Stevens (Patt) Creek 50K: crazy stir-craziness

I don't recall having heard about the word stir-crazy before Friday, when that was picked as the word of the day for our Amazon Cupertino Toastmaster club meeting (contact me if you want to join our club, we still meet weekly, albeit remotely of course right now). I had heard about cabin fever these past weeks, that was also a new concept to me. Which is ironic because, these past 20 years, nobody told me I must be suffering from these by spending so much time running in the outdoors...

This post was meant to be short, a simple virtual race report on a course I ran several times. It was meant to be a happy run, in the parks we love to run in all year round. A run to celebrate one of local ultra runners who has created this course and directed a race on it for 10 years or so, Steve.

We were 3 runners, not running together, not just because of staggered starts, but also because you typically run an ultra alone, at your own pace. What could go wrong? Unfortunately, it ended up creating a mess of mixed feelings in me, I managed to feel, on and after that single run... ashamed, grumpy, happy, sad, unhappy, disappointed, concerned, even more anxious, mad, revulsed, grouchy, dismayed, annoyed, excited, angry, irritated, glad, frustrated, guilty, more worried, distressed, embarrassed, bitted, amazed, compassionate, and, yes, not just stir-crazy, but simply crazy! Phew, I already feel slightly better getting all these out fo my chest!

That's a lot for one day, isn't it? Well, you can guess something got wrong and, of course, it has to see with the current coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis we are trying to survive from. Sincerely, I was hoping for a short post, because, unlike what I see on social medias that confinement gives more time to many, for me, it's the opposite, a deluge of online meetings. On Friday, I started at 6 am with Romania and finished at 9 pm with China, 15 hours non stop, not even a break to... exercise!

Speaking of exercise... Like Dr Fauci in the US who keeps promoting exercise during pandemics, and still run himself every day at 79 while managing this incredible crisis, the French Ministry of Sports had to describe what type of exercise was authorized in France, as of this Thursday (my translation): "Exercising outside means a walk or a short jog but respecting 3 key rules: stay within a short distance from your house, so within a few blocks, and keep it short and with absolutely no other contact than people you live with. You can go out with your children, or alone, but you cannot gather with friends. No biking unless it's to go to authorized/essential work, or to pickup essential goods. Running a 10K? No, not possible/allowed! The idea is just to get your legs moving." Adding with a pinch of humor (she is a former Olympian): "If you run a 10K under 20 minutes, contact the Guinness Book!"

Pretty explicit, right?

In Italy, facing an hecatomb, they purely banned any outdoor activity. When everybody knows someone who died, nobody needs to be convinced by more arguments!

Spain (text found in a fabulous article on Medium): Specific ban on taking kids out for a walk or seeing friends or family (except to take care of people who need help, but with hygiene and physical distance measures).

What about our local Santa Clara county order? Per 10.a.iii "To engage in outdoor activity, provided the individuals comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in this Section, such as, by way of example and without limitation, walking, hiking, or running." With social distancing defined in 10.j as "For purposes of this Order, "Social Distancing Requirements" includes maintaining at least six-foot social distancing from other individuals". That's pretty explicit too, right? No biking(*), right?

Of course, I feel sorry for the cyclists and mountain bikers who are excluded from the perimeter of authorized activities. I feel sorry for folks we used to meet friends to go out, or to the movies, or coffee shops, or even walks around the block. They can always lobby with their reasons to relax the current constraints, but that's not an excuse to break the current regulations and directive which, I'm sure where established with a lot of thoughts, based on facts. I do have a sister, MD, on the front line and, from the stress of seeing people sick and dying, she can't believe that people still don't... believe in the necessity of such measures.

This Sunday, as a frequent user and customer (!) of the County Parks, I received another invitation to "Reminder: County Park Trails Open - Exercise Outside" stating:

"Dear Customers, We believe connecting people to nature and outdoor open spaces is more important than ever during this unprecedented pandemic, as being in nature provides important personal physical and mental health benefits. Studies show outdoor activity helps reduce stress and anxiety. If you feel the need to reduce the stresses of sheltering in place, please enjoy the trails in a safe and healthy manner while practicing social distancing, and remember public gathering is not allowed during this Public Health Order."

Well, given the few usual customers, I was really happy to receive such confirmation. But they much has expanded their mailing list recently, or the medias leaked the invitation because, by mid day, park lots were full and, worse, many cars were parked on the side of Skyline Boulevard, in no parking allowed areas, at each trail head. Pure stir-craziness! I did so many runs on these trails these past 20 years and I've never seen so many people, at a time we should distance ourselves. Wrong move!

