2007: Running in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico over the New Year s holiday

Transcription

1 2007: Running in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico over the New Year s holiday Running on a warm February day in the Garden of the gods, Colorado Springs.

2 February 2007: Discovery Park and the Redmond Watershed near Seattle, Washington are a couple places Katie enjoys training in her first year at the University of Washington. March 2007: Kelsey looks at Mesa State College near Grand Junction as a place to attend school and run for their cross country program. We discover some great trails just outside Grand Junction near Colorado National Monument!

3 March 25, 2007 I run my 75,000 th mile in Rocky Mountain National Park!

4 Seeing wildlife and recording it has always been a great part of running. In May and June of 2007, I decided to take a small camera with me on my runs from the Ranch in North Park as I ran in the nearby Camp Creek area. During these two months I captured the following wildlife: elk, mountain lions, porcupines, owls, moose, antelope, deer, marmots, coyotes and bear (my bear picture was too blurry, but I did get it s print as it ran in front of me).

5 Wild animal encounters I ve had a few bear encounters over the years. The first one occurred while on an early morning run in Leadville, Colorado (elevation 10,000 ) with fellow FCHS math teacher Wayne Bromley in It was just before dark and we were talking about various animal encounters, and both of us mentioned we had yet to see a bear while on a run. It wasn t a minute later that we came around a corner on the trail and there we were, face to face with a black bear! We stopped, it stopped, and we both took off in opposite directions never to see each other again! In the coming years I would spot bears in Lory State Park and also in Camp Creek near the Ranch in North Park. In every instance, the bear didn t seem to want to mess with me which was ok by me! In the summer of 1996, Karen and I were vacationing on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. While exploring near a pineapple field, I decided to run down one of the rows of pineapples which was bordered by a ditch filled with water on either side. Running down the row, out of nowhere a big wild boar with huge tusks lunged at my left leg! I barely escaped, only to find that the only way out was to go back down the row past the wild boar again. Noting where he was hiding, I stopped and then sprinted for all I was worth, only to have him jump out and lunge at me again! It was the last time I ran through any pineapple fields again. With the advent of digital cameras, I decided to start carrying one with me on my runs in North Park during the early summer of On one of my very first runs into Camp Creek while the gate was closed to traffic, I ran just over a mile in near a rock I refer to as Marmot Rock (a place that is very popular for marmots). Less than 100 ahead of me a mountain lion and it s cub crossed from marmot rock and across Camp creek without seeing me at first. As they walked on the other side of the creek, now about 300 away, the cub spotted me and hid in the sagebrush. The momma lion then spotted me and crouched, switching it s tail as if to attack. Thinking back to my readings on lions, I stepped out into the open, raised my arms to appear bigger, and thankfully the momma lion stood back up and walked away with it s cub! I hope this is my only encounter with a mountain lion they are scary!

6 2007: I begin traveling to the Pacific Northwest to visit Katie and watch track meets. Left: Running the famous Pre Trails in Eugene, Oregon and Right: Running in Seattle, Washington. I am nominated by co-workers at FCHS for the Fort Collins Coloradoan Xplorer Q&A. This article was on the front page of the Sunday sports section alongside a big article about Rock Climbing (see my last question). Right: Running in Phoenix, Arizona in Nov 2007.

7 Fall 2007: Kelsey finishes her cross country career at Fort Collins High School as an All-Conference and All-State runner. She also leads her team to a 7 th place finish at NXN. 2007: I run mile 75,000 on March 25 th in Rocky Mountain National Park and mile 76,000 on September 2 nd at the Ranch in North Park, Colorado. New state run in: Indiana. 2008: Running the trails near Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction, Colorado.

8 2008: Running the trails near Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction, Colorado. Running through a volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii while on a family vacation.

9 May 2008: A milestone: running mile number 77,777 with 7 running partners! September 2008: Running along Lake Washington in Seattle, Washington.

