Author: marcuscengland
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The Running Year That Isn’t
I might as well open here by getting directly to the point: I will not run the two ultra races (Speedgoat 50k and Angeles Crest 100) that remain on my schedule for 2016. This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make, but one that I am certain is correct. My only hesitation in the last […]
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Ken Burton Trail Reborn
Since I began serious trail running in 2010, two of the closer trails to me in the San Gabriel Mountains were only runnable via out-and-back routes. This changed at the start of May when the Ken Burton Trail, closed since the 2009 Station Fire, reopened due to the diligent work of the Mt. Wilson Bicycling […]
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A Theater of the Absurd
Yesterday, I ran the Nirvana Ultra Big Bear 50 mile trail race based out of Rim Nordic ski area in the San Bernardino Mountains. I had some difficulty getting here: After a great start to my training season, I managed to get a pretty significant injury to my right hamstring while, believe it or not, […]
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One More to Go
One of my stated 2016 goals from a birding perspective was to get the Elyria Canyon Park bird list to at least 100 species. As of this morning, the bird list for the park stands at 99. Because of adverse weather conditions in the San Bernardino Mountains this morning, I had to cancel a planned […]
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Waterman Mountain and the Morbid Art of Dead Giants
Yesterday was 22 miles in beautiful weather on what I will call the Waterman Mountain Loop. My previous experience on this mountain was limited to birding on the trails on its lower reaches. On this day, I climbed up the trail starting on the northeast side near Buckhorn Day Use Area and took the out-and-back […]
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The SG Trails Website is Dead. Long Live the SG Trails Project!
After cogitating on it for awhile, I decided today to kill the San Gabriel Trails Project website. The San Gabriel Trails Project is my effort to run every trail, or at least close to every trail, in the San Gabriel Mountains. I have a few reasons for undertaking the project: I have an obvious tendency […]
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Birding Elyria Canyon Park: Anatomy of a 50 Species Morning
One of my emphasis points this year as a birder is a heavy focus on covering my home area, or what birders refer to as a “patch”. The most important part of my home patch is Elyria Canyon Park, a 35-acre park right next door to my house that is managed by the Mountains Recreation […]
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February 2016 in Review
Another monthly update on the goals I’ve set for myself for 2016. Birding Birding has been mostly productive, with a large number of Los Angeles County life birds observed during my pelagic trip on February 28. As of this writing, I’m at 139 for the year and 277 for life in Los Angeles County, with 149 […]
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January 2016 in Review
I am running the Sean O’Brien 50 mile race on Saturday. I’ve rushed to get through all my tasks at work so I can get out cleanly at mid-day today. Fully packed and ready to go, my mind has turned fully to the race and all that entails. In the little time I have left […]
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Eurasian Wigeon and Eastern Phoebe
I had a lunch meeting in Orange County today. On the way home, I decided to stretch the definition of “on the way” and stop at Madrona Marsh in Torrance. Madrona is a nice little wetland oasis in the middle of urban sprawl, and is known for having an amazingly large number of vagrant birds […]
England | Ecology 