Except for a very few Kenyans working extremely hard, it's impossible to make a living out of running. So better be a second job, and a passion!
Sharing a few personal notes on my journey in endurance running and ultra running. To meet you on the web if not on the road. Happy trails to all, farther and faster!
October is our Month of Giving at IBM. Among the local charities we are partnering with, it was my pleasure to see us hosting POST, the Peninsula Open Space Trust. And, even more satisfying, seeing IBMers stop by the booth to hear more about the amazing impact this organization have had on the preservation of our green hills and local wildlife for now almost 50 years (see my post about the 40th anniversary in 2017, and that IBM-supported conference along POST and the Ohlone tribe in 2022). IBM also matches donations employees make to POST!
Although I've been supporting POST for 2 decades, I still learned a big deal about their challenges and work thanks to a masterful presentation from their Director of Customer Engagement, Mark Medeiros. While there are many other trusts even in our area, no wonder why POST is regarded as a visionary and leading land trust across the country!
Coyote Valley represents a unique corridor between the two ranges forming our very own Silicon Valley, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Peninsula on the West side, and the Diablo range on the East. Living in a earthquake area, we can also named the corresponding faults: San Andrea and Hayward.
Now, corridor may be a more convoluted word than what it looks. I would have assumed that a straight line along Bailey Avenue for instance would be the easiest way to facilitate back and forth migrations and passage between both ranges. But that would make specialists gaggle as that would be way over simplifying Mother Nature, which likes to follow water sheds in particular. (Credit: illustration from Haley Grunloh, POST page.)
In addition to the water sheds winding through the valley, there are 3 major physical hurdles which have to be considered, a system called the triple barrier. Counter-intuitive is that, thanks to its numerous underpasses, the busy Highway 101 isn't the most challenging of the three but Monterey Highway with its surface concrete divider. Followed by the rail track. (Credit: illustration from Haley Grunloh, POST page.)
There has been decades of work to protect Coyote Valley between the key partners including the City of San Jose, the Santa Clara Country, the Open Space Authority. And POST.
At least we can celebrate and be grateful that the planned expansion of commercial development across Coyote Valley, in the 70s and 80s, turned to a flop and allowed farmers to stay around. Incidentally, as we tease ourselves, that left us, our IBM Silicon Valley Lab campus, in the middle of nowhere!
Here is a selection of great resources to learn more about the challenges and progress on that Coyote Valley matter:
Now, a burning question all IBMers had on their mind: as the decision has been made and publicly announced, to close the renowned Almaden IBM Research Center (ARC), relocating hundreds of eminent researchers to the site on the other side of the hill, Silicon Valley Lab (SVL), on Bailey Avenue, what is going to happen to this landmark site? Will that be an opportunity to transfer this major open area into the local pool of preserved lands? As opposed to selling it for tenths of millions of dollars of income and profit... A challenging dilemma... And a big unknown for non-insiders...
Bottom line, the protection of Coyote Valley, while in progress, will likely take several more decades to set a safe and sustainable corridor for wildlife to reclaim their original passage to roam between the two ranges. POST is close to turn 50 and is the perfect partner to think and act long term to restore nature's rights in and around our buzzing Silicon Valley. A model for the World!
4 days after logging 105 miles at the Fat Ox 24-hour Road Nationals, it was time to lace my running shoes again. I didn't feel fully recovered but you can't control these back to back dates. With the souvenir of an injury on that course 7 years ago (fissure of hamstring tendon), my main goal this Thursday morning was to play it safe. Yet, if I felt recovered enough, see how close I could get to 40 minutes, short of approaching my best times, pre-injury.
With 17 consecutive participations, this has become my own personal 10K benchmark (that was my 63rd 10K race but I still have more 50K races in my log, at 84). Actually, my first participation was the elite 5K which was part of our USATF Pacific Association Road Grand Prix back then, and I clocked 16:34. I then ran the 10K distance every year: 35:05, 35:20, 35:06, 36:09, 35:41, 35:49, 36:10, 34:57, 35:51, 35:51, 41:34 (still suffering from the 2018 injury), 40:17 (2020 virtual edition on an improvised course in some French countryside), 38:51, 37:45, 39:55, 39:26 (post 7-month break after meniscus tear). Looking back at this series (all race reports under the Turkey Trot tag), it clearly shows that I never fully recovered from the 2018 injury. And now having to rebuild after last year, not to mention handle the years which pass...
