Tamalpa Headlands 50K 2023: some good fire back!

Another report I had mostly written by Sunday evening but then interrupted by my two main jobs, IBM and training for Spartathlon. I already ran 242 miles since that race, including 5 50K training runs to make for a 205-mile week right post race, another lifetime milestone after a record 180-mile week just before the race. The road to Athens and Sparta is long and already exhausting, can't wait for some good tapering in September!

Years ago, our long-standing local USATF Pacific Association club, Tamalpa Runners, had picked fire for their signature ultra trail race logo and it was heartwarming to see it reignited this weekend! Huge kudos to Race Director Jeff Stern for stepping up and reinstate this Bay Area ultra running tradition after a 3-year hiatus.

Call me old school, I have to say that it felt really good to see the result and be part of it: an outstanding bridge between the original spirit of ultra community events which I got into trail running in 2006 and some commercial support to attract the younger speedsters. I was for instance impressed how much credit Jeff gave to former race directors and the history of this event. Definitely due credit to these devoted Tamalpa Runners: Greg Nacco, who was running today, Diana and Tim Fitzpatrick, whom I had met after their Skyline 50K runs two weeks ago and the pre-Covid RD, and Willem van Dam who has lately officiated as course monitor at the top of the stairs at Quad Dipsea.

I had not run the 2017 and 2018 editions for the good excuse I was running UTMB and TDS these years. Nor 2019 because of the hamstring tendon injury, making it a 7-year gap for me. In total, 6 participations: 2007 (Nationals): 4:23:48, 2008 (Nationals): 4:40:48, 2013: 4:19:46, 2014: 4:27:36, 2015: 4:29:24, and 2016: 4:27:28. 7 years older including 4 years being injured, my main goal for today was not to break 4:30 or even 5, but 6 hours! After a rather slow Skyline 50K 2 weeks ago and with the current focus on Spartathlon, that didn't even seem like sand bagging...

Just after Skyline, I actually logged the most miles in a week ever for me, 159.4. Plus 28 the following Monday. I blew a few heat fuses that weekend, I decided to taper for 4 days to still show up with something in the tank at Santos Meadow. As opposed to Skyline for which I only tapered for one day.

Parking was limited at the meadow and Jeff had explicitly asked us to have at least 2 runners per car, so I organized a few options for our team. Luciano picked me in Cupertino at 5 am and we were parked by 6:15. We were actually welcomed by race sponsor and UltraRunning Magazine editor, Karl Hoagland himself, who teased me with: "It's because of you if we are all here!" Ha ha, all my fault because, after Covid, I kept bugging Willem then Carl Jacob to see if their club would put the event back on the map, and our Pacific Association MUT Grand Prix in particular! Friendly teasing, and certainly a great excuse to get back to ultra work, you are all welcome! ;-)

Most bibs were distributed the day before so the check-in was very smooth and quick. And a good number of porta-potties were lined up for the good size 312-entrant field. Saturday evening, I noticed the large number of DNS (Did Not Start) though, 56! Is that because we over do it or we are already late in the season?

I ran with my phone but the weather remained overcast and I got into the groove of working against the clock, so I didn't take any picture while running. With a cloud ceiling appearing rather high, I was convinced that it would clear mid morning, but I'd admit I don't have any expertise in that Headlands micro-climate (well, in meteorology in general anyway). Not a big deal, just that I didn't use the sunglasses I carried all the way. And actually such a refreshing midst after the hot days we've had in the South Bay, or at Skyline for that matter. Wonderful Bay Area with its 16 microclimates!

Like Skyline, and with a modest sub-6-hour goal, I was happy being behind the speedsters at the start. Especially for such a race in which the longest climbs are in the second half (a key tip I shared with our new elite teammate, Sylvie Abel).

As we were approaching the Pelican Inn turn, now back on the road after the cool conga line on a single track section, a lady was counting us and I got a 46 or 47. Photo credit to the talented Tiare Bowman (@tiarebowman).

Ah, ok, maybe I'll make it in the top 100 then. Because, mid way in the first steep climb on Coastal Trail, as I started walking just behind another teammate, Bree Lambert Sanders, I kept being passed by at least a dozen younger runners, quite a few gals as a matter of fact. As I grumbled to Bree as I passed her a mile later before Pirates Cove, I'm really getting older... Ironically, she is in her 50s too and still killing it! Also two pictures from @tiarebowman and I have no idea how she teleported herself so quickly!

