We'll be posting photos and live results through Twitter this morning. If you have pics or thoughts of your own use the #BigTesuque tag and they should be picked up in the widget below. Cheers to all the folks lining up this morning, and happy running! Tweets about "#bigtesuque" Terrific run folks. We believe it was a record day with ~140 finishers. This is up from last year's record turnout of 129 finishers. Both of our champions from prior year successfully held their titles, congratulations to Dustin and Katie. We had a large number of first time runners, congrats for braving the unknown ..read more

We've been fielding a few questions about the Government shutdown and how it affects the National Forests, in particular the Santa Fe National Forest. In a general sense we really don't know, but specific to this weekend's race our only casualties are the permanent bathrooms at the trailhead. They'll be locked, so we've made plans to truck a couple portables up there for everyone. Problem solved. What else should be pondered and planned for as race day draws near? We just happen to have a handy list right here:  - What to Prepare for on Race Day ..read more

We've updated our Race Sponsor page. Aside from our volunteers and race director these are the folks that make Big T tick, year after year, in many cases for the last twenty years - not a typo. Before we can recognize our new overall and age-group champions on Saturday let's recognize the businesses that lend their support in getting us to race day in good shape. Cowbells and a big thanks to our sponsors below. And of course to the race beneficiary, WINGS of America ..read more

A quick report on registration: Year-to-date we have registrants from 13 cities and 4 states. Only one country just yet (the US), but we do have an entry from outside the Continental US, and that would be Alaska. From the looks of it, we're ahead of last year's trends. The race generally fills a third of all entries in the final week of online registration, then another third in-person on race day. Below is a nifty report from the backend of our results database that shows participation by city and state for the last thirteen races. In 2012 we had runners representing 23 different cities/tow ..read more

A second opportunity to join in a group training run for Big Tesuque. The Striders' Group Run for this coming Sunday will be along the Winsor Trail, through Puerto Nambe to Lake Katherine (just below SF Baldy). If you missed the first group training run then here's your second chance. Climbing, altitude, conversation.  To carpool meet at Fort Marcy at 730am, or rocket-up to the Ski Area/Winsor Trail trailhead for an 8am-ish departure. Group runs tend to go at a conversational pace, the lead runners periodically circling back or breaking to allow the group to pull together. Cut the ..read more

The Striders Group Run for this coming Sunday will be Aspen Vista to the Tesuque Towers, otherwise known as the formidable BigT. Come out and get some climbing miles into those legs and get a feel for the varying levels of oxygen debt along the route. To carpool meet at Fort Marcy at 730am, or rocket-up to the Aspen Vista Trailhead for an 8am-ish departure. Group runs tend to go at a conversational pace, the lead runners periodically circling back or breaking to allow the group to pull together. Cut the run short if you need to get back, or add a few miles if you don't mind the separation an ..read more

Vin Kelley - hot dogging on last year's descent, courtesy of M. Mujynya and Smugmug.com Organization for this year's race is well under way. We're sorting out a few stellar race-t options as I type this. It seems appropriate then to take a quick glance back at last year's race as October grows nearer. We had fantastic weather for last year's run and an even better turnout of runners. The best in the twenty-eight year history of the race in fact. For this reason the annual donation to WINGS of America generated from the race was $1,000 - a highwater mark. What made this great confluen ..read more

Online registration has been setup over at Active.com. Flyers are now available at The Running Hub here in Santa Fe or can be downloaded with that little icon to the left there (<<<<) and mailed in or dropped off with our friends over at The Hub. Nothing of note has changed from prior year although we expect an even larger turnout than we had for last year's event. Registration fees are unchanged at $25, Striders members receive $3 off. Shirt designs haven't been finalized just yet, but we'll post an image when it comes together. Remember that access to Aspen Vista is currently ..read more

Great race this morning, we had a record turnout for this 28th annual climb and descent. Albuquerque's Dustin Martin took the men's overall with a time of 1:24:22. Taos native Katie Gillen claimed the women's overall in 1:43:18. Congratulations to all of our finishers, to those who placed, and to those who ran to personal best.  Update:  Official results are now posted (including bib numbers):  2012 Results (.pdf)                 A breakdown of results and new age-group bests is posted here:  BigT 2012 - Further Results Overall ..read more

For the first time runner, and for those that haven't been up on Aspen Vista for a while (like 364 days) we've put together a brief primer of what to expect this Saturday and how to prepare for it. Weather It's going to be chilly up there (in the 30's), particularly before the sun crests the ridge and the climbing begins up the trail. Bring a light hat and gloves. A bulky ski hat is going to be a bit warm after the first 10 min. of climbing and will be tougher to stuff in a pocket as the day heats up. Gloves can serve a second function and help as protection during the descent (Caution: try ..read more