January: An ND Runner Month-in-Review

I'm starting to a new thing where I attempt to give something like a summary of what's been going on in the world of running in North Dakota. My goal is to find as much info as I can about different races, both here and out-of-state but with North Dakotans competing. We'll see how this goes.
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Well January is behind us. We had warmth, brutal cold, and then warmth again. It's too early for the high school teams to unify and start practices, so that leaves us with college competition and some professional activity.

Women's Race of the Month: I don't think this is even close: the mile at the Bison Classic in Fargo on the 16th. Looking at the heat sheets beforehand, this was the list of top competitors:
-Erin Teschuk, D1 All-American in Cross Country and Track, Representative of Canada at World Outdoors last August
-Maddie Van Beek, Former D1 All-American in Track competing unattached (now competing for Brooks)

Zeis (formerly of Bismarck High)
is tearing up D2 right now.
*From U-Mary's website*

-Alexis Zeis, D2 National XC Champion in 2015 and All-American in the indoor 3000m
-Molly Montonye, D2 All-American in both the indoor mile and outdoor 1500m

Well, as could have been predicted, the race was pretty darn fast, with Erin Teschuk (NDSU) winning in 4:37, which from what I have been able to find serves as the fastest women's mile run on North Dakota soil. The second-place finisher was Alexis Zeis (U-Mary), and her time of 4:49 still as of January 31st stands as the fastest time in women's Division 2 so far this indoor season (and snuck into my top-ten lists as well). Molly Montonye (MSUM) was third in 5:00, a time that sits her at 13th place in Division 2 at this point. So, it's safe to say
that there was plenty of talent in the Shelly Ellig Indoor Track Facility in Fargo earlier this month.

Men's Race of the Month: I have to give a hat tip to Jake Leingang and his 8:10 in the 3k this past weekend down in Arkansas, but I'd like to go to another former Bismarck runner doing some pretty neat things out west.

They should've given Gotta
at least 3 more seconds
for the stache.
*From MSU's website*

Remember Matt Gotta (Bismarck High)? He won the Class A 1600m (4:16) and 3200m (9:15) at the ND State Track Meet back in 2014. Now he's running for Montana State in Bozeman. Just this last weekend he raced in Gillette, Wyoming and raced an altitude-and-track-converted 3k time of 8:20.68. This places him third in the Big Sky conference and is the equivalent of a sub-9 in the 3200m. He also ran an altitude-converted 14:54 in the 5k earlier this month. Watch out for this guy in the coming months!

From Roesler's Instagram

So what else has been going on? Well, Laura Roesler (Fargo native and professional trackster) is back from an injury-plagued 2015 season and is getting the rust out. She raced three times this month, running the 800 in 2:05, 2:04, and 2:03 respectively. Building up for the grind to the Olympics!

Hovind isn't even a senior yet!
*From NSU's Website*

Back to Division II for a moment. On the 23rd down at the Jim Emmerich Invitational at South Dakota State University, a Northern State University record was broken in the 3000m. Sasha Hovind ran 9:58.9 to break her own school record and at the time was in the top 20 in DII. According to NSU's website, Hovind is from Stirum, ND, and in high school XC she competed for Lisbon, while in high school track she competed for Sargent County. I can only find her in state results her senior year (if I'm woefully off forgive me), where she was top-20 at 2012 State XC and 12th in the 1600 and 4th in the 3200 at 2013 State Track. She also has the indoor 5k, outdoor 5k, and outdoor 10k records at Northern State, while she was also an XC All-American. From doing this research, I've also added her to the top-10 lists now too. Go Class B!!!

