My 15 minutes of fame

The Tulsa World, our local newspaper, recently called RunnersWorld and were wanting to interview an ultra runner to do a story on those crazy people who run longer distances. Kathy would have been a good candidate for the article. Brian suggested they call me....something about me being long winded???

The reporter, Cary Aspinwall, is a runner herself, and asked a lot of pertinent questions. We visited for over an hour over coffee while she took several pages of notes. (Never understood shorthand....looks all Greek to me.)

A photographer from the World met me at mile 24 of the Turkey and Taturs 50K and with her two huge high-tech cameras took several pictures, trying, I am sure, to get one that somehow made me look more like a gifted runner should look. In the end, she used one where I looked like a 50 year old geezer....wait, I AM a 50 year old geezer!

Actually, I was thrilled and flattered to be the focus of their story. You can view the story online by clicking on the following link.

CLICK HERE

Possible breakthrough for trail shoes

Why Mud Doesn’t Stick - Dr Yuying Yan
(TZ's comments in italics.)

Earthworms and dung beetles could hold the answer to sticky engineering problems according to Dr Yuying Yan of Nottingham University who is working with Colleagues at Jilin University in China on a Royal Society International Joint Project, to understand how good design from nature can be applied in engineering. (And trail running.)

Dr Yuying Yan, a thermofluid scientist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Nottingham, is interested in biomimetics how we can use the natural solutions that plants and animals have developed throughout evolution to address the problems that scientists and engineers (and trail runners) face today. In particular, he is currently interested in the special anti-adhesion qualities of soil animals such as earthworms or dung beetles which enable them to burrow through moist soil without mud sticking to them, with the hope that these mechanisms could be used to develop longer lasting and more efficient agricultural equipment and stirring blades (and running shoes.)

If you move machinery through moist soil, adhesive forces between the soil and the machinery make the soil stick, causing resistance, increasing energy consumption and reducing the quality of the work (or run.) At the same time however, soil doesn't seem to adhere to some burrowing animals. We are trying to find out why not, explains Dr Yan.

In 2003, Dr Yan was awarded a Royal Society Grant for an International Joint Project to enable collaboration with one of the Chinese pioneers of Biomimetics Professor Luquan Ren from Jilin University. While much experimental study and biomimetic design has been carried out in Jilin University in the course of the last few years, the mechanism of anti adhesion and the potential for design based on this mechanism remained largely unexplored. With the support of the Royal Society's international grant, Dr Yan has visited the laboratory at Jilin University in 2003 and 2004 to work with his collaborators in analyzing experimental data; and Professor Ren and his assistants have in return visited Nottingham. Dr Yan feels that he is making real progress thanks to the collaboration and has now developed techniques to simulate the surface interactions which could provide useful models to help us understand the complex biomimetics problems (like why the mud on the Powerline trail cakes up with 10 friggin pounds of mud per shoe!)

Dr Yan commented: We now have a much better understanding of the mechanism by which an earthworm is capable of anti-soil-adhesion. Earthworms and dung beetles carry bioelectricity of a few millivolts, so when they move in the moist soil, a microscopic electro-osmotic system is formed. This drives the water in the moist soil to the surface of the animal, forming a micro layer of liquid which, along with secretions from the animal, lubricate the surface.

An electro-osmotic system requiring 12 volts of electricity has now been designed at Jilin University to enable this principle to be tested for engineering applications. (Can trail running shoes be far behind?) As a thermofluids scientist, I have spent quite a few years studying the conventional problems of fluid flow and heat transfer in heat exchangers and the process industry; the study of biomimetics has indeed broadened my thinking. Now I am focusing on more of the interactions between the surfaces of biological bodies and their surrounding environment, and thinking about how this can be applied to a wider range of engineering applications. It is really challenging and could have a great impact in the engineering world. (And an even bigger impact to ultra runners.)

Turkey and Taturs 2009

Turkey and Taturs has come and gone. For a race that revered Race Director Brian Hoover was worried about, this 4th running went off like greased mud. We had 210 people sign up, and 200 finishers. We had rain, we had mud, we had slow times, and a lot of fast times too. And we had FUN!

