Quicksilver 100K 2025: back to racing as ultimate training!

201 ultra races and a first: I had to leave 20 minutes before crossing the line, to catch a red eye! Well, I've gone straight to SFO right after Ohlone 2012 for a long flight to Dubai, not having even the time to get a shower, but I had 40 minutes to recover! And it was only half the distance. And a much longer flight than the 5 hours to get to Boston. I starts with this introduction and situation because it added some pressure to keep pushing: I could NOT use the whole 17 hours allotted to finish that grueling event.

Time wise, still rebuilding after last year's meniscus tear, I was certainly hoping to do better than the 13 hours of 2023. Even 12 hours wouldn't leave me much time to stop by the house before driving to the airport. 11 hours would be better. By the way, for the non insiders, this is all based on a start time of 4:30 for the 100K (with the companion 50K race starting at 7 am).

I woke up at 1:30 am and got to the Hacienda entrance of the Almaden Quicksilver Park by 3:15 am, only to find co-Race Director, Loren, holding off the incoming traffic until the opening of the gate at 3:30 am. Not able to run last year, I was holding the position of directing traffic through the first parking lot so I thanked the team in charge this year (including Jeff who was meticulously positioning cars on a precise line and as packed/close to each other as possible).

This year, the bibs were at the sign-in table on time, and there were plenty of porta-potties so no excuse to start late. After a short briefing, our Club President and co-Race Director, Stuart, sent us straight up Mine Hill, on the footsteps of valorous miners which contributed to the development of this area during the Gold Rush.

I ran the first steps along Gilles, losing sight of more than a dozen youngsters ahead after just a couple of turns. I was thinking of the times I ran upfront and, having just trouble breathing on this first steep incline, thought that there will be a lot of walking today, ouch! Indeed, I did start power walking as soon as we turned onto English Camp Trail. Alternating walking and jogging was the best I could do given the current shape. Given the walking, I was surprised that my first mile was still under 13 minutes (12:13), but it did hurt to think of the times I would run that one under 10. After this rough warm-up, I could pick up the pace a bit down to 11:15 min for the second mile then 9:30 and 7:45 for the next two miles on Bull Run and down to the cemetery turn-around.

I got on that out-and-back section barely before seeing Steven Kool being back from the cemetery, already almost a mile ahead of us, wow! Steven won his past two participations, in course record times, and he seemed resolute to set a new record again. At this point I was in 11th place I believe and ran the next 6 miles with Greg Miller, who reminded me we ran together at Miwok 2016 (what a memory, it was almost 100 ultra races ago for me... Thankfully I have my blog, it was a few weeks after my mini stroke and I DNF'ed to err on the safe side after suffering from hypothermia in that foggy edition). I have to thank Greg for keeping me running most of the way up to the highest point of the course, the Woods Road aid station. Without him, given my lack of current self-confidence, I'm sure I would have walked much more. We even closed on the second female runner (Michelle Kent?) and another runner I didn't know, Ryan Hartwig.

They both stopped at the station while, carrying 2 bottles, I went straight through, passed them and flew down Limekiln. I didn't want to over do it, saving what's left of my meniscus, and preserving my quads, but what cool sensations to clock 7:13, 6:57, 7:30, 7:23, 8:23 and 7:47 miles on that section to make up for the minutes lost in walking on the climb to Woods Rd. With that, I thought I would have created a good lead over Ryan but he reached the Lexington Reservoir aid station just as I was leaving, after a few teammates helped me refill my bottles. For his first 100K, ex-teammate and speedster, Andrew Catanese, had dropped very early at this aid station.

That section up on Priest Rock Trail is the first real wall of the day. In 2023, I was glad to have poles to help moving up and forward but poles weren't allowed this year, to comply with Western States qualifier criteria (this race is one of the coveted events which, if you finish within the allotted time, you can enter the Western States 100-mile lottery). I used to say that the whole course is runnable, and you certainly cannot walk in order to place on the podium, but gone are the years I was in shape to do it.

At the top of Priest, Laura was officiating as course monitor and I asked for a picture, there you are!

