Cave Creek Marathon Fun Run

The 7th annual Cave Creek Trail Marathon Fun Run...

Dallas and I headed up Northeast of Phoenix again for our 2nd running of this course. We had to leave at 4:30 am to get there for a 7:30 start.



Last year, we went as friends....



This year, we went as a couple...

Catching up with all of our Phoenix area peeps before the run!



Jody Chase was the Run Director.

She came down from Lake City, CO to RD the run!

Here is her report from the WRMC site (with pictures inserted by me!):

The weather was perfect for running. Chilly at the start and then warming slowly to 70 degrees with intermittent clouds. The water crossings were low and the trails were in fairly decent condition this year.



Last year, we had a lot of water crossings - our feet just stayed wet...



Hardly any winter rains this year...

Dallas, me and Stephanie

There were quite a few return runners from previous years and some new runners to make things interesting. Jamil raced in first again this year and lowered his time from last year by 24 minutes. Nick, his brother, came in second and Andrew took the third spot. For the women, Honey ran in as first women and also bettered her time by 15 minutes from last year. Stephanie took second place and Renee from Tucson rounded out third.

Renee ran the entire way this year with Dallas, whom is also from Tucson. Renee told me an interesting story after she finished. Renee and Dallas carpooled from Tucson last year. They were just friends and chatted all the up to Cave Creek, ran the run separately and then chatted all the way back to Tucson. After my run, they continued to stay in touch and talked frequently. So much so that during the holidays of 2010, Dallas asked Renee to marry him. She gladly accepted and they are planning a spring wedding in 2011. Congratulations Renee and Dallas. I'm glad I played a small part in bringing those two together.

{You did Jody - thank you!!!}

I have raised enough money from last years race and this years race to be able to help Desertfoothills Land Trust buy two acres of land with the money raised from donations from the CCTR. DFLT are $700,000 strong and still gaining by fundraising the necessary monies to buy up the surrounding land around Spur Cross and Cave Creek Park. Right now, the land could be sold for development. Let's hope they are able to buy the land before developers do.

Thank you to everyone that got up early and came out to enjoy the day. Hope to see you next year for the 2012 Cave Creek Trail Marathon Fun Run.

Thanks again everyone, it was a pleasure. Jody Chase

Well, that's pretty much the story! Dallas and I went up there last year as friends, and this year as an engaged couple!

Total time: 6:57

Distance: 26.83 miles (we took a slight detour for a few minutes)

AEG: 3,550 ft. This is elevation corrected using Garmin Connect, so it should be pretty accurate. It felt like more than that, I think because much of the climbing seems to be isolated to some steep sections.

Great food at the aid station!!!!

Dallas and I were 20th and 21st out of 33 finishers. My time was longer than last year. [Bummer...sigh] I am still dealing with a shin issue, which slowed me down a bit - otherwise, I'm not sure? I thought that many steep downhill sections had more loose scree-type rock than last year, which made it hard for me to want to run the downhills with abandon. I still ran pretty good when I could.

This run is so hard! We got really hacked up from catclaw, and the trails at points were loaded with ball-bearing rocks.

I'm getting pretty sick of it by now. Just ask Dallas. :\

There are some steep climbs, but lots of runnable trails. Some sections go through riverbed washes, but there were some neat tree covered areas that we enjoyed a lot.

Oh, and we saw a dead cow. :( It wasn't good. We smelled it before we saw it.

Yes, we took a pic of the dead cow, but I'll spare you that.

We visited with everyone afterwards, which was great. So lucky to know a few runners up there now - Honey, Jeff, Jamil, Nick, Stephanie, Jody, and Robert. 

We got back on the road down to Tucson (2.5 hour drive) and stopped at In 'N Out Burger in Casa Grande, just like we did last year. Dallas said I impressed him last year, because I ate two burgers and fries!! (Hey, a girl that can eat!)

Last year, after I dropped Dallas back off in Tucson, he emailed me and said, "Thanks for the scratched up legs and the sunburned face!"

This year, Dallas emailed me at work the next day and said about Cave Creek, "A year since the day I walked on clouds!  Thank you for asking me if I'd like to go with you on this run last year.  It truly, forever changed both of our lives!"

And, that's Cave Creek for ya. You are welcome, Dallas. :)