2010 Trail Race Series Update

All of the 2010 Trail race series are set, renew your membership and sign up now!!

This year we are hosting the MN Trail Race Series, the Fab 5 Fifities, the Gnarly Bandit, as well as an all new 5k series.

Member of the Month: Valeria(Val) La Rosa

What's your favorite race or training run?   
My favorite race is Superior Trail 50 Mile. There's nothing like the Superior Hiking Trail (especially in the Fall time); the race director and volunteers are amazing, and the group of runners is very friendly. I love running technical trails, single track and like the challenge of the hills ("How many can I not walk?"). For a while now Larry has been trying to convince me to run Sawtooth. Each year, when crossing the finish line for the 50 miler, I wonder how it is that some runners are capable of doubling that distance in this trail. I hope to be able to find an answer to this question this coming September!

Tell about a memorable training run or race.  

There are actually two races.

I will never forget last year’s Voyageur (50 mile). I was having a fun race, and not worrying too much about my position or placement. With 9 miles to go and not much left in me, I took some time to rest at one of the aid stations. As I was getting ready to leave, one of the volunteers warned me that there was a lady runner coming, and apparently running fast. I was in 3rd place at the moment and was willing to leave it all out on the trail to keep it that way. I immediately took off and did not turn around to see who she was. No matter how fast and hard I ran, people would tell me that she was just 30 to 40 seconds behind me. I would turn around but could not see her. I started to doubt they were telling the truth - maybe they just wanted to see me run faster...? That went on for the remainder of the race. I actually felt kind of bad because I couldn't even thank volunteers for being there. There was no time to stop at aid stations!


Just as I was approaching the paved bike trail two young kids got really close behind, so I asked them if they had seen a lady approaching me. They said "she's right here!". I don't know where my energy came from, but as soon as I reached the paved trail I started to “run for my life.” I was finally able to see her once she reached the paved trail. I didn't know how much she had left in her, so I gave it all. I crossed the finish line first, but she was so close behind (and worked so hard!)  
that we should have shared the third place. I finally learned that this amazing runner was Kim Martin, and the two kids were her lovely children. I am thinking that, if I ever get as lucky as I did to be ahead of Kim, and her kids are close by, their answer will be different.

The other race I will never forget was last year’s Superior Trail 50 Mile. It was the happiest race I have ever ran. 

Do you have a piece of gear or shoe that you love? 
I have a favorite water bottle that a good friend of mine gave me - it is my good luck charm! 
My favorite shoe is Salomon Lab2 XT Wings. Very light and flexible. They are great on technical trails! I love them!!

What do you crave when you're out on the trail for hours?  
Towards the end of a long race I crave a good Argentine asado (BBQ), but as those are hard to find around here, a nice and juicy mushroom Swiss burger usually does it. Something I hate to admit I sometimes crave is beef jerky. I really don’t like it... it must be all that salt! 

What advice do you have for new trail runners?
Not sure I should be giving advice, but here are a couple of things that work for me / try to do:

  • Find good friends to run with
  • Run lots of hills
  • Practice yoga / hot yoga
  • Something that helps me as I run is thinking about the phrase from the book “Born To Run”: Easy, light, smooth and fast.
  • Most importantly: Run Happy!

What's the trail or race you dream of trying?  
Well, there’s more than one. Here are a few: Gore-Tex Trans Rockies and Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run, Hard Rock, Leadville, Wasatch Front 100 Mile, The North Face Challenge 50 Mile San Francisco (hopefully this year…) and Columbia Cruce de los Andes. This last one starts in Argentina and ends in Chile. I love the Andes and grew up hiking them. I can't wait to run them!

 

UMTR: Who Are We?

Upper Midwest Trail Runners are looking for runners to be part of our new Member of the Month profile. It's an easy way to tell other runners about yourself, maybe meet new running partners, or find out more about that runner who always finishes ahead of you. If you'd like to sign up or know of another runner who you want to hear more about, email Steve Quick. Steve will send out seven quick questions that runners can answer online, and then we'll post the responses. Don't be bashful, sign up now.

About Our Wiki

Our site is a bit different than other running club sites because we've opened certain pages on our site for our members to edit; after all, it's our members who make up the community of Upper Midwest Trail Runners. After you submit your membership, you'll be granted access to the collaborative pages on the site, including the activity calendar, a list of trails in the upper midwest, internet resources, and an event archive. We're using a wiki to accomplish this purpose and we hope you find it easy to participate. And don't worry about messing things up; it's just as easy to correct mistakes as it is to make them. Note that our wiki does not use an invite key. After you receive the email from the wiki site, establish your own username and password to use the wiki in the future.