Now, let's switch to my anger... Of course, I love the fact that this humanitarian crisis finally made people realize that going outside, as a couple or a family, is healthy! Just frustrating that we had to crash our economy and social system to get there...

I wish I was wearing a side, front and back, stating that I had visited Israel (a week before they closed areas I visited there), France (total confinement), New York City (oops!), Las Vegas (I came back sick there, the worst place you can think of in terms of pandemic with boatloads of people coming in and out from all over the US and the world!), and other places hurt by the pandemic. Maybe others would have kept some distance... Maybe next time, I should run with a mask, that's scary. But it's so much harder to breath too...

Bottom line, this is not sustainable running at all. I'll find other places to run, mostly staying in my neighborhood per other countries' recommendations, sorry to let you down, local parks, but I think this will actually help you cope with a new local disaster. Think about it, the personnel in charge of maintenance of the restrooms at most parks have been deemed non essential. Leading to the closure of these facilities. With flocks coming in, not even used to behave outdoors. Any need to comment more on that...?

As the story develops this first weekend of the shelter-in-place order, my running buddies report the same issue from around the Bay and there are already talks about shutting down the Parks:

1. SF Chronicle's report on East Bay Parks;
2. Report of closure of Point Reyes because of too many visitors and the impossibility to enact #SocialDistancing;
3. Chaos at Rancho San Antonio and Mt Umunhum parking lots;
4. Overcrowded parking lots at other local parks;
5. And more reports of the problem on Facebook.

Thinking more about the issue, I feel one of the biggest mistake was to call the health directive, #SocialDistancing. For many, the word social is now associated with (virtual) social medias. What about #PhysicalDistancing? Then maybe you get the 6 (horizontal) feet distance...

As for my run? Again, back to the mixed feelings and sentiments. It would be selfish to say that I was just happy to do a 50K. Sincerely, I didn't see the issue coming, and it really materialized much later in the day (I stayed home on Sunday, based on one I'm reading, I can only believe the issue got worse on Sunday). After winning three editions (2011-2013) I was really excited to give another try to that course, and respond to Steve's call to celebrate his birthday, St. (Steve) Pat(t)rick's and the Spring. And keep ramping up my return to training after 7 months off, last year. Besides, I was supposed to be in France for 4 weeks, starting last Sunday, to actually get a treatment on my hamstring injury, so it felt completely normal and reasonable to do this run. I didn't intend to push after last week's 50-mile National Championship, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass on, this non-group run, given all the circumstances.

On my way up Highway 9, it stared raining and the temperature kept going down. It was even chillier than last week but, thankfully, only drizzling. Well, I had said the same last week, before the rain turned to heavy pour... I got to the parking lot at 9:05 and was surprised not to see Steve's car (you can't miss it with his custom plate!). He arrived shortly after and left around 9:10 or 9:15. Not in a hurry, at least I thought, I started at 9:42.

50 yards in the steep downhill, I stopped to adjust my pack and thought, "if I stop every 50 yards, it's going to be a long day!" 200 yards later, the trail became slippery and I realized how foolish I had picked a pair of overused road shoes (1,322 miles in these Brooks Launch, and they are still so comfortable, especially on trails!):

Thankfully, most of the remainder of the course was just humid after some rain last week, and actually super soft and smooth to run on!

3 miles in, the rain had stopped and I was getting really hot under my jacket so one more stop to take it off. And a few other stops to get my phone out of the pack to check if I was still on the right course (I get so confused between all races, and orienteering isn't my specialty... And no ribbons today for a change!). With that, I was slow and it took me 5 miles to catch Steve. As opposed to the three official races back then, I walked some of the uphill to Saratoga Gap Trail. Partly because of the lack of motivation to push, partly because of the lack of training and conditioning, partly because of physical and mental fatigue (I knew coming back from injury was going to be challenging, and the injury isn't even over yet...). Instead of reaching the Saratoga Gap turnaround in 1:30, I got there after 1:54. I had left a can of Pepsi when driving back in the morning and drank 1/3 of it. Someone would have done a good movie: because Steve was interested in the rest of the can, I was holding the can with my rain jacket and was trying to pour the coke without touching it with my mouth. It gat rather messy, spilling such a sugary liquid all over me, I'm glad I was outdoor! Don't try that at home... ;-)

I actually crossed path with Steve again, about 0.8 miles from the Gap (I had lost 6 minutes over there). We stopped, carefully trying to keep as much distance as possible on a single track, keeping #PhysicalDistancing on a trail is really challenging. Really, it feels like people think they are distancing with their social connections if they go out (and/or off Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, ...). And, then, outside it's like we aren't socially connected to strangers on the trail, so what the heck? Again, the concept of distancing is... physical, not about social connections in the modern sense of it.

