How cool is this? The Fort Worth Star Telegram just ran a quick blub about our run:

RECREATION INSIDER
Spots in El Scorcho race a hot commodity
By TROY PHILLIPS
Star-Telegram staff writer

It seemed reasonable. For Ryan Valdez's 30th birthday, he and buddy Jason Costantino, 24, would run 30 miles in the middle of the summer.

How hard could it be? Both had ridden the Hotter 'N Hell 100 bike tour in Wichita Falls, that legendary dead-of-summer beast.

"I won't say [running] is harder, but you don't have nearly the cooling effect of a bike," said James Newsom of the Fort Worth Running Company, which Valdez and Costantino approached for help organizing a small race for friends and family.

Newsom and his father, Jim, one of the area's top running coaches, convinced the duo to hold the July race after dark. Thus, the first El Scorcho 50K was born.

Scheduled for midnight July 15 at Trinity Park's 3.1-mile oval, El Scorcho grew from a goofy idea to a full field of 200 runners. At 31 miles, this ultramarathon will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

"When we first talked about it, we said, 'OK, that's fine and everything, but we don't want to kill anybody,'" James Newsom said of the July date.

Valdez and Costantino never expected more than 50 runners, but that was "150 more entries ago than we thought," Costantino said. He's had to call the city about 20 times to re-up the park permit number. People are begging in e-mails to get in. Next year, the event might move to the Trinity Trails.

Costantino wants to fit in a 201st runner, local ultramarathon specialist Dr. Stephen Hudgens, who is set to run the Badwater Ultramarathon on July 23, a ghastly 135-mile race starting in Death Valley. Hudgens has run ultramarathons in China, Greece and Antarctica, among others.
"Badwater is our race on steroids," Costantino said. "Hey, I'd ride the course and hand him water. I'm pretty sure we can fit him in."

Hudgens said he's considering a warmup at El Scorcho, which at this point would be easy for him.

"I don't think [finishing El Scorcho] would be a problem," Hudgens said. "If you want to do your first ultra, I think this is the best way to start. You use up your reserves in a marathon and hit that wall. The extra five miles is a way to push a little further and get past that fatigue."