Beauty of race-course at Asááyi leaves runners breathless

Beauty of race-course at Asááyi leaves runners breathless

CAMP ASÁÁYI, N.M.

Andy Yazzie has always been familiar with the Asááyi area.

Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi | Navajo Times Ronald Curley makes his way up a hill during the Asaayi Mountain 20K run held Aug. 20 at Asaayi Camp, New Mexico. Curley placed second finishing in one hour and 35 minutes.

Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi | Navajo Times
Ronald Curley makes his way up a hill during the Asaayi Mountain 20K run held Aug. 20 at Asaayi Camp, New Mexico. Curley placed second finishing in one hour and 35 minutes.

He and his father spent many days fishing Asááyi Lake, but last weekend he ditched his fishing pole and took to the trails to see what more the Chuska Mountains had to offer in the Asááyi Mountain Runs.

Yazzie placed first in the 20K race that was held in conjunction with a 10K race at the Bowl Canyon recreation area.

He said the area was known as his father’s favorite fishing spot, but after the race it became something more.

“It was an awesome course,” Yazzie said. “To be honest, this might be the funnest race I’ve ever ran, just because of the view, the mountains, and the soft-packed dirt.”

Yazzie, 33, finished the 20K in 1 hour, 29 minutes, but the former Navajo Technical University cross-country coach said he was just looking for a good run.

“The course is really challenging,” he said. “I was just looking for a good, hard workout and that’s what I got – it was perfect.”

The races were part of the Navajo Parks Race Series, a series of runs and mountain bike races held throughout parks on the Navajo Nation. The Series was put together by the NavajoYES non-profit organization that sets out to expose Navajo people to more outdoor sporting activities.

Following shortly behind Yazzie was Amanda Rosenburg, who finished first in the 20K women’s category. Rosenburg finished the race in 2:03:00.

She said it was her second year participating in the race series.

“It was good, it was fun,” she said. “I like to run in places that you normally don’t get to run, so it was pretty, new stuff to look at.”


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About The Author

Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi

Sunnie Clahchischiligi has been the sports writer for the Navajo Times since 2008. She has a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico. Before joining the Times, she worked at the St. Cloud Times (Minn.), the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, Sports Illustrated Magazine in New York City and the Salt Lake Tribune. She can be reached at sunnie@navajotimes.com or via cell at (505) 686-0769.

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