My legs still felt a bit tired but that wasn't a good excuse as I wasn't the only one at the start line who had run Boston on Monday: Jason Reed, David Tran, Karl Schnaitter and Simone Winkler, Chris Jones, and maybe others. Well, I might have been the only one running 80K just 2 days before Boston though...
After the first flat mile to cross Calistoga, we reached the 5-mile uphill on which we'll gain 2,000 feet. I tied up with the lead 50K runner and was impressed by his pace. We got ahead of Karl, I was now in 5th place in the half. We were clocking 9:30 to 10-minute miles, not only because of the slope, but all the rocks on the trail. It wasn't a fire road indeed, or rather one requiring quite a solid 4-wheel drive, and a small one because there were a few narrow sections. By the way, Adam had promised gorgeous views of the Napa Valley but we couldn't see a thing as we were running through a cloud.
By mile 4 we closed on David, yet I couldn't get much faster and was thinking of keeping some energy for the downhill. Karl closed on us as well and passed me. Then, before mile 6, we hit the first bump in the trail, a super steep climb which reminded me the Hawk's Nest section on the Ohlone Trail. Then a big tree to go over, then slippery rocks, that became way too technical for me to run. Here is the thing: since I broke my shoulder falling on the Tahoe Rim Trail in 2012, I refuse to take more risks and trip. That made for some miserable counter performance at UTMB the past 2 years and resetting a few personal goals with regard to ultra trail. Now, I could tell that Adam wasn't joking at all in his briefing!
I was slowly and carefully hiking that section then when I heard a runner approaching behind. As I went on the right of the single track to let him pass, I hit a branch and lost my sun glasses. I stopped and saw a bib displaying that number 11 I couldn't find at the start! Dang, Alan had caught up with me as I was barely moving and he was moving with such ease in this technical section, there was no way I was going to keep up with him in that section! Besides, I had some other business to take care of first, finding my glasses... I retraced back the trail, nothing. After a minute or so, I saw them way below the trail and carefully went down to grab them. And then went on with more scary moments, sliding on rocks or the trail itself. To my surprise, I crossed Erik first, with Chikara not far behind. I don't recall exactly in which order the next three Excelsiors were (Jason, Karl, David) but I remember Alan was already on their heels. And still no sign of the aid station at our turn around. It took me a few minutes to finally hear the volunteers' cheering and remember a very alpine landscape there, although I didn't stop and was so focused on my footing. Now that my age group win was out of reach, my main goal was not to trip and fall.
On the way back we were crossing all the other runners. Like at Miwok, most of them went out of their way to let us pass, I'm so grateful for it. I actually lost my breath thanking them and return their messages of encouragement with my own, including many "good luck" ones... Among the runners I had crossed, Jerry then J.R. weren't too far behind, I had better keep moving to save my second place in our competitive age group!
After I got out of this treacherous section, I felt better. My ego was bruised but there wasn't much to do about it. Actually, there was one thing: enjoy trail running and the stunning view of that mythical valley as the cloud had dissipated: as gorgeous as advertised by Adam in his pre-race emails. I kept pushing the pace but I was paying so much attention to my footing, I had issues getting faster than 7:30-7 min/mile. In the last 3 miles of the trail, before the last mile on the road, there were also hikers to pay attention to (sorry for the lack of eye contact, that's key for me to avoid tripping).
I couldn't spot anyone ahead, not beyond, and was glad to glance at my GPS and catch a 6:30 min/mile pace finally! A few course monitors were guiding us through the crossing and turns of the last mile in Calistoga, and I finally reached the finish line in 2:09:39. Wow, so far from the 1:30 I had given to Agnès without knowing it was going to be a technical trail. Adam was busy so my arrival wasn't announced in the mic and Agnès missed my finish, focused on grading her students' tests.
On the women side, great news, the famous blazing fast Impalas joined us this time, jazzing up the team competition. As a matter of fact, it was also nice to see Elizabeth Gress from Pamakids, taking 3rd place on the podium, behind Angela Tieri and Lauren Creath, while 2 more Impalas completed the top 7 (Simon Winkler in 6th, and Kristine Barrios and Jeanine Holmlund from Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders in 8th and 10th, respectively).
And Happy Easter to all!
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