Sierra Vista Trail Half Marathon

Spanish bayonet, shin dagger, prickly pear, horse crippler, pin cushion, fishhook barrel, cat claw, devils claw. Just a few of the pointy cactus and succulent species we will be avoiding this morning as we run the Sierra Vista Trail Run in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The organizers have posted the following warning on their website:


“The Sierra Vista Trail is desert, rocky, sandy, uneven, ankle twisting, scraping, pokey, rough, rattle snake biting terrain...Please be prepared for this and know your own abilities and expectations...Try not to die.” 

El Paso Half Marathon 2012

The howling wind wakes me before my alarm goes off. It has been at it the entire night with no sign of abating. This morning is the El Paso Marathon which I will only be running half of due to injuries last year. Hopefully it won’t be as blustery downtown, but I better dress for the worst. 

When I arrive, the sun is just barely rising. I look around for the starting line, but only see a large US flag flapping from the ladder of a fire truck. That must be the way. Today is a special day for Run El Paso Club member, Sal Almeida. He is running his 100th full marathon!

After the proverbial standing around while shivering, the participants finally start to move. It is impossible to start running yet because we are shoulder to shoulder like a herd of cows in a chute. We finally make our way across the starting line and chaos begins.