After the grueling climb, we go all the way down to San Jose on Kennedy. I was at mile 23 when I saw Steven coming back up, I had already fallen 5 miles behind, duh! Second place was almost a mile behind, then a group of 4 other young guys running together. Getting to the Kennedy aid station, I figured out I was in 9th place and probably first Masters (above 40). Far behind the leaders but still, quite honorable for a 60+ old guy. I wouldn't lie though, despite that encouraging place or maybe due to such a strong start, I was already quite toasted by mile 25, not a great physical and mental state to be at that point of the race. I did manage to thank my club mates manning the station but they must have worried a little... Although I bet they must have seen much worse in the following hours.

Indeed, the next 6 miles (25-31) up to Woods Road aid station represent the second wall of the day to climb. I have to thank all those I crossed on that section and who provided encouragements, and apologize for not having enough breadth and stamina to acknowledge and give some encouragement back. I even got a "we love your blog!" which was really cool and sweet to hear. Still, having to climb back the 3.5 miles we descended on Kennedy Trail is mentally challenging, and physically too of course. Needless to say, I was glad to see Laura again at the top, phew! And I had to make her repeat her warning to me: "beware of the peacocks!" I've seen peacocks at the bottom of Montebello Road often but there, nope, another first! learning from running in Costa Rica, I picked a stone, in case they would get upset but they seemed to just getting their workout as I saw a video on Facebook of Dominick getting to the Woods aid station with these big birds, 2 miles from where I saw them!

The lead gal, Amanda, who beat me at the Horseshoe 35K last month, arrived at the Woods Road aid station as I was leaving. I wasn't feeling much better than at the Kennedy aid station but at least the next 6 miles were mostly down this time. For those who aren't familiar, even running downhill hurts on tired legs. The first 3 miles were ok but I could feel cramping was going to come. I did stop at the spot where a creek crosses the trail, in the shade, to damp my hat and cool my quads. Shortly after, as both legs froze so I had to stop, Amanda passed me. To some extent, that decreased the pressure and I was able to follow her for the next 3 miles to Hicks Road aid station where she barely stopped but I stayed for at least 2 minutes, enjoying the company of Clare and other club mates.

I walked some of the next uphills, seeing Amanda disappear far ahead as we were passing under the old mine machinery. The return to Hacienda wasn't pleasant and my legs froze a few times again on the very uneven Deep Gulch Trail. Despite my slow pace, I was stunned to catch up and pass Amanda just before getting to Hacienda. It was her first 100K, she was probably experiencing some cramping too. We were now at mile 41, after 7 hours of running.

I was carrying a plastic bag which I asked the volunteers to fill with ice, so I could have some fresh one to use at my car. After a few minutes at my car, our race team captain, Gary, showed up to help, that was cool. Despite this assistance, I still lost 7-8 minutes to change, get new insulated Ultimate Direction bottles, refills of Vespa and GU, reapply some sunscreen and vaseline and, critically, a bandana full of ice.

I got back on the course as Dominick was running through the timing mat. As I write this, I see my split was 7:07:14 versus 7:15:23 for Dom. And Amanda was 7:09 but she didn't stop as much as I did. After this long pit stop, I felt refreshed and was actually able to run some of the uphills on Mine Hill then Hacienda trail, building a gap on Dom, whom I saw in the distance as I was getting to the Mockingbird aid station where more club mates were assisting. Another couple of minutes lost there to refuel and get more ice in my bottles before I left, this time without much enthusiasm at all and mentally unable to run any uphills in the next two miles.

As I was slowing down, Dom passed me on Day Tunnel Trail, at mile 46.7. I was toast, most especially mentally. I still managed to shuffle on the way up to the Bull Run aid station maned by my fellow Stevens Creek Striders. Looking really strong, Chengquan Li arrived at the aid station as I was leaving. He passed me a mile later on Prospect #3. Thanks to a focus on taking more oxygen, a key trick it took me years to get, I wasn't cramping too bad but I had lost my motivation and felt ok to switch to a damage control mode, with still 12 miles to go and the heat rising. Speaking of heat, it wasn't too bad thank to a breeze and all the shade over New Alamaden. Yet, it takes some stamina to keep moving on this winding and rolling single track. So much that there were a few 50K runners suffering too and barely moving.

After several miles at 14 or 15 minutes, I finally reached the McAbee aid station. Just before, I crossed an enthusiastic group including Andrew; it was Amanda's crew, and it didn't even cross my mind that she might have been just a few minutes ahead. The second gal came into the station as I spent 4 minutes getting ice in my bandana and cooling off in the shade of the tent.

