One year after a DNS caused by injury, I’m going back to the race to attempt my first 100-miler.
Tag Archives | Sarah Lavender Smith
The Small-World Story of My Friendship with a Rookie Ultrarunner
This is the story of how I became friends with and virtually coached an unlikely ultrarunner in her first 24-hour endurance event. The story begins one month ago, and I admit, I was a little drunk.
My Wild Week at the Grand to Grand Ultra, Part 3: Good Guys and Goodbyes
Would our tent hold in the storm? Probably. I wasn’t worried. I actually felt calm, cozy and secure. I had developed a mindset of taking anything and everything in stride. Whatever happened, happened.
My Wild Week at the Grand to Grand Ultra, Part 2: The Long Stage
Whereas Stages 1 and 2 were like an appetizer and salad course, Stage 3 would be the Grand to Grand Ultra’s Supersized Full Meal Deal. It would dish up hot, hard roads; steep, rocky climbs; debilitating deep-sand tracks; gnarly, in-your-face vegetation; slippery slickrock, monotonous highway shoulders, and beautiful, baffling fine-sand dunes—relentless, towering, engulfing sand dunes.
My Wild Week at the 2014 Grand to Grand Ultra, Part 1
I was completely unplugged, off the grid and rocking out. I was going native, kicking ass and feeling half my age. And it just kept getting better. Inevitably—hilariously—something had to harsh my buzz.
Join Me, Ian Sharman and Victor Ballesteros at the Trails In Motion Film Festival – Walnut Creek – Nov. 16
Spend the afternoon at a trail-running film showcase that features incredible, inspiring stories of runners and captivating footage of trails.
My 2014 Grand to Grand Ultra Food and Gear List
Very soon I’ll start the week-long Grand to Grand Ultra 170-mile self-supported stage race that goes from the north rim of the Grand Canyon to the pink cliffs of Southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Here’s what I plan to bring to get through an event that’s been listed with the world’s toughest ultramarathons.
Pack Training for the Grand to Grand Ultra
At a 50K race, which I used as a pack training run for the Grand to Grand Ultra, one runner wondered if I was a Marine and another asked, in all seriousness, if I eat dog food.
My Favorite Place in Costa Rica (and other Costa Rica Travel must-do’s)
Highlights from our family’s week in Costa Rica–where to go, what to do–and how one out-of-the-way small lodge in a river valley captured the essence of “pura vida.”
Report from the 2014 Hardrock 100, Part 1: Getting to Grouse Gulch
I was ready to do everything I could to help Betsy hike and run over several more summits, to traverse boggy canyons and sweeping alpine basins, to ford knee-high rivers and fight back nausea. I was ready to ascend my first 14’er on a dark and stormy night.