Profile and Interview with Jerry Riddick: Exceeding the Boundaries

I spoke with Jerry at his house on the westside of Tucson and had an in-depth discussion about his running life and his outlook on the future. I found Jerry to be a consummate professional. He truly loves the trail and the outdoor experience. He has an impressive resume of 100-mile finishes over 10 years and counting. What follows is his profile and a transcript of our conversation. Enjoy!

PROFILE OF RUNNER:

A.  Name, age, city and state, how long lived there?

Jerry Riddick /59/Tucson AZ /21 yrs

B.  Place of birth, where did you grow up, high school, college, military, other?

Brooklyn NY / Massapequa ( Long Island NY) / Massapequa High/ Hofstra University BSEE

C.  Other than running – hobbies, interests, pets, kids, current employment? 2 dogs/2 kids / Engineering Lab Manager Texas Instruments / Backpacking-hiking -cycling/ fixing my house

D.  Favorite distance to run or race on trail and on the road?

50K (race or run) but 100 miles is a special experience

E.  Favorite race course or event?

 Old Pueblo 50Mile- still fun and beautiful

F.  Favorite Tucson area trail to train, run, hike?

Tucson Mountains/SNP west. Hiking the canyon can’t be beat

G. Favorite vacation destination?

Mexico although I haven’t gone there for several years.

H.  Favorite post-race/run food, drink and activity, ie. hot tub, ice cold river soak, etc?

Sitting in a chair.

I.   Pet Peeves?

Laziness and Extremism. I work hard and think of myself as extremely moderate.

J.  Current book you are reading or favorite author?

I just finished the Millenium trilogy by Steig Larrsson

I love reading Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

K.  Favorite quote or saying to live by?

Nowhere is too far to run if you have the time.

L.  Person you look up to, emulate, hero?

Dalai Lama

M.  What has been your worst running injury?

Broken hand- it hurt a lot. Torn Meniscus- all better

TA:  Thank you for having me over to your home and the excellent dinner. I forgot you lived on a dirt road.

Jerry:  Don't mention it. You were here once before but probably don't remember much. It was when you and Chris attempted the Four-headed Monster and dropped out at my house.

TA:  Oh...I remember. We will have to revisit that someday. Well, first of all, let's talk about your most recent 100-mile race completion.

Profile and Interview with Chris Fall: Running for His Life

I visited Chris Fall and his family at his home last week and enjoyed a brat and a beer before we sat down and talked about his running career. In fact, I know Chris so well that I skipped the preliminaries of all his past accomplishments and jumped right to his post race synopsis of his most recent 100-mile finish. He finished Pine to Palm 100 on September 17^th near Ashland, Oregon in just over 29 hours after a three year hiatus from the distance. Chris is a very accomplished and well balanced runner as well as a funny story teller. He made me laugh. He runs every distance from the 5k on the road to the 100-mile trail. He and his wife Denise are avid sports fans who raised their two kids in an active outdoor environment. What follows is his profile and a discussion between two old friends trying to keep on keeping on and enjoying life while doing it. By the way, his favorite color is periwinkle.

PROFILE OF RUNNER:

A.    Name, age, city and state, how long lived there?

Chris Fall

49

Tucson, AZ

23 years

B.    Place of birth, where did you grow up, high school, college, military, other?

Anchorage AK

Same

Spent first 25 yrs there.

Robert Service High School,

Electrical Engineering degree from Univ. of AZ,

C.    Other than running – hobbies, interests, pets, kids, current employment?

Traveling but usually to races

2 new kittens

Grant 21 year old

Ashley 18 year old

Engineer at Raytheon

D.   Favorite distance to run or race on trail and on the road?

Have done more 50-milers then anything, but nothing beats finishing a 100.

I love every distance on the roads but I guess the marathon is my favorite. 

E.   Favorite race course or event?
       Mount Marathon in Seward, AK… Great memories  and great mountain race. Wasatch too.

F.     Favorite Tucson area trail to train, run, hike?

Any Lemmon ascent, I love leaving the desert and running to the pines.

G.    Favorite vacation destination?

Probably Alaska

H.    Favorite post-race/run food, drink and activity, ie. hot tub, ice cold river soak, etc?

Any race where I can have a beer and watch others finish their event.  I like chips after I finish, if my stomach can handle it.

I.     Pet Peeves?

DNF’s

Going out to fast

A**hole sports fans

J.  Current book you are reading or favorite author?

     Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card.. Currently reading the Ender Series

     Loved The Hobbit so Tolkien is my favorite.

