running the trail in the opposite direction. AL

Romero Crossing 21 miles 21mi. Jan. 1, 2004

Geno Foushee 4:45:50

Steve Olson 5:04:40

Geno and Steve were the two starters and finishers for this year’s edition of the Romero crossing. The morning was cool, not cold, and overcast. Rock cairns helped guide the runners through the canyon above Hutch’s pool and the trail intersection with Esperero. From this point to Romero pass, Geno said the trail was overgrown with grass and sopping wet and windy, so back came the jacket and gloves. Steve didn’t have this problem, probably because Geno had already gleaned the water off the plants. The finish was sunny and cool. gj

Wasson Peak 15 mi. Jan. 4, 2004

Bill Cuculic 2:31

Gene Joseph 2:31

Tom Wiper 2:52

Wayne Coates 2:57

Pam Golden 3:30

Ross Zimmerman 3:47

Jennifer Aviles 4:30

Enrique Aviles 4:30

Short Loop:(8.3 miles)

Bruce Gungle 1:26

Jerry Riddick 1:26

Jim Shea 2:07

Sunday morning at this years installment of the Wasson Peak Run was clear and crisp ( in other words darn cold). A handful of familiar faces showed for a great run . Gene and Bill sauntered in barely breathing hard. Tom Wiper did the same shortly thereafter. The rest filed in looking no worse for wear. I think we need to add a few miles to the course so people could work up a sweat.

Thanks to all for hanging around after the run and suffering the cool temps. Next year will be warmer. ….jerry

Winter Bear Canyon Loop 16.8 mi. Jan. 18, 2004

Bill Cuculic 2:57

Female Ghost Runner 3:01

Tim Varner 3:01 (first) 6:22 (second)

Hedley Bond 3:02

Tom Wiper 3:05

Geno Foushee 3:06 (first) ???? (second)

Gene Joseph 3:06 (first) 6:56 (second)

Jerry Riddick 3:18

Dan Laird 3:18

Laura Beer 3:19

Jorg Hader 3:31

Charlie Hangartner 3:49

Tom Gormley 3:50

Ross Zimmerman 3:52

Bill Paulsberg 4:43

Here are the data from the Bear run. Nice day, weather good, etc. What more can be said – BTW – did someone leave a bicycle tube at the finish??? In addition to these folks Male Ghost Runner, Pam Golden, Ken Greco, Bob Bachani

and Wayne Coates did phone line or some other variant. So yes these folks are alive and well as well! Wayne

2004 Cowhead Saddle 17 mi. Feb. 1, 2004

Bill Cuculic 44 2:42:30

Geno Foushee 41 3:19:22

Gene Joseph 51 3:35:15

Bruce Gungle 45 3:39:34

Ken Greco 36 3:47:40

Wayne Coates 56 3:55:45

Dan Laird 44 3:55:45

Joe Plassmann 38 4:02:44

Tom Gormley 34 4:11:42

Charlie Hangartner 42 4:12:19

Tonja Chagaris 31 4:15:20

Joe Dana 67 4:41:49

Dougers

Jörg Hader 35 2:44:24

Alli LaCroix 27 3:15:20

Enrique Aviles 48 3:35:15

Tracy Wood 39 3:38:47

Jennifer Aviles 59 3:41:56

Grass Shackers

Jerry Riddick 52 4:35:58

Chris Fall 41 4:35:58

We had a decent turnout for this year’s Cowhead Saddle. We had a no-show on the run director, but I was kind of expecting that and covered. Wayne brought the traveling munchies that have been with us since Sabino 50ishK, and we successfully finished them off. The weather was a bit cool, but otherwise pleasant. 19 folks started out, then Pete

Chagaris and I chatted for a bit and took off on our bicycles. He was meeting some friends to train for the Tucson Bicycle Classic. I rode my mountain bike over to try out the trail at Saguaro. Those of you who have done that 2.5 mile segment a bunch probably don’t want to know how long it takes on a bike. A trio of runners I encountered were a bit surprised when I slowed down a lot and told them they had right-of-way. On the way back I swung by Circle K and picked up a gallon of water. Riding 5 miles with a lump of water flopping around zipped under my windbreaker was real interesting…