As I mentioned, my legs still felt tired from last weekend's ultra distance. I went for a 1.5-mile warm-up on the course then found a spot 4 layers behind the start line. Among runners who seemed to be at the front mostly for the pictures and selfies so I paid extra attention not to trip when we were sent off.
With the joint start of the 5 and 10K, with all the competitive runners, the kids and the occasional runners who know less about pacing, the race starts really fast. I used to stick close to the front but not anymore and the hundreds of runners at the front felt a bit overwhelming. Two tenth of a mile after the start I glanced at my GPS to get a sense of the pace: dang, it was still on the mode "Wrist hear rate disabled, Start now?" Shoot, I had forgotten the switch that mode back after last weekend's 24-hour, when I switched it off to save the battery so the GPS battery and recording could last 24 hours. Dude, yes, please start!
With that, I missed my split time at the 1-mile mark but got a 6:27 shortly after. Not too bad but it wasn't going to get me under 40 minutes. Our friend Nathalie was volunteering again at the first aid station in Japan Town, around 1.5 mile, and got a couple of shots.
As you can see, I was still in a pack, in good company. The good news though was that my glutes, really tight in the first half mile, had now loosen up. Bring it on!
That good sensation allowed me to pick the pace up a bit, passing a few runners and still being passed by others. That got my second split down to 6:23. Shortly after I recall passing a young girl with a turkey hat and shoes which were making noise like carbon plates. Is that possible 12-year old kids have carbon plate shoes already? Maybe I need to give it a try...
Most of the runners turn left toward the 5K finish but there were still quite a few on the 10K. My third split was similar, at 6:24.
On the 4th mile, after turning around the SAP Center, there is a small did to pass under the rail track, that did cost me one second, for a 6:25 minute split. However, in that section, one runner caught up with me only to stay just behind, in my stride, something I don't really like. That got me to pick up the pace again, this time clocking 6:15 for the 5th mile, while navigating the Emory/Myrtle/University turnaround before returning on The Alameda, aka 82.
Breathing was good, legs felt good, plus the motivation of cross the rest of the pack, including getting some verbal encouragements from my friends (Tanguy then Igor), I went all in to the finish. I only discovered afterwards that I ran mile in 6:12, what a god surprise!
Then, approaching the finish line I saw the clock displaying seconds: 39:50, 51, 52, ... My recollection was that I crossed the finish line in 39:58 but I was awarded 39:56, I will take it! My last 10Ks were 40:36 last December at the DoDouble in Palo Alto, and 40:30 at Trailblazer in September, it feels good to break 40' again! Oh wait, 2 days later and I realize that I actually did better. I was so focused on 40 minutes, I misread the clock while at full speed, it was actually 38:56, even better! And maybe the course was on the short side, as some others reported, but still, that was the same distance for all.
That was good enough for 3rd in my age group this year again. Second was Raymond Rodriguez, 64, in 38:20. As for the first place in our age group, Thomas Tayeri won again in a blazing time of 36:23, this is really fast. This is actually a 90.01% age grade, or an equivalent of 29:19.7, World class/level! In comparison mine was 84.12% or 31:23, not too far from today's winning time of 31:13 (Brian Wyatt from La Jolla).
Proud of Agnès for finishing 5th of 363 in her age group!
But the most important measure for this event is the number of registrants and the money raised for local charities. In the spirit of the race founders, 21 years ago, Carl and Leslee Guardino.
23,000 registrants this year, for an event under the direction of Chris Weiler, Race Director at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation (in yellow jacket).
We were quite lucky with the weather again this year. It was chilly in the shade of the buildings but really nice in the sun, in the middle of the festival area. Perfect place to meet friends, at least for those making the effort to find others among thousands. Here with Tanguy, waiting for Rosalie and Virginie.
And one of the 50+ IBM colleagues who had signed up this year, Danny.
Having ran 10 or more editions, there was even a poster this year, with our names on it!
Can't wait for next year then, what a great Thanksgiving tradition, and a treat for our Silicon Valley communities!
These past years, unsurprisingly for a desert area, we've had hot days at Fat Ox, even in November. Along with the companion cold nights. This year, the temperatures were going to remain mild but some rain was forecasted, with chance varying between 40 and 50%. We weren't in Vegas so let's see how luck played out in Phoenix...