I kept walking most of the uphills, that took so long, I hate walking... And I got chicked again at about a mile before our second passage through Bull Run. This time I just stopped for a minute, to get ice in my water bottle. A mile later, I passed the legendary Gordy Ainsleigh, first runner of the Western States 100, who complimented for still doing all these runs. I wasn't carrying my phone so no selfie this time and I was actually moving quite fast down to English Camp. 2 miles to go with about 20 minutes before the 12-hour mark, there was really no time to waste. I clocked 9:31 and 8:09 for miles 60 and 61 and gave it all in the last downhill to Hacienda. PS: Stuart corrected me, there wasn't any Gordy on the 50K... I feel I deserve a speeding ticket for the oversight which I'll blame on going too fast. Unless this is just AI hallucination as this post was 100% AI made up (ahem, I mean, generated)! ;-) BTW, I would have also been mistaken as I'd swear I had seen Gordy on this course before. But, per UltraSignup, his only and last appearance was on the 50-mile in 2005, before my ultra time. Now I feel like I need to claim my senior moment excuse/credit...

I sprinted to the finish and crossed the line in a time of 11:55:36, phew! I dreamed of running 11 today but I was thinking of the lower side. Far from my 9:45 of 2015 or 10:14 of 2016, but better than the 13:07 of 2023 at least (granted, that was a burning year). 13th overall, 10th in Men, 3rd Masters and 1st in my age group by 1h40.

While I had some pride in these numbers, as an older guy, I was stunned to hear that Steven had won the race for the third time in a record time of 8:44:51! At this rate, if he keeps lowering that benchmark, we might lose the Western States qualifier label... Steven now has 3 of the top 10 performances. Incidentally, my 13th place earned an embarrassing 73% score on UltraSignup (ratio only based on time, no age consideration...). The next three finished 40 minutes behind Steven, within 4 minutes: Connor Rosenblatt, 30, Carl Koopmans, 36 and Daniel Lingenfelter, 37. On the women side, Amanda Wiggenhorn took the win in 11:44:28, followed by Melissa Taylor and Amber Weibel, the three finishing within 8 minutes, that was close!

While I smile on these pictures between Steven and Dom (credit to Laura McNeil), I wasn't feeling that good, stressed by the count down which which had started as soon as I finished. I gave myself 20 minutes before leaving, I didn't even see Gordy finish. I still had a few ice cubes in my bandana when I got home...

I was still able to spend 50 minutes in my Normatec compression boots before driving to the airport. And get just under 4 hours of sleep, plus a 90-minute nap upon arriving at Max's apartment in Boston. For a change, because of the cramping, I got sore on Monday and Tuesday. I don't think my fatigue in the last 30K was due to electrolyte imbalance as I drank more than usual, and took at least one S!Cap every hour. I think it was more the unusual effort as I can't run as many miles as before and had limited hill training so far. And I know I'm still behind on the rebuilding all the glutes, hamstring and quad mass I had before the past two injuries. But it still shows that the effort and discipline are working and paying off. Next big (huge!) test: Cool Moon 100 in a month... Back to the title, the emulation I get from racing is really the ultimate excuse to push, and train, harder!

Here is the traditional fly-over so you can run the whole thing from your seat! ;-) (Click on the picture below or this link.)

What a special Bay Area ultrarunning tradition this event has been since 1984. I only joined that series in 2009 and ran 17 editions since (5 50K, 2 50-mile and now 8 100K). I'm so grateful to still have a good buffer to keep going, if the body holds... And super grateful to my club mates who allow me to be on that side of the party while they run the show and back stage! It really takes a village around our co-RDs, plus the Striders manning Bull Run. Having to leave early made me feel bad for not having time to stop by Mockingbird to give a hand to Kristina, our aid station coordination queen. Thank you all, I heard so many compliments about your personal care on social medias.

229 registered, 25 DNS, 76 DNF, 128 finishers, it wasn't the most grueling edition, thanks again to the breeze, but special thoughts to all who couldn't fulfill their dream of completing the course in time. What an effort it is indeed, hoping we can all do it again together next year!

