Lake Pleasant Dam Good Run (Morristown AZ) April 4, 2009

There are a lot of things that make the Lake Pleasant ‘Dam Good Run’ one of our favorite local running events. It is sponsored by, takes place in, and of course supports the Maricopa County Parks. Between Kimberly and myself we use “our local parks” multiple times every week and much appreciate having them. So to me when they get a chance to showcase (if you will) a Park it’s a great thing. Plus the fact that the Rangers and folks who work for the Parks are all really great people who do one of heck of a job with the resources they are given. This event is one of the places this is highlighted for sure and I love to see the passion they bring to what they do.

I also really like the course. It combines many way cool aspects that most local runs don’t share. The biggie for me being about 2 ½ or so miles of the 7 Mile course is Trail. And cool trail at that. Aside from the Cactus ChaCha, and a couple of long ones by the Arizona Road Racers there are just not that many organized local trail runs. You also get to run across (and back) the New Waddell Dam as part of the course, and it is the only day of the year that you can do this.

Kimberly and I got out to the Park about 8:00 to check in. The race did not start until 9:00 but they have a nice little setup and it’s always good to have a few minutes to check in and say hello to some of the folks you have come to know from other races (or friends in general – Hi there Coulson family :-) ). They have a nice little setup for the races including some cool birds, snakes, and lizards which you know the young runners dig.

There are 2 courses, a 7 Mile and a 4 Mile. While the 4 Mile does get some runners, for the most part I think a lot of the Hikers do the 4 mile and Runners do the 7 Mile. Overall there seemed to be about the same amount of people as last year, maybe a little more. As a quick side, I think this year they would have gotten a ton more runners had it not been the same day as Emma’s Run, the Pioneer Days Run, the Havasu Half, and the Sabino Canyon Tucson event (see report from running friend Pat HERE).


We were running the 7 Mile course. The race started on time from the 10 Lane Boat Ramp Parking lot. You head out and almost immediately begin a fairly quick decent down toward the Morgan City Wash. While not a true ‘technical trail’ per se, with such a steep decent and the loose gravel, washes, etc you have to be pretty careful running down. When you get to the wash maybe 1/3 mile into the run the next 1/3 mile or so presents a good challenge on the ankles as you are essentially running in the dry river area and it’s that quick sand type of gravel where you sink in some. Good thing this lasts just a bit and soon you are running along water in a true Riparian area. It’s amazing how this seems to come from nowhere. If you drive around Lake Pleasant area you would never guess this type of topography could be there. It’s really nice for the next ¾ or mile or so as you duck branches, cross the creek a couple of times hopping on whatever to miss the water, squeeze between trees and the such. I wish the whole track could be this.

As soon as you head out of the Wash you begin an accent that lasts about 2 miles and 400 foot or so of elevation gain. For a bit of this you are still in the dirt before hitting the service road. While 400 feet may not seem like a lot, the steady, for the most part even, climb up sure makes you happy when you see the Dam finally and know the uphill muscles get a rest (1200 ft elevation gain and decent total for the race). Right before the Dam there is a paved quick drop, maybe 100 foot but you do it in about 10 seconds – so it is very steep (umm… nice to fly down carefully, but you know on the return you will have to climb it). You get to run across the Dam for what seems to be about a mile then return, a quick left off the service road and then a nice mostly even trail run for the last 2/3 mile or so.

The race is really non competitive, but they did do a ‘trial run’ this year for timing the folks who wanted timed. They also gave out medals for the Top 2 runners in each race (2 is odd I know?). This was nice however because I managed to weasel into 2nd Place overall in the 7 Miler this year. The medal was cool with a Lake Pleasant logo and the year customized it. Kimberly while unofficial I am sure was first among any females close to her age and about 12th overall.

We of course will be back next year. I hope the timing lines up different with the other races though as we would have loved to do Emma’s run up in Anthem and hang around with family that live up there or even Havasu would be a riot.

We finished the day by heading over to the Glendale Blues and Jazz show for some good Blues, chair loungin’ and a really good caramel apple. That’s what I call a nice Saturday.

MY RUN INFO HERE

COURSE MAP HERE

Dam Good Run

April 4, 2009 @ 9 AM

Lake Pleasant, AZ

Dam, it's time to run over a dam. Choose between a non timed 4 miler or 7 miler over Lake Pleasant's dam just north of Phoenix. The views are awesome and it's one of the few times you actually get to go on top of the dam. The Dam Good Run is for runners, walkers, hikers. But, it's not for backpacks, bicycles, strollers, wheelchairs and the like. Security reasons prevail.

