Official '08 Race Schedule

It may be "Official" but I still reserve the right to not sign up, drop out of, jam out of, or simply add or subtract events at my discretion. See links on the side page.
As a training day for the Diez Vista 50km in April there will be a 20km run on part of the course on Jan. 27. This will be a good refresher as will the 28km shorty on a different part of the course on Feb. 24th. After the 20km "race" in January, the family will be heading down to the Orcas Island 50km in Washington. It sounds cool because there are cabins for the runners to stay in and families are welcome. The Monday after the race is President's Day in the States so most entrants would go there on Saturday and stay two nights.
Two weeks after Orcas Island is the Dirty Duo 50km on the North Shore. I won free entry to this race from the Haney to Harrison back in '06 and couldn't do it last year. I emailed the race director and she is graciously honouring the entry for the '08 race.
Two weeks after the Dirty Duo is the Chuckanut 50km in Bellingham. I did this race in '06 but missed the sign-up for '07 with huge disappointment. I loved it so much that I do most of my trail training around the course. There's a great mix of hills and technical trails. It's actually less time to get there to train than to drive to the North Shore - just jump on the I-5 and I'm running in forty-five minutes.
April 5th will see me at the Diez Vista 50km in Port Moody. I did this one in '06 as well but knew I wouldn't be in shape to do it last year. At the finish I steadfastly stated to anyone who'd listen that I'd never do this race again. It was a very hard but a few hours later when the pain subsided I was looking forward to doing it again. Hence the need to do those two training runs on the course to get used to it again.
Here's where it gets interesting: I was planning to do a 50 mile race in Washington on April 26th but the Miwok 100km in San Francisco on May 3rd sounded even better. Even I think that it would be too much to do both on back-to-back weekends. A lot of big names usually show up at Miwok so if they do I can really get my ass kicked to put everything into perspective. I should have accommodation secured through Gary Wang, an Ultraman Competitor and numerous finishes at Western States, so that's a good thing. I got my mom an entry into the Vancouver Marathon, walker's division, for May 4th so would be nice to be back and see her finish. It would mean a quick turnaround but I'm pretty used to that. There was also a 12 hour race on the 17th that I was going to use as prep for the 100 miler. I would rather do the Blackfoot 100km in Edmonton that I couldn't do last year because it was too soon after the Vancouver Marathon. It's on May 24th this year so I'm hoping there's enough time in between Miwok and this one to be competitive.
June 7th (I assume) is the Kelowna Scorched Sole 50km. This would be a good little bout of speed work before the Bighorn 100 mile on June 20th and 21st in Wyoming. After not getting my name drawn in the Western States lottery I looked for another one near the same date as I had much of my race schedule drawn up around WS. Bighorn is also a qualifier for the Hardrock 100 mile which is touted as one of the hardest 100s there is. '09 perhaps.
Depending on another lottery gamble, I will do the Knee Knackering 30 mile in North Van on July 12th. This has interested me for a few years but never thought I'd be able to do it or it conflicted with other triathlons I was doing. It also climbs 8,000 feet which sounds like a lot of fun!!
August 1st is the the Canadian Death Race. A 125km trek near Grand Cache, Alberta. This is a race I've wanted to do for at least six years but again triathlon led the way in priority for me. I might do the Stormy 100 mile or 50 mile race after the Death Race but not sure if it falls on the weekend after or two weeks later. This may or may not happen, depends on what coach Ian has to say.
All of this work culminates in a huge, unsure-if-I-can-finish, crazy, yes crazy even by MY standards, 246km Spartathon in Greece. Not sure why I want to do this race on the road but the goal is to be the highest finishing Canadian ever. Not sure how many have even started but as far as I know only one Canadian has finished the race in its 24-year history.
Just to finish things up nicely I'll holiday in Italy for the 100km World Championships on November 8th.
Whew, I'm tired just writing all this.