Treasure Hunting at the Ski Swap

An early visit to this weekend's Ski Swap this morning yielded two pairs of new poles, a helmet, and a pair of Rossignol cross country skis. The Missus walked away empty-handed, but I think I covered us both.

Seemed like all of Santa Fe was there.  Saw Judge Wechsler, Will and Rochelle, Josh and Rhonda, some Outside Magazine editors - and of course we were there.  I wish I could have ordered up some storm clouds.

We placed several bids in the silent auction for a chance at a bit more treasure.  I think a night in Taos was one, and a half-day river rafting was another. Word.

Colorado is receiving snow and has a few resorts up and running if only a few lifts.  Wolf Creek opened on an abbreviated schedule on Nov. 5th.  The resorts in Summit County are also open.  Crested Butte and Durango will open on Thanksgiving. 



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   Nov. Events Calendar

Nov. Events Calendar

Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works is sponsoring another cool event, the 5th Annual Reel Rock Film Tour.  There will be a 730pm screening tonight (11/11) at the shop.  The production is a compilation of top bouldering and rock-climbing short films, produced and sponsored by Sender Films, Sangre de Cristo Mtn Works, the Santa Fe Climbing Center, and the Santa Fe Brewing Company.  Admission is $10, and SFBrewing will be supplying their new canned beers. 

Along similar lines is this week's Santa Fe Ski Swap, Fri-Sun at the Genoveva Chavez Center.  Admission is $25 on Friday, $2 Sat., and free on Sun.  I know I'm in the market for a helmet and some cross-touring gear this season.  I'm also in the market for a lot of cold white fluffy stuff, and one of those canned beers they'll be having at that Mtn Works event. 

Running related events include the upcoming Fowl Day Run 5K, on Sat. 11/20 at Fort Marcy Park.  The Girls on the Run crew will be there which is always fun. Like always, donations of food and clothing, or a contribution to the Salvation Army (on-site) are requested in lieu of registration fees - one of the reasons why this is such a great run.  The course is laid out a lot more like a tough cross-country race than a road run (another reason), and the prizes handed out include lots of pumpkin pies and donated gear from REI (yet another reason). Get me some of that.

The Atalaya Turkey Trot 5K is Thanksgiving morning (11/25).  This race may be the largest 5K run in the city, with a field of 400+ runners. Competition seemed particularly tight up-front last year.  They do a great job, it's a great event to see everyone you've raced against during the year, and the money raised all goes to the school.  This is the last large area run until January.

Weather reports for this week are calling for snow up above tree-line.  Homeys better have their story straight or I'm going to be severely disappointed. 


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Arroyo Hondo Open Space

Marching west

Arroyo Hondo County Open Space
Singletrack and hardpack
7,050-7,100 ft. elevation
5 miles of trails

***

I'm not getting in the running I'd hoped for with this beautiful late fall weather we've had, but I have had plenty of time to wander around on the trails nonetheless.  We drove out to the Arroyo Hondo Open Space on Saturday.  The last time we'd brought our dog Lucy out there the valley floor was flooded with snow melt.  This trail is a favorite of mine because there's zero traffic, unusual head-high willows and reeds to run through, and the buried ruins of an old Pueblo site. 

Luce ran around scouting all the suspect rocks and tree branches.  I pointed out all the visible landmarks and cool views as well as rocks and other obstacles that have laid me low in previous visits.
Down at the arroyo floor there is a permanent spring where we scared up a large amount of birds.  They made all types of sounds and noise as they moved through the willows. We thought for a minute there were a couple larger animals in there but it was just one large group of birds moving at once.

We made it back to the car before it got too dark.  Daylight savings gone until the Spring.  Lucy had a riot of a time.

Arroyo Hondo Pueblo site in the distance

Cat-tail and the reed forest

Luce and tree in silhouette

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View Arroyo Hondo Open Space, Trail Map - Santa Fe in a larger map

Fall Marathons - Athens and NYC

My determined ex-pat brother trained through the MidEastern summer heat to run last Sunday's Athens Marathon in Greece (10/31).  The race route literally traveled from Marathon to Athens, finishing in the Olympic stadium.  It's not a very old event (dating back to the 2004 Athens Olympics, a la Keflezighi and Kastor racing to the medal stand), however this running was the 2500^th anniversary of the marathon itself, Pheidipiddes' run to Athens to announce the defeat of the Persians. 

To the consternation of my parents, the family can add one more marathon finish to our growing tally.  Major Brennan came in at 3hrs 54min (3:57 start time) besting his previous and only other finishing time of 4hrs+ from the Rwanda Peace Marathon in Kigali, where he was soundly beaten by a one-legged land-mine survivor on handmade crutches.  He's come a long way since then but the first marathon is always the most difficult so it seems.  Clean pair of heels bro!

Sub four, son

Getting back to Mr. Keflezgihi, he's going to be out in the Five Boroughs this weekend defending his title at New York.  The other U.S. contender, Dathan Ritzenhein, had apparently been training in Albuquerque a few weeks back.  These two go up against the Emperor himself, world record holder Haile Gebrselassie in his first marathon on American soil.  There will be a contingent of fleet and relatively unknown east Africans there looking for these men to falter. 

Caroline Rotich of Santa Fe's AmeriKenyan-New Balance running club will be toeing the line in the elite women's field.  Battling Caroline will be American contender Shalane Flanagan, and several big names from overseas.  Caroline's only other attempt at the distance resulted in a late race victory at the Las Vegas Rock n Roll marathon last December, so with a good race she ought to be mixing it up in the lead pack.  

I know Marc Esposito is heading out there and plans to be in the wave start battling it out with Chilean miner Edison Pena.  Espo had a solid summer of training and I've got to believe he'll run Pena into the ground (take that, Oakley glasses man).  Surely I'm leaving out several other local names that will be in New York this weekend, add them to the comment field if you know of any.  Live athlete tracking can be found here.

Update:  Area results - Caroline Rotich finished the race eighth overall in 2hr 29min, 90sec off the winning time.  Marc crushed the Chilean miner with a 2:56 effort. Anilisa Sandoval ran 3:26, Maryann Kos 3:35, Talee Roberts 4:12.  If we're leaving anyone out please add them in the comments. 


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View New York City Marathon - Five Boroughs New York in a larger map

Glorieta Mesa

John, Todd, and I rode up and along Glorieta Mesa on Sunday morning.  Nice morning for a ride considering it was the end of October.

Had a couple mechanicals but our repair gear won the day.  From a couple isolated overlooks we could see the south profile of the Truchas Peaks with Lake Peak and SF Baldy lined up just to the west.


Didn't see much wildlife, but we did see plenty of woodcutters filling their trucks with fresh cords of firewood.  Made the air smell like pine and cedar. 

Todd riding along the jeep track

Roundtrip:  2.5 hrs; 25mi


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mechanical break

Truchas Overlook - The peaks are washed out of this photo

Hamilton Mesa

View Glorieta Mesa in a larger map