Yes, that's right. A brand new 50 miler on the mountain trails stretching south from Pocatello, ID. This is the inaugural year for this event and I'd say, from the looks of things at this point, 2 days before the race, that it's gonna be a big one. And that's not just considering the 80+ solo runners and 100ish relay runners, but also taking into account the number of experienced professional level ultrarunners from all over the west that have committed to racing here.

And when you look back at the yearly race calendar over the past years, there really has been no big race in this region in May. The idea to hold a 50 miler on this particular weekend works wonderfully for those runners looking for a worthy last tune-up before the 100 milers start up with Bighorn and Western States a month from now. Maybe that's the big draw. Or maybe it's more of a convenience being so centrally located to so many. Maybe everyone just wants to get out and have a jolly good time skipping and prancing in the mountains together. I mean running. We'll be running. We're runners, not alpine fairies.

I will be using this race as a tune up for the Bighorn 100 where I have been plotting my sweet succulant revenge against the wild Bighorn Mountains in Northern Wyoming through which I battled my way to a rough finish in my first 100 miler last summer.

Another year older. Another year wiser.

And I'm coming into this race in Pocatello this weekend fitter than I've ever been. And healthy too! The patella tendonitis that has plagued me over the past two years has dissipated to the point where I now have completely pain-free downhill running. And I credit this to the change in training habits I've made this past winter and spring when I began taking long periods of rest where I would do no running other than a short one hour run once a week for six or eight weeks between events. I noticed it most at last month's Zane Grey where I felt better than I had in years despite running a total of maybe 12 hours in the preceeding four weeks. Rest good. Good for muscles. Good for lungs. Good for knees. Good for mind.

Let's go!