The last race I'll mention is actually the men's mile from the aforementioned Bison Classic. State Class B record-holder in the 1600 and 3200 Elliot Stone competed unattached for NDSU and ran 4:22, while former EDC champ Camron Roehl (NDSU) ran 4:19. An interesting side-note of the race was that Andrew Carlson rabbited the first 800. Carlson is coaching at NDSU now after a career that gave him the fastest 5k and 10k times ever by a North Dakotan. Ironically enough I just came across this article talking about next month's Olympic Trials Marathon (http://www.run2run.com/learning-from-the-2012-olympic-marathon-trials/) in which I was reminded that 4 years ago he took 6th with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes. Dang!

Next month we got track meets everywhere, people getting in serious training for the Fargo Marathon, and don't high school practices start around the end of February? Anyway, that's all for now- thanks for reading!

The Mountain We All Climb

I remember the first time I saw the mountain. It stood towering above the earth, majestic in every way. The snow-capped peak lived a world very different than my own, and I tried to imagine myself standing on top, frigid wind blowing through my coat, eyesight insurmountable. To be able to say I had arrived at the summit- now there was something special! I decided then and there I would climb to the top.

I entered on a trail in the foothills, not quite sure how far the trail went, but ready to attack this path. The first few miles went by like a breeze; the trail was clean, smooth, and ever-increasing in altitude. I passed by some pleasant people on their way down, overjoyed to be so close to returning to their vehicles. The sun shone bright while weightless clouds wisped by quietly. To my left some deer stared at me, completely unafraid, while birds chirped at me from a safe distance. I could not have written a better story than what I was experiencing. My body, my gear, my view- everything was amazing! I felt as if I could do this forever. One thing I did notice, however, was that the peak really didn't seem to be getting any closer.

I continued on through the day, making it through the heat by finding shade in trees. I had plenty of water, and my legs were still working as I expected them to. The trail was winding back and forth more, and the steeper sections were getting steeper. I was still seeing people on the trail, but they were not as friendly as those towards the beginning- they seemed to be a little more focused. Clouds had started to roll in, but I paid them almost no attention; the wind had picked up too. I looked up at the peak, a little closer than before and still beautiful. I wanted simply to reach up and grab it, pull it close, and make it mine. I had full faith in my ability to get there.

Around sundown, I picked a spot nearby the trail to set up my camp for the night. I assembled my tent, sleeping bag, food, and prepared for a great night in the mountains. I was a little disappointed that the clouds were blocking the stars, but worse things could happen. I fell asleep dreaming of another great day of hiking and all-around loving life. Unfortunately, I was disturbed around midnight by a fierce storm coming through the range. The wind howled, rain poured down, and I became scared. My tent started taking in some water because I hadn't properly water-proofed it, and I had to gather all of my belongings into the middle of the tent in an effort to keep it dry. I asked myself it maybe this wasn't right- had I made a big mistake? I spent the rest of the night huddled with my full bag, trying to stay warm and dry.

As it started becoming light out, the rain tapered off and eventually died. I packed up and prepared for another day up; I was not a quitter. As I about to take off, a kind gentleman walked by and offered to hike with me and of course I said yes! I had realized that having somebody else along might not be so bad. We hiked. He was incredibly fit, and his pace pushed me all day, and though I could have asked to slow down, I didn't. As a result, I missed a lot of the sights that I'm sure would have been stunning. I didn't even get a good look at the peak that day- my goal. I hadn't really thought much about my end goal, but instead simply putting one foot in front of the other. Perhaps this wasn't so bad, because my eventual task had been daunting to me the last few days.

After a truly fast day of hiking, we spent another night on the mountain. My friend seemed a little strange to me, and true to his word, when I woke up in the morning, he had taken off- I don't know where exactly he went. So I was alone again. This third day was another great start, but conditions worsened throughout the hike. Soon I found myself getting pelted with cold rain pushed by the wind, and I was starting to slip on the muddy path. I surged on, slipping almost every step. I went up and up and up, turned around a corner, and the trail disappeared. It stopped right there. No sign of it through the trees, up the hill, and no peak visible for directions and guidance. I turned away from the wind and gasped. The trail behind me was washing out and was becoming harder and harder to see. The only way up from here was a scary yet climbable cliff.  I couldn't believe my bad luck. I sat down and pouted for awhile. I made up my mind to turn around and head back down- abandoning my goal for now (probably forever as a result). I started to head down the trail, but then I remembered the view of the peak that very first morning- how stunning it stood! I remembered how I had wanted to climb to the top, and it started a fire in my mind and heart; I turned around and surged up the hill to the cliff.

