Howdy from Yuma, AZ!

Run Stats:

Day: 562

Miles Completed: 1948.1

Miles to San Diego: 151.9

Avg Miles/Day: 3.5

Marathons Completed: 74.4

Longest Run Streak: 20 days

Shoes: Skora Fit/Skora Tempo

Playlist Favs: Runners World Human Race podcast, Chicago, Genesis - Duke Album, A. Hamilton - Church of the Ressurection podcast

Bible Verse of the Day: "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer living for self, Christ lives in me. I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave His life for me." Galatians 2:20

Run Reflections: Hello there, I just got back from a morning run and am trying not to drip sweat all over my computer. Had a little breeze in both directions today which really helped a lot. It's funny how that happens sometimes, just when you need it too :-) The beach and the water looked pretty and there were lots of people out getting set up for a day in the sun.

In the land of the virtual run, I've been fortunate to run quite a bit since my last post including a 10 day streak and I was pleased that a couple of the runs were longer (close to 6 miles). I was also pleased to discover the Runners World podcast series called "Human Race" and have already heard some fascinating stories of some really remarkable people who love to run and share running with others. I passed through Yuma, AZ, this week and mileage wise, I might actually be virtually in California. The next post should definitely be from there. Hope you enjoy this post about Yuma and a remarkable running club that has a chapter there. Most of the info on Yuma is from wikipedia.

Yuma, AZ: Yuma is located near the borders of California to the west and Mexico to the south, just west of the merger of the Gila and Colorado Rivers. I've included an awesome photo here from the Internet of a desert sunset in Yuma.

The areas first settlers for thousands of years were Native America cultures and their descendants now occupy the Cocopah and Quechan reservations. The area was disovered by Spanish colonial expeditions in 1540 as an ideal spot for a city because the Colorado River narrows to just under 1,000 feet across in this area. During and after the California Gold Rush to the late 1870s, the Yuma Crossing was known for its ferry crossings for the Southern Emigrant Trail and it was considered the gateway to California. The Southern Pacific Railroad bridged the river in 1887.

Yuma is noted for its weather extremes. Of any populated place in the contiguous US, Yuma is the driest, the sunniest, and the least humid, has the lowest frequency of precipitation and has the highest number of days per year - 175 - with a daily max temperature over 90 degrees. Yuma is the home of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, which conducts an annual air show and many large-scale military exercises. There is also the Yuma Proving Ground, an Army base that tests new military equipment and is the home of the Special Operations Free Fall School, which provides training in free-fall parachute ops to all branches of the service and other nations too.

In looking for things to do in & around Yuma, I learned that the annual Silver Spur Rodeo is put on by the Jaycees every February, attracting cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country. The downtown area is also a historical area that includes a territorial prison museum that provides a glimpse of what frontier justice looked like when the west was beign settled.

Tripadvisor reports that the #2 thing to do in Yuma is visit the Castle Dome Mines Museum and Ghost Town, located a short drive from town. Here you can see a remnant town from the 1800's. According to the attraction web site: "The mills stand silent housing the original boiler, stamp mill and elevator, as if tomorow they will awaken to the thunderous roar of steel crushing rock. The boardwalks still creak, the church bell rings out, & the five saloons just await the story of their latest shootout." Part of the fun (for me anyway) of this virtual journey is to these glimpses of the past. I've included a couple of photos in the photo album associated with this post.

Whenever I get to a larger city, I like to look around to see what the local running scene looks like. In checking this out for Yuma I learned that they have a couple of clubs including the Yuma Desert Runners and the Yuma Arizona Runners but I was most impressed to discover the Stroller Warriors Running Club who have an active chapter at MCAS Yuma. Here's some additional information on this awesome group.

Stroller Warriers: Founded by Marine spouse Stephanie Geraghty in 2010, Stroller Warriors is a military-focused club, with chapters at military installations led by active-duty military spouses. Club membership includes males and females, active duty service members and dependents, spanning all ages, ranks and branches. Children are not required and many members attend workouts without strollers. All members who join must have goals of running but the group does not demand a running pace or standard. They do provide workout plans and ask members to simply do their best.

They promote a positive, comfortable environment for men and women of all ability levels to run together, beginners to marathoners. In addition to running, each chapter sponsors special programs such as "Couch to 5K" or "Ran to Afghanistan" mileage programs and offers many different social activities to promote fellowship/friendship such as Prayer Warriors, Book Warriors, Kayak Warriors, Yoga Warriors and more. They also place a strong emphasis on giving back to those around them through all different kinds of fundraising events. Last but not least, the club provide opportunities to share resources with other military spouses and members rely on each other for finding answers to questions relating to running, parenting or military life in general. There is a lot more info about this club on their web site if you'd like to learn or read more.

Life in the military can be hard, both for those deployed and for family and friends that are left behind. The military is a family though and they really work hard to take care of their own. I saw this demonstrated firsthand growing up in the military and in the 3 Navy squadrons that I was fortunate enough to be a part of when I was on active duty. Groups like the Stroller Warriors epitomize the kind of camaraderie and support that can help build life long friendships and help with the pressures of this life. I hope you enjoyed hearing about them.

Sorry for the length of this post, I guess I got a little carried away. Thanks to those who made it this far, hope it was worthwhile. Have an awesome week!

God Bless,

P.Don