Estes Park Marathon, Mt. Evans Ascent, and more baby deer!

Still more beautiful weekends running in the mountains of Colorado. How lucky we are to live here and be healthy enough to run everyday.

Sunday June 13th marked the third time I ran the Estes Park Marathon. It is a really challenging course, due to the high altitude, and hilly terrain. This year's weather made it even more challenging. My husband and I woke up to rain and COLD! I had to run fast just to stay warm. At mile 20, I found out I was in solid second place in the women's division. My hands were too cold to open my gels, so I was running on empty as I entered the local high school track. This is a really well organized, well thought out race. The finisher's medals are nice, and the volunteers fo a great job. Thanks everyone!

Saturday the 19th marked my third time running the Mt. Evan's Ascent. I wasn't in the mood to compete, but still had a nice time running up this mountain which climbs to over 14,200 feet. As usual there were mountain goats to greet the finishers near the top. Tim and I camped the night before, and Tim was lucky enough to spot a baby bunny nestled in the forest. How sweet!

Off to the Leadville Marathon on the 3rd, then to Death Valley to run my fifth Badwater 135.

In a few days I am going to post some information regarding a training run for the Leadville Trail 100, to take place in late July. It is low key, unofficial, and free. More information to follow......

Babies!!!!!

What an amazing weekend surprise we had! On Friday, I was given the gift of witnessing a doe give birth to two fawns in our back yard. I am happy to report that mama and babies are doing great!

What was really incredible was that within an hour, both of the fawns were walking.Within three hours they were even trying to run, and were tripping over one another. They both kept their mother busy! She was very attentive, making sure each one was safe and clean. To keep her energy levels up, she ate all our geraniums, blackberry bushes, and primroses. I told her that was OK, as long as she promised not to venture across the street in all that nasty traffic. She obliged!

And I will never forget the adorable cooing sound baby deer make. One even came up to me when I went outside to water the plants. I didn't know they could make such a sweet sound.

Great Weekend at Steamboat Springs Marathon

Steamboat Springs Colorado is a beautiful place for running. Having run the Run Rabbit Run 50 miler in September a few times, I decided to run the marathon there, which they have every June. What a great job the RD and volunteers did! A huge thank you to all who came out and made this race fun, scenic, safe, and successful!

Here are some pictures of the race. There was a lot of snow in the mountains melting with the recent hot weather, and the parking lot at the motel we stayed at flooded, so Tim had to move the car. All the water made for one very green, flower filled race. I took third, which I am happy with, considering I ran a 52.4 mile race just a week earlier. Thanks to Tim for taking all the great pictures and all his support!