I’m back blogging after a hiatus. Not due to lack of activity; quite the contrary. Been a very busy summer. I just wrapped up my biggest Zero Waste event of the year – the annual Run Woodstock weekend. Three days of camping, live music, tie-dye, yoga, and lots and lots of running. And boy, do runners love to eat. Which creates a lot of trash. And the Green Team, which I lead, makes sure that as much as possible is composted, recycled, or otherwise given a second life.

Among the compensations for the hard work are the wonderful people who volunteer for the Green Team. Saturday’s team included Kristi, who’d run the 100K race the day before. Yup, she ran 62 miles, got a little rest, and then helped us sort trash for five hours. Well, one thing ultrarunners love nearly as much as running is talking about running, so naturally we talked about the races we’d done. Woodstock 2026 was her first 100K, and Woodstock 2014 was my first 100K attempt. (I didn’t finish, but I came back the next year and did.)

Kristi with her mom Kim, who also volunteered for the Green Team!

She had a question many have asked me before: which ultra race was my favorite?

I suppose some ultrarunners have one, but for me it’s like asking which kid is my favorite. I have 46 of them (*) and I remember things about every one. I do, however, have a (reasonably) short list of particularly memorable races, and I’ll share a few here. Order will be chronological, not by amount of memorableness. (It’s a word now, folks.) Click the links to get the full story.

1. Run Woodstock 50K (2012) – My first ultra!

Who can forget the first time?

Memorable moments: Starting late and getting lost before even leaving the campground, running in predawn darkness (with headlamp and reflective trail flags), all the other runners saying, “Great work” to each other, real food at the aid stations, mud, face-planting with two miles to go, and how I felt after over six hours out there. Forget marathons. This was the life!

• Veterans Memorial 150 (2018) – Across the state of Michigan

This is the only race my wife said “NO” to. Initially. But then she changed her mind and joined my crew. The Best Crew Ever.

Memorable moments: 100-degree heat both days, my incredible crew, my fellow gym rat Charlie who paced me the last 31 miles, a symphony of frogs at night, a picnic in Farwell at 4 a.m., recovering from a low at mile 125, and certain I was lost the first night (I wasn’t). Oh, and winning the damn thing. Only took me 40 hours. And six minutes.

• Burning Man 50K (2018) – Because it was Burning Man, my brother

That’s right. I spent all that money and drove from Michigan to Black Rock City with my Jeep loaded like the Beverly Hillbillies so I could run a 50K on pancake-flat playa. Not because of the culture, the art, and the weeklong mind-blowing experience. That’s my answer and I’m sticking to it.

Memorable moments: The entire f***ing week. Specific to the run: watching the sun rise on the playa, shrugging off losing a big toenail (“hardcore” someone called me), the costumes, offers of mysterious liquids in cola bottles (declined) and running and talking with a fully naked woman. And my daughter Rachel hugging me at the finish line!

• Grandmaster Ultras 50-miler (2020) – Meeting a legend, and winning a belt

This takes place on ATV trails in the Nevada desert, with stunning views. This is a very exclusive race, as the name implies. (Okay, it just means you have to be 50 or older.) You can choose a specific mile goal, or all-you-can-run time goal (up to 48 hours).

Memorable moments: At the halfway mark, I met Gordy Ainsleigh, who started the now world-famous Western States Endurance Run. He was there attempting to qualify for his own race once more! I also met Candice Burt, the race director for my first 100-miler. Last year I met her again at the Tahoe 200, one of the “Triple Crown” of 200-milers (recently made four with the addition of the 300-mile Arizona Monster).

And then there was the finish. I ran the second half of the race with a fellow named Chris, and we had a good time talking and looking out for each other. But we were the lead 50-mile runners, and when we reached the final couple hundred yards to the finish, we both put pedal to the metal and blasted across the line together in a photo finish – except no one took a photo!

“Who won?” the RD asked. We didn’t know! After consultation she decided I was the winner by one second. Which earned me a pro wrestler-style championship belt.

Cue the theme from Rocky!

• Loup Garou 60-miler (2021) – Running my age on my birthday

After celebrating turning 50 with a 50K, and 55 with the Boston Marathon, how was I going to celebrate turning 60? How about a 60-mile run the day after my birthday? In a swamp? And named after a legendary werewolf? Sounds good to me! So there I was in Louisiana in December.

Memorable moments: The narrow boardwalk through a cypress bog three miles in. With the morning mist hanging in the air, I felt like I’d been transported to Middle-Earth. Locking in second place because every 60-miler behind me dropped. Drinking a shot of Fireball at an aid station at midnight because birthday (photo). And sitting at a campfire at the finish line at 2 a.m. talking with the RD and eating homemade gumbo.

Honorable mentions include the Dirty German 50 (2017), all my 100-milers, and last year’s Tahoe 200, which I couldn’t finish, but what an experience. I have posts on all except Tahoe, which I owe the blog. Someday!

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(*) Ultras, not kids. I have somewhat fewer kids. And if I have a favorite, I’m not telling.