PALO DURO TRAIL RUN: Looking to escape the urban 
jungle? Then run for the hills? ... we'll tell you how you 
can do just that ... on Passport to Texas ... 
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

If you've had your fill of races that wind through the 
soulless steel and glass urban jungles, and crave 
something more challenging and scenic, then make tracks 
to Palo Duro Canyon -- October 15 -- for the Palo Duro 
Trail Run.

"Our run is run on all dirt trails, on the floor of the canyon. 
There's no major elevation gain or loss, in the respect that you 
don't come in or out of the canyon, itself."

Red Spicer coordinates this 21-year-old race. The terrain 
is mostly hilly, and racers can choose from one of three 
distance challenges.

"We have a fifty-mile distance; we have a fifty-K distance, which 
is thirty-one miles. We also have a twenty K distance, which is 
twelve point four."

The race begins at seven in the morning and ends at 
seven in the evening. 

"Normally there will be two, or three, or four that will not be able 
to finish it in the twelve-hour time limit. So what we do, at the 
last aid station, if they're not able to leave that aid station with 
enough time to get to the finish line - before the 7 p.m. cutoff -- 
we pull them there. Because what's going to happen is, it's 
going to get dark before they get to the finish line. They're 
going to be out there on the trails with no flashlight, and we 
don't want that happening. And it's a safety thing for the most 
part."

Registration cutoff for the Palo Duro Trail run is October 
10. Find more on this race, including entrance fees, at 
www.palodurocanyon.com; click on the link for Ultra Race.

That's our show ... For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm 
Cecilia Nasti.