Cactus to Cloud 50K

Woot!!! This one was something special. We started just outside of Alamogordo and finished in Cloudcroft. It was a hard 50K!!

I rode the bus to the start sitting next to someone from the Dallas area. His legs were super long. OK, just a little thing I remember.

Anyhow, the race started uphill almost immediately. We climbed up through this canyon. Dog Canyon. The Mescalero Apache used this canyon, or so I was told. They would ascend the canyon and fight off the cavalry. What a great area for defending yourself.

Will Ortiz and I at the start.

  So this trail went in and around the canyon. Then we would come out into an open meadow. It was incredibly cool. I felt as if I were part of the history. Silly, yes, because I have no roots here. None. No right to call this my land, but I felt very much at home.

After about 10 miles, we reached the highest point on the trail. I thought I could run a bit, but the trail was littered with baby heads. You know, those rocks about the size of a grapefruit or cantaloupe. The ones that roll when you step on them. The ones that will help you break your ankle. I kept my pace reasonable. When the trail was good, I opened it up. When the trail was super rocky (or steep), I just remained patient. I passed a bunch of folks during the last 12 miles.

I really liked this race. Guess I was in the right frame of mind.