I had forgotten how difficult this was going to be, but right as I started to get some footing, I saw my friend sprinting up the trail! It turns out he too had decided to head home but reignited and tried to catch up to me. Fortunately for both of us, having a helping hand made traversing the cliff quite easy, and as we reach the top, the clouds began to break up and we were treated to the most beautiful sunset either of us had ever seen. Our breath was taken away and we stood there, starstruck. We looked at the clouds glowing pink, the first glimpse of stars coming out of hiding, and at each other. I realized at that moment that it might not be so important whether or not I get to the peak. I can try my hardest, but how could it be possible for a moment such as this to top any view from the peak? I asked my friend if the next day we could walk slower and truly enjoy our walk. He agreed.

So this morning I woke up to the stillness of high-altitude wilderness and stepped out of my tent to be greeted by the sunrise. The head of the mountain still protruded over our heads by a hefty distance, but we did not care. Each day we will try to get as high as we can, but we also want to enjoy the process. These moments cannot ever be returned or taken back, and so we treasure each moment. This will not stop me from looking at that peak every morning and saying "that's where I want to be", because, well...that's where I want to be! Whether I'm alone or with someone else, whether I encounter horrific weather or beautiful sunshine, whether I struggle up the trail or bound effortlessly, it's the journey that's beautiful. I never want to let that go.

I've decided that the mountain shall be named 'adversity'.

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Never give up on your goals, even if things get rough. And NEVER forget to enjoy every step of the way.

Nerves

The first track meet of the new year is tomorrow, so that means no morning run for me today. What do I do with this new-found time? Write up a blog post for your Friday viewing pleasure, of course.

I'd assume that if you're reading this, then you're a human being, and that immediately implies you're familiar with Harry Potter (right?). Remember during the part where Harry and Dumbledore* are going horcrux-searching and Dumbledore has to drink the special water that makes him not want to drink it? Well the story goes that Harry has to force feed it to him, because Dumbledore doesn't want to stomach it anymore. Yes, I'm going to relate this to track.

In distance running, and many sports in general, competition is designed to test your abilities. I can only speak for distance running, baseball, and swimming, and baseball games are not even close in difficulty to swim meets or distance races. As the time of a race approaches, I find myself hitting a familiar mental crossroads: I don't want to do this. I like training, I even like training hard, but racing is a-whole-nother monster. Running a distance event is basically pushing your body to its limit, and then trying to see how much farther you can get away with. Most of the race is spent by your body screaming at you, YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING NO STOP PLEASE YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME I TRUSTED YOU WE WERE FRIENDS YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THIS LATER and your brain screaming, YOU KNOW THIS IS UNSUSTAINABLE RIGHT drop out YOU CAN'T HOLD ON TO THIS PACE FOREVER drop out YOU CRAZY. With each passing year, it's actually something that passes through my mind more and more before a race. I feel like Dumbledore when he saw the pan of 'water', and realized what had to be done. It was going to be hard, but it needed to be finished.

So this is where nerves come in. Our bodies and minds are much more understanding than what we give them credit for. Thus, the day before or days leading up to the race, or bodies start giving us hints that amount to something like "ugh, he's going through with this again- this is NOT going to be fun", when in reality it can actually be fun. Since there's no good way to say it, for me this means that my pre-race warmup includes a 10-minute block set apart for a bathroom break. The lines of people in my race/heat who are also using the facilities at this time lead me to believe that this is a universal feeling. Errrbody has nerves.

