Hello Run Tucson folks.

Randy here, on behalf of Tia and Run Tucson. Please forgive this rare Sunday night email, but there is some ongoing community news that we thought we should share. This has been a tough week here in town.

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This week local runner Aubrey Bergeson passed away. She was a neonatal nurse at TMC Health, the mother of three, and a well-loved friend in the community. We didn't know Aubrey very well, but she ran many of the local races alongside friends and teammates from 520 Running and Riding and the SAR community. You can read more about her here. Fittingly, friends and family held a One Mile Walk in her honor at Ironwood Ridge HS Saturday evening. We'll hold a moment of silence for her at the TMC Saguaro race tomorrow.

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Also this week, while on an easy trail run, veteran Tucson runner and long-time friend Chris Fall suffered from a heart attack event. Thanks to the quick actions of a running friend, medical care was able to arrive at the distant trail and provide care. Since then, Chris has been in intensive care at St. Mary's all week. Friends from the Tucson Trail Runners, ComeRun, WOG, and SAR have visited to provide support to Chris and family.

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Last week, we wrote about the Grand Canyon flooding. At the time, we did not realize that a friend and long-time Tucson runner Wieke de Boer was on a solo Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim and had been caught on the North Kaibab trail that flooded. Wieke indicates that she was heading uphill towards the top of the North Rim when the weather worsened. She made the decision to stop going up and instead return to her camp near Phantom Ranch. By turning back she avoided being trapped in the box canyon. She points out that the National Park Service Rangers were instrumental in helping her survive a very difficult situation. Part of her story is chronicled in a recent Washington Post article.

Farther from home, you may have read about Kalie McCristal, a Canadian runner who has been missing since heading out for a training run in the Plateau Rosa area near the Matterhorn in Italy earlier this week. Kalie was on a solo run preparing for a Skyrunning Series event when she disappeared. Hopes are fading for her survival. Aside from the terrible sadness of Kalie's loss, this story brings back a painful memory from 1998.

In the summer of '98, I was also at the Matterhorn, getting ready to run a Skyrunning event and write about it for Runner's World. One of the Skyrunners, Lyndon Ellefson, went on a pre-race training run and fell into a crevasse and died. Lyndon's body was found and he was returned home to Colorado, providing a measure of closure for his family. He was posthumously named to the Colorado Running Hall of Fame.

Lyndon had been a mentor to me, helping me understand the challenges of wilderness altitude racing; when we did a race on Ixtaccihuatl in Mexico, he had been helped me navigate to the 17,000 foot turn-around point and taught me how to use the ropes on a slick couloir.

The events in Tucson, the Grand Canyon, and the Alps remind us to never take nature for granted. Here are some reminders if you're doing any sort of wilderness running:

• If possible, run in groups of three -- in case something happens, one person can stay with the injured athlete while the other gets help.
• Many of us run solo -- when running alone, do your best to let people know where you are and the time-frame for your run. In crisis, partner with others on the trail.
• Make sure your communication tech works. Many phones have emergency signal tools, so prepare in case you need to use them.
• Prepare for weather changes. Ensure that you have enough food and drink in case of an emergency.
• If running on snow and ice, perhaps have an avalanche beacon device that can be activated in crisis.
• Understand the possible risks, and when in doubt, turn back and get to safety.

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All of us on this list share the love of movement and the joy of running--we have different life experiences -- and we have different levels of comfort for adventure and risk, but all of us go through similar experiences on a regular basis.

Please know that your running community is there for you. Runners are good people -- they will provide support and they will provide companionship. Reach out to them.

Randy and Tia

randy@runtucson.net | tia@runtucson.net | www.runtucson.net

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