LAZ-Y BOY!

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Barkley 2020 is right around the corner which got me thinking what it might be like if The URG's were to gain a coveted spot in the race with, "THE RAZOR SHARP BRIERS AND LOONEY RD". It's hard to believe it's been 8 years since I drew Bev Anderson-Abbs at the yellow gate to commemorate her hard won Fun Run finish in 2012. A feat she has since repeated 2 more times. "The Wizard of Barkley" was about that same race. I remember sending it to the "EVIL Race Director" along with my Haiku poem which was a requirement to gain access to the Barkley google group. I guess I wanted to better understand the mystery which seemed to surround this crazy race. I even had the audacity to send in an application for the race a few years back. You might say I was suffering from "Barkley Fever" when I sent off another application this year. Hey, why not I thought to myself. I know there are Elite spots and Former Finisher spots and spots for long time supporters and friends and maybe just maybe there is a spot for annoying cartoonists also. For those of you who aren't in on the joke, this comic references a couple early URGs, Hug's and Kisses and Wishing You all and Ultra-Holiday Season.

The Rain...

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I found this little gem hidden with a collection of my old drawings. From before the time I called him URG or had created www.UltraRunningGuy.com. I can't remember why I didn't post this. I'd like to give credit and thanks for the inspiration to the song writer, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The Wizard of Barkley...& Haiku

Frozen Head State Park,
Seek thee courage, brains, and heart;
There's no place like home.

The Barkley Marathons 2015
Hunter and Hunted: One Human Sacrifice's Short Story of the Barkley Marathons -Kimberly Durst
The Barkley Fall Classic is run on the same course as BM
Photos from Leon
The Barkley Marathons - I Quit -Matt Bixley
Photos from Keith Knipling
Julian Jamison's race report
Chris Gkikas' race report
3rd loop finish plus Page burning video from Johan Steene
Matt Mahoney's Barkley 2015's results summary with links to more reports etc.
Barkley: The Beauty of Out There by Leon Lutz

The race has a 60 hour cut-off and a cut-off for each loop. Just think, if there was a 4 minute cut-off  in a 1 mile race and a 1 minute cut-off for every lap then no woman in the history of track and field would have made it past the 3rd.

Extreme Couponing URG

License and Registration?

Take a Seat!!

Halloween Aid Station

SUCK IT UP!

 

LIVE THE DREAM!

 

THE NEW SITTING

Feelin' BLERCHY

Sometimes I think I might as well sit at home and eat a couple dozen cakes a la The Oatmeal's Blerch, and leave running to the "REAL" runners out there. Just standing near to one, a "REAL" runner makes me hyper aware of the things I am lacking that keep me from joining their rank of "SUPER ULTRA-NESS". Of course the more cake I eat the more "BLERCHY" I feel so like URG my only antidote to the feelin' Blerchy is to keep on running and running and running:-)

A few unpublished sketches...

Here are a few unpublished sketches/comics which I sent to Bryon as examples of my work pre-Happy Trails at iRunfar.com. If you haven't figured it out by now I have stepped down from my duties as the resident cartoonist at iRunFar.com. I thanked Bryon for giving me the opportunity and as I know he had high hopes for the comic series I can't help but feel that I let him down. I will always be grateful to him for allowing me to try although ultimately I, "Failed To Deliver" or FTD'd on what I had promised him. Unfortunately, after giving my all(including my talent, my available time, my resourcefulness) to the comic I came to the conclusion that I lacked a depth of knowledge and understanding of the "ultra culture" and "ultra scene"  which the "Happy Trails" series needed to make it relevant to the iRunFar community. FTDing on my first job as a cartoonist is a bit disappointing but I am at peace with it because I tried my best, I learned from the experience and I am moving forward.

THE HARD THE BAD AND THE COMIC

 Hardrock and Badwater, two great ultras that taste great together...so I put them both in one Happy Trails column on iRunFar.com.

Hardrock is over and Badwater is just beginning. Check out the entire comics here and all of the pre and post Hardrock stuff over at iRunFar.com including an interview with the winner Hal Kroener, and a pre-race interview with Karl Meltzer the star of the Hardrock comic(no he is not an alien...I don't think)

Also, as he was preparing for his 10th Badwater Ultramarathon, the Ultra Marathon Man himself, Dean Karnazes, shared some of his insights about what it takes to survive Badwater with the support of his crew and pacer. You can follow Dean and the other racers here as they set out in 3 waves at 6am, 8am and 10am PDT.

HT on IRF #8- A Portrait of the Western States 100 Course Records

Click on the picture or link below to see the entire portrait on iRunFar.com
 Happy Trails on iRunFar #8- A Portrait of the Western States 100 Course Records 

Some interesting resources and reads I found during my research-

Craig Thornley's- WS Historical Temperature and Snow Data

Jim King's 1984 race report How the West was won

Sarah Lavendar Smith's 2009 interview with Ann Trason
Western States Historical Data with link to Ultra-Sign up stats
John Medinger's All-Time Top 100 Men's and Women's Performances Lists

Scott Jurek's , "Run & Eat"?

Happy Trails on iRunFar #7, "Run & Eat"

A comic featuring Scott Jurek who has a new book out called, "Eat and Run". Check out the comic here and then check out the book at Amazon. The teaser chapter previews will probably have you clicking to buy it.