Belt Buckle Obsession

2010 has been the beginning of my interest in running ultra's particularly 100 milers.  Besides doing 50 miles with a friend on our own I only completed two ultras - The Greenland 50k and the 12 Hours of Boulder (57 miles total).  After doing the 12 hour race, my thoughts on completing a 100 mile race grew even bigger.  Looking to see what 100 mile races were around I noticed most of the events give out belt buckles instead of medals.  Wow a belt buckle instead of a medal?  I could actually wear it and show it off around town instead of wearing something silly around my neck (not that I would actually do that).  And some of these buckles are actually pretty cool looking.  One that comes to mind is the Leadville 100, but no way in hell I'm ready to finish that race I need to find something a bit more at my level before I can commit to training for 100 miles in the Rocky's.  Since this is the year I'm going to finish a 100 I thought I would stick with Gemini Adventure's running events.  They put on great races and they keep the routes close looped, so you're always close to your gear.  I attempted my first 100 just a month ago and was only able to complete 60 of the 100 mostly due to the elevation gains and lack of training for that type of terrain.

Well my next attempt will be with Gemini again this June with the Laramie 100 and unfortunately they do not do belt buckles.  Of course my priority is to complete my first 100, but man do I want a belt buckle!  I was looking at other ultra-runner websites to see what races they are running this year and I stumbled upon the Rocky Mountain Double Marathon which hands out buckles to the double marathon finishers (52.4 miles).  Well I know I can do that with the past ultra's and this would be a good training run for the 100 in Laramie, which is also in the same area.

If all goes as planned and I can finish my first 100 in June I'm hoping to pack up the family and head to Phoenix for another 100 mile race called Javelina Jundred.  This is another race that I stumbled upon that have cool looking buckles for the 100k and 100m finishers.  Kate's mom recently moved to Phoenix, so this looks like a good opportunity to visit with the kids and I can go run 100 miles in the desert.

I'm bound to finish a 100 and get a buckle this year!