Just had a great time volunteering for the Capitol Peak 50, thought I'd share my experience. I had the best job, driving a van around supporting the aid stations. My day started out at 4:45 am directing traffic for parking, then, just before the start, I took the drop bags to aid station #2, when I returned, ran up the trail a couple of hundred yards to post a directional sign and scare some deer, then ran up the trail again with Craig Dickson and posted a string of poem signs further up the trail. Next I led Glen Tachiyama up to Capitol peak to show him were to take pictures, dropped off a couple "Runners on the road" signs on the way up. I checked in with the aid station at the peak to make sure all the signs were in the right place, then Glen and I hiked up the road to the back side of the peak where I posted another string of poem signs on the grunt(see Photo) and where I think I tweaked my Achilles on my right foot:( Our timing was great, the first runner came though after we were all set. I then drove down to the Wedekind aid station to find out that aid workers for A7 already picked up their stuff and were gone, and Steve Cullen was all loaded up and ready to go to A8. So I left a drop bag for A8with Steve, and drove down to A7 to leave the rest of the drop bags. I hung out for awhile waiting for the first runner through, then I headed back to Wedekind where I found out that Steve was lost and the volunteers only had one bottle of water with them. So I grabbed some supplies and headed down there. Fortunately, Steve found the spot, and they were all set up when I got there. I spent some time at Wedekind, helping out at the aid station, which was great since I actually rarely see any runners in my travels. I hung out until a few minutes after Clem, the sweep, went through, then went down to A7 to pick everything up. By the time Clem showed up, we had everything packed up in the van and everyone could go. After stopping briefly at Wedekind, I headed to A8, packed it up, and sent the volunteers home early, then waited about an hour for Clem. He decided to stop since the last runner had already past Wedekind, so I gave him a ride back to Wedekind. Then we packed up the gear and headed back to the Start. After some food and beer, and watching the last runners finish. I helped pack up the rest of the gear and we were all out of there before dark! It was a great experience, thanks to John's planning, most everything went off with out a hitch, and most importantly, I think the runners had a great experience. I managed to injure myself more than if I had run the race, so I guess this means at least a week off for me!

With the SunRiver Marathon coming up late June, I thought I should start training on the roads. So last Sunday, James Varner and I ran the middle half of the Capitol City Marathon course. James is planning on running the marathon which is the day after MacDonald Forest. He ran the last half of the course the day before with Dave Mora. (That is Dave Mora who won the Goodwill Games marathon!) I wasn't planning on running hard, so we took off and I settled into my normal 8 min/mile pace that doesn't speed up or slow down no matter how hard I try. The middle of the course has alot of hills or as the brochure would say, scenic and rolling. James just cruised along as I struggled on the hard surface, but we kept a steady pace until we ran into Matt at about mile 14, he was out training for the marathon also. We chatted for a bit, but when we started back up to run, I was stiff as a board! Took alittle bit to warm up but we finished strong and I think we both felt we had a good work out, James figured we went about 16 miles. I was really sore afterwards and had a twing of a strain on my hamstring, but after running today, Tuesday, I feel fine. Seems that I need to hit the roads for some long runs to get my body use to the pavement.

I was really looking forward to running my third Peterson Ridge Rumble since it was the first ultra I ran three years ago. However, our family plans included a few days in Sunriver during spring break then I had to drive my in-laws back early Sunday :( So close, but so far away! But, Clem LaCava posted on the NW list that he wanted to run the Saturday before the rumble at Smith Rock Park, so we arranged to meet up Sat morning at 9:00 in Terrabonne for a 2hr run. Local Curt Ringstad joined us and we car pooled in his truck to save on the $3 parking fee. The run started out in a lite rain (isn't it always supposed to be sunny in Central Oregon?), but the weather improved as we ran. Since Curt and Clem were old hands at running at Smith Rock, they discussed several options and decided to run the opposite direction they usually would do, so we hung a left at the rocks and did a clockwise loop. The run was fantastic, the scenery was incredible and it was great listening to Clem and Curt catching up on what was going on in the local ultra scene and discussing Western States strategies and Curt's constant stops to point out blooming desert flowers and points of interest and history. The highlight for me was standing on the top of the ridge next to the famous Monkey Face rock, directly across from climbers half way up the climb. It seemed like they were only about 50 ft away! You could sit there and talk to them if you wanted. I can't believe after visiting Bend 2-3 times a year for the last 12 years, I never visited Smith Rock Park, now I will!