The trials and tribulations of crewing and pacing “our runner” at the Bigfoot 200 (Noel) Our Bigfoot team consisted of “our runner” James Nalley, our tracker Parker Northrup, pacer Jessica Wilkes, crew/pacer Noel Kingston, crew/pacer Carol Northrup, and Carol’s blue Toyota Tacoma Dory. This would be James’s first 200-mile race as a runner and we were all committed to helping him successfully complete the race. However, this report is not about him – it is from the perspective of his crew and pacers.
Cocodona 250 Race Report
Everyone has their own “why” when tackling such a massive endeavor. Why run/walk/hike/cry/hurt across 250 miles of Arizona?
I can’t remember where I heard it, but it stuck with me; to see what happens.
If you want the short version, here’s what happened; I realized at a new, deep and profound level I am known and loved. By God, through a whole host of wonderful people.
it’s a little personal but I process as I write and journaling about these races helps me collect my thoughts and brings closure
Picture a group floating down the Salt River on a beautiful August day, enjoying the chill day, sun, and water and someone says “so there’s this race thru Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, prettiest ultra in the country, they open up areas that are off limits to tourists just for this race, it sells out super fast, Jasmine you just ran 27 miles on Spruce Mtn you’re totally ready for an ultra, you guys should do it!
The race started off COLD 🥶 we were all huddling around the outdoor heaters that really didn’t help because of the cutting wind. I saw Joe Weightman for two seconds and then as soon as the race started he was gone and I never saw him again (felt just like a normal PATR run with this fast ones just…gone). He finished his first ultra today!!
One of the buses with runners was late so they delayed the start by 15 minutes… longest 15 min of my life given the freezing cold… The first three miles were NOT cool- I was questioning the recommendation to run this particular race.
I’m going to try to keep this shorter than my typical race reports, since my reports tend to turn into ultras themselves!
This was probably my favorite race I’ve ever done, for a number of reasons. For one, I just love the Black Canyon Trail, and to be able to run the majority of it in one chunk is something that has appealed to me for a long time. I’ve had my eye on this race for a number of years now… in 2020, I didn’t feel like I was quite ready for it.
For those that do not know it, I have another life as an event crew member with Aravaipa Running and this last weekend I helped host the Black Canyon Ultras 100K on Saturday and 60K on Sunday.
I camp at Bumblebee Ranch and then work together with a large Aravaipa team to put on the race. There were approximately 1000 runners, their crew, pacers and family counting on our team to show them an amazing weekend.
Man Against Horse
2021-10-09
25 miles
I changed my morning plans several times, finally planning on getting there 30 minutes before the start, but I didn’t really give myself enough time to get ready and ended up pulling into the ranch with less than 15 minutes until the start. I didn’t know what to expect as far as parking, so I was pretty worried. There was almost no organization to the parking so, somehow, I ended up about 20 feet from the starting line!