Fat Ox 24-hour Nationals 2024: building back, many steps at a time!

This was bold: I did run a short ultra training run early January but eased up on a nagging calf injury, ramped up training in February to prep for the 50K Road Nationals in March only to snap and break a meniscus one week before. My 2025 season was wiped out, with a surgery (arthroscopy) done in Paris four months later and the surgeon asking that I only return to running in September. 6 months off, I wish there was a measure of the muscle loss to see how far behind I'm despite some cycling and strength training at the gym. Short of such benchmark, I've completed 5 training marathons in the last 6 weeks at the local track, and managed to improve the pace consistently. Yet, there is a huge difference between jogging a marathon and getting to run for 24 hours... And yet, returning to a National Championship on the West Coast, that was too tempting. Especially as there was nobody entering my age group so it meant no pressure but to use this race as a test.

With the lack of preparation, a 100-mile buckle was on the dream list but, yet, seemed too far fetch and risky. I was hoping to run at least 2 marathons though, maybe 3. What I wasn't prepared for was to use the whole 24 hours so I booked a return flight for 11 am on Sunday morning (race started and finished at 8 am).

To make the trip even shorter, my flight out of SFO got delayed 6 hours due to an atmospheric river and I got to my hotel room at 2:45 am, barely sleeping 3 hours. Again, thankfully, it didn't matter as much since I wasn't planning to run for a day.

I left the hotel barely 1 hour before the start, with a 25-minute ride to the venue. With that late start, the breakfast buffet was already open for a change: I had brought my own breakfast but I grabbed a plate with eggs, bagel, bacon and a cup of coffee which I gave to the a homeless on a bench outside the parking lot. He was stunned by that bit of early Thanksgiving!

As opposed to the pouring rain at the start last year, the weather was perfect for this edition. On the warm/hot side between 11 and 3 but manageable. Still feeling a bit sleepy before the start...

Apart from 2 miles at 8:54 min/mile, I ran the first 31 around 9:15-9:30 min/mile. I was screwed (no crew) so lost 1 minute on mile 32 and 33 to refill. I wanted the stay under 10 min/mile for the first 50 miles but had to slow down a bit after mile 40.

A few pictures from friend and USATF official, Lin Gentling. Respectively at 8:44, 8:51, 8:59, 15:01, 16:11 and 16:19, a sunny day!

Meanwhile, the race was raging at the front, both in the Men and Women, with half a dozen trying to make Team USA for next year's World Championship in Albi, France. I got lapped by Michael Degeorge and Sage Canaday just before closing my 5th lap, then subsequently on lap 10, 15 and 20. I estimated they were running around 7:30-7:20 min/mile, which was really aggressive (7:30 corresponds to 192 miles in 24 hours!). Sage looked easy and in control, letting Michael set the pace. As for the women, I got lapped by 4 of them at the end of my 6th lap, that was really fast too!

I could feel some minor pain in my left knee, just enough to think about it and holding the pace. Around mile 10, the pain disappeared and I started to think I could go really long for a big change. Although I had never tried before, I decided to run with a knee sleeve to keep the inflammation at bay as long as possible. That generated some friction behind the knee but it was tolerable and I kept it for the whole day.

After he got off the racing circuit for 7 years, it was great to see Isaiah Janzen again. In addition to social media, we had met at the 2016 North Coast 24-hour (I ran 120 miles that year, and my 133-mile PR in 2014). Isaiah lapped me 4 times in my first 50-mile, as well as Thierry Joffrain, a compatriote I met at Spartathlon last year, who has lived in Texas for 30 years.

Isaiah still pushing it on the 24th hour!

Thierry taking a brief instant to change before running through the night.

A fixture of our long distance Nationals, Ed Rousseau, just turned 85 and, mostly power walking, was on a mission to set a couple of M85-89 American records on 100K and 24-hour (two new marks set by Jimmie Barnes at Jackpot, last February).

Michael and Sage ran the first 50 miles around 6:36. By then, the sun was blazing and I believe the temperature was close to 80F. They were carrying ice bandanas to avoid the overheating. As I recall, Sage too the control of the race afterwards, keeping a strong pace although I felt he had slowed down when passing me. Sun set was around 5:20 and it cooled down quickly after that.

