Charmin Covid -19 Marathon Race Report

Earth is closed until further notice! The Coronavirus pandemic is in full swing. Like every other human on our planet, I have been social distancing, quarantining, sheltering in place or whatever else you want to call it. For me this isn’t much different than how I operate anyway, so I suppose I’m lucky in that regard. We have been spending time at our family’s ranch in West Texas which is what we normally do over Spring Break. Hudspeth County, TX is one of the least populated counties in the US so I have to laugh when authorities say to keep a six foot distance from others. Out here it’s closer to six miles!

The Ice Cream Cone, Indian Hot Springs Rd

Anyway, I was supposed to run the Bataan Memorial Death March for my 9th year in a row, but of course it was cancelled. Instead, I signed up for the Charmin Covid-19 Marathon that was run out here in the Chihuahuan Desert. About five of us hearty runners started out at first light for our 26.2 mile adventure.The weather was nice and cool in the morning when we began our run along a dirt road that runs near the border of Mexico. 

Being Time: Sierra Vista Trail 100K

A wise old sage has said that there are 6,400,099,180 moments in each day. One moment is equal to 65 instants and there are 60 moments in one finger snap. So what I wonder is this: how many instants will it take me to run the Sierra Vista Trail 100K? The race is held along the Sierra Vista National Recreation Trail in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Las Cruces, NM. I train frequently on this trail that runs through the desert and parallel to the Organ Mountains. The trail is about 30 miles long so the course is mostly an out-and-back from Las Cruces to Anthony Gap which is almost to the Texas border.

About 25 of us stand around at the starting area on a cloudy cool morning; perfect weather for running a race. After a few thousand moments, the race director sends us on our way where we make a loop around the monument entrance road to spread out the pack before entering the single track trail. The path is mostly smooth and flat in the beginning, a far cry improvement over the 100K I ran a few weeks ago in the Franklin Mountains that had over 12,000 of elevation gain! I stay in the moment enjoying each instant as time propels me towards the finish line. It’s going to be a long day for sure.