The Barkley "Hosts" Two of Our Own

Ok, so I've been gone for two days, and someone's been dipping their hand into the cookie jar--not once, not twice, but three times over. Pirate is fascinated. And funny! And, I can't blame her.

Meanwhile, after further reading and research, I stumbled across two of our own.

Two of our own New Mexicans, that is.

New Mexicans that run Ultra's.

Actually, I found a whole host of New Mexican's that run Ultra's.

Ultrarunner's with incredible accomplishments.

But it is these two who I want to mention.

Randy Isler is an acquaintance of ours from the rock gym, a quiet, whip-thin, dark complected man, who we see in the gym sporadically, probably when he's not running/training for an event--and when we happen to be in the climbing mode (which hasn't happened much in recent years due to our focus on triathlon).

Coincidentally enough, Bearded Cross Guy With Impact Tattoos and A Black Eye and I were in Arizona these past few days, on our first climbing trip in a year, when we came across Randy in the literature.

IN THE BARKLEY no less!

Yes, talk about coincidences.

He was mentioned in an essay by Blake Wood, who wrote the story about one of his years at the Barkley. He titled it: Going Nowhere Fast on Fatal Terrain at the 2000 Barkley Marathons.

Randy and his big white dog, Argus.

"I know Argus!" Says Bearded Cross Guy with Impact Tattoos and a Black Eye.

Unfortunately, Randy did not finish the Barkley that year due to a wrong turn and ending up miles off course.

He did go on to finish the Barkley "fun run" in 2001. Randy is an accomplished Ultrarunner. In 2006 he completed his 10th Hardrock 100 Endurance Run. The Hardrock is considered the pinnacle challenge of the 100 mile trail races (I don't think the Barkleys are included in this assessment) and advertises itself as a "post graduate" trail run that consists of 11 peaks over 12,000'. Imagine running over the Sandias 11 times, and then add a bit of elevation. People get pulmonary edema while doing this run. And, in 2006, Randy was one of only six people who had done it at least 10 times. Wow. (Actually, 3 of those 6 were from NM--are we crazy or what?)

Blake Wood is from NM also.

Blake Wood is a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 2001 he partnered up with David Horton to complete the Barkley for the second and third finishes ever. They both completed the race in 58:21, just under the cutoff time of 60 hours. Ultrarunning magazine called it the most significant achievement of that year.

Remember how the RD is a s*distic mother? After these two finished the Barkley together, he changed the rules so that each runner has to alternate direction on the loop course--so no one can team up like that again. But they did it at the time, and became the first American finishers, and one of them is from New Mexico. How cool is that?

I am very impressed with these two, both from our home state.

Next time I see Randy, I will know that underneath that mild mannered exterior lies an existential, tenacious, and competitive Superman.

And I will know that we New Mexicans are certifiably nuts!
(Ok, that comment is courtesy of T, who is sporting more impact tattoos than I want to think about--now, who's nuts here?!)