This was the first race of our 2025 14-event series, and also first of the 6-event sub-marathon trail series. I design these series with many objectives in mind, including fairness of locations for our members in the Sacramento, Auburn and Reno area, and these shorter races to be more relevant and accessible to both younger and older generations to meet and compete. Auburn is 2 to 2.5 hours from the Bay Area, still we had more members driving from the Bay.
Speaking of driving, we had better to start early. I car pooled with my teammate Keith who wasn't so excited when I set the start time at 4:15 am from San Jose. But even before 6 am, you never know what may happen on highway 80. We were 2 cars when a highway patrol car started swirling and closing the highway for a few minutes to allow a construction truck to exit the highway. Passed Sacramento, we arrived in a section where the cops were sending us off the highway. Luckily as I was changing lane and trying to squeeze on the right, the traffic reopened so we lost only a couple of minutes. Craig, the RD, had to delay the start of the 50K by a few minutes to allow for a few late participants.
I had assumed the 50K would start at 7am and I was concerned about the parking options. There were plenty of spots when we got in at 6:45, phew! The temperature was chilly before sunrise, in the mid 40s, it was going to be a gorgeous weather to run.
I caught a few pix of the 50K start, shortly after sunrise, see the others at the bottom of this post.
Quick chat with Eric Shranz who used to be at the center of the Ultra world when he was hosting UltraRunnerPodcast.com. He wasn't here to run but encourage his son, 13. Passing the trail running bug!
It was our turn to start at 8. Not being in shape, I didn't even think of trying to get too close to the start. I wasn't too far behind but we start downhill and on a single track so I quickly got stuck behind a conga line. The were roots and stones so I didn't risk passing. Even more tricky was the sun rays blinding us from time to time. It wasn't worth the risk of falling that early in the race. But with that, I never saw the lead runners. I had seen James Scanlan and Cliff Lentz signed up in the M50, and heard about Chikara signing up at the last minute, but I had not see much competition in the M60. Although we were in line, a gal with her bib in her hand passed us. Keith told me afterwards that she had to pass everybody and it was certainly worth it as she ended up winning the women competition (Anna Louden, 10th overall)!
I was finally able to pass a few runners and push the pace a bit, yet my gps indicated a first mile over 8 minutes, despite the downhill, yikes, that was going to be a slow half. I pushed the pace as much as I could in the next 3 miles down to the legendary No Hands bridge, thinking I was going to regret the effort in K2. With the pounding in the downhill I could feel my left knee but that wasn't too bad. I was able to get the pace down to 7 minutes.
I was carrying my usual pair of UltimateDirection bottles, one filled with water, one with GU Energy Brew, I did skip the aid station both times. I passed about a dozen of 50K runners in K2. I ran a few steps but mostly power walked, or hiked, paying attention to not sliding too much as rocks were slippery. Beyond the K2 nickname which convey the extreme steepness, seems like the original Pointed Rocks Trail name fits well. I got passed by a tall half marathon runner with a black top, and passed another one near the top.
Took a GU gel at the top before flying down the Western States Trail. I ran 3 WS100 but always this section in the dark and after a long and hot day so that felt very different. During one edition of Foumidable 50K, so in day light, this is where I got stunned by Eric Skaden calling me a cheater. Back when I started, he was calling me the Frenchie, he was so strong and superior, then he disappeared from the ultra scene shortly after turning Masters. Never understood what that was about. Anyway, apart from that memory, this is the part of the race I enjoyed the most, flying down this technical single track alone with great sensations coming back while dancing and hopping over the rocks with what I thought was some decent speed.
It was time to get back on that famous No Hands bridge which gives most of us, ultra runners, a chill. I was maybe half way when I heard the bells of the volunteers at the aid station meaning there was a runner not far behind. Instead of looking back I forged ahead and pushed the pace. There is no better training motivation than some race emulation!
When we leave the Western States Trail for the Riverview Trail, things get really serious and yet, that steep downhill could get even worse with more water and mud. This is a section I discovered when I won the inaugural Lake Folsom in 2015. I remembered thinking back then: "great, we climb up from No Hands and they now get us down to the river again..." It's actually not quite down to the river but there is some decent... descent! I used to like technical downhills but I confess that, after breaking my shoulder and not being as agile at 60, they now scare me. With that, a few more minutes lost to put on the breaks yet I became optimistic about breaking 2 hours when I passed mile 11 after about 1hr40 of running. That hope gave me some energy to keep pushing the pace on the Robbie Point Fire Break Trail, so much that I caught another runner who seemed to struggle, resumed running when I passed him and asked me if we were almost there. I had 12.7 miles on my GPS so replied positively although I remembered from the Folsom Lake race that there was still a good uphill to get to the River Canyon Overlook area. If I had known that there was still an entire mile...
1:56 at mile 13 and I still had hope although it made no sense as I couldn't see any ridge above me. With the 2-hour mark missed, I walked the rest of the hill and crossed the finish line in 2:06:21. Oh my, that was a long half, or a heavy one as the RD call it. Not complaining, this is trail running, not road, and others told me it was advertised as 13.5 miles. Cool pictures from Shiran.
I wasn't too surprised when I learned that I was 15th overall. But stunned to see that I hadn't even won my age group. 14th place was another PA runner from West Valley, Brian Sterling, 60, almost 5 minutes ahead of me! Oh well, if I can't train consistently, I can't get to the top. Winning time was 1:43:37 and it wasn't even Chikara but Travis Lavin, 37. Chikara took 2nd overall and first Masters in 1:45. Overall, it was the Excelsior Men show today with the team taking 6 of the top 9 spots or 7 or 11 top men, wow! (Photo credit Diann Leo-Omine, on Spencer Hoffman's phone.)
Pamakids had 18 entrants and got 5th and 17th in the Men, consistently impressive club engagement!
Tamalpa scored a Mixed team. Embarrassingly, my club, Quicksilver, only had two participants, Keith and I, so no score, dang!
Shiran, Pamakids' Captain, taking care of Christine, Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders' Captain, at the finish.
The weather was amazingly perfect of a trail race. We experienced strong winds which made for an infinite visibility, but it kept reminding me of why the fires in LA are so bad. Devastating...
Here is a flyover of the course, click the image below or this link.
Thanks to Craig and his Inside Trail Racing team for a very professional organization. And to all the volunteers who welcomed us and made sure we could play on the trail, safely: aid stations, marking, course monitors, ... It takes a village...
As for me, again, I'm stoke to be back. Those who know me will understand I'm still frustrated for still being a few minutes off my previous marks. Time will tell if I can regain some and rebuild strength. I had some soreness but assuredly I didn't work my butt (aka ass) as off as I could, hence the off pace. Yet, that allowed me to log 17 7:50-minute miles at the track this Sunday. With the knee not yelling, just whispering after a 50K week-end. Next big test at Jed Smith 50K in 3 weeks...
* 50K start pictures:
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