January in Tucson

We got a holiday gift of a free waffle, yay!  It's a fun destination (and snack) for a run, occasionally:

I'm seeing more year-round tall skeletons, and I guess if you go to the effort to put it up, why not decorate it for the other holidays too?

I have so enjoyed organizing a team of orienteers for the RAT (Run Around Tucson) Relay these past 3 years.  What a fun bunch of people who also like to run, and more importantly, like to cheer on their teammates.

RAT Relay photo credits include Cristina, Yvonne, Annie, Alan, and John

Friday evening gathering and obligatory group photo that most of us can't take seriously:

We just happened to step outside that evening to see a SpaceX rocket come across the sky after it was launched from California on its way into space - cool!

Race morning gathering for an early start at the Rillito Racetrack:

Billie is camera-aware and photogenic (plus I see from Cristina's phone that it was 47 degrees out):

And they're off!  Sam is somewhere in here, possibly behind the woman in the fluorescent shirt:

Sam nailing the handoff to Gavin, with early morning sun making the Catalinas glow:

Alan did accept the wristband from Gavin, but I don't think it changed the status of their relationship:

Sending cheers and motivation and humor through the RaceJoy app (which is also helpful for runner tracking):

Alan finishing his leg and about to hand off to Billie:

Gavin, John, and I pulled over mid-leg to cheer on our fastest runner - go Billie!

If we were really coordinated, we'd do a running handoff like a track and field event - maybe we'll practice that for next time, just for fun!

I covered the section not far from where we live, so I knew all the crosswalks and underpasses.  A safety bike lady rode past me a few times as she was adding chalk arrows to supplement the signs.  Recent rain prevented the organizers from adding chalk until that morning.  We got to chat a little while waiting for traffic lights to change - I was stopped by all of them this time, no luck in that timing (but also nice to get several breathers).

Pete was up next - go Pete!

If you happened to click on the YouTube video from the December blog post, you might recognize the song in this 5-second clip of Gavin in our truck:

Hanging out and waiting for John's turn:

See, John can do a moving relay exchange!

As opposed to whatever this is (like there's an invisible line we can't cross or something):

I did manage an upgrade in my setup this year, using a headset to hear the Racejoy cheers instead of turning my phone volume up way to high.  Much less intrusive on surrounding trail users.  And easier to hear all the fun songs and silly random facts that my teammates sent my way!

My handoff to Yvonne didn't get captured on film, so we're moving on to the next exchange.  Where we took advantage of some Arizona shade:

Yvonne had an excellent run, improving her time from 2 years ago.  Cristina is ready for the penultimate leg:

We found another opportunity for a mid-leg in-person cheer, so we pulled over to yell "Go Cristina!"

Near that spot we found a cute little rock garden and rock concert:

The other side of the purple rock is adorable:

Back on the course as our team is about to make the turn onto the home stretch, where Billie gets the baton once more:

Another angle of the same moment, because it's such a pretty spot on a lovely day:

On the way to the finish line, and look who's in the next car!

We had a mis-planned car shuttle (something else to work on for another year) and weren't sure we would make it to the finish line before Billie.  Happily we just managed to get there - here she is crossing the final bridge:

Katy made it in time to applaud all of our efforts - thanks Katy!

A somewhat normal finish line photo:

Which invariably devolves...

...and we're back to our natural state (which apparently is also slightly blurry)

Thank you teammies for another super awesome day running around Tucson!  O Rats!

Admiring a horse sculpture and the Catalina mountains during a morning run:

John captured a photo of a rainbow smiley face in the sky!  Upside-down and without any raincloud in sight, what a phenomenon:

I just recently noticed this crested saguaro in Robles Park, another (slightly less rare) phenomenon:

Animals usually scatter when I bring out the camera, but this hawk hung around for a half-decent photo, much appreciated:

Unusual (for Tucson) lighting from the top of Tumamoc Hill - but no rainbows to be found:

Roadrunner!  One of my favorite feathered friends:

I went on a scouting mission for the Lost One Standing event in April (disclosure - this is a bit of advertising - come play!), and the snow on Wrightson was really pretty on the horizon.  Less lovely is the bunch of catclaw in the foreground, but it's mostly not TOO prevalent on the course:

John has his own train car:

Be Kind - the theme of much wall art around town - yes please, let's do that:

Linda Ronstadt's downtown mural:

Early morning run in Saguaro East, with yet another view of the Catalinas (I've been looking at them a lot lately, apparently):

A body of water - not particularly common around here - aka the fishing pond at JFK Park:

My Mom's favorite mural, of all the pictures I've taken at least.  I'm partial to it as well!

And that brings me mostly up to date, for now!  Thanks for following along!