To continue with my theme of ultra stars alignment after my last post and with 2 USATF championships within 2 weeks, I felt that many stars were aligning pretty well again this time. A huge one in particular: one of my College alumni and friends, Vincent, with whom I first worked on AI back in 1985 --yes, 40 years ago!-- drove from Las Vegas to crew for me, what a treat! It was his first exposure to ultra running and he picked a 24-hour event, quite a bold move! Oh, and did I mention potential rain too...?
Vincent really offered the full crew service, starting from pickup at the airport on Friday evening, to dropping me for a flight scheduled 3 hours after the race finish, even offering a shower on the way to the airport before he checked his room out! Also bringing a large tent which we set on Friday evening within our USATF-authorized aid station perimeter. Professional and masterclass crewing! After 2 decades of mostly racing in what we call screwed mode, that is without a crew, that was a huge change! Vincent enjoys hiking so the deal was that he was going to take a few hours during the day to explore the nearby Estrella mountain since the race was happening in the Estrella Mountain Regional Park, in Goodyear, Arizona.
The start time at 8 am was rather convenient to setup, get an okay night and absorb a 1-hour time difference. With a few clouds very high in the sky, the sunrise got spectacular and dissolved the worries of that rainy forecast for the evening. I felt chilly but, as usual, a few others were just wearing singlets.
Let's talk goals. My primary goal was to win my age group for a 25th National age group title but, with no other M60-64 registered, that wasn't a very aggressive objective: I just had to finish a 1-mile loop, that's it! Although, with a registration closing the previous Sunday, I was surprised to see other participants getting in on race day. I mean, there could have been someone else showing up in my age group then. But it didn't so I could peacefully focus on a much bigger goal, our age group American record, which my friend Roy Pirrung had set at 215,263 meters at the World championships in Korea in 2008. On his way, Roy even set the current 100-mile record at 15:29:44, a 9:18 min/mile pace! After my big miss at Tunnel Hill, I was resolute not to aim at anything faster than 10 min/mile.
10 min/mile, how slow this feel at the start... The solution, as I learned from Pam on the first 4 laps, a technique which she herself learned from Bob Hearn, alternate shuffling and walking. Pam (Smith) has been representing the US at almost 10 world championships, from 100K to 24-hour. She is currently the manager of the team, aka the boss! Running along her for the first 4 laps gave me 40-minute worth of personal coaching! And that included Pam rolling her eyes watching me carrying two bottles, in a 1-mile loop format race! She stated that it was 2 extra pounds to carry, damn my habit to have run 60,000 miles this way these past 25 years, as I like to sip water whenever I want, even on training runs! Call me old Ultimate Direction school, they don't even sponsor me anymore when, meanwhile, the world has switched to running vests...
More important was the pacing class. Pam had set her watch to get signals for a pattern I believe was jogging for 6 minutes followed by 4 minutes of power walking. Then rinse and repeat. For 24 hours! With this smart approach, we indeed ran the first 4 laps right on 40 minutes. Since the lap is certified at 0.988178 mile, a 10-minute pace actually corresponds to 9:53 minutes per lap. As Pam stopped at her table to get some fluid, I continued and jogged the next laps to get back right on the 10:00 pace. Oddly so, although I was following the pace sheet down to the second, my Coros watch kept indicating a 9:51 min/mile average pace, as it seemed to be missing some distance. Mere seconds didn't seem like a big deal.
I was really please by how relaxed I was at this lower pace, with a clear mind to fuel according to my plan: 1 S!Caps at the top of every hour, 1 GU Energy gel at the bottom of every hour, skipping the first hour to give my body a reason to switch to fat burning, 1 pouch of Vespa Power every 3 hours, 1 bottle of GU Energy Brew every 15-miles, along one bottle of water. And potentially more fluid in case it got hot, which didn't happen. Here is what I flew back home with, since I leverage GU Energy's recycling program with Terracycle. Needless to say, I didn't stick to that nutrition regimen the whole 24 hours, I also picked solid and warm food at the aid station.
And yet, I'd say around 20 miles, my adductors started feeling super tight. Dang, that was way too early and I blamed the shuffling which is a very different and unusually short stride for me. I kept focusing on staying as close as possible under the 10-minute pace and, eventually, I think around mile 40, the pain and tension in the adductors completely disappeared, I was super pleased. But, oh wait, now the glutes had something to say...