I've tried some fairly nifty maneuvering to deceptively lie to my body about what's going to happen. I think to myself, 'I'll tuck in and be comfortable for the first part, ease into it, and do what I need to do. Simple'. My body, however, is much smarter than that and I can feel my stomach starting to fight itself the day before the meet. I know I'm not alone because I see it in teammates and competitors. One of my new favorite pastimes it to watch the freshman at their first few meets of the year. They come from all over the midwest, Canada, and even reaches of the far-away US places that I've read about in the newspaper (Washington, California, Minneapolis, etc) and yet they always have that look in their eyes leading up to the first few meets; they literally change. There's no possible way for me to accurately describe what I see, but I can at least try.

When the freshmen show up for welcome weekend and come with their parents to different meetings, often they'll tuck behind their parents while they do the talking with the coaches and captains. If the freshmen are asked questions long enough, they might loosen up a little, but there's no guarantee. Throughout the first semester, they ease into the team atmosphere and become comfortable with the school, classes, and the team. They even become so bold as to challenge me in foosball, a foolish proposal; becoming good at that game takes years of steady locker room homework procrastination practice and dedication. In October, we move in to our in-season phase of training, and this is met with excitement, and already you can feel the hunger around the locker room- that first college competition. When any of them are asked how they feel about it, they normally respond that they don't really know what to expect, which is totally understandable- Why should they? However, as we get within a week of that first meet, there is a noticeable change. Track meets are talked about more, while the upcoming one is purposely left out of the discussion. If the meet is brought up, you can see the gears grinding in their mind.

When meet day arrives, everyone hops on the bus, all masters of this drill after years of the high school that we all had to go through. Sleeping on the bus is the norm, not the exception. BUT, when we get to the facility, everything changes. I watch these freshmen, the eager-to-learn and starting from the bottom teammates of mine, change into competitors. They walk around and fidget nervously like the rest of us. They listen to music to either 'get into the zone' or 'try to not think about the meet too much' (I'm in the latter group, btw), and the nerves are there. They hear the starters' gun go off, and they know that sound. They know the sound of the pole landing in the pit and somebody being lifted from the ground. They know the sound of screaming parents in the stands. They know the sound of the announcer telling them FIRST CALL or SECOND CALL or FINAL CALL. They know the sound of abused hurdles slamming into the ground. They know the sound of the high jump bar hitting the ground on an unsuccessful attempt. They know the sound of a loud scream released by a thrower occasionally in the weight throw or shot put. It's all there. They may be freshman, but we all speak the language of track and field. The nerves are their body telling them that it's going to be hard, just like mine does- just like all of our bodies do.

I'll end with this thought: many athletes at track meets can get the 'deer in the headlights' look. I've become convinced that this means exactly one of these two options:
1.) The person is so incredibly nervous that they are about to actually die.
2.) The person is so incredibly in the zone that if some naked person came streaking across the track, they might not even notice or pay attention to the spectacle.

Well, I need to put my speed training to use and try to make it to class on time. Peace out y'all!

-Nate


*I'll refer to Dumbledore as 'Dumbledore' here, even though it's an incredible disservice to his brother who so happens to have the same last name. I'd imagine if everybody knew me as 'Peterson', things would get real confusing at any gathering of 100+ people from the upper Midwest. Guy: "Hey Peterson!" 15 different people: "What?"

Defeating the Control Freak...Or Something

(Before I start, some shameless self-promotion here, but on the right side of my blog page I've been working on two sets of top-ten lists, one for North Dakotans, and another for races on North Dakota soil. Feel free to check them out and throw any names my way if I've missed people. Thanks!)

