Trail Running

...and before I knew it, I'd been running for a decade!

It started as a way to stay fit and busy during the long winter months when got dark early and I felt cooped-up at home. My first season, I signed up for the Pikes Peak Ascent. It quickly became apparent that I'm a mediocre climber but am good at suffering for a long time out on the trail and am thus a natural trail runner. I fell in love with the idea that you can move very quickly in the mountains with minimal gear and see a lot more terrain than you can hiking in the same amount of time.

I've had all sorts of adventures and accumulated a lot of like-minded friends along the way. I've discovered the thrill of racing even though I know I don't have a prayer of winning anything, ever. Naturally, one thing lead to another and I find myself entering ultra-marathons, planning mountain runs, and other "that's crazy!" adventures. Boulder being what it is, I've had the opportunity to run with, and learn from, some of the best runners in the world. Many thanks to my running buddies, famous and not, for keeping me in or near the groove.

Race Resume

This page has been superceded by my more recent blog over at Wordpress. Please head over there to see the full listing of running adventures.

However, since you're here, here are some of the classics...
Notable Runs & Races

2015

Bighorn 100 - (June) (100 miles!)

2013

Up and Down and Dirty - (June) Golden Gate Dirty 30 (50k)

2012

Peaches and Imogene - (September) The Imogene Pass Run (Ouray to Telluride)
Mt. Audubon Night Ascent - (July) Awesome full-moon run up to 13,200'
Super-Frutastica - (April) The 25 mile option at the Fruita Trailrunning Festival (aka Desert RATS)

2011

Earning my turkey - (November) The Atlanta Half Marathon, flat and fast
Gore Range circuit - (August) A beautiful loop in a little-known part of Colorado that proved that beauty is better than ambition.

2010

Blue Sky Marathon - (October) Fort Collins. A nice, casual trail race put on by a great group of folks.
Run Rabbit Run 50 miler - (Sept) Steamboat Springs to Rabbit Ears Pass and back.
RMNP Super-Traverse - (August) 36 miles and eleven peaks, all solo and mostly off-trail. Big, stupid, epic fun in Rocky Mountain National Park.

2009

Longs Peak Radical Slam (August) Run or climb? Both? A big adventure, anyway.
Indian Peaks Marathon - (July) A big wilderness run over Buchanan and Pawnee Passes. Spectacular and brutal.
Moab Redhot 50k+ - (February) Second Verse, Same as the First.

2008

A Thousand-Mile Year - A 2008 retrospective.
San Juan Solstice 50 Mile Run - (June) Hardest 50 Miler in the country and my first. Semper Arduo Modo, baby!
Buckskin Gulch/Pariah Canyon - (April) An astonishingly cool 21 mile run in the Escalante, mostly in non-technical slot canyons a few feet wide and a few hundred feet deep. One of the coolest things I've ever seen.
Moab Red Hot 50k+ - (February) My first ultra and a welcome respite from the ice and mud of Colorado.

2007

Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon - (August) Back to Pikes for more fun, including my first marathon.
Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim - (May) The hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
Greenland 25K Trail Race - (April) An impromptu 25k race with Yasuyo, Chris, and Eric. Lots of fun and a good taste for distance racing.

2006

Pikes Peak Ascent - (August) My first race! And I did a lot better than I'd expected. Wow!
JPW Divide Run (JPW) - (August) A last uber-run with Chris and Peter before Pikes. We covered 19 miles from the East Portal TH up to the Divide and then back down through the old Railroad Tunnel.
Devils Thumb Run (IPW) - (July) A solo run from Hessie to the Fourth of July TH via the Divide and three lakes. Definitely a learning experience for me, though worthwhile.
Mts Audubon and Paiute (IPW) - (July) My first mountain run and a real eye-opener! Climbed two classic high peaks and discovered the hazards of glissading in running shorts. With Chris and Peter.

Charles Danforth

Last modified: Tue Feb 23 21:17:53 MST 2016