I didn't see Steve again, but he was able to finish the whole distance. A feat as a septuagenarian, green hats off, please! As miles were passing, or rather time in the day, I was getting into more people. And more people. For the past 15 years I've never seen this except on weekends at Rancho of course, the last place I'd go to these days. Couples on fire roads were not much of an issue, with proper announcing, but families and groups weren't all respectful of the directives. When I got back to the car at mile 20, I considered calling it a day. If I had known what was ahead, that is the number of people on the trails from there, I would have.

Well, I would have missed Jeremy, so I'm glad I continued. I thought Jeremy was finishing the 50K but he had no idea what I was talking about. Oh, and if Jeremy appears too close on that selfie, well it's just an optical illusion, a matter of perspective, after all he is taller than... 6 feet. We kept our distance to catch up after not seeing each other since I dropped out of track workouts a year ago.

For the rest of the run to Rapley Ranch Road and back, not only was I tired physically, but my mind was fried by the lack of civic sense of many hikers. If it was a competition I'd give the following prizes:

1. First place to a family of 3 which I had to pass on a downhill single trail down to Alpine Pond. I announced myself once; not a move off the middle of the trail; a second time; not a single attempt to make room; so here I went, less than 1 foot on the side...
2. Another family, of 5 that time: I was going up Ancient Oaks Trail, another single track, without much extra breath to spare. They were going down with no intent to try going on the side so I went off the trail, below it, lowering my head and covering my mouth. There was this cute girl behind who said after passing behind me, in French (!): "look, Dad, this guys is going to die!" Really funny indeed.
3. To wrap-up the podium, a 8-year boy, his dad and grand-pa. I arrive at an intersection between a fire road and the last single track to the finish. I stop and show my intent to go on the single track which the little boy was blocking the entry of. The dad was already on the fire road so I mention the 6-ft distance requirement, once, then twice, hoping they would understand the situation. At that point, the boy excited to see me rushes toward me, dang!

I'm skipping crossing couples on fire roads, with them staying side by side and giving me a weird look as I was getting off the road in the grass. I know, this is a strange period, but didn't they get the memo? Sorry but not sorry, it's not me who was rude in that situation...

Insignificant anecdotes but, multiplied by 20 or more, not only that slows you down, but that's not the point, it just shows there are still many people not believing. I bet these two families are not living under the same roof for instance:

Or that group not only not keeping their distance but also blocking the entrance of the trail (the incognito picture doesn't do justice as it missed two other members in the group, but you can still see the baby)!

Did I mention that biking was not authorized. Well, I saw more mountain bikers than I saw runners this Saturday!

(*) Post update after a few comments on Facebook about my understanding that biking was banned. In paragraph 5 of the order, biking is not authorized. In 10.a.iii, biking is not included in the examples of activities excluded from the order restrictions (walking, hiking, running). Yet, that FAQ page, which provides great clarification, states that recreational biking is ok. So confusing... Starting with the fact that this FAQ page comes from the San Mateo County, not Santa Clara. Unfortunately, the equivalent page from Santa Clara isn't as good and doesn't mention biking... One thing I had not mentioned in my first version of this post is that, by any mean, it is not the time to get injured while exercising anywhere, but even less on remote trails. Not the right time to learn about safety on these remote trails. It's not that you would do it at your own risk, if you get injured and require hospitalization, you are doing it at the risk of others.

And so on and so on... Until the parks have to close as well. Then the beaches maybe? And the streets at the end... Some people have suggested fines to enforce distancing, surely there aren't enough Rangers out there to monitor hundreds of miles of trails!

Anyway, overall, a sluggish elapsed time of 5:55:26. In the spirit of the virtual race, I didn't stop my watch for my numerous stops (checking the course on the map, taking pictures, refilling my bottles, stopping at the car, handling or mitigating #SocialDistancing, chatting with Jeremy, adjusting my pack, taking my jacket off, retying my shoe lace, ...). In a race, I often skip aid stations or I stop for less than a minute to get water because every minute count, even in an ultra. This Saturday? My Garmin says I spent 33 minutes not moving at all, wow! That still leaves me with 5:21 of running, with too much walking. Comparing to Leor's 3:56 course record, or my 4:15, 4:17 and 4:32 wins, that looks embarrassing... Oh well, that was a virtual race with only three entrants...