I'm a control freak. I have a consistent schedule in the back of my mind, and if anything unexpected pops up, I...well, freak out. The best example I can give is dentist appointments. Now, we all know that there is no convenient time for a trip to the dentist, but yet there they are on the calendar every year (or every 6 months, or every 5 minutes, I don't tell you how to live your life). For me personally, this means that every December, upon finishing the grueling fall semester and returning home for a couple weeks of doing absolutely nothing school-related, I am reminded of a visit to my favorite gum-stabber, usually at some early-morning time that I scheduled 370 days earlier and promptly forgot about. This can send me into a frenzy, anger me, and make me say things I normally regret to people who don't deserve it. It was the same high school. I don't transition easily.

It might not come to anybody's surprise, then, that I am currently stressed about about the fact that I have a cold. Now, to many people I know, getting a cold would not warrant a blog post, but for a control freak who has taken care to not get even a little bit sick any time in the last 398 days, AND for a distance runner who happened to have a track workout scheduled the same day and will now have to miss it, it sucks. Sickness is right up there with the Yankees, the cost of university textbooks, mosquitoes, and right-handed scissors as some of the worst things you will happen across. Believe it or not, getting sick is not part of my plan, but of course neither is leaving homework at home, my car not starting, or eating peanut butter by the spoonful because I can't control myself. My main point is that things come up that we have no control over, and if we stress over things we can't control, we are probably in for ulcers by the time we are 37 years old. It might be cliche, but don't fret over the things you can't control.

I did.

In high school, I seemed to get sick during the last week of October and the first week of November every year. EVERY SINGLE ********** YEAR. In college, this unfortunately coincided with conference XC. My freshman year, two days before conference cross country, I felt that familiar tingling in my throat, and I knew exactly where I was headed; needless to say, I had arguably the worst race of my life two days later (*shudders*). My sophomore year, two days before conference cross country, I felt it again. I can now say that flying in an airplane, driving from 1000ft to 7000ft altitude, and racing an 8k at high elevation while having a sinus-stuffing cold is not something I would ever recommend (*shudders*). Going into the week of conference XC my junior year, I could feel my body getting run down AGAIN, but I fought it off through neglect of studies diligent sleep and some luck. Every single time, I would sit and worry and stress, hoping and praying I could avoid the inevitable, but more often than not, it would come. I've since come to terms with it. Sickness will come and go, and even though for a little while it's not fun at all, that's life. Deal with it and move on, or be a debby-downer to everybody around (apologies to anybody named Debby who may be reading this- I'm sure you're a wonderful person!) Be uplifting at all times, sickness included.

Want to know something I don't do when I'm sick? Stuff myself with medication. I honestly detest how medicated we are as a society. We are too clean, too medicated, and too insulated. The big push nowadays is to buy everything 'natural' (whatever that means). Want to know what is not 'natural'? Hand sanitizer, vitamin C pills and packets, taking two showers a day and thoroughly scrubbing your hands with soap 8 times a day, and medicating yourself through sickness. Through this cold, I am being assisted by a roll of toliet paper (too lazy to go buy tissues) and oranges. I will not take cold medicine, cough drops, or anything of the like. When I'm sore, I don't pump myself full of ibuprofen. When I get a little headache, I don't take Tylenol, I drink more water. I'm not a doctor, but I honestly believe one of our problems in America is that we have managed to make our lives so clean that it's affecting our health negatively. OH MY GOSH I SWEATED A LITTLE I NEED TO SHOWER or BETTER PUT ON HAND SANITIZER BECAUSE I'LL BE SHAKING SOMEBODY'S HAND SOON really bother me. At the summer camp I work at, I don't shower every day. Yeah, I get pretty dirty, but that's a lot more natural than being squeaky clean all the time.

What exactly am I trying to get at with this post? I don't know. What I do know is this-

1.) Being sick sucks. No way around it.
2.) I try every day to let things in my life happen and not worry too much about control.
3.) #2 doesn't always work as well as I hope for.
4.) In the event of #3, prayer is always helpful.
5.) We over-medicate everything.
6.) I despise #5.
7.) This is my favorite number.
8.) The worst part about colds is that I can't taste my food. I love food.
9.) I didn't want to end this on an even number.

