Well, just a few months ago I discovered your Ultra company's Monument Valley race, and I have been blown away - like, I've had dreams about running it after spending time poring over people's race reports! (Not to mention the company seems incredibly awesome, too). I've never run an ultra but my goal this year is to train for Monument Valley in 2017 - hoping it will continue to be offered! I wish I could be ready for 2016 but I'm just getting back into running after a year+ break and have only done one full marathon in the past. I may be back asking more and more questions of you as I progress in my training...
Anyway, I'm running the Surf City half marathon in Huntington Beach on Feb. 7, the Canyonlands half in Moab on March 11, and the Long Beach full marathon on October 9.
Aside from the races I've already registered for, my goal in 2016 is to do more trail running, and some trail races eventually - as I plan to train for my first ultra in 2017 (I just realized this is the Ultra forum - oops - I'm just a training wannabe at this point). I live by the beach and have to drive an hour to most of the trails with elevation, which limits me to weekends, but I've joined some running groups that do trails so I won't be trying to find them on my own. Though perhaps some dry sand beach running would also be in order to help me prepare for MV one day?!