At least it wasn't time wasted at the aid station to eat. I ran the 32 miles on 2 pouches of Vespa, 4 GU Energy gels, 1.5 bottles of GU Energy Brew and 5 S!Caps.

Also, I'm glad Steve shared his tip of using maps.me to track the progress versus a KML trace. That worked very well, and saved me the trouble of getting lost.

And the after the fact Relive fly over (click on the image or this link):

To conclude on a lighter note, since I wasn't in usual race rush and I took the time to stop here and there, here are a few pictures from this great 50K course with trails in perfect conditions.

Christmas Tree Farm (funny how, running through this section in the summer heat, my mind didn't print this reference to the winter Holidays... ;-) )

 Through the redwoods:

First return to Horseshoe Lake:

Poor guy, good luck to survive the new crowd on the trails, another likely collateral damage of #covid19...

 This time I stopped to enjoy the view, and learn about George Sheean:

 Stanford in the foreground and Mt Diablo in the distance:

 Ted Norton's rock:

 BART (Bay Area Ridge Trail) toward Rapley Ranch Road:

The gate at Rapley Ranch Road:

The view of the Pacific Ocean, from Ridge Trail, on Hawk Ridge Trail:

 I was glad there was nobody while I passed through this, back to Alpine Pond!

 Getting back to the finish, at Horseshoe Lake:

 Definitely a horseshoe shape!

Stevens Creek 50K/30K 2018. And an alternative.

[For the runners just looking for my pictures, here is the Google Photos album.]

"Did you run it again this year?"
Me -- "Nope"
"But you where there, no?"
Me: "Yes, but manning a water-only aid station"
"Ah, so you didn't run 50K then?"
Me: "Actually, I did!"

Thus can I summarize this confusing situation. After running and winning this race 3 times (4:15 in 2011, 4:32 in 2012, 4:17 in 2013), I've been helping out at the aid station hosted by my running club, Quicksilver. If you add that the club organizing this race is the one I initially joined in 2003 if I recall, that makes this event very special to me and, since I was in town, I didn't want to miss it. I might have to enter soon to take a stab at the M50-59 course record (the one I set at 4:15 was for M40-49) but, with all the racing I do, it's really cool to see the face of runners when they see me helping out on the sideline. A nice way to give back to a community and sport which gave so much to me these past 12 years!

Since I still wanted to squeeze in some training in, I decided to run up to Skyline from home, via the Stevens Creek Canyon Road, 13.5 miles with some gradual uphill in the second half. I had planned to leave the house by 6:30 but left 10 minutes later. Our aid station captain, Stuart, had asked me to be around 8:30 at the water-only aid station the Striders now ask us to setup at the confusing intersection of Charcoal Road (trails in 5 directions), about 1.3 miles from the Saratoga Gap main aid station. There was no such aid station when I ran this race but I remembered that I was reaching Saratoga Gap, around mile 9, at the bottom of the hour, so I thought the first runner might go through Charcoal 10 minutes before, therefore I should be there by then.

9.5 miles into my run up to Skyline, I reached Route 9 at 8:05, with 3 miles to go to the top. I really didn't want to be late so I decided to hitchhike, something I had never done before in my life! The minutes passed, and so were the cars too, without stopping, I had to wait for 5 good minutes for someone to stop and, of course, it was a runner, Michael Florence, from the Striders, who hadn't even recognized me but was going to stop anyway to help a runner looking in distress.

We passed Saratoga Gap at 8:15, said Hi to Stuart, whom I found really relaxed with no aid station ready yet (more on my timing mistake below), then Michael dropped me at the Charcoal intersection so I was all set at 8:20, as planned, phew!

Well, 8:30 and still nobody coming though... 8:40... 8:50... 9:00, not a single soul. I started thinking that maybe they had delayed the start, or that my watch was off an hour, when I saw Marty, from our club, coming in at last, at 9:08. I wasn't expecting him in the lead and he immediately said that he had gotten an early start at 7 am. That's when I realized that the aid station was between 9 and 10 miles and that the lead runner would then get though around 9:20, not 8:20! Duh, I could have taken it easier and completed my run earlier in the morning instead of stressing it out...

Right on target, another teammate, Gaspar Mora, who won in 2016 then placed 2nd last year in the 50K in 4:22, came in at 9:18.