William Dai and I-Tao Tsai were also actively spectating by taking pictures at several sports on the course.

I passed a few folks on the way down to Tennessee Valley and traded places up and down on the climb of Hill 88 then the tricky down hill to Rodeo Beach. I grabbed one piece of watermelon and banana at the aid station and might have passed a few runners there. On the next uphill on Miwok Trail, I spotted Excelsior's Victor Skorapa about 3 minutes ahead and set my mind on catching him before the finish. We were about 8 miles in.

I didn't stop at the Tennessee Valley aid station, not even slowing down to see who was manning it, sorry! William and I-Tao caught a few more shots.

I passed two gals in the next 4 miles, plus one who stayed longer at the water-only aid station at the Highway 1 crossing where I got my GU Energy Brew quickly refilled, Care Bear. The next section is really cool with a narrow and winding single track, I've great memories of it from when I first ran Miwok in 2007. Well, wonderful except for the poison oak. 2 weeks ago, I was picking blackberries at our IBM site near Almaden and, despite noticing the bush was infested by poison oak, I got a really painful episode with probably a thorn getting some poison oak oil right under my skin, ouch! I tried to be careful on that trail and I'm glad to report that I seemed to have not touched any branch this time, phew!

The next road crossing was monitored by Karl who sent me on the climb to Cardiac with an encouraging "and now the fun begins..." Indeed, we were now at about 17 miles with two major climbs remaining. I was mostly jogging up hill and kept moving as I could see Care closing on me. She eventually passed me on the Dipsea Trail, and I also passed 3 or 4 other runners. Then we got to the most welcome Cardiac aid station to catch our breath. With the midst and sweat, I was experiencing some uncomfortable chaffing so my first ask was for Vaseline, like in the good old times when every aid station had some back when I got into ultra running. One of the volunteer scrambled to look into the first aid supplies and found some Squirrel's Nut Butter, phew! Meanwhile, I discovered a plate of yellow kiwis which was unexpected and so so delicious! Thank you, thank you Jena, that was one of the highlights of my race, in addition to seeing you and Victor again! Victor, when you get back in the groove, there is a song "Jena's yellow kiwis" to be written! ;-) Photo montage by Victor.

Next, short of running herself because of an injury, Pen was volunteering at Cardiac and sent us toward Pantoll. I briefly saw Tim Fitzpatrick at the parking lot as well as Gary and Holly who were spectating. The volunteer monitoring the crossing of Panoramic Highway encouraged me: "excellent, you are just one hour behind the leader, which is outstanding!" Ok, the outstanding was uplifting but the 1-hour gap at 21 miles didn't feel that good. At least at 3:24 I was still on track to break 6 hours.

The subsequent downhill on Matt Davis was as treacherous as I remembered, although much easier to manage than at the end of Miwok 100K! The roots, the uneven stairs, the washed out sections, some rocks, the hairpin switchbacks, they were all fun to navigate 15 years ago but I lost so much balance and confidence since then, it's embarrassing. One of the reasons I don't enjoy racing in the Alps. At least I didn't get passed on that section! As a matter of fact, as I was approaching the running creek with its water flowing sound, so comforting these days when the whole planet is getting on fire, an older runner going up was wearing the Skyline 50K tee shirt. He too got excited and said: "wow, you are close to the top 5 woman!" Ah, I must have moved to the women league now! As it happened, it was actually 8 chicks ahead but I couldn't care less today.

I drank half a cup of Coke at the Stinson Beach aid station and got my water bottle refilled and up I was again on the famous --or infamous-- Dipsea Trail on which I alternated jogging and walking. I also walked part of the wonderful Steep Ravine trail, thinking of the fun years I would still run most of it. Tim was still at the top of the trail at Pantoll, such a long day to direct runners both ways! I crossed a dozen runners who still had the 8-mile loop to complete.

As I approached the Cardiac aid station, I noticed a runner wearing a Pamakids top stopping and, still carrying enough fluids in my bottles, I decided to skip the stop and save at least a minute. With my conservative start, plus the 4 days of tapering, my legs felt really good and I clocked 7:19, 7:22 and 7:45 for the next 3 miles respectively, even on quite an uneven trail surface (while enjoying the speed surge, I remained super focused on not rolling an ankle given the Spartathlon goal). So much speed that I ended up passing Victor (Skorapa) and 2 other runners.