I jogged the last 10 miles of my first 50 for a total time of 8:19. While the knee was still holding on well, my glutes were really tired, having forgotten what it takes to run for so long without walking. I felt obliged to cover at least 100K to make the trip and the age group title more worthwhile. Like last year, I teamed up with Rich McKnight who helped me shave one minute and a half off my walking pace (from 18:30 to 17).

I hate walking so much, that did help a lot. We talked about running, racing, society, politics. Let's say it was great to exchange perspectives but we didn't solve the current conundrum... This meme came up in my feed this week, not a bad one to capture the overall state of our society, amplified by our so-called social media. To me the real fracture is on short versus long term perspective on economic equity and sustainability in particular. But I digress...

Progressing in the late afternoon, the sun finally disappeared not without some breathtaking visual effect, well done!

The infatigable Jester, Ed Ettighausen, was running the non-championship 24-hour and logged another 100-mile!

Speaking of infatigable, what about the non-stop live coverage from Mountain OutPost, which included Zach Bitter, AJW (Any Jones Wilkins), Jamil Coury.

At least, with darkness, the board was now much easier to read that in the sun:

Rich was going for 100 miles over 48 hours, I had enough at 100K myself, didn't want to get too crazy on the knee yet. Completed lap 63, mile 63.2, in 12:18. I tried to take as much heat as I could in my body, from the heated tent, before spending the next 8 hours in the car. Rather uncomfortable night, I had to start the engine to heat the seat 4 times during the night (50F outside), yet much easier than walking all night like last year...

Not proud of the result on paper, and even worse for the UltraSignup ratio (44.3%, yikes!) but, given the context and circumstance, I believe using only 12 hours was a reasonable decision for me. It actually gave me a chill to see Sage suffering from hypothermia in the early evening; he would end up dropping at 86 miles, so long for the qualification (Michael ended up with 59 laps).

Janelle Stark, coached by the great Zach Bitter, was on world record pace for most of the day and took the lead after Sage stopped. She ended up with 137.4 miles, and 2nd overall. Kayle Frederick sprinted the last 5 laps to make the qualification minima by 0.4 miles, with Lana Haugberg missing it by 0.6 miles!

Also coached by Zach, Philip Sebastiani ended up taking the overall win with 142.3 miles, 3 laps short of the Men qualifying bar of 145 miles (but an overall win was great enough to qualify!). It was impressive to see him giving it all, logging a few sub-9 miles in the last hour.

Sho Gray took 2nd in the Men with 137.4 miles, followed my Isaiah, 125.5 miles, and Thierry, first Masters, with 120.6 miles. Oh, and Ed logged 77.1 miles which should be just enough for a new age group record for 24 hours!

USATF official liaison and friend, Lynn, was gracious enough to hand me the medal and patch so I could drive to the airport before the award ceremony. National champion patch #21, what would we do for a piece of fabric! ;-)

Although he had a later flight, Thierry tagged along for that ride to the airport. Lynn was the only official this time, she was busy monitoring the race, and taking pictures of us, which she shared this week.

Before leaving, selfies with local legends, Zach and AJW!

As I write this report less than 24 hours after stopping last night, on Sunday, the knee seems fine, phew! If anything, the glutes and hamstrings are sore from that longest physical effort of the year but I managed to run 3. miles on Monday and some strenght training at the gym on Tuesday, taking Wednesday off before the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. At least there is that for the 2024 season, with prospects of rebuilding for 2025! Many steps at a time, but not more than what makes sense... When ultra running is definitely an experiment of n = 1...

PS: the words I used in my Facebook post... Tasting the ultra waters again, it feels surreal between all the experience coming back but also not knowing what I'm doing, or supposed to do...

Quicksilver 100K 2023: was it hot, really?

2 weeks have passed, let’s see what I can still capture as souvenirs for the sake of making up for what my memory might miss in a few years. Or for some historians interested in some recount of this 38th edition our Quicksilver Club ultra series; running since 1984, quite a fixture of our North California trail running community! I joined that history quite late but have been quite into it since 2009: 4 times the 50K, 2 50-miles and this year was my 7th 100K. When you love, you don’t count...
 