My day started at 3:30 when after slapping the alarm clock silly, I rolled out of bed and puled my runnin' duds on. I planned to take a very early start to check the course markings. Somehow, I thought if I could get a 2 hour and 30 minute head start, I could beat the front runners to the starting line. What was I thinking???? That I could run 15.5 miles, and tie ribbons, remark trails where mountain bikers had blown through the caution tape, and do so with only a 150 minute head start?? Did not happen. I left at 4:15 am, equipped with pink ribbon, signs with directional arrows, some tacks, a small hammer, my water bottle strapped to my wrist, my Shot Bloks, camera, and that's about it. 1/2 mile into the course, I saw eyes in the woods. Of course, my innerds jumped through my throat after seeing the big cat a couple days earlier. I did take this picture.There were two sets of eyes, and I knew immediately it was not the mountain lion, and in fact it was a couple of deer. It was slow going as I had to remark around a 1/4 mile of trail where some people are illegally camping on one of the hills. I think they are homeless people, and have trashed up their area in a major way. I am thinking they thought they could divert the race from going by their site by pulling ribbons? Several pink ribbons were missing through this section. Also, one intersection had the caution tape moved to divert runners to a wrong trail. Either that, or I marked it wrong the previous day, which I doubt. There were two other areas where someone had broke through the caution tape marking off wrong turns even though we had drooped the tape low on the ground. But it was all fixed. That was the plan. I reached the second aid station, and the first that had people at it (since I had started so early) and I was the second runner through. It was kind of cool to be at that point in the course and running with the gazelles. I was at 7 miles, and had taken 3:48 to get there. I decided that I would dump the back pack, the hammer, nails, and signs, and just go with some pink ribbon to fix problem areas. Turns out, I only needed ribbon at one further intersection. Now I could run, and picked up my 32 minute pace to a nice 16 minute per mile average. I was just slow this day. All during the race, I was passed.
I passed no one at all, except my foe from last year who looks like he had decided to just pack it in.
The rain began about 7:30 am. It rained heavy for maybe 10 minutes, and then lightly for a couple of hours. I have ran this race before in the rain, and the more it rains, the better the mud. There are several different kinds of mud on Turkey Mountain. Worst of all is the nasty clay which clumps to your feet and acts like leg weights. The Powerline trail has some of this, and the trail between the ridge and Ho-chi (some call it the Hi-chi) has some darker clay-like mud. This trail is usually one of the toughest anyway due to the rocks, but was a major workout due to the pounds and pounds of med on the shoes. Then there is mud that might dirty your shoes but nothing else, and mud that is only in water puddles. On the west side, we had a few miles of mud that was like tar. It stuck to your shoes, but it did not cake up. Instead, it was sticky, slimy, and slick. (We'll call it 3-S mud, although some people had other names for it.) The downhills were treacherous unless you treated them like a ski slope. Going back up was like going up a downward escalator, but one covered with slimy mud.

One of the cool things about this race, is that the 50Kers do the second loop in reverse. (No, they do not run backwards.) A slow poke like me gets to see all the people as they come back on their second loop. With my 2:15 head-start, I found that I actually had a few people still behind me, and most of them passed me.Kathy and Jason motored along all day through the rain and fog.
My nephew Jeff caught me at the halfway point, and ran a mile or so with me before going on ahead.

The start/finish area was abuzz as all the 10Kers and 25Kers were through and a party atmosphere was in full tilt. I briefly thought about stopping, but remembered that I was trying to make this 3 marathons in 2 weeks, and made my self head back out. I had a hamburger in hand as I started back up the hill and into the woods. At one point, just before Jeff left me in the dust, we came upon a treadmill some !!%@#))#SOB%*@! had dumped. I told Jeff that the 50K course was about a quarter mile short, and he had to run the shorted mileage on the treadmill.(Oh well, thought it might have made a good pic.)

Finally, after I was 1.5 miles out from the start, I met Lisa. I was 3 miles ahead of her, and I was worried about her finishing.Turns out, I again underestimated her. She is one tough runner and does not know the meaning of quit. If I had been able to do UN-fuzzy math, I would have realised that I had a 2:15 hour head-start, and now she was only 3 miles behind me. In the end, she finished only 8 minutes behind me. And I thought I ran fairly well my last loop!


Soon afterward, I was caught by Cindy, who is a regular in the RunnersWorld group.She had done a ton of marathons, and at least one other 50K, as well as a few trail races. But this was her first TRAIL 50K, and did she ever pick out a hard one to do. I was glad to have her company, and she had me running a little faster than I might have otherwise. She later said that she was dreading the 2nd loop. Good conversation makes the run go faster.

All the aid stations were good, but the one Bobby, Susan, and Christen were at was my fave.As has become a custom, Bobby has a secret stash of beer for me my 2nd trip through. No pics of me downing that wonderful barley-and-hops flavored gatorade, but my buddy Tom posed for a pic with his drink of choice!I blogged late last night, and in my sleepy stupor, I forgot to thank my friend Bobby for his awesome "crew-babe" duties. Thank you, Bobby, Susan, and Christen, and thank you Blogspot for allowing updates!


On and on, miles and miles we went.Some years, sections like this are the worst Turkey throws at you. This year, the mud made it much more of a challenge.

Finally, after 9:33 for Cindy, and 11:48 for me, we made it to the finish line. This was my slowest 50K ever, although I think I could have run a 9:00ish if I did not have to mess with the course markings.We still had friends waiting for us at the finish line and crossed the finish hearing shouts of praise and applause. Life was good!

Dana worked her hiney off cooking hamburgers and was the refueling queen of the finish line.She had a burger in my hand within 22 seconds of my finish, and worked flipping patties and literally putting out fires all day long.

I had trouble deciding between eating a hamburger, hot dog, or the sloppy Joes that Vicky brought. I ended up eating all three! All were delicious, but the SJs were the best! Thanks Vicky....you were right, and I was glad there was some when I finished!

Kathy guards the beer keg!


Lisa wins an age group award!


As do Cindy and Kathy! Hey, I run with fast women!


Three Superstars who are all now 5-Star Marathon Maniacs!!!!


Now let the Zombie sleep!


One last pic. I knew I was having toe problems and had taped my pinky in advance.Believe it or not though, it is 99% better now, and I ran tonight with no pain at all.

Next year, Turkey and Taturs will be bigger and better than ever. It will mark the return of Dana's chili, and more wonderful junk food that runners can eat guilt-free after finishing their race.

An amazing story

This evening I worked on pre-marking the course for Turkey and Taturs. I started around 4:30. The going was a little slow, as my legs are still a little stiff, my little piggie on my right foot is a solid blister, and it was pretty muddy in places. Jason and Lisa met me about 6:30, and we got a game plan together, and we all went northward on different trails. I was 2/3 of the way to the end of my trail when I got a call from Lisa. She was unsure whether or not she was marking the correct trail. I was sure she was, but decided to run back to where she was to make sure. By the time I got there, it was getting too dark to go further north, and we headed back to the car to get our lights for another pass on the trails in the dark. Jason called, and I advised him to come back south on the power line trail since it is out in the open and I thought it should have been light enough to make it back, and besides, there were only two intersections to mark. Dana met Lisa and I at the parking lot with fresh batteries for Lisa's headlamp, and also brought us some McDonald's snack wraps....YUM. I thought we should drive to the top of Elwood and meet Jason there since by now it was pitch dark and had begun to rain. At the top, Lisa called Jason, and he said he was no longer on the power line trail, but had cut into the woods because he came up on some people who he thought were acting suspicious. It was dark as sin, and he was a little freaked out, but he said he had to keep moving. Dana and Lisa went back down to the lower parking lot, and I took off looking for him, based on where Lisa thought he was. When I reached a point where I was fairly close to the lower parking lot, I decided to call to see if Jason had made it there already, He answered his cell phone, and told me we was still on top of the mountain, past the shale area, past the long rocky climb, and on some single track. I then headed back towards where I thought he was. Five minutes later, I heard him call out to me, and I then saw the reflections from the piping on his running shorts and the faint glow of the light from his cell phone. He was glad to see my headlamp.

We talked for a minute or less, and I looked up, to the south from where we were standing, and I saw a couple of eyes shining back at me. I asked Jason if he saw it, but he was standing maybe six feet away and the angle of my light was not illuminating the eyes from his angle. The eyes were about 3 feet off the ground, and quickly I ruled out raccoon and possum, and I was thinking deer.I took a few steps closer, and say that the animal was tan....like a deer, and then it took a step, and I saw the muscular hind leg, followed by a long thick tail. Then it turned to look my way again, and I saw the profile of a majestic mountain lion. It took a few more steps and was in plain sigh, and then disappeared into the thicket. I was maybe 15 feet from it.

Jason never saw it. It made absolutely no sound at all when it walked. Then I got to thinking....what was it doing that close to us? Jason had walked a mile or so in total darkness, and I am sure this cat was stalking him. It moved away when it saw my head lamp, or maybe it thought that tackling two of us was more of a challenge than it wanted.

We made our way down, and chose to stay nearer to the road coming down Lipbuster. We also decided to forgo any further course marking at night.

I know I am guilty of telling a tall tale from time to time. In this case, there was no need to stretch the truth at all. This was just too amazing. On one hand, I was fascinated by this bid beautiful cat. On the other hand, it could have easily taken us out.

Now, more than ever, I need help getting the Turkey and Taturs course marked. I'll be back at the crack of dawn to hopefully finish pre-marking the turns, and then I hope to have an army of ribbon tie-ers Saturday morning at 7:00 am. Big cats are nocturnal and usually hunt at night.

reading for breakfast clear into lunch

Ok, I am back from my vacation/double marathon outing. I am wiped out, tired, grouchy, achy, sleepy....sounds like at least half of the 7 dwarfs. I have a ton of pics, and looking at mine and others, I think I need to take a photography class. Maybe my waterproof camera is not so sweat proof? I sure got a lot of fuzzy shots.

Thought I'd start at the start and put a few shots of each day. If you are reading this whilst eating breakfast, have the cook throw a couple more pancakes on the griddle....you're gonna need them."All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go. I'm standing here right by the door. Already I'm so lonesome I could cry...." NOT!!!! Twas excited to be going OUTA TOWN....especially to the MOUNTAINS!!

Who says western Oklahoma is boring. I actually prefer driving out that way through the panhandle over b o r i n g western Kansas.Stopped to have a pee at Gloss Mountains somewhere between here and nowhere.


Sort of a "badland" area, and a stairway to the top of a butte. Of course, I had to go take a peek. Altitude was near 4000 feet, and honestly, I was huffing and puffing climbing to the top. Gotta quit smoking!



Yup, this is Oklahoma. There was a trail across the top of this mesa, which went on for a mile +/-, maybe more.

We made it on to Boise City, the western-most city in Oklahoma, and found all the sidewalks in town rolled up. A Pizza Hut was open and the manager seemed to growl as we walked in, fully an hour before their posted closing time. The waitress was an attractive and friendly girl a good 6'4" tall, and of course, I blurped out "Duh...how tall are yew?"
"6'4"," she says.
"Ya play basketball?" (I am quite the conversationalist, huh?)
Turns out she was a senior and is being recruited by ORU. I was impressed enough that I left a slightly better than average tip. No pics here.

Then we drove on through the darkness into Colorado, across the plains. ended up in Lamar at an overpriced understaffed Best Western which had NO continental breakfast. No pics, no tips, but no ticks either.

It was an easy drive on into Colorado Springs. See the post below for a briefing of the fun we had with Steve and Kathleen.We ran garden of the Gods, ate dinner with them twice. They were gracious enough to pick of a wheel barrel of race packets for all of our group.

We did the usual tourist thing. Dana had to stop to check out a local artist who was a chainsaw wizard. (Yup, we bought one.)
This "trail" is an old railroad bed that a cog train used to use to climb this ultra-steep mountain. The railroad ties serve as steps, and the incline is climbs 3,000 feet while covering a mile, and at times is at a 68% grade. I am just not sure how anyone climbs this virtual stair-master. Kathleen uses this trail on a weekly basis. I had the grand idea to give it a go after finishing my 2nd marathon on Monday morning, but quickly dismissed the idea after experiencing advance rigor mortise after the 2nd race.

As mentioned in a previous blogpost, we drove up Pikes Peak.An actual pic of Dana smiling. She was not a happy camper during the trek up.Near the top.On the way down.No guard rails.