Crossing the finish line in 5:21 felt both good given my sub 6-hour goal, yet rather humiliating, so far from my older times on this course and so far behind the winner. But the context was so different, it still felt good to have finished and most importantly, without any injury. There was quite a few bloody knees and elbows at the finish again otherwise, which says a lot on the hazards of this trail and the cumulated 6,500-feet elevation.

Preston Cates had grabbed the overall win with a blazing 3:55:47, followed by Paddy O'Leary also breaking 4 hours, and Drew Macomber at 4:08.

Jennifer Schmidt won in 4:22, placing 5th overall. Sarah Biehl took second in 4:40 with Sylvie Abel less than 3 minutes behind. Sylvie was so excited with this podium, just a year after giving birth. And she thanked me for the tip of keeping some in the tank for the second half. Maybe I kept too much myself this time but again, context is essential.

The top three runners pocketed $1,000, 500 and 250 respectively, great contributions from sponsor rnnr (running apparel).

Bree finished mere 7 minutes behind me and got in the top 10. There was no cell coverage at the meadow, I had to wait until being back on 101 to see how I did, place wise, and was pleasantly surprised that I had won my age group after all! 5 minutes ahead of Chris Greene and 11 on Chris Futterer. Also proud of a 5th place in the Masters, although there is room for improvement for next year hopefully!

Coros watch data in Garmin Connect:

With Bree and Marco:

There was an exceptional high finishing rate. On our team: Sylvie, I, Bree, Luciano, Bjorn, Marco, Amara and our team captain, Stephen. Regrettably, our doyen Steve didn't make the cut-off this time.

So many familiar faces at this race, here with Greg Nacco and Baldwyn Chieh.

Back to the 251 finishers: 2 under 4 hours, the 21 under 5, 47 under 6, 58 more under 7, 59 between 7 and 8 hours, 45 more under 9 hours, 16 under 10 and finally 3 under the 11-hour time limit. Another classic Gauss curve.

The fried orange chicken and cauliflower were such a treat and I also indulged a good portion of rice after racing on so few calories, thanks to Vespa! Thank you Mamahuhu crew (3 locations in San Francisco), delicious!

There was also abundance of local beer, hopefully enough for those finishing later in the day.

Again, it felt really good to see this event resurrected, special thanks to Jeff and his crew of volunteers, and the Tamalpa club! Tough course to run, tough course to monitor with the road crossings and limited parking facility, tough layout of aid stations across a very protected natural area and a late cut-off making for a very long day for the volunteers. These volunteers, real pillars of our local ultra community!

Huge thanks to all who made this possible and allowed us to safely play on these wonderful trails across and around the Marin Headlands. And stoked that Jeff is already planning the 2024 edition, can't wait!

Thank you for directing, Jeff, thank you for sponsoring, Karl and UltraRunning Magazine, see you next year!

Skyline 50K 2023: some serious hill training

Ahh, more than 10 days have passed already, better get this one out of the door before the next race, tomorrow! Ironically, I had written most of it on race day, or evening at least, but was missing some pictures to wrap it up. And then... I went on logging 159 miles the following week, an all-time record for me; that was so exhausting, on top of an already full-time job, not to mention the heat... Let's keep plowing forward!

The question I got the most at the finish was: "how was your run?" 78th 50K races, including 15 Skyline finishes since 2007, with 8 under 4 hours, it's so hard to remain in the present moment and not to compare with the past... But let's talk about that 2023 edition of the longest running 50K race in North America (dixit Adam, the Race Director).

A few 50Ks...

Oh, can you now infer or guess the color of next year's t-shirt from that picture? Hint, I prompted ChatGPT! That AI... ;-)

I'm afraid I can't predict the future, including the specific color of t-shirts for the Skyline 50K event next year. The color of the t-shirts would likely be determined by the event organizers, and it could depend on various factors such as current trends, branding choices, participant preferences, or even logistical considerations. If you're interested in finding out the t-shirt color for that event, I recommend keeping an eye on their official announcements or reaching out to the event organizers directly closer to the event date.

But I digress, let's start with this year's context. First and foremost, Adam had to design a brand new course due to some trail maintenance throughout the local parks. One thing that stood out to me was a more convoluted course profile, with more frequent up and downhills. Let's see how that played out.

If I'm not mistaken, this event used to have an "above the fog" tagline. Given the current heat wave though, there wasn't any fog for a change. At least the 7 am start allowed to log as many miles as possible before the heat hit us in the afternoon. A few even took Adam's offer for an early start at 6 am, not only to beat the heat but more importantly the cut-offs.