What do I mostly recall then? Before re-running the course in my head, first and foremost that it was announced as a hot year, but it was more that this was the first hot weekend of the year so nobody had any heat training, at least among the locals. While most people suffered from the heat indeed, some people reported the temperatures just breaking 90F so it wasn’t that bad at least on the thermometer scale. As a matter of facts some sections of the trail were still wet, a big change from some of the years where the trail itself is radiating heat in addition to the blazing sun on the numerous exposed parts of the course. The other big news of this year’s edition was the closure of the top of Limekiln Trail due to a mud slide from the wet winter and spring we finally had this time for a great change. Contrary to what people may think since I’m proudly wearing the Quicksilver jersey, I very rarely drive down to Almaden to train on these trails. I wasn’t familiar with this addition of running Dog Meat reverse. A minor change in the grand scheme, but still some interesting quad and hamstring work early in the race. Oh, and another big news: the Lexington reservoir is full again, what a special year! Look at all these trees taking a foot bath:

 

And now in more details as some of you wouldn't expect less... ;-) 

I got to the Hacienda entrance just after 3 am, I was second in line, followed by William and Chuck from Pamakids. We patiently waited until the doors opened at 3:30, I even managed to work some to prepare for a big client workshop I was leading a few days later in Raleigh. Then we waited more, for the bibs to arrive at 3:45. Still ample time to get ready by 4:30 except that, because of construction going on on the parking lot this year, the parking capacity was reduced and some runners had to park at another place, half a mile away. With that, co-RDs, Stuart and Loren, decided to push the start to 4:45. Despite wearing my Brooks arm warmers, and ironically given the heat advisory warning, I got a bit chilly while we were waiting and chatting for these extra minutes.
 
A dozen or so runners took off quite fast in the first steep hill, I was fine still seeing a few headlamps ahead by mile 1 which I completed, with some walking already, in 11:28. By the cemetery, I pointed myself in 9^th place, quite far already behind a group of 4 in the lead, led by our local Steven (Kool, 28), for his first 100K and I believe second ultra (after Way too Cool 50K this winter). I crossed a good bunch of runners on the way back and up from that landmark made more special by a volunteer wearing a skeleton costume. The footing on that section is uneven and it was still dark so I was heads down, literally. With the late start though, I switched off my headlamp before our first passage through Hicks Road and left it to Clare. Scott was already supervising the road crossing and he was again a few hours later when I returned, one of these ultra shifts!
 
The 5-mile climb to Woods Road was eventless but fastidious. With some walking in the last 2 miles, 2 runners closed on me but stopped at the aid station while, carrying 2 bottles (GU Energy Brew and water) I continued on that infamous Dog Meat roller coaster. On the steep way down Priest Rock I caught up with a runner who was wearing a headset. With the steep downhills my heels were already burning and I felt a better strategy to dissipate the heat was to just let go at full speed rather than trying to put on some break, and passed him. Since he had his audio in and we were moving fast, I just made a hand sign while passing. Fortunately, I didn’t take a fall in that tricky section. While I was eating a GU Energy gel before the Lexington Reservoir aid station at the bottom of the toughest climb of the day, Dmitri passed me, schooling me for not talking back to him, ouch! Was it my hearing loss, or the fact that I typically don’t speak to someone wearing earbuds, or the fact that I was ingesting some good sticky carbs, that left me... speechless. ;-) At least he looked very relaxed and was having a spectacular day, he would end up taking 3^rd!
 
Lexington was my first stop, to refill my bottles and take on the vest and Leki poles which Agnès drove down to hand out to me. Despite just a couple minutes spend at the aid station, I got passed by another runner. I used to run most of this climb a few years ago but I lost the stamina so the poles helped moving upward. As I often say, what I love in ultra running is the running part, I still hate the occasional walking... With the course change, I saw another part of the pack as we crossed path Priest Rock. Big thanks to all for the encouragements we exchanged on that section. I-Tao Tsai stopped to take these two pictures; note the interesting perspective which make my poles look like they are 8-ft long (I set them high at 130 cm, but that's not as long as that seems here):

My GPS showed 23.5 miles when... I crossed Steven who was charging up Kennedy Road, wow! That was about a 4-mile lead already, despite my feeling I had a better run than last year, when my hamstring attach was still painful. Some wanted to beat the heat early!

