This is quite a group—These Trail Runners.  After you’ve been with the group for awhile, you get little tidbits from members, and after a bit you realize that some of your pals are pretty amazing.

Some people try in a lifetime to collect a postcard from each of the 50 United States. Others, like my crazy friend, Maureen, risk life and limb to collect photos of themselves crossing each state's state line. But the Trail Running Club's Rachelle Nesgoda and a group of dedicated runners has a goal that makes those shrink in comparison: she's setting out to run a marathon in each of the fifty states.
 

Buster Martin of the UK may become the world's oldest marathoner at 101 years old.  He's already the UK's oldest employee as he still works a full-time job!  He plans to attempt the London 2008 Marathon.  He recently completed the Roding Valley half marathon in Essex on Sunday, March 2, 2008 in five hours 13 minutes.
Yahoo! News article
Buster's Wikipedia page

Trail Runners Club founded and operated the Topanga Turkey Trot and Malibu Creek Trail Challenge races for several years before turning them over to the capable hands of a company called Generic Events, also known as XTERRA.  Generic prepared the following information regarding the potential park closures...
 
On January 10, 2008 Ruth Coleman, Director of California Department of Parks and Recreation, announced that Topanga State Park would be one of the 48 State Parks closed if Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut $13.3 million from the state parks budget is approved.

Residents of Los Angeles County who are opposed to the closure of Topanga State Park and other local parks need to contact  the Governor and their state legislators immediately and ask them to work to keep our parks open. Let them know you oppose closing any of our California State Parks. Please act immediately as the state budget is now under consideration.  
http://SaveTopangaStatePark.org
http://www.SaveStateParks.org

January 13th  Garapito Trail
A beautiful morning greeted us for our always tough Garapito Trail.  And Piotr returned after a year's absence due to a leg injury.  Evidently, he will have to get used to following the arrows again.  We had a pretty big turnout for this popular run.
 

This was another professionally produced video of the Trail Runners Club with some good interviews with members and scenes in the Santa Monica mountains.

Westridge in the rain
We made the last minute decision to change the scheduled run to Westridge due to the high chance of rain and extremely muddy conditions on the Ray Miller Trail.  It poured on the drive up to the trailhead but let up just as we were getting out of our cars.  Not another drop fell confirming that we were meant to run that day.  Some of us dove into Sullivan Canyon and were treated to a hearty, babbling brook that crossed the trail more than a dozen times along the way up to Mulholland.  The rocky soil guaranteed no mud and the dampness killed any chance of dust.  I can't remember a better day at Westridge.

Three runners ran for 111 days straight covering six countries and over 4,000 miles across the Sahara Desert. Their mission was to raise awareness of the need for clean water supplies in Africa. They started the trip by touching the water in Senegal and ended by touching the Red Sea in Egypt.

Spirit of the Marathon is the first ever non-fiction feature film to capture the drama and essence of the famed 26.2 mile running event. Filmed on four continents, the movie brings together a diverse cast of amateur athletes and marathon luminaries.

As six unique stories unfold, each runner prepares for and ultimately faces the challenge of the Chicago Marathon. More than a sports movie, Spirit of the Marathon is an inspirational journey of perseverance and personal triumph; a spectacle that will be embraced by runners and non-runners alike.

Spirit of the Marathon is playing only one night in select theaters across North America.  Tickets are on sale now.  Go to http://www.marathonmovie.com for more information.

Secret Trail  12/16/2007
 Our run Sunday was slightly chilly, but gorgeous. The use of the trail by mountain bikers is exacting a toll on the condition of part of this course.  As a result, many of us find it safer to concentrate on our feet rather than the scenery when running.  We missed Kai, because of  back problems, and hope he will be back soon in his usual great spirits.
 
Santa Ynez/Trippet Ranch/Musch Trail  12/23/2007