So there ya have it. Sleep well, eat well, and be ready to get sick, because nobody is immune. As for today, I have "Travels With Charley" by John Steinbeck to crush and a couch that needs some attention. Peace Out.  

Red River Running Slang

Here's a handy dictionary for running in the Red River Valley:

1.) Hill Workout: a myth that outsiders try to convince you exists. Substitutes include: man-made sledding hills, flood dikes, parking garages, and maybe climbing the local water tower/grain elevator.

2.) Uphill: Running into the wind

.

3.) Downhill: Running with the wind.

4.) Overheating: wearing 4 layers when only 3 are needed for a winter run.

5.) Freezing: two definitions:

a. Not having enough layers on for a winter run. Side effects include (but are not limited to): frozen hands, feet, head, entire body, stopping in a gas station to warm up, or dying.

b. Having too many layers on (overheating- see no. 4), sweating through all of them, and then having all the layers freeze solid. For side effects see no. 5(a).

6.) Car: Something to be yelled when the vehicle that your group heard coming up behind you for the last 4 miles actually gets near you. This is supposed to be yelled and effectively means 'get out of the middle of the road until the car passes by'.

7.) Cottonmouth: two definitions:

a. The dry mouth you get during any kind of workout or race indoors (indoors is a season that lasts a very long time here).

b. The dry mouth you get when somebody doesn't slow down while passing you on a gravel road and you breathe in all of the dust kicked up. Side effects also include loss of eyesight or lacerations due to rocks thrown up.

8.) Technical Ascent: Running into the wind while traversing the tire ruts on a minimum maintenance road.

9.) Technical Descent: Running with the wind while traversing the tire ruts on a minimum maintenance road.

10.) Fire: When you don't wear good enough gloves on your hand during a winter run, you get back inside, and your hand begins to warm up again.

11.) Dog-Runners: the folks from town who are too lazy to walk their dogs, so they drive out of town, let their dog out, and follow in their warm vehicle. 

12.) Exhaustion: looking out your window after you wake up and seeing the trees bowing over to the unrelenting wind, all while realizing you need to run. 

13.) Skiing Trail: something great for skiing on the winter months, but also something great to run on during the non-winter months.

14.) Humidity: something people west of here think is fatal, while people from east of here scoff at.

15.) Outdoor Track Meet in April: synonymous with 'the weather is going to suck'.

16.) Indoor Track Meet in March: synonymous with 'the weather is going to be warm and perfect'.

17.) Running Store: something only found in Fargo and Grand Forks. Don't expect the rarest of prizes here, but if you want something good, it'll be there.

18.) Mountain: lol

19.) Laura Roesler: probably the most famous trackster from the Red River Valley. We'll forgive the fact that she went to Fargo South.

20.) Weightlifting: wearing so many winter running layers that picking your legs up becomes a workout.

21.) Gas Station: synonymous with 'bathroom'. NOTE: you have to have a shirt on to use. Trust me.

22.) Bathroom: see no. 21. If not available, alternatives include: agricultural fields, work sites with porta-potties, and public park bathrooms.

23.) Woods: the 4 or 5 trees you find along the river, if there is a river. If not, then lol. 

24.) Torture: synonymous with 'treadmill' and 'elliptical'.

25.) Wildlife: seeing someone on an Elliptigo. 

26.) Steeplechase: having to jump over large piles of snow at each intersection while running through town.

New Year, New Blog Post

My New Year's Resolution is to spend less time with technology, so in celebration I'm spending the morning of January 1st typing up this blog post and listening to music. Oh well.

This year I've learned a lot about running, training, nutrition, fitness, recreation, and I suppose some stuff about teaching, math, and teaching math. I'd like to incoherently ramble share it with you- the devoted 25-30 people that actually read my blog posts (shoutout to ya'll).