There was a joyful spirit at the regular start, with good participation from the Pacific Association clubs: starting with Pamakids which has always the biggest show; Excelsior had the most runners among the favorites; Tamalpa had enough registered entrants to form a team and I saw a handful of tops from Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders as well. Plus 4 more clubs with only one member each. Our Quicksilver team (minus Charles who was setting up the ice cream coolers, yummy!):

Right off the bat, I made sure not to get caught in the excitement of the front of the race. Training for Spartathlon (153 miles between Athens and Sparta on September 30), I've been logging more miles than ever, albeit mostly on roads or tracks. This hilly course was rather intimidating then, all I could do was to take it for some serious hill training session. The first rolling mile was already testing my glutes but I decided to push as long as I could today. All these miles are certainly helping rebuilding some of what I lost with the 2019-2022 hamstring tendon injury. Yet, I can't help but wondering if I'm not doing too much, to the risk of getting injured again. At least I'm rarely running at 6 min/mile nowadays, more in the 7:30-8:30 range.

I passed Jason (Reed) at the end of the first mile this time. Of course, he had raced the day before, as usual or rather as always (with more than 350 races on UltraSignup, he earns the serial runner badge!). I had tapered for just a day, yesterday, running 29 of the 31 days of July and logging the most miles in a month for me, 462. I'm learning to run in a constant state of fatigue, which doesn't seem very smart but hopefully building a strong base for Greece. Better taper seriously in September though to start that ultimate challenge in top shape! Nice shot graciously shared by Dom Philippine (Dom is taking gigs!):

After Jason, I closed on two runners, one from Pamakids, Eric Mercier, and another one in white. The past 2 years I had started walking some of the uphills quite early, I was glad they provided a goal to keep running these sections this year. They both stopped at the Marciel Road aid station. As I was carrying 2 bottles (water and GU Energy Brew), that allowed me to catch them, and actually quickly pass them. Eric stayed closed behind but, again, stopped at the next aid station, Bort Meadows, where he must have gotten quite a mental boost as the station was manned by his Pamakids club mates. (Photo credit: George Rehmet)

Forging ahead, I lost Eric in the downhill to the Big Bear aid station where I didn't stop either. No more runners in sight, neither ahead or behind, just running at my own pace and keeping pushing gently in the uphills.

I also passed by the Old Church Camp aid station (mile 14) where Chihping was also officiating, after being at work at 6 am, building the arch of the start/finish area earlier that morning.

About a mile later and just before entering the turnaround loop, I crossed the two leaders, David Tran (Excelsior) and Andrew Catanese (Quicksilver), running together and fast! I was about 2 miles behind already and not easy miles as I'll find out. Still, I even managed to run all the super steep uphills on that loop, albeit rather slowly, but still a positive achievement, mentally especially.

Quite a few ham radio volunteers were posted at turns along this loop. I asked one of them how many runners were ahead, he replied: "about a dozen." I was hoping for less but, again, I hadn't paid attention to who was ahead in the first mile, on purpose. I only guessed that 2 other runners in my M50-59 age group, Cliff Lentz and James Scanlan, who are rocking our group, were ahead.

As opposed to the first half, I did stop at each station on the way back, to get some ice in my water bottle as well as my hat. I know, such a luxury to have ice at our disposal during our ultra races (I hope they'll get some at Spartathlon, I've heard it was going to be inconsistent at best). I kept running everything until Big Bear (mile 19.5). I left with ice cubes in my my hat and lost a couple. Then I thought I had lost one more although the way it hit my calf didn't make sense. A couple hundred yards later I realize I had lost my sun glasses, dang! I retraced my path and got back to the station without seeing them, dang again, but found them on my third pass, phew!

I was obviously more interested in these glasses than the clock, yet I had learned at Big Bear that I was actually in 10th place, that kept me moving to try to hold on that.  Between the heat, a course which I found harder than the old/traditional one, and my lack of hill conditioning, the hope of breaking 4:30 had vanished on French Trail.

I ran most of the climb on MacDonald trail, still crossing some runners on their way out. I was thinking this new course must make it so more difficult psychologically for them, seeing the front runners with still 20 miles for them to go.

Made another stop at Bort Meadow to get some ice in my bottle, courtesy of William Dai and the Pamakids. (Photo credit: William Dai)

A mile later, I was in the flow while thinking of the next long hill to get back to Marciel Road when I realized I had stepped just in front of a snake crossing the trail, yikes! It was such a stupid move that I went back to see which snake that was and snapped a picture. Not a rattle at least, phew!