At the end of lap 57, mile 56.33, I was still right on that 10:00 min/mile average but Vincent had noticed I had starting to slow down on the past 5 laps. It was 5:37 pm. Around 4, I had asked a local runner what he thought about the rain forecast and he assured me, "nothing before the end of daylight." Well, the problem is the daylight was short and, sure enough, it actually started raining before 6 pm, yikes! Light rain but I still much appreciate stopping to put my light wind breaker on. Including the hood over my cap and visor.
Again, the rain wasn't too bad, yet puddles starting forming on this sleek and flat concrete. To make the matter worse, the mix of sweat and water accelerated the chaffing. One more worry spinning in my brain. The rainy weather conditions were another excuse for getting resigned and deciding it wasn't worth the effort anymore to chase a record. I was still pleased to pass the 100K mark this year in 11 hours and 4 minutes instead of last year's 12:18. The rain had stopped for a short while and Vincent told me it was going to pick up again between 9 and 10:30 pm. At that point I formed a plan of getting a few hours of sleep during the rain, thinking that the rain would then stopped and I would run the last 8 hours dry.
I stopped at the tent at 8:40 pm, with 70 laps in the bank. Vincent left for the hotel and I changed before getting in a comfortable sleeping bag. Just a problem: our tent was right in the middle of the super noisy area between the aid station crew on steroids to stay awake, the loud music and announces of the finish and timing tent and runners and crews chatting in the finish area. I'm sure I ended up sleeping a bit but I also recall finding super hard to fall asleep in this noise, and waking up several times. To the point that, around 10:40 pm, I realized that, if I had to walk them, it could actually take me more than 8 hours to cover the 32 laps I had left to get to the 100-mile mark, and the belt buckle, and that I'd better to get moving again then. Although it was still raining, yuck!
This time I put on my sturdy Ultimate Direction rain jacket, hoping that will keep me dry. After a 2.5-hour break, my legs felt much rested and I was able to clock the next 6 laps in a 10-13 minute-range. However, at that pace, and under the waterproof jacket, I got quite hot and sweaty to the point that, slowing down a bit to catch my breath, I got cold again... I still hold a good pace for the next 5 laps before having to walk most of the next 2 laps and stop at the tent, shivering, to change again. It was 2:35 am. Fortunately, the rain had now turned to a drizzle, I switched to a warmer but barely water-protecting jacket. That was lap 85.
I didn't have much stamina left and walked a lot in the following laps, until 94. But I was pleased by the ability to still do some power walking at least. At that point, Larry Orwin, in the M65 group, was still 4 laps behind but now back to running and clocking 12-minute laps. That gave me some kick to run again and I clocked laps 95 to 100 each under 14 minutes. That also got me to catchup with 5th place, Stephen Gnoza who was coached by elite marathoner and ultra marathoner, Sage Canaday.
Having spent all night just focused on getting to 100 miles, or 102 laps, I was mentally done when I reach that point at 6:54 am. But Vincent, back after 5 hours of sleep, wasn't having it, he wanted me to keep going! I jogged lap 103 and 104 at a 13 min/mile pace but painfully covered 105 and 106 in 16:05 and 18:05 respectively. And there were still 6 minutes remaining so Vincent pushed me to keep going to plant my extra distance mark/flag as far as possible. I complied but not before asking him to at least take his car and drive down along the course to pick me up. And I had recommended Sage to do the same to pick his runner whom I had seen in distress on the last lap, on his knees. I'm glad I did, that was worth the ride back, with Larry also stopping where Stephen and I ended and grateful for the ride back to the finish.
That extra 0.25 mile got me right above 105 miles, 105.0502167 to be very exact! In 24 hours, zero minute and zero second! ;-) Very far from my 133-mile PR, and almost 50K away from the age group record I was chasing, overall quite a big and disappointing miss although my family doesn't see it this way... By the way, Stephen and Larry were on the same lap and ended up being separated by about 10 meters (101.0997271 versus 101.0933518 miles). At least it made the work of the measurers even more worthy!
So, overall, still some good progress from last year, showing that the effort to rebuild pays off. It was my 11th 24-hour event, out of 207 ultra races including 190 finishes. Again, very grateful for the ability to keep running after last year's episode and scare.