Saturday morning, we drove south through the desert wasteland of eastern Colorado and northern New Mexico. It was a long drive, but we always had the mountains in view just to the west. I would have rather drove THROUGH the mountains, but if we had, we would have never made it to Albuquerque at a decent hour, let alone in time to pick up Sandra, Brian, and Kathy at the airport. We did make it in time, and I had just sat down to a mediocre Soy latte at the airport when some dude walked up and put his camera in my face.Turns out Bobby, Susan, Russell, and Christin had drove out on a whim to cheer us on, and run the half marathon in NM. I was flabbergasted.

We had to get up at 3:30 am to catch a bus to the starting line. The buses started leaving at 4:00, and Brian always like to be EARLY! So, we were at the start fully an hour before the start of the race. Would have like to slept a little more.What a great group of RunnersWorld Runners!
TZ keeps some weird company!
We weren't the only crazy ones though.
It was a nine mile gradual climb along the base of Sandia Mountain, then finally we turned down a nice long downhill.I really made up some time during this section. Of course, all of the runners ran this downhill well, but I did manage to pass a dozen or so people. when I hit the bottom of the hill, I was toasted. The remainder of the race was flat, but with the temps getting into the upper 70s and low 802, I was slowed to a run/walk regimen. I did stop at a couple of quickie stores to get some ice in my bottle as the aid stations were serving piping hot water and Gatorade. Yuck.

At one point, I passed a speed trap that was monitoring the driver's speeds. My speed was also recorded.

I finished in something like 5:34. Slower than I had hoped, but nothing was broke, and I was still mobile.All of our group finished although most were a little slower than they had hoped. A couple of notable exceptions were that of Russell, who PR'd in the half marathon, and Rachel, who ran her 1st full, and ran a 4:00:02. WTG!!

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Day Two of the double meant a long drive to Colorado Springs. 380 miles to be exact. We chatted it up all the way back, playing cell phone games between the two cars. Such nerds we are. Another early morning, another bus to catch. We were at the starting line right at sun-up. However, I was in the back of a porta-potty line as the start time neared, and taking my turn as the starting gun went off. So, as I emerged from the wonderful plastic paradise, the race was already in progress, and I was in a familiar last place before even taking a step.No worries though....no need to hurry.A good deal of the trail was on an old railroad bed, a nice soft surface of crushed stone.An almost full moon was chased from the sky by a warming sun.Several trains passed us along the way. I always seem to run better when accompanied by a speeding train.

Besides the help from the speeding trains, I had another ace up my sleeve. Steve and Kathleen were meeting me at around the ten mile mark and running about 8 miles with me. Having a pacer is always nice, even in a marathon.Lisa visits with S and K before I got there. Lisa kicked my butt the day before, and was leading me early in today's race. When I got there. they were ready to rock.I picked up my pace, and we passed quite a few people in the next 8 miles, including Lisa. Kathleen then hung back with her, while Steve and I motored on.

After Steve and Kathleen finished their pacing duties, they rode with dana and helped crew at two more locations. I hit a bad spell at mile 20 +/-. It had really warmed up, and shade was hard to come by. My water was hot, and I needed some salt. At mile 22, Dana iced my bottle up, gave me a dose of sea salt, and I actually came back to life. Although I had doubts that I was going to get through the race, I soon felt better and was ready to run. Lisa caught up with me, announcing that she had had a massive....umm....err....well, she used the bathroom. So we ran it in together, passing a few peeps, but still walking any short shady section we came to. The word for the day was "HOT!"We finished in 6:24 or someting like that. Truly, I don't even want to look up the results. It was a couple of slow races. maybe the altitude had a little affect on me. I was not gasping for air either day, but I was running really low on energy. I did not eat anything during either race....maybe that was it.No problem eating after the race though. Rock Star Ed PR'd bigtime in the marathon this day. WTG, buddy!

It was a mega long drive home the next day. Ouch ouch ouch each time I had to get out of the Jeep. Thankfully, Brian and kathy rode home with us and did more than their share of the driving.

What is next? Turkey and Taturs 50K this next weekend. If anyone is still reading this....please consider running the race this weekend. We need runners, and we need volunteers to work aid stations and help mark the course. I am pre-marking tomorrow (Thursday) and doing final markings Saturday morning.