Jemez Mountain 50 Mile Trail Run

I look at my watch as I stop to catch my breath and let my heart rate slow down. This 10,400 foot mountain isn’t getting any lower and I’m not getting any younger so I better get a move on. I’m obsessed with my time today as I run the Jemez Mountain 50 Mile Trail Run. With over 11,000 feet of total elevation gain, it is one of the hardest 50 milers in the country. 

Cactus to Cloud 50K

Francois Jean Rochas is a true badass. Not because he is here with the rest of us to tackle the Cactus to Cloud 50K, a 32 mile journey from Oliver Lee State Park, through Dog Canyon, across the precipitous “Eyebrow”, up 5000 feet to the Sunspot National Solar Observatory and along the Rim Trail to Cloudcroft, NM with almost 9000 feet of total elevation gain. No, Francois or “Frenchy” as he was called, lived in a cabin in the late 1800s at the mouth of Dog Canyon, the starting point of our trail race this morning. 

Frenchy's cabin at the mouth of Dog Canyon

Cedro Peak 45 Miler

Cedro Peak (7767’) is located in the Cibola National Forest near Tijeras just east of Albuquerque, NM. I ran the Cedro Peak 45 mile course several years ago and am delighted to be here again for some fun on the trails. It is still dark and the weather is in the 50s this morning with a stiff breeze. It’s supposed to get gusty later with a slight chance of a shower, so I packed a rain shell just in case. I never want to be in the wilderness unprepared.

After leaving my drop bags with volunteers and checking in with race staff, I grab a cup of joe from the Green Joe Coffee Truck and sit in my warm car until race time. After the sun rises, about 50 ambitious trail runners line up at the Oak Flat picnic area. We start our run by winding through the picnic grounds and then descend a very steep rocky trail, but not before passing a lone picnic table. Not just any picnic table, but the one we will reach after climbing back up this hill in mile 44 later this afternoon. If my recollection is accurate, something special will be waiting for us here upon our return.