But back to the action. Bill C showed up within minutes of my return and proceeded to trot around “cooling down,” showing no apparent signs of tiredness. Jorg turned up right behind him, but he was sick last week and only did Doug. Then Alli appeared, then an elderly gentleman came and sat quietly with us, which confused us until Geno Foushee showed up and introduced him as his dad, Gene. Both names are short for Eugene, and it got really confusing when Gene Joseph appeared and admitted that his real name is Eugene (I’ve only known Gene for 20+ years without him admitting this. Now I’m probably in trouble.). Runners started turning up fast and furious. Wayne has been busy recruiting, and he was the mother hen for a couple of new guys, Dan and Joe (who did fine and had a good time). Tom did fine on his first Cow, too. There were reports of crunchy snow in the shade up near the saddle, purely decorative. Tonja was the only woman to go all the way up to Cow. Jerry and Chris decided to show off and go farther, to Grass Shack. For once I took ages as people finished. No one admitted to getting off course.

Later, Ross Z

Tanque Verde Loop 28.5 mi. Feb. 22, 2004

Matt Chamberlain 5:45 road

Female Ghost Runner 5:54 road

Gene Joseph 5:56 road

Joe Plassmann 6:13 road

Ken Greco 6:13 road

Jerry Riddick 6:34 trail

Dan Laird 6:35 trail

Laura Beer 6:55 trail

Wayne Coates 6:57 trail

Jorg Hader 6:57 trail

Tom Gormley 7:35 road

Trish Duarte 7:36 road

Tonja Chagaris 7:39 trail

Enrique Avilles 8:18 trail

Early Start

Geno Foushee 6:15

Bruce Gungle 6:22

Chris Fall 6:43

Javelina picnic area

Charlie Hangartner 5:13

Cowhead saddle

Tracy Wood —

Douglas Springs

Pam Golden 3:05

Kim Ferranti 3:06

There was a large turnout for the run this year, 21 runners showed up and most did the full loop. Ross set up aid at Javelinawhich made the trail option possible, thanks Ross. Most runnerssaw the mountain lion tracks just below Cowhead saddle but fortunately no encounters. – Ken G

Mt. Kimball Ascent (Esperero Canyon Loop alternate) 5 mi. Mar. 14, 2004

Top Out

Bill Cuculic 1:23:19

Tom Wiper 1:54

Not Quite Top Out

Ross Zimmerman 2:00

Saturday

Bob Bachani 1:54

Campers,

Well if Bob’s account didn’t illustrate why this run isn’t on the schedule anymore, let me reinforce it. This is a serious mountain goat course. Two serious mountain goats showed up on the correct, warm, sunny day, Bill Cuculic and Tom Wiper. They took off running, while I hiked, since my left knee is still kinky (Works as long as I don’t get up on the balls of my feet.). Bill actually used to use this course as his standard trail training run. The good news is that the canyon was untouched by the fire. The bad news is that the trail is just as difficult as ever. I turned around at 2 hours, about 15-20 minutes after seeing Bill headed down. He topped out in 1:23:19. I was able to trot a bit on the descent, but was repeatedly reminded that I’m not a mountain goat. Bob, in the spirit of camaraderie, I staggered into a prickly pear and had to stop for awhile to get spines out of my shirt and my skin (armpit no less). Tom caught me near the bottom and we ran in together. He commented on the beauty of the course, but mentioned “sitting down” a couple of times. There was blood. Tom had topped out at 1:54. Bill was his usual unfazed self and told us how he used to run from River and Campbell to the trail, then up the trail.It’s the descent on this trail that’s the killer (perhaps literally if Bob’s experience is any guide). If we do other runs to Kimball again, I would favor coming up and down Ventana Canyon, or up Finger Rock and down Ventana (We would need a car shuttle unless people wanted to complete the loop on the roads.).No cat tracks were seen for a change. Bob, thanks for the excellent account of your adventure.

(Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ttr_az/message/753) Later, Ross Z

Mica Mountain Marathon 26.8 mi. Mar. 28, 2004

Bill Cuculic 5:01:08

Female Ghost Runner 5:59:25

Gene Joseph 6:34:40

Wayne Coates 7:09:00

Jerry Riddick 7:09:00

Dan Laird 7:17:28

Joe Plassmann 7:25:26

Doug Springs

Joe Dana 2:56:37

Friday 26 March

Chase Duarte 6:26:20

Bruce Gungle 6:28:41

Paul Vyriotes 6:29:23

Chris Fall 6:57:26

The Mica Mountain run of March 28th went off smoothly. The weather was clear and just right at the start. That meant it was a bit warm coming down from Douglas Springs. The Brittlebush and the Fairy Dusters were in bloom along the lower trail with the Ocotillo just a few days behind, nice eye candy! There was a report that one or more of the runners missed a turn! Although they admitted at the finish that it was well marked. It was such a nice day it was easy to get distracted. Congratulations to all for a job well done. Joe Dana

The Friday 03-26-04 crew, joined by Jerry Riddick to just above false Doug Spring #1, had a super day on the trail. Chase & I ran together parts of the way, reaching Cow Head with Chase commenting on how it was a day off of work & a beautiful day at that, and so there was no need to push it–we should just continue to take it easy like we were and enjoy ourselves. I looked at my watch and realized I’d just set a PR to the Saddle….Continuing the ‘it’s-a-day-off-so-lets-make-like-tourists mode’, all 4 of us took the side trip up on to Spud Rock where we enjoyed marvelous views, a delightful breeze and intellectually stimulating conversation. If you’ve never made the short side trip on a Mica run, it comes highly recommended. On top I raided one of the snow patches for a water bottle refill, given this was a 4 bottle run and I had but 3 bottles. We were all a little out of a gas as we began the decent but got over it and had a well paced run back to the Saddle and then on down to Doug Springs. As on Sunday, it was a bit warm on the final downhill stretches and the legs went a bit rubbery through the rock slalom, but that melted snow tasted top notch and there were no complaints under the ramada at the parking lot where frosty cold carbonated malt beverages awaited us. Bruce Gungle

East Rincon Runs Apr. 18, 2004

Female Ghost Runner 7.3 miles

Wynne Brown 7.3 miles

Friday Rincon Peak 16.2 miles

Chris Fall 4:26

Jorg Hader 4:35

Tom Gormley 4:46

Those of you who didn’t make it missed a great run this morning! It was cool at 6 am at the Miller Creek trail head but soon warmed up. Miller Creek was flowing briskly, the oaks had their new leaves and were starting to flower, the ash and cottonwoods were fully leafed out and the buds on the sycamores were bursting – beautiful. The drive in is, if anything, slower than before as there’s more water over the road – but it’s a beautiful spot for a hike and/or run and well worth the journey. Route: Turkey Creek trail head to park boundary. Sign on gate there says clearly “No Pets”, so Wynne & Julie turned around and headed back with our two dogs who covered far more than 7.3 miles. Hedley

Multiple Wrightson Massacre 10.4 mi. X May, 15, 2004

Female Ghost Runner 3 trips

Gene Joseph 2 Trips

Rick Kelley 2 Trips

Joyce Stavro 1 trip

Paul Vyriotes 1 trip

Ross Zimmerman 1 trip

Up Old Baldy/down Super trail

Laura Nagy 2 trips

Bob Bachani 1 trip

Tom Boyle 1 trip

Joe Dana 1 trip

Ken Greco 1 trip

Joel Obryan 1 trip

Jerry Riddick 1 trip

It was a wonderful day with seemingly everybody doing their own thing and having a good time. Ross and I had the opportunity to run into Dave Hansen and Sherry Wolf who were hiking up Baldy with the Hiking Club. Dave was a stalwart of the trail running crowd back in the early 80′s and his wife Sherry was (if I am not mistaken) a charter member of the Sun Chasers, a women’s trail running group that was quite active during that era. Several people had never been on the super trail so went down that way. The original route is up&back Old Baldy. RK & KG