by Dr Shannon O’Grady “The key to a strong finish is a strong start.” Shannon O’Grady has a Ph.D. focused in Nutritional Physiology from the University of Utah and is the Chief Product Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Gnarly, which is a sports nutrition sponsor of Northwest Trail Runs. Pre-Run Nutrition There is a lot of speculation regarding proper race day hydration and fueling, and in truth, the optimal strategy for you is likely to be quite different than the runner next to you. Given that, there are some basic hydration and fueling strategies, that if you’re not already doing, will ..read more

As we gleefully watch 2020 disappear in the rearview mirror, we look ahead to 2021 with great hopes and anticipation of what the new year will bring. While the last year has been a good lesson in holding our expectations lightly, we are still doing our best to give you and the rest of our trail running community some bright spots to look forward to! We’re a bit late to put out our 2021 event calendar, and this is partly because the last year has made us hesitant to tempt fate by announcing our plans too far ahead of time. When we unveiled our 2020 calendar it included some new events ..read more

In nearly three decades of organizing events, we have experienced numerous unexpected situations that have impacted our event plans, but this is our first pandemic. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19, page at CDC) pandemic (map of worldwide cases by John’s Hopkins University) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a genetic cousin of the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. A recent study simulating the spread of COVID-19 in Great Britain and the U.S. shows that, in order for our healthcare system not to be greatly overwhelmed, very signific ..read more

With holiday lights twinkling and the Cascades filling with snow, it is high time we announced our 2020 event calendar. Our 2020 scheduling process has actually been going on for nearly half a year. We’re always hatching new events, and new event plans take the most time to solidify. On top of the time that takes, we put on so many events—and not only Northwest Trail Runs events, but also Street Scramble and Northwest Nav Races events—that we sometimes find ourselves shuffling one event to a different date and needing to change the date of another, revisiting plans that we thought were settled ..read more

After nearly five awesome years, Mark Taylor will be stepping away from his position as Operations & Event Director at MerGeo.  Mark’s smile, humor, and frog hat will be greatly missed, however, he will be back to direct Run With the Kokanee in October, where his journey as our race director first started. We are excited that Mark is passing the frog hat—at least figuratively—to Kati Leigh. Kati is already an avid member of the running community through Brooks and Seattle Running Club, so we know her experience and passion for outdoor events is the perfect fit for MerGeo. If you’ve be ..read more

Dear Northwest Trail Runs, Street Scramble, and MerGeo Nav Races staff and volunteers, I have been offered the opportunity to rebuild the tropical fish company that I spent 25+ years making a success.  I could not turn down this challenge to do what I love. As a result, I will be stepping away from my role as Operations & Event Director with MerGeo.  My time with Eric, Gretchen, Patrick, and the rest of the crew has been awesome.  The runners, scramblers and orienteers have all welcomed me into their communities with open arms.  Indeed, you all  ..read more

For those who didn’t get a chance to read about my anxieties about getting lost in the woods but signing up to do a night orienteering race, anyway, you may want to go back and read Part I: A Trail Runner’s Attempt at a Navigation Race so you’re not completely confused. Speaking of confusion, before Eric, my navigation and orienteering badass supervisor, came to the park & ride where we met to carpool, I told him I was in the “right” parking lot. No, I was actually to his left from the direction he was coming from (and I had been to his house enough times to know this). Both Eric and ..read more

BUT WAIT, there aren’t any confidence streamers?   WHERE DO I GO? PART 1: A Trail Runner’s Attempt at a Navigation Race For anyone who has run with me on the trails, I am a lost soul. Literally.  I once ran with a friend on Tiger Mountain and when we found ourselves unsure where to go, I felt prepared because I packed a map!  We pull it out, and I begin trying to zero in on where we were.  My dear, sweet, patient friend on the other hand, informed me that I had pulled out a map of Cougar Mountain. Damn it—wrong cat mountain. We found our way back to the car, but dang, did I ..read more

The mild weather and periods of sun over the past several days have us languidly soaking up rays in our short-shorts, fawning over crocuses, thinking about cute little chipmunks eating watermelon, and entertaining other spring-like musings. It would be easy to forget that the final race of the Winter Trail Series is coming up this Saturday at Frost Eagle in Sammamish, except that we’re busy not only topping off all the puddles at Soaring Eagle Park in preparation for the event but also scratching our heads over who will win. With six races in the books, there are still 63 runners who have a sh ..read more

Last fall, we had the privilege of sitting down with Alison and Sam Naney to chat about how we can partner to better serve the trail running community. Alison and Sam offer a quality, affordable training option to those who are running our races, and many of the athletes who train with them are looking for events like our trail runs to serve as motivating fitness milestones, fun workouts, or goal races. While both Alison and Sam have impressive athletic backgrounds, they are both incredibly personable and easy to chat with. Here is a little of what we learned about their team: Alison has been ..read more