Upfront the battle was raging and I could tell I was way behind given the dozens of times I had been lapped by the lead runners. Scott Munson was the most impressive, maintaining an impressive high and long stride à la Jim Wamsley and a sub-9 min/mile pace through the first 80 laps! He was the first one to reach 100 miles, in 15:05 but slowed down through the night, and ending up in 3rd with 122.5 miles. At the 100-mile mark, Scott Traer, 44, was just 1 minute behind but held on super well all night to claim the overall win with 138.3 miles. While Zachary Szablewski passed 100 miles an hour later, he finished 2nd overall with 131.5 miles. Sho Gray took 4th with 119.7 miles.
On the women side, a win for Polina Hodnette with 117.7 miles, then Stella Springer, 54, with 91.2 miles then Pam, 51, with 75.1 miles, all in the money!
For his first 24-hour race, my Pacific Association mate and elite M50, Jonah Backstrom, suffered from painful achilles and stop on lap short of 100K.
At the top of our age groups, in the M85-89, Ed Rousseau was hard at work again: he had started on Friday morning to chase a bunch of records from 48 hours to 100K. On Andy's USATF Record page, I don't see any new pending records for Ed, he might have missed due to the bad weather. Or the page hasn't been updated yet. And with the difference in size, the second picture could be appropriately captioned "When I grow-up, I want to be like Ed!" ;-)
Because, yes, that wasn't great conditions to set records, the weather gods, or stars, didn't align well this time. And years do pass, hence the big disappointment when missing on an opportunity... From a lesson perspective, I'd say that I definitely need to keep working on my glutes. And my mental. Always. TO explain my disappointment, I would also mention that I ran the hilly and hot Cool Moon 100, on trails, in 22 hours and change. And it took me one more hour to cover that distance on a flat course, here. Granted, this time, I stopped for 2.5 hours for a long nap...
Going 10 deep overall, plus the M86-89 age group, Lin, our USATF official, was generous with her medals: every participant got at least one, if not two, plus an age group champion patch! I'm still dumbfounded that so few USATF members show up at these championships, especially from local or close-by associations.
And with that, I indeed got my 25th patch. 4th this year, it certainly feels good to still be running after thinking my days were over with that meniscus tear last year. For many years I took running for granted. Not anymore, I now appreciate any new mile making it into my log.
In addition to thanking Aravaipa for setting this event up and investing into hosting this national championship (if you know, you know, it does cost a lot!), for the knowledgeable and helpful volunteers manning the aid station in particular, or literally sweeping the water off the course, those working the timing table, the awards, the registration, those setting up the nearby camping tents, my deepest gratitude goes to Vincent for even forfeiting the local hiking opportunity and assisting me every 10-15 minutes, throughout 24 hours. Welcome to the community, Vincent! As a bonus, Vincent also took a few clips throughout the day (YouTube picked the background tunes and took them out to address copyright infringement, hence the sound off...):
My flight ended up being delayed by 30 minutes first, then 40 at the end which wasn't too bad and diffused some of the stress of rushing out to the gate. The timing worked out quite well after all. As I was leaving, Sage asked me what was my next race... And he knows about my regimen so he wasn't too surprised when I replied: "A 10K Turkey Trot in 4 days..." That will be the next race report tomorrow then, stay tuned as they say...! ;-)
PS: this time my legs were quite sore on Monday, proving that was some work to shuffle through this challenging weather. Also a rare but abundant sweat during my 10-hour recovery sleep on Sunday night, my body was trying to say something! And I was still tired on Monday... Well, it's not getting easier with the years...
Stars, stars, stars, so many stars to align for the perfect ultra. I want to list all of them but it feels overwhelming, like looking at the sky in the desert of Namibia... I'm still getting lost with even the key constellations so I will start to pick a few themes, for the sake of developing that analogy and theme.
One of the most important constellation of stars to align must be on the physical side. If you can't run or walk, it's a moot point to aim at finishing... There was quite a few years during which I felt invincible and didn't have to think too much of getting in shape. I was even joking that extreme and tough racing were mere training opportunities for the next races. I averaged 62 miles a week for 8 consecutive years, until I fissured a hamstring tendon while over extending my stride during a fast 10K, sliding on a wet pedestrian crossing stripe, at the end of 2018. Then this cut of one of my left meniscus last year. Since then, there is not a single run during which I'm not thinking that it could be the last one. I was taking running for granted, I'm now overthinking it on the other edge. One year after resuming training after a 7-month hiatus, I feel better and more confident, so much that I resumed track workouts with Bob, as you might have read in two recent posts. So, yes, I felt good physically upon getting into this race,
The second set of stars contains a bunch of more elusive and less tangible aspects, around mental readiness. Not my forte. We had dinner with friends this weekend and I mentioned that, if I was given the chance to rewind and start my running career over, I would pay way more attention to mental preparedness and sport psychology. For several decades, I had such an intense work and passion for my job, I felt good about balancing with intensity in ultra running. Sadly, the job which is paying the bills isn't as good as it used to be... With that, while believing again in my physical ability to compete in ultras is a boost, the mental tank was rather low otherwise upon getting into Tunnel Hill. Did you say tunnel, with some light at the end of it? If you know you know...
