Need to Run....Ready to Run!!!

Western Pacific Rattlesnake

This Saturday will be the Dirty Dozen 12 hour endurance run.  Needless to say I haven't run in a week and am really anxious to do some running.  That, combined with the BART strike limiting me to working from home and 100+ degree weather has forced me to be fully rested for the run on Saturday.


This post is more to get some of the running frustration out.

So for the last couple of weeks I have been doing some runs close to home.  Since I do a lot of my runs in San Francisco, I have been trying to get up early and run through Crystal Ranch up through Lime Ridge.  These have been good runs with some elevation gain.  Needless to say, one stretch of the trail is a narrow single track with high grass.  I have been a little concerned with this area because it is prime rattlesnake territory.  We have seen snakes up on Lime Ridge before, so I have been over cautious though there and it has been uneventful.


That is until my wife took our girls up their a couple of days ago.   Our oldest was running lead on full rattlesnake patrol and came across this beauty at the single track trail head.  Of course it was in no hurry to get out of the way but as an adult had as much respect for humans as we of it. Unfortunately this is the one entrance to Lime Ridge from my home, so I will be taking precautions going through this stretch.

Overall though, there is some pretty grasslands and fire trail to run.  You are not secluded with Crystal Ranch on one side of the ridge and Walnut Creek and Arbalado Park on the other.

Tim Olsen in the lead!

Also, last week I volunteered at Western States 100 at the Forest Hill Aid station.  My assignment was basically crowd control, making sure there was only 1 pacer and one crew member in the aid station.  At mile 62, this is the first location where pacers can join their runner, so it could easily become crowded if these limits were not in place.

Hal Kroener playing catch-up

Cameron Clayton dropped earlier due to injury.  He came down to cheer on the runners.

The Forest Hill aid station is run like a well oiled machine by Lon Monroe.  Everything went on without a hitch and the runners and their pacers and crew were well taken care of. It was amazing to me, since it was so hot, how the runners leaving the station were dowsed in water to bring their core temperatures down like they had just come out of a swimming pool!

Amy Sproston looking strong.

I got there early to here the directions and was rewarded by seeing the lead runners come through.  It is always amazing to see Tim Olsen run, and at mile 62 he looked strong.  Followed 20 minutes later by Hal Kroener and then all of the rest, it was really motivating.  Keep in mind that at our location the temperatures were over 100 degrees and these guys ran the entire length of the course like the elite runners they are.

Ian Sharman picking up his pacer/crew of one!

I stayed until the close of the aid station.   To see the runners at the back of the pack was truly inspiring and watching Lon jump into action when a runner was wavering on the decision to keep going was truly impressive.  Everyone has so much respect for this race and the privilege of being selected, so the decision to drop weighs very heavy with every runner, especially the back of the pack.

Mt. Tamlpais in the distance.

So today, we braved the heat for a short 2 mile hike with the kids in Tilden Regional Park up at Grizzly Peak.  It was a nice hike with a fair bet of technical single track.  I had to show a lot of restraint running it, knowing that I would pay for it in a couple of days.  We have never hiked this part of the park and it is beautiful up there.  You easily can see much of the Bay, Mt. Tamalpais in the distance as well as Mount Diablo.  By the time we finished it was hot, but not as hot as it was back in Concord, where again we were at 105.  Oh well, cooler temperatures ( in the mid-80's) begin tomorrow.

So I am really ready for this run coming up in the couple of days!  I know I can run the full 12 hours, it is just I am not sure how far.  I know I have to keep my pace down because I easily can see me running for the first 10 to 15 miles at a fast pace  for the first couple hours to succumbing to walking for the next 10 hours.  This is going to be an interesting experience for sure!

A Little 50K Inspiration: a Trip to the Lake Sonoma 50

With all of the hype that has been the Lake Sonoma 50, both on podcast, blogs, etc., we decided to take the two hour drive up to the lake.  Other than the North Face 50 Endurance Challenge in December, this is one of the few occasions that we would be able to see so many elite ultra-runners in one place.

We were rewarded with watching Sage Canaday win with a blistering course record of 6:15, this after overtaking Max King who was in the lead for most of the day.

Hal Koerner and other runners I probably should know the names of.

It was crazy to see so many elites finish.  Even more, it was fun to be  a fly on the wall and watch their interaction.  The comrade that these folks have is impressive, and while they are all competitive, there didn't seem to be any apprehension with anyone.  In fact, it was nice to see folks like Devon Yanko, who didn't run, show up for the interchange and Hal Koerner hanging out at the finish line even after his DNF. This pretty much sums up the trail running community in general; however, it was nice to see that it still flourishes even at the top.

Of course, the other reason for the drive is to get some awesome pictures, and here are some:

The Male Finishers

Sage Canaday with the course record 6:14

On the drive up, we were following the IRunFar Twitter feed which was good up to 10 miles from the finish line.  The last alert we had was that Max King was leading and ahead of the course record by 11 minutes, with Cameron Clayton and Sage Canaday 5 minutes behind.  Also we had heard that Hal had dropped.

Max King in third

So much to our surprise at the finish to see that Sage had passed Max (who we found out had seriously bonked) to beat the course record by 3 minutes (a blistering 6:14:00)..  Cameron Clayton followed 12 minutes behind, and Max coming in third 19 minutes behind Sage.  Jorge Maravilla came in fourth and rounding out the top five Dave Mackey. 

Dave Mackey with Chris Vargo following.

Of special note,  Dave had made a wrong turn near the finish and we saw Chris Vargo pass a good minute ahead of him after he turned around.  However, it was Mackey that came out ahead.  Vargo could have easily overtaken him even in the last moments; however, appeared to keep behind Mackey.  Vargo is definitely a class act in my book.
 
Also, on Monday, Trail Runner Nation released their podcast with Max King that was recorded prior to the race.  Interestingly, Max discussed his problem with bonking, which was his undoing here at Lake Sonoma. 

You can also find the UltraRunnerPodcast interview with Sage Canaday here.

Joelle Vaught in second after a detour through the parking lot

The Female Finishers

Amy Sproston in third

Rory Bosio running in her custom design running outfit.

We waited a little over an hour before Cassie Scallon, the first female finisher came in.  I unfortunately was getting the kids some lunch and missed her finish.  When I returned we saw another female runner, Joelle Vaughht off in the distance.
 
According to IRunFar post race interview, she was so focused on the finish line that missed the final turn and ended up off course for about 5 minutes.  She had run this course before (winning last year), however she had been experiencing really strong leg pain and her focus on the finish line was to keep her mind off of it.  Everyone at the finish line was holding their breath in case another female showed up.  She did end up coming in second. 

Veteran Meghan Aborgast finishing 5th with the youngsters.

Following her was Amy Sproston.  We had been sitting next to her parents for most of the afternoon and it was fun watching their reaction seeing her daughter come in.  URP did a podcast a couple of days before, and it was great putting a face to the voice.   



Rounding out the women, was  Rory Bosio and Meghan Arbogast.



Other Runners

Besides seeing the leaders finish, it was great just to see other runners we follow finish.  Folks like Victor Bellasteros  and Karl Meltzer finishing strong was awesome.  

Tim Olson

Victor Bellasteros

To top it all off, to see Tim Olson finish and be met by his wife and his baby was awesome.  You could definitely see how much a loving father and husband he is.  In fact, it looked as if his whole family had turned out!

Karl Meltzer

The trip up to Lake Sonoma was worth it and really put into perspective the 50K I will be doing this coming weekend.


You will find the recap of the race from Sage Canaday's family here: