Running - Mt. Ashland Hill Climb registration opens 15 April

In August 2010, I ran a very tough all-uphill (5600' elevation gain) half-marathon called the Mt. Ashland Hill Climb Run and wrote about it in my blog.  This year the event takes place, as is customary, on the first Saturday in August, specifically 6 August 2011.

YOU WILL GET YOURSELF FROM HERE TO THE SUMMIT

The organizers announced that on-line registration will commence on Friday, 15 April.  This is a small, popular event with a hard-core group of annual participants.  It will sell out.  Though the U.S. Forest Service has given permission to add 50 more runners, that means the number is still capped at around 300 - hardly a large number.

I'll be there to try to break the three hours that I narrowly missed in 2010.

If you run the Hill Climb be sure to book your hotel room soon, since summer weekends in Ashland book up not because of this race but because of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival theatre-goers.  Ashland makes a great destination with a near perfect combination of scenery, outdoor fitness opportunities, culture, eating, and drinking, including two breweries, one of which, Standing Stone, is a race sponsor with a keg at the end for thirsty runners.

(Note added 18 May - On the event website it said that the Hill Climb registration sold out in two weeks. If you missed out but want to run this in 2012 you should sign up for an email notification and act quickly next year.)