The first thing I want to talk about is to have passion for what you do. I've discovered with each passing year that the more I run, the more I enjoy it. 50 miles per week was more fun than 40, 60 more than 50, 70 more than 60, and 80 more than 70. I don't necessarily expect everybody to share my sentiment, but don't find yourself stuck doing things you don't enjoy. Now, some might say "Nate, you DO understand that in this world you can't just do what you want all the time, right?" Um yes, but that doesn't mean you can't make the most of any situation. We all have to eat, right? (right??) So how about finding foods that you enjoy eating and making; instead of cooking being an activity that wastes your time, find a way to enjoy it! For me personally, I like listening to the radio while I'm baking, and seeing all the ingredients come together I find to be really interesting.

If you have to study, honestly try to find a way to make studying interesting. If you have to drive, honestly find a way to make the trip interesting. If you have to run, honestly find a way to make it interesting. If you have to do anything, try to find a way to make it interesting- what can you possibly lose while attempting that? You only stand to gain in the end.

A few days ago I was out at my Bible Camp for a staff reunion (and painting...so much painting), so of course I went for a run. One of the full-time staff allowed his dog to run with me, and soon thereafter I found myself running up a gravel hill with a dog sprinting past me and playing in the snow, all while hundreds of scared geese were taking flight from a nearby corn field. I could hear all of the wings flapping and the squaks of each individual goose filling the air- I couldn't hear anything else. It's events like this that give me motivation when I'm staring out the window at 7:30am, watching the snow blow across the road, stepping outside and feeling frigid air on my face, and starting to run even though my legs refuse to cooperate. Find passion in all that you do.

The second thing I want to do is make an awareness plea for fitness events that go on in North Dakota. The more time I spend running in different places in this state, the more I become acutely aware of two facts: one- that there are a lot of committed runners in this state and two- living and training on the prairie doesn't hurt your chances of running fast- it actually makes you stronger. However, some of the really cool races/events in this state end up with lower participation than might be expected. Did you know:
1.) There are two full marathons in this state with a third in the making? Right now Fargo has a spring marathon, and Bismarck has a fall one. Grand Forks has its first full marathon coming this fall. For realz. On top of those events (that also have half marathons), there have been half marathons/10ks in Minot and Dickinson.
2.) There are 5k races in more towns than you can count. It seems nowadays that almost every small town has some sort of a 5k during their fall town celebration. Check some out.
3.) There is a 100-mile bike race through the Badlands. It's called the Maah Daah Hey 100 (with 75, 50, and 25 mile options as well) and it's part of the growing popularity of endurance sports. I mean, who doesn't like the Badlands?!
4.) On a similar note, END (Extreme North Dakota Racing) puts on some endurance events as well, such as ultra runs, adventure racing, and ultra swimming.
This of course just skims the surface of events going on in this state, but the more you look, the more you find!

And the last part for this section is a lobbying plea from somebody without power or authority to do so:
1.) We need a road mile in this state. I think doing one through downtown Fargo would be cool. Yes, it would be hard to organize, but if we can't close one road for long enough to do a one-mile race event that would generate a lot of press, then my exploits are worthless.
2.) Bring back the Prairie Rose State Games. By the time I found out about it, it was done. I guess it was difficult to keep it from going stale and it was hard to get enough sponsors every year, but it's such a cool idea! Having a public track meet in Bismarck for people that may or may not be on high school or college teams sounds is a great idea, and I think it should keep happening.

The final thing I want to touch on is high school and college track. These events are the most simple events out there and have stood the test of time- footraces, throwing and jumping events, etc. Many of the lessons I've learned so far in my life have come directly from training and races for track events, and I think everybody can benefit somewhat from their own experiences too. Failures don't kill you and successes don't define you. It's all about finding that passion. So yeah, it's cold and a little windy right now, but I'm going to go get dressed in my running clothes and head out to the gravel; I have some learning to do.

Happy New Year!

Nate