Thank you, Scout

Hayley PollackCommunity, News, This Week In Aravaipa Running

I often walk away from conversations with Scout deeply moved by his integrity of character. Over the last 2.5 years he has provided me and all of us at Aravaipa Running with many other takeaways: mostly lessons in dedication, hard work, integrity, passion and following your heart. Scout brought his innumerable strengths to the Aravaipa Race Directing team and while he will be leaving the team on Friday, he is leaving it significantly better than he found it. Scout’s continued impact can be found in our transition to reusable cups, composting at the warehouse, and better recycling company-wide both at events and behind the scenes. Scout spearheaded our relationship with The Maricopa Trail & Park …

Aravaipa Strong – Halfway Mark

Scout PhillipsCommunity, Race Report, This Week In Aravaipa Running

Unique and universal The Aravaipa Strong Global Virtual Run is in full swing. So far we have witnessed: Runners who have already reached their goals and are enjoying some well-earned rest! ☕ Runner who are still getting after their distance goals. 🏃‍♀️ Runners who were so inspired that they have changed their distance goals 🙌 Beautiful shared images of nature and trails for runners who are lucky to still have access to them 🌄 Backyards turned into racecourses ⟳ Runners who have measured and created racecourses within their homes, including one runner who needs 50 laps of their indoor route to equal one mile and is running 100 miles 😲 Runners who have mapped out …

What is Aravaipa Strong?

Jamil CouryCommunity, News, This Week In Aravaipa Running, Ultra Thoughts

When we decided to create a virtual race event in response to our core business (large scale trail running events) shutting down indefinitly due to the COVID-19 situation we wanted a name that would draw us closer together as a global community of trail runners. Something that would inspire others, but also ourselves. I’ve yet to face a challenge like COVID-19 and its far reaching effects to the events business in my time as an entrepreneur and I fully understand that this may be one of the most trying times I will ever face as a business leader in my career. We knew we wanted to hold a virtual event since that was really our …

Crown King Scramble 50K: Virtual Edition

Scout PhillipsRace Report, This Week In Aravaipa Running, Uncategorized

I put on an old t-shirt Saturday morning, you know the kind; it’s soft from multiple wears and washes, maybe even a little threadbare in spots, but it means something special to you so it has yet to be turned into a rag or donated to the local clothes closet. My t-shirt is green. It has the old Crown King Scramble 50K logo on the front, and the elevation profile of the race on the back. I’ve had it for a few years, and I wore it all day last year as the Race Director for the 2019 event. I woke up feeling a bit disoriented on Saturday, it was 4:47 a.m. and I wasn’t …

Dam Good Run: The Virtual Edition

Scout PhillipsRace Report, This Week In Aravaipa Running

Traditionally, the Dam Good Run that happens each spring out at Lake Pleasant Park, provides runners with a unique experience. Runners traverse the dam itself, an area generally restricted from the public, and they delight in seeing the lake from a different vantage point. This year, as we are all looking at the world from a new and unfamiliar perspective, some of the registered DGR participants got out for a virtual Dam Good Time. Our running community is adaptable. While we may create and adhere to training programs specific to a goal race, there are always factors we simply can’t control. Perhaps you were lucky and had nothing but great training weather leading up to …

2019-2020 Desert Runner Trail Series Final Standings

Noah DoughertyCommunity, Race Report, This Week In Aravaipa Running

We’ve officially finished our Desert Runner Trail Series with the completion of the Mesquite Canyon Trail Runs on March 7th. This was the 10th year for some of these races and a nice little milestone for Aravaipa Running and how far we’ve come. We again saw the most participants throughout the series and we just can’t thank you all enough for your continued support. It really is a pleasure to be a small part of your race experience! We’re constantly looking for ways to improve this series and will continue to do just that.We added the Hummingbird Pass to the Spring series that flutters around the 5K distance, we have two kid’s fun runs held …

Rumble Reminiscence

Hayley PollackUncategorized

By Jen Laughlin | January 13, 2020 If you know me, you know that Coldwater Rumble is an extremely sentimental race. It was my first trail race, my first 50 mile, my twin sister’s first ultra, and my daughter’s first running race of any kind. But more than anything, it was the race that introduced me to the unique and incomparable trail running community, consequentially changing my running life in the best possible ways. Back in 2014 while approaching the milestone age of 40, I decided I wanted to do something “big”: I wanted to be an “endurance runner”. Yep, I laughed when I said it out loud too, but after a lifetime of playing …

Adventure Weekend in the San Juans

Scout PhillipsUncategorized

Painting a Picture The tents have been broken down, put away, and made the journey back to Phoenix in our box truck. The last of the course marking ribbons, signs and pin flags have all been collected. Sitting on the second floor balcony of the Coffee Bear, above where we had our packet pick-up two days in a row, I find myself searching for the right words to encapsulate this past weekend. How do you paint the picture of all the highs and lows? The sun, the snow, the rain, the triumphs and the days that didn’t quite play out as planned… for those of you who participated, I hope my memory of the weekend …

A Postcard From Steep Camp Sunrise

Scout PhillipsRace Report

In my youth, during our mandatory quiet hour at summer camp, I would struggle to compress the activities of one day into the 3×5 space of a postcard to send to family and friends. Once again, I find my mind so full of things I want to share about our inaugural Steep Camp Sunrise weekend, that I simply don’t know where to start. Perhaps the best place to start is with gratitude. I am incredibly grateful to the White Mountain Apache community for inviting us to their land to create this event. I am equally grateful to all of the runners, families, and friends who chose to make this a most memorable experience. We promised …

Glass Half Full

Scout PhillipsUncategorized

FROM THE DESK OF YOUR LOCAL TREE-HUGGING, CONSERVATION-LOVING, IMPACT-REDUCTION-ADVOCATE, & RACE DIRECTOR -scout I know, I get it, it can often feel like the marketing teams behind some of your favorite events are just working overtime to get you suckered into making another superfluous purchase to fill their pockets. For just $5 extra you can run in honor of your imaginary friend and we’ll write their name in the sky with invisible ink!! What a deal! It can be frustrating at times to feel like you’re being asked to pay more only to get less in return. So, what’s the deal with “Going Cupless?” Isn’t it just another money making gimmick? The fact of the …