I grew up on the outskirts of a tiny little “borough” in the middle of nowhere PA. The area is marginally-famous for being the home of the Little League World Series, having a higher deer population vs human population in the county to the north, and the emerging gravel cycling scene (HERE and HERE amongst endless others). There’s also a stunningly scenic place called World’s End State Park (and the bucket list worthy 57-mile Loyalsock Trail) a mere 21 miles as the crow flies from my childhood home. My point is, I grew up on a hilltop at the end of a winding gravel road in the heart of the rolling Appalachian Mountains. I now appreciate my upbringing in this magical slice of the world with endless “core memories” of outdoor recreation to show for it. 

Across the Years is an Aravaipa Running event offering timed (6-day, 72hr, 48hr, 24hr, 12hr, 6hr), fixed distance (200mi, 100mi, 100K, Marathon), and a Last Runner Standing event at the turn of the new year. It’s a loop course (1.4108 miles with 23 feet of elevation gain per loop) around the Spring Training facility for the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. 

Although I’ve done a few dozen marathons and ultras (mainly 50Ks), I walk rather than run, so I must choose races carefully based upon time cutoffs that I can achieve. Since most 100-mile events have cutoffs, I’d never make, perhaps Aravaipa’s 6-day event would give me enough time to cover 100 miles and get that coveted buckle. I convinced/coerced Sally - who’s a good runner but had never done anything longer than a marathon – into going along, so she registered for the 3-day race with a goal of 50 miles.

After the race, I still find it incredibly hard to decide if I should focus on our own experiences or to simply marvel at the fellow athletes, the event, and the stories that unfolded throughout this amazing experience. I guess I’ll just do a little of both! 

Hi everyone, I’m the HPM flag and I just returned from an amazing trek through parts of Uganda and Rwanda. In honor of the countries I visited, my temporary name - instead of the boring English word “flag” – is Ebendera (in Luganda, one of the Ugandan languages) or Ibendera (in Kinyarwanda language, one of the Rwandan languages). I’ll answer to either one!