Siskiyou Out and Back

Ashland Oregon is home to Southern Oregon University and the internationally renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This isn't too surprising to anyone, however what you may not know is that Ashland is becoming the mecca for ultra-running. Ashland is a town with approximately 20,000 people. Some of the most accomplished ultra-runners call it home. On July 8th I am going to take part in the annual Siskiyou Out and Back; one of the premiere events on the Southern Oregon Trail Running calendar.

The Siskiyou Trail stretches from California's Central Valley to Oregon's Willamette Valley; modern-day Interstate 5. The Siskiyou Trail provided the shortest travel path between early settlements in California and Oregon. In California during the gold rush, the people who traveled on this path were called Forty-niners.

Shout out to my favorite forty-niner Michael Singletary!

Three Sisters Marathon

I am headed to Central Oregon for the weekend to take part in the Three Sisters Marathon. The race starts in Redmond and winds down to Bend. The name of the race seemed odd to me at first until I realized "three sisters" was referencing the mountain range; not the city of Sisters which is just down the road from Redmond and Bend.

The Three Sisters are three volcanic peaks of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range in Oregon, each of which exceeds 10,000 ft in elevation.

Redmond is located about 144 miles from Portland. The square root of 144 is 12. The unemployment rate in Redmond is 12%. The number of elementary schools in Redmond is 12. And yes, you guessed it, the percentage of households with a single female parent is 12.