Exteme is that a springer spaniel. We just got a springer puppy 2 months ago. We have had several before

Yep. He is our 4th springer. The Lady is a german short haired pointer. She is a lean mean running machine. The springer, he is aging a bit these days just like me.

It's so great to see so many familiar faces from RW! I'm Amanda. I lived in Atlanta for the last 8 years, but moved to Chicago a few months ago. I am still adjusting to the new running terrain - besides running more road, the trails are flatter and much less technical than I was accustomed to in Atlanta. Roxie (from my username)is my dog - she doesn't run with me as much as she used to, but I take her for a few short runs per week. I've run a handful of ultras and a few marathons.

I'm so happy that you're in Chicago now!  I can't wait to run again with you and your DBF once I am all healed up.  Roxie and Bella can have another play date as well.

So I'm a little late to the introductions but her it goes...

FurShirtFlyer aka Murph. I'm currently living in Upstate New York but the Air Force is moving me to Colorado early next year. Im 36 and been running off and on since I was a kid. I started running ultras about 3 or 4 years ago. This year has been my most productive. I completed 3 races this year. The most recent being the 50 miler at Virgil Crest. My main goal for the next year is just to increase my base and stay healthy so I can have another productive year.

Howdy.  I'm Misty & I live in Missoula, MT.  I'm one of those imports from that other website.  

 

I'm not necessarily a trail runner, but I live in an area where it's easy to incorporate trail running into almost every run for at least a few miles, if not the entire run.  From my home, I can access flat trails along a river, rolling, grassy hill trails, and steep, rocky mountain trails.  My 1st half was a trail run in the mountains called the Pengelly Double Dip, and I finished dead last.  I'd like to get better at trail running, and specifically mountain running, but now that we are approaching winter, I'm not really sure what to do.  Nice to meet you all.

Missoula- home to U of Montana my alma mater  Hello everyone, I'm Mike- I currently live in SE Montana (prairie/bad land country), but have lived all over the entire state (Eureka, Hungry Horse, Missoula, Great Falls, Sand Coulee, Whitefish, the list goes on)

I'm a lifelong hiker/backpacker, but never a runner (until recently that is ) and found myself gravitating to longer mile days and challenging day hikes (DIADs- done in a day).  A group that I interacted with on a backpacking site announced a Grand Canyon R2R2R run last fall (2011) to be run this past spring- that was all I needed to motivate me into trail running.  I didn't make the entire 42 miles, but did make it to Roaring Springs and back for 32 miles.  It was a very natural crossover (albeit with a great deal of work ) to trail running and have been enjoying it since.  I've only run one race, it was a doozy- the Bridger Ridge Run.  I'm signed up to run the Uwharrie 20 this February (my brother lives in SC) and the Devil's Backbone (the Gallatin Range) this July.

Misty I plan on entering the Pengelly Double Dip as well, so a chance I'll bump into you if you enter again.

While the racing appeals to my competitive side, I think long runs with friends in epic locations is more appealing yet- we're hoping to get a Trans Zion run in late Spring/early Summer and possibly a Rae Lakes Loop in early fall.

Mike

That's right! NewbieRunner. Didn't I tell you back then that you should change your name because you were certainly no longer a newbie runner?

 

I walked way too much at PsychoPsummer. It was a beautiful trail, but the heat and humidity just killed me. An ambulance came for one guy who exhibited all the signs of heat exhaustion at one of the aid stations.

Yep, you did say I should change my name. I decided to change it after I ran a 10K in under 1hr. The new name was suggested by multiple forum members, it came from how I wrote my race reports back then.

I walked too much because the heat/humidity caused my HR to skyrocket and it took forever to go down. I still loved the race though!

Trail dog.. you will have to tell me about the "cool" places to trail run in Atlanta. We are still thinking about moving down there. My sister, and my wife's sister outside the loop on the west side. So far I've found Sweetwater and Clinton Reserve during my visits but those places seem crowded to this PA trail runner.

 If you go south of the city, I don't find a lot of people at Pine Mountain (FDR state park).  Unless you count passing 1-2 people an hour busy.

Join GUTS and you'll never lack great trailruns and races. There are so many great trails in North GA, you wouldn't be disappointed.

+1 to that! I was (and technically still am through December) the membership coordinator for GUTS. If you are looking for solitude, your best bet is north GA mountains, specifically the Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) and the Duncan Ridge Trail (DRT). Both are long trails with minimal foot traffic. Also light use in the Cohutta Wilderness. Appalachian Trail is an obvious place to start and intersects with the BMT and the DRT, but you will come across more people especially when running during the height of NOBO hiking season.

Closer to Atlanta you will see more hikers, runners, and bikers, simply because Atlanta is a major metropolitan area with a large population of active people. My favorite spots were Sope Creek (the single track up above the fitness loop at Cochran Shoals Chattahoochee River area), Kennewaw Mountain (17 mile loop of the park), and Red Top State Park (~13 mile rolling mostly single-track loop). If you join GUTS, they do two races at Sweetwater SP -- the Fat Ass 50k in early January (which is actually closer to 35 miles), and the Hot to Trot 8 hour (1 mile trail loop).

Chattanooga, TN also has great trail running, and a great trail running community.