The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.
– Molière
A new year is upon us fellas and that means it’s time for new challenges and new adventures. YHC doesn’t know about you but he sure is looking forward to 2019. One of the things that he’s looking forward to are the new challenges that he will face, like running on one of two new F3 Hickory teams in the Smoky Mountain Relay and being on his first F3 Hickory Blue Ridge Relay team.
So what about you? What CSAUP events will you sign up for and challenge yourself with in the coming year? Maybe it’s being part of a 200 mile relay team or signing up for a 6 hour Ruck event or running that 1/2 marathon. While you think about that for a moment let me thank Cousin Eddie for establishing this challenge for our PAX and the trophy that awaits the man in our region that accumulates the most CSAUP points. As far as overly large, repurposed billiards trophies go, this thing is swwwweeeeet! And without giving anything away, in 2019 it will get even sweeter!
So what events count as CSAUP? Because there are so many opportunities out there they will not all be listed here. Generally speaking, events must be tough in nature and not just a plain old road race 5 or 10K. Official organized 10K trail runs, mud runs, Spartans, The Bear, etc. would be the exception. Official organized road races of at least 1/2 marathon distances, trail races, GoRuck events of over 6 hours, relays, triathlons, convergences, (annual regional convergence, Hibriten hill run) for example, all qualify. The idea here is to break out of your comfort zone in 2019 and do something that is out of the norm for you. This is by no means an exhaustive list but is an example of qualifying events that our PAX have participated in over the past year:
New Years Day Hibriten Mountain: 1/1
South Mountains marathon and 50K: 1/12
South Mountains half marathon: 1/13
Palmetto 200: 3/22-23
F3 Hickory Convergence: 3/30
Charity Chase 1/2 Marathon: 4/13
Smoky Mountain Relay: 4/26-27
USMC Mud Run: 5/19
Vertical Mile Challenge at Rocky Face Park: 6/15
The Bear: 7/11
Grandfather Mountain Marathon: 7/13
Blue Ridge Relay: 9/6-7
Sims Endure 5K AND Mud Run: TBD (Estimated date 9/28)
Lookout to Lookout to Lookout 10 miler: 10/20
Tuna Run 200 Relay: 10/25-26
Ultimately this years challenge is not about points or sweet trophies. It’s about you vs. you, like it should be. It’s about stepping up your game in the new year and getting better individually. It’s about signing up for something that you’ve never done before and challenging yourself to do the thing that you previously thought was impossible.
When you complete an event, send an email to ultrarunner1961@gmail.com with your name and event name. A spreadsheet will be established in the coming weeks so that you can view results. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Aye!
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