K.  Favorite quote or saying to live by?

      Ski to Die, Run to Live

L.  Person you look up to, emulate, hero?

       Steve Prefontaine;  run fast, play hard.

  

M.  What has been your worst running injury?

       Plantar Fasciitis; a mild case. 

       A bout of runners knee as well.  I have been very lucky

N.  If you could no longer run or lost the use of your legs what sport or activity would you pursue?

     I’d bike or swim if I could

     If not, wheelchair events

TA:  Thanks for having me over to talk about your most recent 100-mile finish at Pine to Palm.

Chris:  Well, I’m pretty happy with the outcome. I finally got it right.

TA:  How was your race experience? Give me some details.

Chris:  Great race. It was the best 100-miler I’ve ever had…

In Search of the Meganeura, a.k.a the Giant Dragonfly; on the Island of Kauai

On my last day of our trip to Kauai I dropped Trish off at the Lihue airport at 11am for her flight home. Our flights were separate and mine didn't leave until 10:30pm later that evening. With over 8 hours to kill I was determined to discover something rarely sighted but known to exist up by Mount Wai'ale'ale, also known as the wettest spot on earth, receiving on average 450 inches of rain per year.

We rented a Jeep Wrangler and had not yet found a chance to get it muddy. I drove 12 miles up Highway 580 from the eastside of the island along the Wailua River. The last 5 miles are on a 4-wheel drive road which receives several rainfalls a day. That day was no different with potholes filled with muddy water and several stretches of 6 inch deep muddy trails.

I had researched the route and had a few trail options to explore along the way but opted to bypass all of them in order to hike through the jungle into the headwaters of the Wailua, the Wai'ale' ale Crater.

I finally found the end of the road and spotted the gauging station.

Just as I pulled into the roundabout a Giant Dragonfly buzzed across my windshield.

It was very large, at least an 8-inch wingspan and a long blue body. My camera was in my pack and I lost the opportunity to snap a photo. But now I had hope that as I wrangled my way through the upcoming jungle trail I would find more even larger dragonflies.

Wrangle turned out to be an underestimation of how I managed to follow the trail. I started out by crossing a bridge over shallow flowing water coming from the crater.

I could see the back wall of the crater in the distance covered in lush green vegetation. I was told that the Blue Hole, the actual headwaters, was about a 2-mile hike in along a gnarly muddy trail and several stream crossings with a lot of boulder hopping. I found the beginning of the trail on my right and went in about 200 feet before the trail quickly turned to shoe-sucking mud and moss covered branches that I had to low crawl under in order to continue.

I began to notice that someone had recently wrapped orange duct tape around tree limbs at key decision points. These markers saved me a lot of time but were sparse and not always where I needed them. At those times I ended up in the stream and boulder hopped until I spotted another tape marker. I got lost twice and scrambled through wild raspberry bushes, scratching my lower bare legs. 

I wore Teva sandals which turned out to be a wise choice. Many times the only option was to step ankle deep into the mud and hang onto the thin trees on the side in order to not lose my balance and fall down. I spent an hour traveling just over a mile when I found an orange piece of tape draped over a rock.

A couple feet away I spotted the empty cardboard tape roll laying amongst the rocks on the side of the trail.

This was a bad omen indicating that the trail was unmarked from here on out. I continued for several more meters and quickly lost any sign of further trail options. I made my way back to the stream to see how close I had come to the crater wall. The wall was daunting and huge with a thick cloud covering the upper part of the crater.

There were several helicopters flying below the crater rim carrying tourists on sightseeing excursions. I wondered if anyone could see me with the white hat I wore on my head. I took a couple of photos and low and behold I spotted another Giant Dragonfly whir past me along the rushing stream. He did not linger and I lost another opportunity to snap a photo.

It was 3pm and I was getting hungry. I decided that it was a good time to make my way back and get down the road back to Lihue before dark. The return trip was just as difficult coming back as going out.

I recognized several landmarks and plants which helped but the footing was terrible. It took me an hour to return the one and a quarter mile journey. I felt a sense of accomplishment in that I was weary from the hike but mostly because I did in fact spot two Giant Dragonflies and got the Jeep dirty enough to get a snooty look from the rental agent.

  

Bruce Gungle: If You Can't Stand the Heat - Get Out of the Oven!

I recently had the pleasure of visiting with Bruce Gungle and talking about his running career and exploits in Death Valley at the Badwater 135-mile race. Bruce is a unique kind of runner in that he thrives on running and living in desert heat. The following profile and interview provides excellent insight into what it's like to manage your body in extreme temperatures and also details what drives the trail and ultra-runner to reach higher goals and limits.