In the third category, I'll include the pre-race logistics. Especially for out of state races, this can represent quite an endeavor, even after racing more than 200 ultras. Again, there was a time when work and running were intersecting, when I was traveling a lot for work and able to combine with a race, from time to time. Not anymore these days, both due to the pandemic and how it changed the workplace, but also different job roles. Flight booking, hotel reservations, car rental, and packing luggages, with the typical carry-on TSA constraints in terms of liquids and gels in particular. Then the meals while being away (hint: I do travel with my pre-race dinner). The race instructions. The ability to pickup bib on race day or not. Now, to illustrate that a star can get quickly off course: while driving from St Louis airport to Canondale on the highway, at dusk, I had the reflex to avoid a huge traffic drum which was rolling across my lane... Could have costed me my whole weekend, would have I hit it at 60 mph... (just took that picture on Sunday, to illustrate the size.)
Last but not least, we can mention the race-day logistics and whatever happens during the race, from the weather (temperature, wind, rain or sun), the aid station (location, frequency, who mans, what they offer), the course conditions. Parking. Porta-potties availability. Being crewed or screwed. The hydration, fueling. Not tripping/falling. The management of layers. The choice of shoes. Chaffing. Blisters. And the pacing discipline!
After setting up this general framework, let's dive into the race of last weekend (November 8). It was held in Vienna, in the very South of Illinois, so much South that I was told the name wasn't pronounced like the Austrian capital (ˌvēˈenə) but the Vi as in vial (ˈvī(ə)l). Surprisingly, there is a small airport nearby to which United is flying but of course not direct from the Bay Area. Looking at the map the closest larger airports were either St Louis, MO to the North West, or Nashville, TN, to the South East. I picked St Louis, direct from SFO, landed around 4:30, rented a car and got to my hotel in Carbondale by 7 pm. That was leaving another 40 minutes to get to the start in the morning. I got to bed around 8:30 and woke up around 3:10 am after an okay night (on top of the pre-race excitement, it's really hard getting a perfect night of sleep right before a race, especially when traveling across time zones).
I got to the start at 5:05 and I believe I was the first car parked in the morning. Great spot close to the start and the line of porta-potties. A few volunteers were setting up the bib pickup but our USATF Official, Lin, only showed up at 5:30. That gave me time to explore the start/finish area and seeing how the trail was crossing through, with two out and backs extending to the South and North ends.
I was so early I was able to take a 20-minute nap while a solid bathroom line was forming. The sky cleared as soon as the sun rose, it was going to be a perfect sunny day for a Californian! As usual when I travel East, I was surprised to see a few singlets while I felt a bit chilly at the start. I decided to wear my usual Brooks arm sleeves but not my beanie, just my UltimateDirection cap. Still, I opted for a pair of gloves, which I'm glad I had for the first 10 miles.
Being too late and far away, I had missed the pre-race dinner on Friday evening, including the presentation from ultra endurance star, Harvey Lewis. And I got to the start line just in time for the national anthem so I also missed his words of encouragement before the start.
Let's talk about my main goals for that race. First, win my age group which meant, short of any other competitors in my age group again, "just" finish. Second, but kind of my A goal given the lack of interest of the first one, improve our M60-64 American Age Group Record which was set by Rick Lee in 2021 at 6:27:30 , a 7:45 min/mile average. Compared to the 5:51 I've seen Rich Hana run in his 55-59s, then 5:48 by Billy Mertens last year, both at Jed Smith in Sacramento, I felt there was quite some margin and the goal should be more aggressive than improving our age group mark by a few seconds or even minutes. I had worked hard these past weeks at logging dozens of 7 min miles, I felt that I could aim at something around 7:20-7:30 min/mile. Knowing that I still feel like rebuilding and several percentage points of my pre-injury fitness level. So... all stars will have to align in a perfect straight line.
