10/14/2023 NATRA Soulstice Mountain Trail Run first cattle guard clips for both short and long runs

Neil's note:
Could yesterday's Soulstice Mountain Trail Run and post-race party have been any more epic?
First congrats to all participants who survived the spectacular annular eclipse at the 24th running of Soulstice. Here is a teaser batch of my favorite pics. Stay tuned for the rest as our course photographers have been sending me hundreds of photos to share.
Ahead of the main race, runners cheered on the kid's as they survived a new tradition; The Wild Pink Flamingo Kid's Dash! And I'm happy to report that none of the kiddos were attacked by the hungry wild flamingoes lining the course.
At the start, we celebrated the memory of Soulstice runner Pete Reed, who was killed last February while voluntarily serving as a medic on a humanitarian effort to save lives in the Ukraine.
As the race and eclipse went off in spectacular fashion, legendary Flagstaff ultra runner Robert Krar jumped to the front and set the standard for our newly designed 11+ mile course in 1:08.38. 2021 Flagstaff Olympian Rachel Smith pushed Rob along throughout the eclipse as she ended up second overall, winning the women's race in 1:10.15, her third Soulstice victory!
On the masters side, Ted MacMahon won the men's division in 1:16.33, while the women were led by Colleen Lingley who dueled with Ted all race long finishing four seconds behind him in 1:16.37.
In the 10K course, Ryan Stevens won the race in 39.43 with masters winner Mark Loeffler taking second overall in 40.59.
On the women's side, our youngest runner, 18 year old Audrey Encinas smoked the 10K course in 47.54, while three-time Canadian Olympic race walker Janice McCaffrey (1992, 1996 and 2000) won the women's masters division in 56.23.
See the full results at https://www.athlinks.com/.../results/Event/1062858/Results
It was a magical race with the annular eclipse taking place at the same time. The skies eerily darkened as shadows danced throughout the race course, the temperatures noticeably dropped, and dozens of runners stopped at the aid stations using eclipse glasses to enjoy the celestial display.
As this was the 24th running, we are now starting to see a big youth movement and were thrilled that Soulstice has turned into a family affair! This year there were at least seven pairs of parents participating with their offspring, including Ron and Lucy Vollbrecht, Andy and Landyn Morris, Audrey and Laura Rayburn, Colleen and Dot Lingley, Jessica and Ansley Owen, and Emilie Sineau and her boys Luke and Max.
The wild and crazy post-race party was kicked off by local Parks musician Paul Webber and his buddy Michael from Bend, Oregon playing Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire.
And Whalen went off script per usual with his newest Soulstice challenges that will no doubt be a future tradition; the Soulstice Island hot dog eating contest which was followed by the first ever Klostermeyer Chug-a-lug, won by Michael Tharp.
The party then took a short break until reconvening Saturday evening; much thanks to Fratelli Pizza for helping pack the Pay N'Take for a second night in a row, with our runner and volunteer appreciatation pizza party.
Of course the biggest winner was Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff, the beneficiary of well over $10,000 as result of the Aspen Sports raffle, Soulstice shirt sponsors, and those runners who donated their Arizona Charitable Tax Credit to BBBSF (the free and guaranteed way to get into Soulstice).
Registration for the 2024, 25th annual Soulstice Mountain Trail Run opens on December 31st, and will again sell out after the April 1st lottery. Stay tuned to natra.org for all the latest details!
Special thanks to volunteers Jay Carnes, past and present Aspen Sports owners Jerry, McLaughlin, Rich and Heather Reading, race co-founder Paul Brinkmann, raffle extraordinaire emcee Waylon, Gail Hughes for her database and race day management support, my dozens of friends who volunteered as course marshals, Coconino County Sheriff Jim Driscoll and his deputies, Guardian Medical's support, of course Jeremiah and Selena Langner for hosting the post-race party at their beautiful ranch, and finally thanks to my best man David McKee, for his artful design of the shirt and poster.
Thanks as always to our major sponsors Aspen Sports Flagstaff, Flagstaff Law Group, Fratelli Pizza, Super Salve, Squirrel's Nut Butter, Biff's Bagels, Dr. Amber Randall, Run Flagstaff, Grand Canyon Adventures, Pay 'N Take, Skratch Labs, The Physio Shop, Weld Like A Girl, and SweatVac Performance Wear.
The only question is, how will we top this year's race?