Finally, some work to do on my end, between indicating the right trail and proposing some water to those in need before the main aid station, then indicating the mileage to that next aid station. Actually, I had something else to do as one runner dropped at the station so I had to find a volunteer and a car to get him back to the start area. Thankfully, and to my great surprise based on previous years' experiences, I had great cell coverage and was able to find Stuart's cell phone number in an old spreadsheet in Google Drive. That runner had had a bad fall on the left side and, with a bleeding and swollen knee, he preferred to quit as quickly as possible. Thanks to that new cell coverage in this area, that worked out very well.

Like last year, I was unimpressed with this participant running without a bottle, or a reusable cup for that matter. While getting your shirt dirty is kind of a badge of honor in trail running as it usually goes with a fall, getting yours dirty for laying down in the dust, not so much in my opinion...

Let's move on...

Although both races, 50 and 30K, started at the same time, the combined field was rather small, I'd say between 50 and 60 max. Many familiar faces with one I'm going to attribute the Oscar for the Most Emotional return on the trail today. The competition for this award was tough and deep (think Chris Garcia after his terrible bike accident which broke his back, Jim battling the years, Chau Pham, Peter, Peggy, Randy, Loren, or many I can't name because I don't know their personal challenges behind their commitment to trail running).

The special recipient? Charles Stevens who was himself so happy yet surprised to be back to trail running. Charles was President of the Stevens Creek Striders when I joined. He is the one who taught me so much about ultra running, starting with the fact that there were some crazy runners covering 50K or 100 miles in one go! ;-) He is the one who taught me not to waste time at aid stations, that every minute counts. He is the one who told me that Way Too Cool wasn't hilly (to this day, and after running 10 consecutive ones from 2006 to 2015, I still consider that a friendly lie! ;-). He is the one that gave me the 2008 Western States entry he had won in our Club lottery, when he estimated he wasn't in his best shape and I could make a better use of it. By the way, he finished Western States 6 times! Then, in 2012-2013, he disappeared from the ultra scene because of serious issues with his pelvis. It was so moving to see him back, and smiling despite the fatigue, half way in his 30K today. Welcome back, Charles, what an inspirational story of will and resilience!

Speaking of Stevens, are you wondering if the race was named after Charles (and same for the nearby creek, and the canyon, and the reservoir)? Of course not, the creek has had this name for more than 150 years, and it's actually a funny coincidence that Stevens comes from a typo, just read this:

As for the creek, which the race is named after, it is still flowing at the end of September, but really not much, as you can see in this video:

At least, there still is this soothing sound, so relaxing when running up and down Stevens Canyon Road, in addition to the shade. What a great place we live in!

With this tiny flow, no wonder why the Stevens Creek reservoir is so low. When you think of the surplus of water they have on the East Coast, we are going to have to build serious pipelines through the Rockies to balance the situation at some point...

Back to the race and the runners, I think I captured everybody although I'm quite disappointed with the quality of the pictures overall. Besides, I heard there was a professional photographer elsewhere on the course, so you probably got a much better shot of you already! Anyway, here is the album (link).

After the last runner, Christina, passed through my mini aid station for the second time, just after noon, Stuart released me so I could run back home. As I was leaving, Mandie was sweeping the course, collecting all the little colored flags used for course marking (instead of the traditional ribbons).

Earlier, Anil had done the same on the first 9 miles of the course.

I decided to go down to Table Mountain and Stevens Creek Canyon. After a 2.5-mile long descent to to Table Mountain, it got very sunny and exposed so I decided to put my sun glasses on. Oops, there were not over my cap and I realized I had forgotten them at the aid station when changing top. It was 1 pm and, after a 5:30 am wake-up call and just a few of my own GU Blocks mid morning, I was quite tired but decided to run back up to Skyline to get my glasses. By the way, the detour wasn't a complete waste because I had found 2 remaining yellow flags at the Table Mountain trail intersection (Hugo, I took them back home, like last year).

From the top, this time I went on Skyline Boulevard then retraced the morning route back, adding my local 5K loop in Cupertino to make the run 31.5 miles. Much more cumulated elevation that I need for my October race, and a tough run overall with 4 hours standing at the aid station in between, then the heat. But, at least, that makes my 4th 50K run in 4 weeks since my 90K at TDS. And a 2nd 100-mile week, back to back.

I hope the elegant Christina didn't feel too much pressure from the course sweepers and was able to complete her 30K.

Same for all the other runners, except the injured one we gave a ride to.