Again, a few seconds lost, but I felt ok to only trying breaking 5 hours by now. So, when crossing an ultra legend, I didn't hesitate to stop again to take a few selfies and ask Gordy what he was doing here. He had come from Auburn to see one of his mentees who was on the 50K and, late, hopped on the half marathon. 

That was also his way to grieve for the loss of another ultra legend and one of his friends, Ken Shirk a.k.a. Cowman, 80, another ultra legend and Western States Endurance Run pioneer (Cowman only shows 21 races on UltraSignup, 11 being Western States finishes!).

Was cool to get encouragements from the course monitors at the half marathon turnaround, 6.5 miles to go! (Photo credit: Jawesome Meister)

I got another shot from Dom Philippine while pushing up that long second to last hill, before returning to Marciel Road.

There I snapped another selfie, this time with ultra volunteer, Stan Jensen, who must have seen me at this penultimate Skyline aid station for 15 years, an ultra tradition in itself (Stan's support of Skyline, and so many other local races).

Got some ice again and it was time to get moving, now approaching 4:30 of running time and still 4.6 miles to go, phew! I even had a thought for the leaders who were probably done by now...

The return to the barn had nothing exciting as we were retracing the route we had taken in the morning, as opposed to the traditional course which makes a loop so we come back on the other side of Lake Chabot. As opposed to the younger years, I didn't have any special motivation to rush the last mile, just the eagerness to finish #15! 4:55:45, that was my worst time of all, albeit by only 42 seconds more than 2 years ago when my hamstring tendon was still hurting. And yet it was good enough to take 9th overall and 8th in the Men. And third (!) in M50-59, Cliff finishing 5th overall, 31 minutes ahead, and James 7th overall, 10 minutes before me.

Now, on the positive side, this was a most difficult course in my opinion and based on everybody's results. Even the winner, David Tran, had not broken 4 hours (4:03:21). However, despite these tougher conditions (course and heat), Amanda Wiggenhorn (26, Stanford) managed to post the 7th fastest time in 40+ years (4:18:49)! Also placing third overall!!

Short of breaking 4 hours, at least I was the last one to break 5 this time. I still hold the M50 course record (3:52), next year I'll have some extra motivation to go after the M60 record of 4:38...

So you see, from all these numbers and that dashboard covering 17 years, back to the original question of how my run was, it's complicated: I finished, in the top 10, under 5, uninjured but... the time wasn't great at all. Maybe reflecting that fatigue I built and am trying to get acclimated to on the road to Spartathlon...

Hydration worked well (GU Brew), Vespa did the job of allowing me to resume the strenuous training the next day, just complementing with 4 GU Energy gels.

The finish area was quite busy: most half marathoners had finished, the ham radio volunteers busy collecting course updates from a dozen of volunteers across the park, BeerCity had a booth next to another tent with finishers tees, socks and age group medals, Charles had brought 4 flavors of amazing ice cream and sorbet from his cousin and we were treated with freshly BBQed veggie burgers! Surprised by the lack of shade, I noticed that two trees have been planted in the area recently, probably replacing a much older and bigger one. Hopefully more shade for the 50th anniversary of the race!

I stayed for an hour and a half, taking the time to chat with others. While I had not stopped at the aid stations on the way out, I did on the way back, that gave me an opportunity to thank the many volunteers who spent the day in the increasing heat. So many familiar faces among them, thank YOU for allowing us to safely play on these trails! And kudos to Adam and his crew for another perfectly executed edition! Here are few names from Adam's wrap-up email:

Many of you have commented on the great support and enthusiasm of the volunteers. I want to thank them all, especially the Pamakids runners out at Bort Meadow and the Dusty Bottoms at Big Bear. These two groups are long-standing supporters of Skyline and bring exceptional enthusiasm and support. This is not to leave out Stan Jensen and Chihping Fu who made sure Marciel and Old Church hummed for you.

 

I also want to thank my team: Todd, Mark, Edgar, Karina, Kendall, Kowsik, Megatron, Cindy, Michael Li, Jen, Annette, Siohban, Norm, Betsy, Allison and Theo. Without these folks, I'd be all alone and nothing would happen.

With that, can't wait for the sweet sixteenth! ;-)

PS: Gordy finishing his half

These Brooks Racer ST got dusty!