2009 Race Calendar

I'm trying to firm up my race schedule so that I can get going on my planning. The 2009 races listed on the right side of my blog are tentative. Very tentative. It includes 2 ultras and possibly 2 marathons, which is a lot for a low mileage runner like moi.

I basically have 3 flagship races this year and have already registered for 2 of them:
Chippewa 50K
Grand Island Marathon
Wild Duluth 50K

The 2 50K races will count towards the Fab Five Fifties series; Grand Island doesn't "count" towards anything other than it's a race I've wanted to do for a long time. I lived in the U.P. for 4 years while going to college at Michigan Tech and drove past the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore I don't know how many times without ever bothering to visit. Funny how you don't appreciate what's in your own back yard until you move away. So, this July I'll hop on a ferry boat to get shuttled to Grand Island out in Lake Superior to run a marathon. Word is that it's a fairly non-technical course with plenty of bear sightings, a couple of beach sections, and a 6 hour time limit.

Since I also signed up for the MN Trail Run Series, I'd like to get at least 6 races in for that. My current schedule has 5, but if I volunteer at Trail Mix I should get points for both the Fab Fives and MN Trail Series.

There are also a few races that I'd like to do just because I like the races: Afton, Moose Mountain, and Surf the Murph come to mind. I've always been interested in Walker, although another marathon this year might put me over the edge. On the other hand, a mid-Sept marathon might be a great long training run for Wild Duluth. I may do either Moose or Walker, but definately not both!

Decisions, decisions....