Joe Von Bokern

As midnight approached on Saturday, July 11th, Alex and I pulled into the mountain town of Fairplay, CO for the 2020 edition of the Last Call 50 Mile Endurance Run. Less than 2 hours away from metro Denver,  Fairplay sits at about 9500 feet above sea level. The surrounding peaks are the perfect playground for trail runners, and this race would highlight that fact beautifully. With COVID-19 still wreaking havoc on the US, there was part of me that worried that Last Call 50 wouldn't even happen at all. But race director (and friend) John LaCroix made sure that there was a detailed protocol in place that would keep runners and volunteers safe and healthy. Part of that was implementing a wave start, with groups of about 20 people each starting the race at 11:40pm, 11:50pm, and then midnight. I was in the 11:50pm grouping. As we lined up to depart from the South Park School track, I told myself one last time, "You've got this." So many questi

  *NOTE: It's been a few months since I ran the Bear Chase Trail 50k, but I realized I haven't written up a race report for it yet, so I'm gonna do my best to remember the details. When I made the decision to register for the Bear Chase Trail 50k, I was sitting at a burger joint on a Friday afternoon with a colleague. We had just finished plowing through a pile of fries, and I was looking out the window at the late summer afternoon in Colorado. The final stretch of training had begun for the Indian Creek 50 Miler, and I needed to squeeze in a final long run before taper began. My laptop sat open in front of me on the restaurant table, and I returned my gaze to my internet browser window, which was open on UltraSignup.com . In my free time, I enjoy hunting for future events to run, and I couldn't help but notice that there was actually a nearby trail 50k the following morning. Yep, that's right. The following morning. As in... less than 24-hours later. Now,

Back in April, I wrote a brief post about my desire to move up from the marathon distance and begin exploring the world of ultra running. Shortly thereafter, I planned my 2017 race season, which would culminate in an attempt at my first 50 mile event: the Indian Creek Fifties, hosted by Human Potential Running series. Why I chose Indian Creek Fifties There's no shortage of fifty milers in Colorado, so why did I opt for Indian Creek? It came down to a number of factors that, when combined, actually made the decision pretty easy. The Timing Was Right - I had a few work obligations that prevented me from racing in September, and the weather in Colorado is actually pretty damn nice in October anyway. The Course Was Exciting - Coming from a road marathon background, I wanted to run a true mountain ultra. IC50 is a beautiful romp through Roxborough State Park and boasts nearly 9,500 ft of lung-busting vertical gain. Every step of that race is a climb or a descent. Nothing is

Yesterday I had the pleasure of running my first ultra-marathon at the Greenland Trail 50k in Larkspur, CO. But this race report begins, as most do, well before the starting line. My training leading up to this event was probably the most focused training I've ever had for a race. Now, that's not to say it was the best training, mind you. There have been plenty of times in the past that I've trained for a marathon by simply running balls-out fast for 7 or 8 miles a few times a week. But I never really understood my body and what was happening to it. This time, I had plenty of base mileage runs, as well as a handful of fartleks and tempo efforts. The training felt smarter. The morning of the race, as Alex and I made the hour drive down to the starting line form our house, we watched the sunrise into what would turn out to be a cloudless, bright, blue Colorado morning. Greenland Trail is an area of open space and grazing land that sits in a little valley just south of

For my final running event of 2016, I ran the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct 9th. Which meant, among other things, a trip down memory lane (I lived in Chicago from 2007-2012) and a belly full of tasty regional grub. Alex and I flew in Thursday, dropped our bags at our friends' apartment in Lakeview, and immediately hit up The Wiener's Circle for a Chicago dog with everything on it (but no ketchup, rookies). The days leading up to the event also consisted of Giordano's deep dish pizza, Big Bowl stir-fry, and all the Irish pub fare and Midwestern craft beer a boy could ever hope for. I tend to become a vacuous expanse leading up to running events, I'll admit it. Blah blah carbo-loading blah blah glycogen. The truth is that I friggin' love to eat. The morning of the race arrived. My pre-race ritual is very nebulous and unstructured. I sorta let my focus drift in and out. Sometimes I try to go through the course in my head mile by mile, but then other

On May 15th I ran the Colfax Marathon. It was my first time running the entire course, having done the first leg of the marathon relay in 2015. You can view my specifics on Strava here . I got to Denver City Park at about 4:45 AM to find parking. I'm glad I arrived as early as I did, because the lots were already starting to fill up. But with a starting line with thousands of participants, I suppose you have to expect some parking difficulties, right? The weather was super agreeable; about 45 degrees at the start with no real wind to speak of. The entire morning never got above 55 degrees, which made for incredibly pleasant running. I had a cheap sweatshirt that I wore to stay warm before the start, but I tossed it before we even began. I rant the first few miles at a comfortable 8:25/mi. Looking back, it may have been prudent to go a bit slower out of the gate, but that early race adrenaline had me pretty amped. By mile 9, a lingering glute strain began to bother me a litt

I'm not typically a person you'll find celebrating St. Patrick's day with a gallon of green beer. But give me a race to run and I'll be there faster than you can say "Shillelagh!" This time around, it was the Lucky Laces 10k with good friend and fellow runner Laura Adducci. I hadn't run a 10k in a couple years, so I was eager to join her for some fun in City Park. 3...2...1...GO. I started with Laura near the rear of the corral, but managed to weave my way into some free space by the time I reached the first mile-marker. From here, I cruised at just under a 7:00/mi pace. The weather couldn't have been more agreeable, and my legs felt surprisingly strong (I had just come off a 20-miler two days prior). There's really no bad-assery to speak of on my end. I wound up finishing 16th overall in a field of about 400, so I felt pretty good about that, but the real winner of the day was Laura! This was her first 10k and she finished strong! I was supe