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For any regular reader of my blog it is well known that climbing, especially alpine climbing, is a passion of mine.  I recently spent three nights representing the American Alpine Club in the Denver area.  The event was a climbing video and presentation that three The North Face athletes were presenting.  One of those climbers is Conrad Anker.  He is a top alpinist and an all around great guy.  I have read his books, followed his climbs and gone to his presentations.  I met his partners Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk also.  Jimmy is an amazing photographer while Renan is an artist--video, photo or drawing.  These guys spent some serious climbing karma in the Indian Himalaya on 22,000-foot Mount Meru last year.  For any non-climbers consider this analogy--you are sitting around a table BSing with Tiger Woods and the other top golfers.  And best of all they are great guys with no elitist attitude.

Here's a short video of them climbing in Eldorado State Park last week.  I should of called in sick to work...

Thanks Dad!

Get out and Explore the World!

STONE CAT 50 MILE and MARATHON TRAIL RACES
Saturday November 7, 2009   6:15am
Willowdale State Forest, Ipswich, Massachusetts

The race starts and finishes at Doyon School 216 Linebrook Road in Ipswich.  The course is all trails, a mix of double track and single track trail, all in Willowdale State Forest on a 12.5 mile loop.  The course is very runnable but has a lot of rocks and some sections contain many roots. The terrain is rolling with the largest single hill being a 150 foot climb!

It is a mass start for both events. In order to spread the runners out the marathoners will first run a 1.2 miles loop around the school before joining the loop.

There will be at least three aid stations;  at 4.2 miles, 7.5 miles, and start/finish of the loop.

And the best part for me, coming from the mile high city of Denver, is the elevation in Ipswich is around 50 feet! 

Bring it!

I was warned that the race closes out early with 150 runners for each distance so I took the advice of a friend who is a trail running machine (thanks Barry) and put up the cash not knowing if I was even going to be in shape for the race.  I've had several roadblocks to my running this year and until this week I didn't feel ready even for a marathon distance.  So now I am primed and ready to go.  This will be a 'training' run for me to get back to ultra distance so no taper will be preceding the race.  I'll make sure I'm rested for it but the race isn't the end goal, only a stepping stone to longer distances.

Another benefit is my brother and his friend, Mindy, are also running the marathon so I know we'll at least start together and then celebrate afterwards.  I'm also looking forward to meeting fellow trail runners and ultra freaks from the New England clan.

Get out and Explore the World!

SnackTime

I was in Europe for a last minute, unplanned, trip to backpack around with my brother, Tim, who recently ended his six month assignment in Sri Lanka with Doctors without Borders(MSF).  He is employed by MSF-Holland so a visit to Europe was required after he left Asia.  Also required, after six months in a war zone, was some R&R.

I joined him for a quick po-po platter sampling of three European cities--Amsterdam (first quiz), Cologne, Germany (2nd) and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg (final).

We toured castles and visited museums while traveling by train, tram, bike and bus.  Our time in each destination was short but we still found time to explore each area on foot during our daily morning runs and by local transport.

In reviewing my notes much of our time was spent sampling the local cuisine with the appropriate regional wine or beer selection.  Yes we ate very well from the local street vendors offering regional snacks (picture of herring in Amsterdam) to the six course meals that stretched for hours.  These meals were often a cultural experience beyond the food and drink as we watched the ebb and flow of the locals going about their day.  Being late September the tourists were long gone so the vibe was more relaxed which made for great people watching.  One take away, of the many, is the quality of Luxemburg wines.  I have never seen Luxemburg wines in the USA which is a shame as they can stand up with the better known wines that are imported from Europe.  If you find any in your local wine shop do not hesitate to give them a try.

For an area of the globe I always thought I'd save till my less adventurous (read: older) years I highly encourage you to visit sooner than later if you get the chance.

Get out and Explore the World!

I'm not certain if lack of response means the picture and hints are too hard or that few are bothering to read and comment lately.

Today found us in yet another city and country.  The train system is so useful which makes it easy to get around.  This country has excellent wine as well as many castles.  Its rulers are noble and very supportive of the arts and the numerous museums.  Hiking is also a great way to see the countryside.  Where am I?

I went by train and am at a different location today.  We rented bikes and toured the city.  This city is known for its church and its place in Roman history.  The locals also like their ice cream it seems.  Where am I?

I am on the road again.  This time with just a carry on backpack instead of 150 pounds of gear.  Access to the internet will be random on this quick trip.  Can you guess where I was today?

A few hints perhaps?  Bikes are very popular for getting around.  When not using a bike trains are common.  They have a national passion for flowers, especially one type.  Where am I?

BBRM

I did not feel ready for a marathon distance this year so I signed up for the half marathon.  The Boulder Marathon is great for the simple fact that it is a trail run on dirt and gravel that is also a Boston qualifier.

Since I hope to run another race this year I used the half as a training run.  I targeted a 2 hour time which I hit.  After the injuries I had earlier this year it was great to actually sign up for a race!

The weather was hot and sunny with a stiff wind at times.  Naturally the wind was a headwind.  With over 3000 runners, sharing at least part of the course, the Boulder Res was a zoo.

The race is well planned and provided with food and drink.  Plenty of vendor/sponsor tents were also there along with a local band cranking out some tunes.  The massage tent, giving free 15 minute massages, was a very popular post race destination.  The sign up sheet filled up fast with runners being told they had an hour wait ahead of them.  It was a great day in Colorado!  Consider running this race if you want a marathon experience that stands out from the normal race formula.

