Books of the Iditarod
With the holiday season crunch fast approaching, books can make great last-minute gifts for the friends and family who already have “everything.” Over the next two weeks, Half Past Done will have a series of…
Category Archives: Adventure Racing
World’s Toughest
Earlier this week, Outside Magazine published yet another list of “The Toughest Races in the World.” These lists have been circulating far and wide in outdoor and adventure-focused media recently, with Competitor Magazine, Adventure Journal, Men’s…
Iditasport returns to Alaska
In a throwback to the early days of winter endurance cycling, the Iditasport returned to Alaska this past weekend in a successful comeback. And while fat bikes are now mainstream and cyclists no longer need…
Petervarys win brutally cold Arrowhead 135
Amid a polar vortex that held temperatures into the deep minus teens and twenties, Idaho endurance cyclist Jay Petervary and his wife, Tracy Petervary, won the Arrowhead 135, a 135-mile race across northern Minnesota on…
Lesser-known performances of the year
With trail-running fans vigorously discussing candidates for the “Ultrarunner Of the Year,” and the prior post on this blog about Bikepacking Performances of the Year, I thought I’d list a few other stellar performances in…
The secrets of sled dogs
For more than a decade, veterinarian Mike Davis of the University of Oklahoma has been traveling to Alaska to study the physiology of what many consider to be the world’s greatest endurance athletes —sled dogs.…
(Somewhat odd) gear that worked in PTL
When I first launched this blog, I started looking around for someone else to write gear reviews for the site. Gear reviews are the bread-and-butter of most outdoor publications, but I feel wholly inadequate when…
Winter races keep excitement high when the snow flies
Leaves are changing color, days are becoming cooler, and the sun is slipping away earlier every evening. We all know what that means — it’s time to start training for winter endurance races! As frigid…
La Petite Trotte à Léon report
In the wake of my trip to Europe, I’ve fallen far behind on a number of article ideas I had planned for Half Past Done and haven’t posted in a couple of weeks. It’s been…
Wilderness Classic: A race at 1.2 mph
Earlier this week, the summer 2013 version of the Alaska Wilderness Classic came to its quiet conclusion, and those who track the officially unofficial event posted a preliminary report: “This just in. The 2013 Classic…