Thank you to the Striders, and Race Director Hugo de Groot in particular, for perpetuating a tradition set by Steve Patt several decades ago. And very glad that our Club returns the huge service you provide to our Club by manning the busy Bull Run aid station at our 100K and 50K Quicksilver races in May!

Speaking of which, many big and sincere thanks to our own Stuart for directing these races, plus the September trail ones, and captaining this aid station, and cooking for all of us at the annual picnic, and sitting on our Club Board, and, and, ... You rock, Stuart, have a great run at Rio del Lago in November!

4 hours to serve about fifty runners going through twice, there has been a lot of idle time, some of which I used to script a couple of upcoming blog posts, stay tuned! ;-)

And see you maybe on the other side (of the sideline!) next year, who knows. In the meantime, Run Happy out there!

Stevens Creek 50K 2017: on the other side of the lens again!

I used to love to do the Stevens Creek double this last weekend of September but I had to let go over the past years, the main reason being that I love speed and, for some reasons, I can't run a 10K at my best after racing a 50K hard the previous day; isn't it hard to age...? ;-)

After running (and winning!) the event 3 consecutive times in 2011, 2012 and 2013, it's good to give back and volunteer. As a matter of fact, since I switched from the Stevens Creek Striders to the Quicksilver Club, helping here is a no brainer since our club man the Saratoga Gap aid station, barely returning the favor which the Striders do to our club by manning an aid station at our Quicksilver 50K and 100K races in May. Why do I say barely? Because our shift is half of the Striders' one on race day, 5 hours versus 10 or more hours.

I actually volunteered earlier in 2008 when the race was still directed by its founder, Steve Patt, who transitioned the management to the Striders a few years ago, allowing him to run his own creation now! Aid station at Rapley Ranch, then sweeping the last 7 miles. Here is Steve Patt, Emeritus RD:

While I joined my club mates in 2015, I skipped last year (volunteering and running Trailblazer) because I was trying to heal a sesamoiditis after running the 24-hour US Nationals earlier that month (and resting for 7 weeks ending up being the successful cure!).

Long story short, we had a great team of volunteers to help our sister club and the 60 or so participants in the 30 and 50K this Saturday.

And we did need these extra hands as the Striders asked us to man an additional water-only station, 1.7 miles from the Saratoga Gap main aid station, a mini station through which the runners will run twice at mile 9 and 12.4.

Knowing that they had also added two other water-only aid stations, the first one at mile 5, Grizzly Flat (it's great to remember that we had bears in these hills a few decades ago), and mile 16.5 (Portola), I wasn't expecting runners to even blink and stop by our table but, on the contrary, most of them did refill bottles, at least on their first passage.

That kept Malinda and I busy for 3 hours, although my main job ended up to take pictures of the runners and give them indications of the direction and mileage ahead, as the second purpose of this water stop was to orient participants through this convoluted and confusing 5-way trail intersection.

The way in (yellow flags):

The second way out (pink flags):

I'm sorry I just had an old point and touch camera with me as the result is pretty poor given the tricky lightning. But, for the sake of showing I did shoot like a cowboy (we had a Western theme), here is the raw result, got almost everybody (except maybe the top 2 runners who caught us by surprise, flying through the aid station really fast). See this Picassa album, and please refer your friends to this blog post! (Click on the collage below to go to the album.)

Was great to see many familiar faces enjoying this low key even but challenging course. By the way, the weather was ideal for amazing performances, very clear sky and views, cool temperature, even on the chilly side for us immobile on the side line. Looking forward to seeing the results tonight or tomorrow!

I'll leave it to the runners to thank the organizers of this event, let me thank our volunteers, starting with Stuart who organized our crew before running the race himself, David who hauled the aid station gear from and back to the race headquarters, Emilee, Amy and Jeremy, the three of them bringing extra young hands to handle the task, Yoshihiro, and Malinda again who stayed with me at our satellite station. Way to represent Quicksilver, team!

Tomorrow is only a 10K race (I hear you saying "phew, what's that?") but it comes with it's own type of apprehension for me, for instance how many sub 6-min miles I'll be able to run. I'd better keep in mind that this isn't even fast when the lead runners will clock all their miles under 5 minutes at the Berlin Marathon tomorrow morning! Yes, doesn't need to understand the whole E=mc^2 equation to appreciate that speed is all relative... ;-) (And, also, that mass, speed and energy are definitely related.)

More running news tomorrow then, still in the Stevens Creek theme since the Trailblazer 10K is organized by the Friends of the Stevens Creek Trail, at the other end of the Stevens Creek Trail, lower on the Bay side (in Mountain View).