Ain't It Purty?!

My first buckle. Photo courtesy of my sister Melissa "Purple Cookie" Kertel.

Ah my first buckle but it's from my second 100-miler. I only do one of these a year - they are such a big deal training and event wise. My first 100-mile race was Rio del Lago in Auburn, part of the course is on the Western States trail. However Race Director Norm Klein didn't give buckles. To paraphrase what he said, "I know that next to your Angeles Crest and Western States buckles you would never wear a Rio buckle so instead I thought up of other interesting awards for you to take home". You see, Rio is an easy 100-miler compared to the other big 100-milers. Why wear Rio when you can wear; Cascade Crest, Angeles Crest, Leadville, Hardrock, Western, Masanutten, I could go on. So he gave all the finisher's a slab of granite, the size and weight of which worried me a little - thought someone was going to drop it on their foot. I thought I was going to drop the dang thing on my foot. And he also gave us a....how do I describe this?...a ceramic figure of a bear with a salmon in his mouth. I think there's an eagle in the mix too. It was nice and all but not something I would keep in the apartment. It now resides in my parent's home in Orlando, Florida, right next to a Budweiser Christmas special limited edition ceramic stein (which embarrasingly is also mine)

Anyway Cascade was an amazing race. A run I would do again. I wasn't blogging then so I never bothered to write a race report, I didn't have a running digital camera either. Too bad, I guess I'll have to go back. I never wear buckles. I walk around in shorts that require no belts most of my days but it's my first buckle so what the hey - those only come once in a lifetime right?