Given the few young stars lining up on the Championship but also other distances (there were a marathon, 50K, non-championship 50-mile, 100K, 100-mile), I didn't try to get too close to the front. I must say that I liked all distances started at the same time and there seemed to be some alignment between bib series and the various distances. That helped figuring out who was running what, in addition to the back bibs we had to wear for the championship, with our age group.
I got in a group of half a dozen runners which clocked 7:25 for the first mile. I felt it was a bit too slow already so I pushed the pace a little so much that I clocked 7:05 on the second mile, oops! I told you, I worked a lot around the 7 min/mile threshold, it felt good but I knew that wasn't going to be sustainable for 50 miles so I eased up a bit, letting a group of 3 runners ahead for a bigger gap. 7:15, 7:13, 7:16, 7:17, I was a bit "struggling" to tune to the 7:20 mark but getting closer, just a few seconds off of it. With my gloves, I lost a few seconds grabbing a gel so mile 7 ended up being 7:26, then 7:15, 7:21, 7:18, 7:15 and finally 7:20 for mile 12. While I had a great start, I was still wearing my pain mask early on, respectively on Belknap Bridge then at Heron Pond (photo credit: Colson Photography).
By mile 11 already, I had started crossing the front runners who were already 4 miles ahead, wow! I had studied the course but missed that the out and back were asymmetrical: the first out and back was exactly a marathon (26.2 miles), while the second was under 24 miles. That made the first turnaround slightly farther than I had expected, at 13.1.
On our way back to the start, it was exciting to cross the rest of the pack and I'm grateful for all the encouragements they provided. Then there were none for the last 6 miles of our first marathon. Around mile 23, I started to slow down a bit, and letting the average pace slide just above 7:20 at last. I crossed the marathon mark in a time of 3:13:53, which would still be a great Boston Qualifying time, well above my age group standard of 3:50! That corresponded to a pace of 7:24 and I also lost a few seconds getting to the stuff I had left near the start in the morning: I removed my arm sleeves, took a pouch of Vespa Power, 3 extra gels in my belt and went back on the course. (Photo credit: Colson Photography.)
As I was started running again, I got passed by a female runner in black. She was running at about 7:25-7:30 min/mile and that's what seemed reasonable for me to do at that point. Except that we were only at mile 26 and the effort didn't feel easy anymore. I stayed behind her for about a mile, then led for maybe another mile but she was leading when we got to the Shelby aid station, where I could see the efficiency of her dropping and picking up what her crew guy gave her on the fly: Formula 1 style, super impressive! I had asked her which distance she was on and I thought I had heard 100K. And asked her if she was on record pace, she replied it was a bit too early to say for sure. Well, that was Catriona Jennings, from Ireland, and she would end up setting a new World (!) record for the 100-mile distance, in 12:37:04, an average pace of 7:34!! We got to Shelby with an average of 7:26, and she almost maintained that for 70 more miles! Much respect... Courtesy of Colson Photography, here she is, cruising through 50-miles, all smile:
Not having enough energy to just stay with her was my first mental blow. I was still able to clock 7:32 for both miles 29 and 30 but 31 fell to 7:47, 32 to 7:49 then 33 just above 8 minutes, dang! Then... on my 34th mile, I saw the lead runner coming back, and that killed me, again, mentally. I had started thinking about issues at work, and lost a huge part of the remaining low stamina, to the point that I even started walking. While my average pace was still good for a record, at 7:30, I knew I was cooked and couldn't handle the pace pressure anymore. 9:16, 10:08, 11:14 (including a stop at the Tunnel Hill aid station to get some Coke and a piece of banana), at that point the record was off and I was almost relieved when I saw my average pace get to 7:45. As disappointing as that was, that freed up one huge weight from my head and I started focusing on just finishing.
Here is me pretending I was still running well, after crossing the famous tunnel for the first time (Photo credit: Colson Photography, Phil Weinzapfel.)
In some sense, it also helped seeing that I wasn't alone to struggle. After running a few 2:3x marathons these past weeks --at 50!-- Mike Wardian had a huge goal of breaking the 55-year old M50 record set by the legendary Ted Corbitt at 5:35, in 1970! But Mike faltered in the second half too and struggled getting back to the finish.
After a few terrible miles between 34 and 36, now with the only remaining goal of finishing, I was able to walk less and clock a series of 4 9-minute miles. With less pressure, I spent a few minutes at Tunnel Hill, this time taking the time to thank the volunteers, despite my cranky mood.