2008 Race Report by Mike Miller

April 2009 Races

Cactus Cha Cha Trail Run

Race Report: Cactus Cha Cha trail run by Chad Sayban.


Anyway, Eric, Lori and I arrived at the parking lot about an hour before the start. The wind was blowing pretty hard off of the mountain side and it felt pretty darn cold. I know, all of you northerners are going to say 'cold, what are you talking about?' True enough, but when you have just lived through an Arizona summer of 100+ degree days and all of a sudden it's in the 50s, that is a big change...and cold.

Lori headed off first running the 3 mile race and did very well. Eric and I got ready to toe the line for the 7-mile race. I had some anxiety going in. Not only hadn't I raced in more than six months, I was 15 pounds heavier, had only been back running for three weeks and hadn't run anything longer than 4 miles on flat pavement yet. Ok, now that I have laid out all of the excuses, on with the race.

I staged myself towards the back, not wanting to get in anyone's way. I ended up passing a whole bunch of people early as I tried to find space on the narrow trail. I ended up running with Eric for a little while. The first mile and a half are a gradual uphill and was right into the teeth of the wind. I decided about halfway to back off my pace because I knew that the effort of this course was closer to running a 10-miler than seven. Eric was feeling good and continued ahead. I never saw him again until after the finish. He has made such amazing strides in the last two years, it is hard to describe. I settled into a conservative pace and really thought of the run as a long workout rather than a race. I knew I would even approach the 1:02 I ran last year. I was just happy to be out with all of the other runners. The group I ended up with was very quiet, which was fine because I was doing a lot of thinking about where my running had gone and where I was now heading. I had no real trouble with the largest climb and cruised through the first five miles. The last two miles were more of a struggle. Nothing hurt, I was just really tired. That was to be expected given my current level of fitness. I felt awesome as I crossed the finish line, knowing I really was officially back in the sport.

1:17:03

One big surprise was at the awards ceremony and raffle. Near the end, John the Race Director - who is a wonderful man and does so much to support running in the Phoenix area - gave out a special award to the 12 people who have competed in all 5 runnings of the Cactus Cha Cha. I now have a long-sleeved, hooded sweatshirt with the race logo. Such a very cool thing for him to do for all of us. The race has really evolved over that time from an almost club-like run to a fantastically run race with prize money and a loyal following. You can be that I'll be running the next five just to find out what he does for the 10-year runners.

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April 2009 Races

Dam Good Run

Lake Pleasant ‘Dam Good Run Hike’ by Mike Miller

This last weekend Kimberly and I traded in the weekend Hike for a local event at Lake Pleasant called the 3rd Annual “Dam Good Run Hike”. It turned out to be a really fun day, and we enjoyed the Lake Life vibe all morning and afternoon.

The ‘Good Dam Run Hike’ offered two tracks - one 4 mile and one 7 mile. Wanting to get a good workout in we opted for the 7 miler, and glad we did. The event is in it’s third year and while still smaller (maybe 100 people total for both runs), the group was a perfect mix of young and old and all nice people. The fees you paid went to support Lake Pleasant and they had a good group of sponsors, so entry included a T-Shirt, hat, snacks, and some other miscellaneous stuff. All in all a very well run event.

The seven mile track was about half trail and half road. This was good news for me, because I am still much more comfortable running on trails. Seeing the first 2.5 miles are so where all trails, I knew I could get a little head start on Kimberly and maybe hold on for the Road portion and beat my little gym rat - runner wife (not that we were being competitive or anything ). You start from a parking lot and quickly descend down into a wash riparian area. The trail follows the wash/creek for a couple miles before you head up and out. There were 4 creek crossings and several spots where you had to duck under the trees. Heading out of the creek, you climb up a service road that gains a thousand feet or so elevation in about a mile - a nice painful stretch for this old man. After the climb you head toward the New Wadell Dam (hence the name of the race). The Dam is an earthen Dam and what holds the Aguia Fria to make the lake. As far as I know this is the only day of the year us regular folks can be on the Damn. So pretty cool you get to cross it and then head back. After coming back on the Dam you have another mile or so of trail run.

Just for the purposes of documenting the day for future years… I have to say I did end up crossing in 1:09 which was enough to get there ahead of Mrs. Miller . Considering we had 7 miles and 1800 ft. net elevation gain, had some creek crossings, and had a wine and tequila night the night before with good buddy Shane - I think us old folks did pretty good.

After the race we found a nice little Ramada with a view of the lake, setup my trusty grill and had a great lunch. then we headed over to the Marina and partook of a glass of Vino and a cold one. Once again…. life is good!

April 2009 Races