The Esperero Chronicles 2008

Here’s a series of accounts of runners’ adventures–

First a tally of participants:

Hello,Following are the final results of last Sunday’s Esperero.I didn’t want anybody left out. This is one for the records.gj

Esperero Canyon Loop; Into the Unknown

I was frankly looking forward to the 2008 edition of Esperero Canyon Loop. Parts of the trail were closed due flooding in 2007, and I hadn’t attempted the loop for several years. Here’s an account with photos (remember the photos are thumbnails–click to see the whole picture).

How I Ran My 15th Old Pueblo and Got a Piece of the Rock

An Essay by gj

My morning started at about 3:45 am the morning of the run. A couple of hours later I was at the start nervously waiting to run 50 miles. Minutes before the run at about 5:55 am, Julie and Duane were presented with a memento for their efforts in putting on the most recent 8 of these Old Pueblo 50 mile runs. Theirs has been one of the best organized ultras in the nation. The course is well marked with 350 lbs. of flour and enough flagging tape to go to the moon and back. This tape is taken off of the course minutes behind the last runner, by Julie and her sweep crew. (In the months between the runs while Duane is out hiking in the mountain snow all Saturday night, Julie actually un-knots this tape and rolls it tightly back on the cardboard spools, making it ready for the next year.) In the past, we relied on the horse people to flag the course. This was always interesting because the front riders would often pull the flags to slow down their competition. But this of course would also send runners off in all directions. One year the run director, who was running (in those days 25 runners would be the norm, so the RD would join in to inflate the numbers), had to tear up his bandana to help mark the course for the runners who followed. Back then, if you were nice, the horse people would let you dip your head in the water troughs. Duane and Julie’s spread was incredible! They actually brought water in from melting glaciers in New Zealand.