Finding a second wind, now running toward the finish as opposed to away from it (a huge difference mentally), my next 8 miles were all under 9 minutes and I even clocked 7:49 for the last one! Special thanks to Karen Dunn who passed me on mile 44 while I was walking and taking a GU Energy gel and reignited the remaining little fire in me to pick up the pace. (Photo credit: Colson Photography.)
I crossed the finish line in 6:44:33, 17 minutes off that M60 record, quite a disappointment and embarrassment for me, but good enough for my 24th patch, or National title. And with the limited field of 53 registered, even good enough for 16th overall, 11th men (2 minutes behind 10th), 5th Masters. But again, such a small field. Also, I finished 1 hour and 42 minutes behind Brogan Austin from Colorado, who won the championships in 5:02:54 (ending up in a 74.87% UltraSignup score for me, yikes...)! Note that it's on that course that Charlie Lawrence set the Men World Record for 50 miles at a blazing 4:48:21 2 years ago!
Speaking of records, the women were on fire: Ann Flower won the Nationals and set a World record too in 5:18:57. And I already mentioned Catriona World 100-mile record, above. On the 100K Courtney Olsen, set a new American mark at 6:59:55, breaking Ann Trason's 7:00:48 at the IAU World of 1995! Less than a minute, 30 years later... much respect to both! (Courtney owned the 50-mile world record which Ann broke by more than 12 minutes that time.) Age group wise, on the Men side, new records for M45 and M90!
By the way, about Courtney: she also scored in the 50-mile championships, 2 minutes off her previous World Record, then continued on toward this new American Record on 100K. Before the race, albeit not thinking of that speed at all, I had a secret goal of finishing the 50-mile well enough to also go on for the 100K, given the unique opportunity to get sanctioned and certified timing. Well, only in my wildest dreams...
Nice chat with Mike (Wardian) who still had a busy night ahead, crewing for his sister on the 100-mile (Mike also has a brother who is also an ultra runner).
On the California and Pacific Association side: Wally Hesseltine, 82, won his age group. Brooke Bray of the Impala passed me just before the 2nd turnaround, about mile 40, but then dropped at her second passage through the Tunnel Hill aid station.
And so... to those who told me not to worry about missing our record, that I will have other opportunities: maybe, but such a huge miss given so many stars being aligned this time. Just taking the weather for instance, it was PERFECT for me on that day and look at the temperature 2 days later in Vienna. (Hint, this is 2 degrees Celsius, not Farenheit fortunately!)
RD, Steve Durbin, told me to come back, but can he guaranteed such perfect weather conditions again next year, in the middle of November...? It's quite a risky proposition when flying so far away for just a race... Posing between Steve and Lin:
Speaking of Steve: it was my first time at Tunnel Hill and the experience definitely confirmed the top notch quality and professionalism of this event. Definitely worth and well-deserved the IAU Gold Label. To illustrate the level of professionalism, look at the race headquarter vans:
Great goodies too: first, an impressive belt for a 50-mile, quite unusual for a below-100-mile distance. And two super original and useful shoe and waterproof bags from sponsor SILO.
Shoe wise, some people might think that I finally fell for the carbon plates. But, nope, simple road racing shoes from Brooks, the Hyperion 2. And, yes, never mind the lack of fashion style, I could feel some pebbles jumping on my calves from time to time so I'm glad I followed the RD advice to wear gaiters.
Now, while I much regret starting too fast like a youthful newbie, it was still a very positive experience and I'm proud of having tried and even aimed a breaking a record again. What an improvement from last year when I didn't think I would be able to still run! Also grateful to this opportunity to participate in such a notable event which set new world marks again: Tunnel Hill lives up to its reputation! Overall, yes, if it's not too cold, I'll try to come back next year.
Statistics wise, that was ultra race #206, 189th ultra finish, 40th 50-mile race. One step at a time, still learning...
On Sunday, I was able to ride the internal tram of the Gateway Arch in St Louis, before my flight. This monument is celebrating 60 years and I was lucky that a few private donors had arranged for the National Park to remain open to visitors during the shutdown. Quite impressive to go to the top, see the views from up there, and also feel the whole arch oscillate by a few inches when it's windy, like it was last Sunday.
A passionate runner, international IT executive focusing on Professional Services, French-American and living in California since 1998, married and father of three boys.
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