A weird urge came over me one evening and I thought to myself, I wonder if there are any local road races this month. This was really strange, because I haven’t run a road race in years; hadn’t even considered it. So anyway, I jumped on the internet to search for races in New Mexico and West Texas and the first thing that popped up was the Cloudcroft Ultra Trail Race coming up in a few weeks. This race is usually held in May and I had no idea it was moved to August because I have, for the most part, turned off social media, news, TV, etc and have been happily living like a hermit while running in the Franklin Mountains.
Well, I was very excited about this gem, because I had recently done some training runs on the Rim Trail in Cloudcroft, NM to get ready for the Mt Taylor 50K next month. So, here I am at the start of the Cloudcroft 53K in the Sacramento Mountains in Lincoln National Forest. According to the race website, “The Rim Trail was the first U.S. Forest Service Trail in New Mexico to be designated as a National Recreation Trail. It is a combination of old Indian paths, railroad grades, homestead trails and logging routes linked together by newer sections built in the 1960’s and beyond.” The course is an out-and-back between 8000’-9500’ elevation with a lollypop loop.