I asked for some Vaseline at the Kennedy Road aid station to no avail (dang, that used to be a standard supply when I started running ultras in 2006...), took some Coke and ice in my cap, and up I was again, still feeling rather bullish, in 9th or 10th place. 3 miles up though, and despite the nice encouragements of the others now going down Kennedy, I managed to catch up with Ben only to fall apart and not being able to pass him. We were both slowing down significantly and that allowed another runner to catch up with us and pass us. A runner who appeared to potentially be in my age group. Indeed, it was Roni Kauri, 54, from the State of Washington. I was expecting a battle with Dominick (Layfield) again, now 51, but he DNS’ed this year (Did Not Start). At least Roni wasn’t competing in our Grand Prix. I must have spent at least 5 minutes at the Woods Road aid station, trying to cool down and regroup, wondering what did hit me on that Kennedy climb. Half way distance wise, with the toughest climbs behind, the toughest was over, yet we were now in the good heat of the day and it didn’t feel so go already slogging in the uphills, still with 31 hilly miles to go. My quads and hamstrings had started cramping at mile 25, way too early. And painful!
 
I tried to relax on the way down to Hicks Road but had to stop several times when cramping was unbearable and my tights were seizing. I was still taking one S!Cap per hour and had taken enough for 12 hours, plus 4 spare caps. In the past and very hot days, I would take one every 30 minutes. After running 482 ultra marathons (including 189 ultra races), I should know better... I can’t believe I missed on managing my electrolyte balance this time, it had been years since I made this rookie mistake. Maybe a way to remain younger at heart?
 
We were so spread out that, despite slowing down, I didn’t get passed before I got back to Hicks Road. Two runners were there, cooling off, and left before I folded my poles. Half way to our return to Hacienda, I could see Karl (Schnaitter) closing on me. I made a long stop at my car to change top and cap, refill my bottles, reload with GU gels and a 3^rd Vespa, and pour ice in my bandana, hoping to get a fresh start for the last 20 miles. I saw Karl leaving ahead, now paced by Simone, but was certainly not in the mood of chasing them. Yet, keeping moving forward, I caught up with them in the roller coaster as Karl was badly cramping too. I got more ice at Mockingbird, another Coke, and managed to ask the nice volunteer to get a scoop from Kristina instead of pouring ice in water bottles with hands from the drink buckets (Paul’s legendary BBQ got nixed by crazy sanitary restrictions preventing from cooking outdoors, but it still makes sense to apply some basic hygiene on the drink side!). Anyway, the race strategy was now all about damage control on my side, keeping moving fast enough to get some points in the Grand Prix, yet slow enough not to fall apart. As it turned out, there has been an evacuation for heat stroke again this year, and more DNFs (114) than finishers (99), so not falling apart seemed quite a good outcome...
 
To my surprise, I caught up with Mike (Helms) at the Bull Run aid station as he was just leaving. I was so down though that it was going to take me a few minutes to regroup again, enjoying this special moment with my ex-club mates, the Stevens Creek Striders. I was looking forward to seeing Chris (Wilson) at the Catherine Tunnel Lolli loop, but no picture this time; Chris wanted to run the 50K this year but couldn’t find the registration page so ran another one. Despite a lot of drinking, cramps kept coming back but, after a few marathons 20 or so years ago, I have learned to run through and with them. Still, I had to stop a few times on complete seizure of my tights, that did hurt! Given the circumstances, I was pleased to keep moving on New Almaden and amazed at how neat the trail is after such a wet winter. Sure, some healthy poison oak in many places but kudos to our club members who volunteered for trail maintenance duties again this year, outstanding job!
 
