2022 has been a great year for me running-wise. I signed up for the Black Squirrel Half-Marathon over the winter, which has kept me motivated to train regularly and mix in longer trail runs here and there.

Lory Valley Loop – For my first “long” run of the year, I ran around the East, West, and South Valley Loops. Though the highlights of Lory State Park are the excellent foothill trails like the Timber Trail and Arthur’s Rock Trail, the valley trails are still pretty and I was able to run over 7 miles with less than 500′ of elevation gain. I ran the entire loop without breaks, which I was very happy with, and kept my average pace at exactly 9.0 min/mi.

  • Date: April 24th
  • Distance: 7.4 mi.
  • Vertical Gain: 446 ft.
  • Time: 1:06:09
  • Avg. Pace: 9:00/mi.

Lake Fork Out-and-Back (Red Lodge) – I drove to Red Lodge, MT in July for my bachelor party, and left early so I would have a little time for a run in the Beartooth Mountains before the crew showed up. Unfortunately, Red Lodge experienced monumental flooding the month prior, so the Beartooth Highway and many trailheads were closed because so many bridges were out. I saw that the Lake Fork Trhd. was still open, so I drove out that way to find that the trailhead was in fact closed, but the trail was still accessible on foot from the highway. I parked at the Bear Track trailhead and ran about 3.0 miles of lovely single-track before making it to the trailhead. It was a hot day (80s), so I took a minute or two to dunk my head in the frigid Lake Fork of Rock Creek. I continued up the trail for another mile and decided to turn around.

It was a bit of a shame to spend 6 of the 8 miles in the lower canyon accessing the trailhead, but I still enjoyed running through the forest along the creek and seeing all of the flood damage. I got some big views of the canyon towards the end of my run and turned around just in time, as it began raining hard during the last mile and a major thunderstorm rolled through shortly after I got back to the car. Running on vacation is quite fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery of the Beartooths.

  • Date: July 15th
  • Distance: 8.3 mi.
  • Vertical Gain: 791 ft.
  • Time: 1:25:07
  • Avg. Pace: 10:14/mi.

Kootenai Creek Out-and-Back (Bitterroots) – Emily and I spent a week in Florence the week leading up to our wedding. She was working remotely Tuesday, so I took the opportunity to go on a long run up one of the closest Bitterroot canyons.

Kootenai Creek is a popular trail for climbers, but I was unimpressed with the scenery and trail quality, especially when compared with other Bitterroot canyons. The beginning was rocky, slow, and steep, and then mellowed out into rolling (mostly) ups and (infrequent) downs through a mixture of old growth fir and open Ponderosa forests. There were a few spots on the trail where I got good views up-canyon, but the views don’t get big until the alpine lakes about 9-10 miles in.

Around 4.5 miles, the trail became increasingly overgrown, to the point where I had to start walking. Determined to run 10 miles, I pushed through the brush to mile 5, snacking on some excellent raspberry and thimbleberry patches in the overgrown stretches. I turned around, battled brush for half of a mile until I was able to open up and run the nicer stretches of trail downhill. Even with the rough trail I was able to keep roughly a 14 min/mi. pace on the way up and 12 min/mi. on the way down

I don’t think I’ll be back to run Kootenai Creek any time soon, but the view I got of the upper canyon does make me interested in backpacking to the lakes some day.

  • Date: August 2nd
  • Distance: 10.0 mi.
  • Vertical Gain: 1,247 ft.
  • Time: 2:12:33
  • Avg. Pace: 13:14/mi.

Black Squirrel Half-Marathon – The last race I ran was the Single Dip (10k) in Missoula about 14 years ago, so I was excited about this race since I signed up for it in January.

My training consisted of running once a week (3-5 mi.) since March, and increasing that to twice a week beginning in August. The only longer runs or uphill running I did was a 10k I ran from home and the runs in this post. Obviously this didn’t leave me in incredible shape leading up to the race, but it’s about the best running shape I’ve ever been in, and I felt ready for the challenge!

The week leading up to the race was extremely hot (97, 98, 99, and 99 with three record daily highs), but then the temperatures plummeted Friday and I woke up to low 40s and drizzle on race day. I drove to the starting line in the dark, warmed up on the sloppy muddy road, and walked over to the start with the other ~280 racers. The start was slow, with the crowd packed onto the road and splashing mud onto each other, and the climb started with a perfect slow pace for me. I mostly stuck with a large clump of runners on the first uphill, passed a few walkers, and was passed by some folks as well. The tight clump finally began to break up on the steep Timber trail switchbacks, and I was able to pass quite a few people and followed some guys who were running about my pace to the first aid station. I kept a really close eye on my HR-monitor on the uphill, hoping to stay in the low 170s during the majority of the climb, and was able to not totally blow up my legs.

Feeling good on the final push to the top
Quick running downhill
Victorious! (64th place)

After the major climb, the single-track turned into a road for a mile or so and continued to gradually climb until a major hill to the summit, which I walked at a good clip. From the top, I began to pound down the ~1,600′ of elevation gain on the Howard trail, and eventually made it to the valley floor. I still had lots of gas left and ran under 9 min/mi. down to the state park boundary, and continued to pass people on the gradual rise to the Arthur’s Rock trailhead. I definitely pushed too hard to the top but felt great at the top and ran hard down the last hill. Unfortunately, I still had about a mile of rolling hills (~100 v.f.), including a gradual hill to the finish, which I did not account for. I totally ran out of gas for the last mile and was passed by about 5 people who I had a sturdy lead on and battled to stay moving to the finish. I finished 64th in 2:17:04.

Overall, I feel incredible about how the race went. I had a blast and it was really cool to participate in a trail race and see the huge Fort Collins running community. I also ran a really good half-marathon for my ability level and training. I’m quite disappointed that I paced so poorly on the last two miles and ran into a wall right before the finish, but I’m really happy with my time. It was great to have cool weather, but the constant drizzle made for a sloppy trail that definitely slowed everyone down a bit.

  • Date: September 10th
  • Distance: 13.1 mi.
  • Vertical Gain: 1,850′
  • Time: 2:17:04
  • Avg. Pace: 10:23/mi.

Horsetooth Mountain Loop – I spent a Sunday evening enjoying a steep run up Horsetooth Mountain followed by a meandering loop down and around the park back to the car. I felt great the entire time and was able to keep moving nearly the entire way! I made it to the car about 10 minutes after sunset.

  • Date: October 16th
  • Distance: 7.5 mi.
  • Vertical Gain: 1,880′
  • Time: 1:32:05
  • Avg. Pace: 12:15/mi.

I’ll continue to update this if I run anything interesting!