Jemez Mountain Half-Marathon

Caballo Peak in Los Alamos

Start of the 50 mile race

4:45 am Saturday: Watched the start of an ultra for the first time.  Fifty miles up and down a few moutains.  Pitch black, cold, headlamps, Vaseline, the best attitudes I've seen at a race start.  Asked nicely if there were any drop-outs in the half marathon, which had been sold out for months.  Was told to come back for race start at 8am.  Hour nap, back to the start.  13.7mi, 2:09.  So challenging, but so amazing.  

Los Alamos is a captivating town.  It's history is short.  Previously home to the Los Alamos Ranch School for boys, founded in 1917, the US Department of Defense selected the town for the Manhattan Project in WWII, and overtook the area.  All information, including the inhabitants and their roles, were classified until the Project was completed in 1963.  People would tell their families they were traveling, moving, or would just disappear.  Los Alamos was selected both for its geographic protection, anonymity, and its natural beauty, which was hoped to inspire those working on the project.  In July of 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped in the desert in NM.  One month later, Little Boy and Fat Man were dropped in Japan.  The town remains home to the Los Alamos Laboratories, one of four national labs.  Most recently, Los Alamos has been afflicted by fires.  In 2000, the Cerro Grande Fire was started as a controlled burn in uncontrollable winds and high drought conditions.  Over 400 families lost their homes and everything they owned in the 48,000 acre fire.  The effects are evident throughout the landscape, the mountains are covered with dead, blackened, 300 year-old tree trunks.  Green underbrush and small trees are beginning to grow, but it will be many years before the ecosystem can return to normal.  The town and forest is still in danger of fire.  In asking the people why they stay, with such a high risk, they say "this town gets in your blood."  Pretty fascinating place.