10 Fall 2008: All three daughters have an amazing cross country season! Kirsten and the FCHS Cross country team which I helped coach win the CO State Title Kelsey completes her first cross country season running for Mesa State College Katie and the University of Washington win the National Championships in Terre Haute

11 2008: I run mile 77,000 on January 29 th in LaPorte, Colorado, mile 78,000 on June 21 st in the North Platte Wilderness, Wyoming, and mile 79,000 on November 15 th in LaPorte, Colorado. New state run in: Arkansas. States run in 2005 Countries run in 2005 States run in 2006 Countries run in 2006 States run in 2007 Countries run in 2007 States run in 2008

12 January 2009: We join Kelsey and some friends and drive over to Moab, Utah to visit and run in Arches National Park. March 2009: Running one of Kelsey s favorite trails, the Kokopelli trail, along the Colorado River outside Grand Junction, Colorado.

13 July 2009: We start taking the FCHS Cross Country team up to Cameron Pass to run the Michigan ditch trail at 10,000 on the way to Follett Camp at the Ranch. This is also the last year a high school Follett runner attends Follett Camp. Fall 2009: Kirsten finishes All-State in Cross country, and leads her FCHS cross country team to a Colorado State title and to their third trip to NXN where they finish 3 rd in the nation!

14 2009: I run mile 80,000 on April 11 th in Denver, Colorado and mile 81,000 on September 2 nd at Horsetooth Reservoir, Colorado. New states run in: Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Running mile 82,000 in Owl Canyon north of Fort Collins in January 2010.

15 January 2010: Visiting Albuquerque, New Mexico where Kirsten has decided to start attending college after graduation. We find the weather nice for this time of year as we run in the foothills of the Sandia mountains east of town and also the trails along the Rio Grande River. April 2010: Running in a new open space, Red Mountain, near the Colo/Wyo border.

16 Spring 2010: Kirsten finishes her running career at Fort Collins High School as a 4-time All-State performer, and an athletic scholarship to run at the University of New Mexico. June 2010: Katie runs her final race as a UW Husky in Eugene at NCAAs. She finishes her college career with 8 All-Americans and 2 school records. After this race she signs a professional running contract with Brooks Sports. Her first race in a Brooks uniform is at USAs, and then she continues on to Europe for her first overseas professional season.

17 Leuven, Belgium and the 2010 AIA Belgium Project Above: Amsterdam, Netherlands and Paris, France. Below: Barcelona, Spain and Paris, France June/July 2010: I am asked by Athletes In Action to lead a new project in Leuven, Belgium. Katie was a part of this project, and following our time with the team we did some traveling to Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany.

18 September 2010: Running among the changing aspens in North Park, Colorado November 2010: Running mile 84,000 at the Red Mountain Open Space

19 December 2010: Running in Boulder canyon with Kelsey 2010: I run mile 82,000 on January 29 th in Owl Canyon, Colorado, mile 83,000 on July 1 st in Erodegen, Belgium, and mile 84,000 on November 20 th at the Red Mountain Open Space, Colorado. New states run in: Maine and Ohio* and new countries: Belgium, Spain and Netherlands.

20 February 2011: Training in the Poudre Canyon for the upcoming Colorado Marathon. February 2011: Running in San Diego, California. Kirsten was here to run the USATF Junior Cross Country meet.

21 March 2011: All three girls are able to make the trip to Vail, Colorado for Spring Break. Katie brings along someone for us to meet and run with: Danny Mackey. Danny is an accomplished athlete, having qualified for the Olympic Trials Marathon and also ran professionally with the Brooks Hansons Project. He has work experience in the running world, including having worked for Nike, Adidas and eventually Puma, Keen and Brooks. The Follett family gives Katie and Danny the thumbs up on pursuing a relationship. We all like Danny as a person and as a running partner, so by July they are engaged, and on December 31 st they are married.

22 May 2011: Having not run a marathon in 27 years, I trained for and competed in the beautiful Colorado Marathon. It starts seventeen miles up the Poudre Canyon, goes through LaPorte, finishing along the Poudre River bike trail into Old Town, Fort Collins. My goal was to run in under four hours, and with good pacing I was able to finish in 3 hours 52 minutes! Of course, I couldn t walk very well for about three days, but it was worth it. May: Recovered from my marathon, I run at Youngs Gulch in the Poudre Canyon.

23 June 2011: While at USAs in Eugene, Oregon I get to run with a lot of people in the track & field running community including Jeff Caron, Ryan Fenton, Jesse Williams, Kevin Selby, Alex Lohr, Rebekka Stowe and of course, Katie & Danny. July 2011: Hosting the 11 th annual Follett Camp and running with other parents. August 2011: Pacing Karen in her first half-marathon, the Georgetown to Idaho Spgs Half! Kirsten also runs in this race and wins her age-group.

24 August 2011: On a run at Red Mountain Open Space with Katie s fiance, Danny Mackey. August 2011: I went for a run in Rocky Mountain Nat l Park on my first day of Retirement!

25 October 2011: An early morning run in Jackson Hole, Wyoming while on a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Fall 2011: Kelsey competes in her final cross country season for Colorado Mesa University, a RMAC All-Conference runner. December 2011: Having taken about two months off due to a muscle tear in the back of my knee, I m just starting to run again when we travel out to Portland and Seattle for Katie & Danny s wedding. Left: Here I am on one of my first short runs after weeks off, in Forest Park, Portland. Katie & Danny lived just a short distance from this very nice park in Portland, Oregon. Right: December 31 st, 2011, the morning of Katie & Danny s wedding. Pictured are members of the wedding party in the lobby of the Silver Cloud Inn in Seattle, Washington.

26 2011: A torn popliteal muscle in my left knee had me cross training the last couple months of this year. I ran mile 85,000 on April 11 th in Fort Collins and mile 86,000 on September 3 rd in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Spring 2012: Kelsey competes in her 2 nd National Nordic Skiing Championships! April 2012: Running in Boston while visiting Katie & Danny in their new home.

27 June 2012: Running and doing push-ups each day while working as a cook at the Brooks house during the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. July 4 th, 2012: Following the Olympic Trials at the end of June, Katie & I return quickly to Fort Collins for a big event: Kelsey & Eli s wedding day and running activities! Eli s favorite holiday has always been the Fourth of July, and this one in 2012 will probably rank as his favorite Fourth of July celebration. We all got up early on the Fourth to compete in the annual Firecracker 5k in City Park here in Fort Collins. Kelsey wore her veil and Eli sported a pair of tuxedo shorts as they ran the race together and crossed the line hand-in-hand. I ran along side and video taped the entire race for them. Katie won the race, even setting a record for the event. By noon we were headed back home to shower and get ready for the wedding which took place later that afternoon.

28 Karen, Kelsey, Eli, Kirsten, Katie and Kevin after the July 4 th Firecracker 5k! July 2012: Running in the North Platte Wilderness, Wyoming during Follett Camp.

29 July 2012: Kirsten and I travel to Belgium to stay a few days with Katie and watch her compete. Here I am running in Leuven and Ninove, Belgium.

30 August 2012: Running the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon with Karen, Kirsten and John Brown. September 2012: Ryan Fenton and Alex Lohr visit to do some filming in Fort Collins, so I feed them some antelope biscuits and gravy, and then take them on a run at Horsetooth Reservoir.

31 October 2012: While in the Las Vegas area for the Mountain West Conference cross country championships, I found a couple interesting places to run. Top: running at the Red Rock Canyon Natural Conservation Area west of Las Vegas, and middle: running on an old rail road bed above Lake Mead near the Hoover Dam east of Las Vegas, Nevada. November 2012: After watching Kirsten and UNM compete at the NCAA Cross Country Nationals, I found a great run along the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky.

32 2012: I run mile 87,000 the day after Kirsten s 20 th birthday on May 11 th at Lory State Park, Colorado, and mile 88,000 on October 4 th in LaPorte, Colorado. States run in 2009 States run in 2010 Countries run in 2010 States run in 2011 States run in 2012 Countries run in 2012

33 Filename: My 100,000 Mile Quest by Kevin Follett.doc Directory: C:\Users\Kevin Follett\Documents\Kevin's Running\OneHundredThousandMileQuest Template: C:\Users\Kevin Follett\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dot Title: My Life As A Runner by Kevin Follett Subject: Author: Kevin Follett Keywords: Comments: Creation Date: 11/21/2013 8:30:00 PM Change Number: 202 Last Saved On: 11/22/2017 5:34:00 PM Last Saved By: Kevin Follett Total Editing Time: 5,688 Minutes Last Printed On: 11/22/2017 5:42:00 PM As of Last Complete Printing Number of Pages: 164 (approx.) Number of Words: 15,046 (approx.) Number of Characters: 85,767 (approx.)