Get out and Explore the World!

The YMCA Johnstown Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k, 5k, Relays needs you!  After coming close to folding this year after 30+ seasons Marathonguide.com helped to save the race this year.  Now more runners are needed.

www.inclinedplane.com

This is a Boston qualifying course that is supposedly 'fast'. (I have not run it...yet)

Need more information about the race?  Or Johnstown, PA?

Race is 4 October so don't delay.

Get out and Explore the World!

This is an excellent video of Renan Ozturk and Zach Smith's recent trip in Alaska in the Ruth Gorge, where they did a 12-hour ascent of the classic Cobra Pillar on Mt. Barrill and made a serious attempt on the "Tooth Traverse," a link-up from the Sugar Tooth to the Moose's Tooth.

http://flagspot.net/flags/index.html

I have always been interested in geography and the far reaches of the world—the people, their customs, the flora and fauna.  I love maps and have since a young child looking at the topography, the demographics and historical points of interest.  I blame my parents for this affliction as they subscribed to National Geographic throughout my childhood.  The magazine, and maps that came with it several times a year, was my window to the world which is important when one is growing up in a small Appalachian town in western Pennsylvania. 

How small you ask?  Small enough that some folks never leave the county let alone the surrounding counties.  A statistic I once read stated that 50% of people settle within 50 miles of where they grew up.  I find that hard to fathom. 

As an avid traveler I keep a global perspective daily due to planning future adventures as well as working for a large corporation with overseas interests.  Events that happen outside the USA often have a causal effect here in Colorado so keeping an eye on the world issues is just part of the job.  To me this is normal; to others concerns beyond the walls of their building might be of no immediate issue.

With the growth of cable TV and the 24x7 media culture that it brings to us we cannot escape the global perspective.  Ignore it and it will return to haunt your decision.  The world is becoming more spatially aware thanks to the cable networks but it is a slow process.

It is human nature to be myopic and ethnocentric to some degree.  Once the basic needs of life are secured these issues can be addressed and lessened through education and experience.  Sometimes they are often one in the same as experience is the best teacher.

It is safe to say most people in the USA have their basic needs met and do tend to their education as validated by a 99% literacy rate.  Compare that to just over a 25% literacy rate for the African nation of Chad one could conclude the United States people have it pretty good.

So why is geographic knowledge so dismal for such a literate country?

In researching for this article I found a CNN geography survey from a few years ago.  The results were atrocious.  This was in no way a solitary finding, just one of several, but indicative of a trend that has far reaching implications.

The survey group in this instance was 18-24 years old.  Not only was the knowledge of local geography terrible where 33 percent could not find Louisiana on a U.S. map but so was their grasp on an international perspective.  In this category, of the respondents, only 25% could find Israel or Iran on a world map!  The results were worse once the questions became more specific about the foreign country regarding their size, population or domestic resources.  Their knowledge of state and country capital cities was just as lack luster.

This geographic myopia was below my awareness level until my brother Tim went off to war this past spring.

He did not go to Iraq or Afghanistan.  He went to Sri Lanka as a volunteer with Doctors without Borders (known worldwide as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)).  He offered a year of his time to assist MSF wherever they needed a surgeon.  Because of this friends and acquaintances often asked me about Sri Lanka.  Many did not even recognize its name, let alone its civil war, for which I blame the US centric media for their blatant focus only on issues that affect the United States in a rather direct manner.

For Tim, our family and friends, the war in Sri Lanka came to the forefront of our consciousness since the Sri Lankan government raised the ante in the 25 year old civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last December.  Fighting between the two forces resulted in numerous civilian casualties and many injured mainly from artillery bombardments that each side blamed on the other in a media propaganda front line.

He arrived in the capitol of Colombo in March.  Our regular communication methods—cell phone, text messaging and email—ended once he moved to his hospital in Vavuniya a few days later.  I resorted to old fashioned postal mail and the news networks for communication and information.

This is when I realized information about the country, or its war, was hard to find.  Was it because Sri Lanka is a small country halfway around the world?  Rhetorically, could most Americans even find it on a map?

Thanks to Google my search for information did not take long.  Of the numerous sites offered up I found the most useful sites to be the BBC and MSF for general news and the humanitarian perspective--not NBC, ABC, CBS nor FOX.

More to my surprise was the encyclopedic level of information about Sri Lanka on both the BBC and MSF sites improving my working knowledge of Sri Lanka on all levels.  Did you know the name Sri Lanka was only adopted in 1972?  Prior names of this island nation go back to ancient Greek times when it was known as Salike, then Siclen Diva and more recently Ceylon. 

The war ended 18 May when the Sri Lankan army killed or captured the remainder of the LTTE leadership.  Approximately 300,000 civilians are currently in temporary refugee camps awaiting relocation back to their villages.  While the numbers of newly wounded have dropped MSF surgeons are still operating on an enormous backlog of injuries as well as everyday issues from the camps inhabitants.

Please consider a tax deductible donation to MSF to support their worldwide cause.

Some editorials on the people, places and issues in Sri Lanka as seen from a volunteer’s perspective:

A Far Green Country

See No Evil

Ceylon’s Bloody Sunset

March 4th