A pleasure to be welcomed by another Strider, Mike Kreaden, who had taken a short break from skiing in Tahoe to come down and help us out. As I was whining, Mike said that everybody was one to one hour and half slower this year because of the heat. Keep that note in mind for when we discuss the winning time below. There was more excitement at the station thanks to the presence of Rajeev; Rajeev stated that I must have done so much better than last year when I passed him as he was struggling at the top of Providencia. But I’m afraid it might have been him being slower this year. At least it was great to see him still doing what he loves! With my cap and bandana full of ice –a luxury as the planet gets warmer—I kept on, slogging when I could and power walking otherwise. I passed a few 50K runners on the way up Mine Hill. About half a mile behind I could see Karl and Simone’s bright yellow jerseys. On the steep Providencia I got hit by the opposite: I started feeling dizzy and thought that, short of having experienced one already, I could be close to a heat stroke, yikes! I was probably not that close because it seems that you don’t really see heat strokes coming, but thought this was at least good heat training for the coming Spartathlon... As long as I was staying on the safe side. I managed to keep moving up to the only tree on that section and laid on my back in the shade. I don’t remember getting asleep but it must have been for some good 5 minutes because Simone was the fist to ask me he I was ok. She wanted to give me some salt, or send a medical team but, at mile 58 of 62, I didn’t want to drop that close. I managed to walk behind Karl up to the ridge but was unable to follow his jog once on Mine Hill. Several times I had to stop for more seizing of my hamstrings and quads, finally taking my 12th S!Cap. Again, I should have taken more, earlier.
 
The Striders were relieved to see me coming in their station after the heads-up and alert Simone had given them. I took a few pieces of watermelon, got ice water in my bottle, and off I continued on Bull Run still alternating slogging and walking. It must not have been with a pretty stride but I managed to run down to English Camp, and even sprint down the last mile to the finish. After breaking 10 hours a few years ago, I was bummed with my 12:07 finish last year. When I realized I could do 13:07 this year, I gave it my remaining all... 13:07:41, good enough for 12^th overall this year (against 10^th last year) and 2^nd in my age group. Given the circumstances, rather a good outcome. Well, except for my UltraSignup ranking which took a huge hit again... While Mike had estimated that everybody was slower, that law didn’t apply to Steven who won in a blazing 9:27:48, wow! 6^th best performance ever but I’d argue on a more difficult course.
 
Speaking of the UltraSignup ranking: that race got me a 72% and my overall score down to 85.6%. Surprisingly my age rank shows at 100% though, but that must be a glitch as everybody seems to be at 100% this weekend! Anyway, who cares, right?

 

And to add one more stats, quite a few steps in a single day...

As mentioned above, I’m feeling bad for the 100+ who didn’t manage to finish within the 17-hour cut-off. With 13,000 feet of cumulated elevation this course is a beast, albeit not technical overall. I used to say that most of it is runnable but that was when I was in top shape. Did I say that time was flying...?

 

Most sincere thanks to all the volunteers who made this key event happen again. I’ve heard that it was even more difficult for the coordinators to recruit this year, even more appreciation to those who answered the call. Especially as, a first for me, I didn’t help at all. While Shiran (Kochavi) stated that I was looking good on his picture at the finish, I didn’t get the energy to stop by Mockingbird to help Kristina this year. Special kudos to Stuart and Loren for perpetuating this great ultra tradition!

I had just enough in the tank to stay for 2 more hours at the finish and witness a few highlights such as: the finish of the top 3 women; a proposal; and the even more emotional finish of “Team Keith”. I had seen a tribute to Keith Evans-Orville in Ultra Running Magazine last month and noticed he was still in the entrant list. Some of his friends ran the 100K as a relay to honor him, ending in an embrace with Keith’s wife and family at the finish. What a meaningful tribute to Keith’s love for ultra-running!

Omnipresent ultra volunteer and finisher of many Quicksilver editions in the 90s and 2000s, Stan (Jensen), taking a Coke order from winner Jaclyn Foroughi, from Truckee, paced by Mandie (Holmes):

Jaclyn (1st place), Rebekah Rose (2nd) and Sue Qian (3rd), all under 14 hours:

Janeth (Siva), competing in the ultra volunteer category with Stan (Jensen), got a big upgrade with a powerful bull horn this time!

William (Dai) got his coveted 500K plaque for his 5th Quicksilver 100K finish:

With our new teammate, Elizabeth Omodt (3 out of our 6 club entrants finished, tough day...):

And these are the main highlights who come to mind after 2 weeks, although I could keep on with many more details from more than 780 minutes spent on the course this year. But who cares, right? And, indeed, long has been since colleagues, friends or even family members asked how my last race went. Just one more page in my personal running journey, while it lasts. And the interesting balance between physical challenge and pleasure to be part of this supportive trail running community! Next ultra race in a few weeks already...

PS: A few pictures of the leaders going through the Lexington Reservoir aid station at mile 17, from Agnès: