ITR's Woodside (non) Crossover Half: back to Huddart Park at last!

January 15 was our rendez-vous at Huddart Park in Woodside, for the Coastal Trail Runs (CTR)'s Crystal Spring trail half marathon. It was the first race of our USATF Pacific Association MUT Grand Prix in 2023, although we had opened the season with Quad Dipsea at the end of November. Well, this winter has been challenging, weather wis,e and the atmospheric rivers which drenched California led to the cancellation of the event. Nothing on CTR: executing the New Year One Day event in the middle of record rain falls on December 31, Wendell and Leng proved that they could hold an event against any element. Except if Park Rangers have to withdraw their permit for security reasons.

We reworked the schedule and decided to switch that half marathon to April 15, albeit on the other side of the Bay, at Lake Chabot, still with CTR. Guess what: with all this rain, a blessing on the fight against the persisting drought, Lake Chabot is now full and nearby trails are still either under water or too damaged to be used. Dang, another permit withdrawn, less than 3 weeks before the event! Ultra and trail running requires so much planning, I didn't want to lose the date. Shiran and I quickly identified a few options and I reached out to Inside Trails to see if we could use Woodside Purisima Crossover as a replacement. While Craig, the RD, was very welcoming, he had to obtain new approvals himself from the Park Rangers as trails through Purisima were too damaged as well. Meanwhile, I activated a fast-tracked approval from the team captains for this alternative, on the basis it was the same date and still in/around the Bay Area (after the 3 races we had so far in the Sacramento/Auburn area).

Long story short, we got the go ahead from the LDR (Long Distance Running) Committee to switch events in our calendar, phew! Special kudos to Craig for obtaining the required USATF sanction in record time! And grateful to the team captains for their support and responsiveness to make this switch happen.

A few years ago we added sub ultra races to reach out to new participants, hence the importance of maintaining this event on our calendar. So glad that a few clubs were able to bump their participation. Most notably a record participation from the Impalas, the super competitive all-female local club swiping most division wins in Road and Cross-country otherwise. Kudos to Bethy, their MUT Captain, for such a successful show.

Christine did well too with a great turn out from her Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders. As Shiran teased her: "Who would have known LLMS had men too?!" ;-)

We are so used to Pamakids' omnipresence, it felt more natural to see so many green shirts: with Shiran at the helm, after three outstanding years with Pen as a captain, their club is going to keep striving in MUT. And Pen can now focus on her passion for photography.

On the Quicksilver front, the color is still blue, but the club could benefit from a feminine representation, as well as newer blood. 

Actually, speaking of PA clubs, strong appearance from the Stevens Creek Striders albeit on the 35K, oops!

And speaking of these Striders, my original running club back in 2003, and friends, this pilgrimage to Huddart Park reminded me of the monthly training runs we had there in the years 2007-2012, during which I learned so much about ultra and trail running from folks like Charles Stevens, Mike Topper, Chris Garcia, Erik Klein, Gary Gellin, Brian Robinson, Sophia Lewis, Craig Heinselman. And Whit Rambach with whom I ran my first Western States in 2007 when it was his 7th consecutive, and who was visiting today from Tahoe, running the 35K. I chuckled finding this memory in a 2015 post: so many great memories, and such a fantastic bedrock for my 15 years in the sport!

From there [running with the Striders], when the 6-mile run was becoming too short, Charles invited me to join another Saturday morning ultra trail training running group on the Peninsula. I was so intimidated by this group of super experienced ultra runners who were going for 20 miles every weekend! But I gave it a try and the pace happened to be just what I needed to teach me not to start too fast at a time I was still mostly interested in speed on the marathon distance and shorter races. Brian Robinson (the first man to get a super crown for having hiked the three cross-USA trails in one year, and also a finisher and course record setter at the Barkley marathon), his wife Sophia Lewis (Top 7 at Western States in 2003), Mike Topper (5 consecutive Western States finishes including 4 in the top 10!), Pierre Tardif (2 WS finishes, both in the top 10), Craig Heinselman, Chris Garcia, Eric Klein, ... I learned so much about ultra running from you guys! Before he moved up to Marin County, speesdster Gary Gellin was even part of this group these past years.

With this long preamble, let's get to the race! I came to the start with quite mixed feelings, having injured my left calf two weeks ago, during my first speed training session in several years, dang! I took another week off, doing only strength training, mostly focusing on hamstring, quads and glutes (leg press and curl), and abs and dorsal. Plus a few hours of gentle electro stimulation of the side of my calf. I was bummed to feel the painful spot again during warm-up and I decided not to start at the front to see who was going to be ahead in our M50 age group in particular. I had not seen Andy (Belk, from Excelsior) for years and, at 58, he has a higher UltraSignup score, I knew I would have to push to win my age group today.

Excelsior had a great line-up of younger and fast runners: David Tran, Kevin Moore and Victor Skorapa. In perfect team spirit, Andy started with them in a blazing fast start! At least I could see the bright yellow singlets shining in the woods in the distance. On our side, I had informed Stuart and Gaspar about my calf issue, not that they needed my permission to start strong in pole positions!

Less than a mile from the start, in the first uphill, I managed to close on Andy and decided to stay behind for a mile. Meanwhile, I passed a Pamakids runner with red shorts, whom I didn't know and who had enough grey hair to look dangerous! ;-) To make the matter worse, he accelerated and passed me back, that's fair competition! Eduardo was another Pamakids, close behind, and I had forgotten his age. I've known him for so long, he could have finally turned 50 too, I forgot to check!

By about mile 3, with another of steep uphill to go, I did pass Andy and started chasing the guy with red shorts. I got to the top on his heels but, zip, I couldn't keep up with him on the way down, wow! While I lost a lot of agility and speed in technical downhill, that was a nice fire road and, with some good road experience, I'm supposed to also fly down. We still had more than 9 miles to go, I could feel the pain building up in my calf, some good warming in my quads, all this sent me signals that I shouldn't hit the red zone yet. 2 speedy miles later I closed on the two gazelles (the nickname I use for the Impala speedster, with genuine respects) who I had passed me on the way up, when I crossed Kevin followed by his Excelsior teammates, Stuart and a few others. That didn't make sense as we had not hit the aid station yet, much less ran the extra loop at the bottom of the course, but they explained to me that they had missed a turn. I turned back and followed them for a few yards, before telling them they were wrong and that we should keep going down. While they were still making their minds, I took the lead and they followed, thankfully!

We passed the course monitor at the bridge and I thanked her for being there, such a strategic spot on such a convoluted section of the course, then we saw the other course monitor who told us to go straight to the aid station. Carrying two bottles, I didn't spot and retook the lead through that technical loop, maintaining quite some speed. At the end of that loop, in some switchbacks, I heard Stuart teasing the others: I thought he was noticing how odd it was for me to lead in that section, with an injured calf, but he clarified later that he thought this confusion would make for some good lines in my post... ;-)

The lead... We had lost track of the first 4 or 5, a group including David Tran and Gaspar, but that made sense with that loop format after the aid station. In the long climb, Kevin and Victor took the lead of our group again. We managed to close on the guy with the red shorts and, when I passed him, I asked: "would you be in your 50s by any chance?" He replied positively, and I asked his name but he didn't reply, either because he didn't hear --I had such a soft voice, most especially when running-- or he was out of breath. I pushed the pace because he was so fast in the downhill on the first loop, I figured I had to build a solid lead before we get to the top. I was really pushing and, yet, Stuart managed to pass me. We reached the ridge together and, again, I had hard time keeping up although, this time, I was ok to give it almost all. To the point that one of my heel was burning, with a blister starting to form. Calf and quads were burning, but I was all in chasing the age group win.

Trying to keep visual contact with Stuart got me to move fast, so much that we caught and passed Kevin. Stuart put a few hundreds yards on me and actually sprinted Victor out! Because chip time took precedence, which isn't unusual, Stuart was ranked after Victor despite having crossed the finish line ahead AND having a lower gun/clock time in RunSignup. (Same situation for #31 and 32, then 43, 42, 41.)

Now, let's talk about the final rankings: Victor took 2nd, Stuart took 3rd and I was 4th overall, and 3rd men. First place was Annie Marrgraff, with the Impala of course. But, wait, what had happened to the folks ahead at the end of lap 1? Well, it happened they were sent, by the course monitor, back straight up at the bridge, therefore missing not only the aid station but the lower Crystal Springs Trail loop. Ouch, oops, yikes, dang! In ultra and trail running, we are often reminded that we are supposed to know the course, and not having to ask and get directions from volunteers but, still, I have to admit that, while I had replayed a dozen times the course directions the night before, it was great to just follow the instructions of the course monitors through this intricate web of trail intersections and turns. With that, David and a couple of others, including the actual lead female, had turned back and got disqualified. But it took a couple of miles for Gaspar to decide to turn back and retrace the official course from the bridge. Despite this big detour, Gaspar finished mere 5 minutes behind us, officially in 10th place. What a performance, both physically and mentally! As he shared on Sunday night, at least he had a blast having his two daughters crossing the finish line with him. As you can see at the end of this Relive.cc flyover (click on the image below, or this link).

There was a lot of chatting about that very special situation at the finish, we'll see if I get protests, as a MUT Chair. Everything else was so great otherwise: the bright sun which cleared the early fog and clouds, the dry trail, the abundant and colorful marking, and directions at intersections, the course monitors, the volunteers who spent hours serving us with 4 distances/events which kept them busy for hours in the morning and through the afternoon, the variety of food and drinks at the finish, the great finisher medals and shirts, and age group awards, the prompt publishing of results both on site and online. And free professional pictures to come soon. Such a great package! If only we had not rushed and pushed so hard on the half to lose some trail orientation...

Speaking of pushing, I can't believe how sore I am this Sunday, after only running 13 miles (well, closer to 14 actually). A testament of the cumulated elevation (~3,000-3,300 feet) and the competitive field. None of us managed to break 2 hours this time, although David and Gaspar --and a couple more-- would have had if not sent by mistake on a wrong turn. Challenging course!

And I was glad on Saturday night upon uploading my Garmin GPS trace to see that I had run the original and expected course, yeah!

Official course:

Garmin Connect:

Strava (you have to love the scale of the elevation profile, making it quite dramatic!):

Simple nutrition/hydration for this race: one pouch of Vespa, pre-race, 1 GU Energy gel before the second climb, 1 S!Cap, one hour in, half a bottle of GU Energy Brew.

I stayed for 3.5 hours to see others finish and chat with many.

In our age group, Eduardo took second, 2'40" behind me, followed by David Moulton (you see the red shorts), 1'45" behind, that was close!

With Andy and Gaspar:

With David Salladay, who, like me, is dreaming of running Ohlone 50K again:

Steve won his M70 age group, well done!

Keith and Stuart sporting the same Quicksilver ultra races memorabilia from 2012:

Happy to finally have this trail race of our 2023 schedule done. Hopefully not too much push back on the results and scoring. Several captains were also hoping it wouldn't turn into a big and sour deal. This week will tell... Craig handling the claim desk, among so many hats on race day!

At least this provided some good hill training to all and, for some, good warm-up and test before Quicksilver 100K (a Grand Prix race) and 50K (not in the Grand Prix). Hosted by the (my) other club in blue, Quicksilver. See many of you again, there! Us now being done with the acts of god/mother nature...

PS: when folding my bib I had noticed the paper was quite sturdy. But I didn't think it would almost cut my shorts! ;-) (Dang, I loved these Brooks racing shorts assorted to our Quicksilver uniform...)

Is orienteering a sport?

You bet, it even has World Championships and an official site for the US, which states:

Orienteering is the sport of navigation, using a highly detailed map. Whether you’re an experienced hiker, competitive runner, or just a family or group out for an activity in a park, this sport helps you improve your navigation each time.

Wikipedia even goes further, calling it a group of sports:

Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points.

Per my previous post, that's the second race Jason (Reed) was going to after racing the Big Bunny Fun Run in Cupertino. Although I had told him I wasn't racing because of the calf injury, he insisted I give it a try to that other format, even if only to walk the 5K option with his wife, Erika, and... their baby due in... 3 days! That's typical of the Reeds, always on the move and involved in competitive sports, from running to body building or table tennis! Not to forget trivia and Jeopardy, if they were sports too.

While I was really not in the racing mood, the topic got my curiosity and I decided to run to the start of the event in Sunnyvale, about 4.5 miles from home (I would end up running a slow half marathon on a strained calf that Saturday...). I got there a few minutes before Jason and Erika. They showed me the mystery map they were handed a few minutes before the start, to study and decide which route they were going to create to go through all the required checkpoints, 26 for the 10K.

At each checkpoint you have a question which requires you to be at the precise spot to get the visual clue, something unique proving that you were indeed at that point on the map. Something which you can't find an answer to on the Internet!

Coming from a company selling mathematical optimization software, that looked like a great instance of the famous TSP (Travelling Salesman Problem)! Quite a combinatorial problem and, as Jason had warned me, leading to participants taking off in multiple directions right off the bat. Quite different from a classic race where we all follow the same route.

I apologize for not staying until the finish because of other family plans. While I ran back home, I saw a few participants running or walking in different directions indeed; so surprising!

By the way, I'm afraid to ask how such an event can take place in a city, what the event insurance entails, especially as participants might be tempted to cut corners and jay walk... At least the pricing of the event is super reasonable and affordable.

Anyway, it was interesting to see and get to know more although I can't say I experienced love at first sight. As I tease those asking if we can walk while running an ultra, it's really the running and speed I like in... running. That being said, this certainly looks like a much more engaging way to walk and hike. I also have to admit that the finding-your-way thing isn't appealing to me, which I'll keep as an excuse for not being interested in the grueling Barkley Marathons. Give me a good and well-marked course, please!

And a good briefing that you'd better be attentive to!

In any event, kudos to Rex for organizing such an active series with orienteering events every month!

Kudos to Jason for winning the 10K race (of course...!), in 55 minutes. Assuming he optimized the route to cover the 26 checkpoints with a 10K route, didn't stop at intersections, ran the 10K at 6:30 min/mile, that's less than 30 seconds by checkpoint to catch the clue and write it down.

And mega kudos to Erika for winning the 5K event as well (women division), while 9-month pregnant! What a way to stay healthy before the big day! See all the results.

Also noting that it was refreshing to visit the RoadRunners store. That was the first brand I bought my running apparel from. And they do have such a broad selection, although I spent more time checking on the Brooks section for some unknown reasons... ;-) Can't believe they are even able to price my favorite Brooks Launch 9 at $80.95, that's bold! And $69.95 on line, this is a STEAL! (PS: they are actually passing through Books' current sales.) But even better to visit the store on McKinley, they'll check your stride and gait as well.

Now you know, a new sport awaits, run the world with a map and Find-Your-Way, Go Wild! Thank you for the invitation, Jason, and all the best, Erika!

Cupertino's Big Bunny Fun Run 5K: in and out

I was really excited by the prospect of running this local race again, literally one block from my house, can't get any closer! I've had a good run at that event, even winning it at least once: 16:54 in 2002, 16:50 in 2004, 16:06 in 2005, 16:33 in 2006, 16:09 in 2007, 15:54 in 2008, 16:39 in 2010 and 16:20 in 2013. That's like 16:24 +/- 30", quite consistent. To be fair, the course is on the short side, that helps getting great time. But at least the course hasn't changed so that makes for a good local benchmark.

It happens on Easter Saturday so the date varies significantly over the years. Sometimes it conflicted with the Boston Marathon, others, with American River 50-mile, or international business trips or family plans. This year, I could make it, cool! Because my focus is mostly ultra running nowadays, I decided to go to the track on Monday evening for some speed work and faster pace testing. I had run the hilly Redwoods 50K on Saturday and 15 recovery kilometers on Sunday. At the Cupertino High School track, I saw the boy's Coach and chatted about his involvement to salvage the Track & Field program, at least on the running side. It was chilly at the end of the day (6 pm), so I went on to do a few 400s. I felt reassured that I could still break 1:30 for each lap and decided to keep going until I couldn't. There was some strong breeze coming from the North which was making the last turn feel like running uphill. Good training.

After 6 laps, I was able to hit 1:25 for the remaining of the laps. Hamstrings were getting tighter though so I stopped after 12 laps. I was going to jog two more laps before running back home (another mile) but had to slog the last lap as a sharp pain fired in my left calf. Dang, I came back home walking...

I took the rest of the week off but did some solid strength training on Thursday: leg press, leg curls and abs. So much that I was quite sore on Friday, and still Saturday morning, to the point couldn't assess precisely the calf injury. I was so tempted to sign up on Saturday morning but that wasn't reasonable, too much risk for limited rewards. And the entry fee made the decision even easier ($56 for 3 miles, that's one of the most expensive races around!). The last thing I needed was to push too hard to keep up with the leaders and worsen the injury.

But I still went to the start as a running buddy, Jason, was coming to town. Not just to run that 5K but as a prelude to a 10K orienteering race in Sunnyvale 3 hours later.

Also from Excelsior, Jon Kimura, 42, took second place while Jason finished 4th.

Andres Chau, 26, from Fremont won in 15:57.

Jason confirmed he felt the course was on the short side.

Here with the Cupertino Mayor, as excited as a bunny this Saturday, pumping her bunny ears up and down! ;-) 

Impressive was to see the smaller kids finishing strong. Two 12 year-old finished in 20:57 and 21:03, immediately followed by a 9 year-old in a blazing 21:06, wow! All results accessible on SVE Timing's website.

Our friend and neighbor Fari, volunteering once more, attentive to any medical need with this crowd including many first-time runners.

Overall, I ran 2.5 miles around and across the course to take pictures at 4 spots, barely making it on time back to the to City Hall to see the first runners cross the line. Calf felt almost ok although it was definitely the best decision not to get tempted to push the pace, racing. After that I did ran to Sunnyvale as well, and back, logging a half marathon. I'd better take another week off to keep the calf healing completely before Woodside/Purisima Crossover Half next week, and the rest of the Spring season. Big Bunny 5K will have to wait another year then...

CTR's Redwood 50K: perfect training playground!

April Fools' Day... Like Russia taking over the leadership of the UN Security Council for the month, really not funny since that's true, albeit unbelievable given the war situation and Ukraine invasion! What about: I wasn't registered to a race this weekend, but I raced anyway? Granted, too plausible and believable, that won't fool you.

Indeed, after Thursday's bad news that trails around Lake Chabot are still under water --not another April Fools' Day joke-- imposing a cancellation of our 4/13 PAUSATF MUT Grand Prix race, Coastal Trail Runs' owners, Wendell and Leng, were generous to offer a report of our entry to another of their events. Since I was looking for another challenging training run after last week's solo 50K on Black Mountain, I decided to drive to Oakland --with brand new tires!-- to see if I could still enter CTR's Redwood (Spring) 50K. It took Leng less than 2 minutes to process my race transfer and get my bib with a few efficient clicks! 7 am and I was in, for real, no joke!

As I mentioned at my last CTR trail race, this is such a community of its own, I barely know anyone until the event is also a Pacific Association race. With that, it was cool to see Christine Chapon and her hyper-engaged group of Running for a Better Oakland kids and parents (about 150 in all!), and Shiran Kochavi, another omnipresent racer in our local community, who just took over the captainship of the Pamakids MUT Team. (Photo credit: Shiran's son.)

With the joint start, half, 30K, marathon and 50K, not to mention the initial downhill of 5 miles, initial pacing was quite a challenge, as well as figuring out who was running what. I didn't push too hard at the beginning, there were probably 20 or 30 runners ahead already. A fast one passed me about 2 minutes in the race and I could see from his bib color that he was on the 50K, wow, that was going to be a fast edition!

In the technical and sometime muddy downhill, I settled behind a group of 3 runners who maintained a reasonable pace. They seemed like 3 friends running together and navigating the mud puddles rather well. I had checked the map the night before but couldn't visualize the course so I was happy to just follow. Very early on, I actually stopped when I saw a trail well marked with blue ribbons, while we had started on the pink loop. A few runners passed by while I was asking if we should take that trail, finally one shouted "Blue is bad!" Having missed Wendell's pre-race briefing, that's all I needed to know, thank you!

I passed the group of 3 and a couple of other runners as we hit the asphalt section between the initial downhill and the uphill to return to Sklyline, and kept hammering it down in the next 5 miles. With that effort, I was quite bummed to complete the first half marathon loop in close to 2 hours. With a course record of 3:47 I wasn't expecting to break 4 hours on that hilly and technical trail but, still, that was much slower than I was hoping for. With that, I didn't stop at the aid station and rushed back down the pink loop again, this time, running all alone, except for 2 runners I saw and passed in that 5-mile downhill section.

I also made a stop at the humid Fish Ladder aid station to refill my GU2O/Gu Energy Brew bottle. I had the pleasure to chat with another great volunteer there, Lynnard Phipps. Lynnard has just turned 80 and is looking forward to giving a try to breaking a few M80 records. I told him about the battle of the M80 giants we watched in Vegas at the 100-mile Nationals. Our local Bill Dodson used to be on his own in that age group 5-8 years ago, it's a crowded field now! Another proof if needed to explain to the French why it makes sense to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64...

Now, what I didn't particularly like in my chat with Lynnard was when he told me I was in third, about 20 minutes behind second place, and more than 30 minutes behind the leader. And we were only at mile 19, dang! On one hand, that kept me moving and pushing. On the other, that somehow trimmed my stamina and motivation. I know, a rather conflicting state.

A highlight of the way up to Skyline on East Ridge was to see Shae whom I met at Headlands Hundred last August when she covered 100 miles over 4 days while being pregnant (selfie in my race report), now hiking the half marathon with... Valerie in her arms! With a bunch of bags on her shoulders and back, I would call that ultra muling, and pushing ultra motherhood to the next level!

With her friend Jenna, they completed the loop in 5:29.

3 miles from the return to the start, that is around 23 miles, I got passed by the leader of the 50K, wow! That was a lead of almost 7 miles... I ran through the Skyline Gate aid station again without stopping and, a few hundreds yards later, crossed the second place in the 50K who was on his final 5-mile loop. That was another 3 to 4 mile-gap. One can say we were rather spread out.

To my surprise, Lynnard was now manning the aid station at the turn around at the marathon mark: omnipresent volunteer and a long shift of more than 4 hours!

I was still carrying enough fluid, I quickly got down that extra 5-mile loop. I cross a few other 50K runners then, at the exact same spot the winner had passed me, it was my turn to catch and lap Shiran. He lives down the hill so at least that wasn't too long of a drive for that one.

As I was chatting with Shiran, my phone rang: it was Agnès calling from Greece where she is chaperoning a group of students from her school. From my short breath, she quickly figured out I was still running. I called her back 30 minutes later from the finish. Shiran caught this cool slow-motion video:

I finished in 3rd overall in 4:40:11, an average 9 min/mile. I was rather disappointed by this time, this is certainly not an easy course. But still, 50 minutes behind the winner... Patrick Rabuzzi, 31, was 2 minutes behind the course record with a 7:20 min/mile average, phew! He is from Oakland, he must be quite familiar with these trails but that's still really fast. I suspect he must have average 6 min/mile in the technical downhills (I could barely break 8 minutes going down, yikes...). Second place was William Tholke, 22, who doesn't even have a result in UltraSignup yet. With a time of 4:22, that's a very promising start.

Apart from that, I chuckled when I realized the sum of their age was still below mine... And, yet, I'm still dreaming of getting back to more speed, more agility in the technical downhills, and even more importantly, more power in the uphills. At least this keeps me young at heart, and training harder!

I stayed for 2 hours at the finish, cheering the finishers, enjoying the sun and taking great pleasure of seeing the pure joy and excitement of those finishing their first trail race, or marathon or even ultra. With a Pacific Association community mostly composed of veterans of our sport, this was quire refreshing to see. I remain in awe of Wendell and Leng who offer such a large set of accessible and affordable opportunities for the CTR community to enjoy trail running, and gradually pick on longer distances.

Gorgeous day and location:

And everybody had their muddy marks at the finish, some real training running experience! (Great traction with the Brooks Mazama, an old model I got in 2017.)

Talking Pacific Association MUT things with Shiran:

No cramp, great fueling (GU Energy and Vespa Power, 4 Succeed S!Caps, only 3 GU gels), no soreness on Sunday (I ran a decent 15K as recovery run), I could and should have pushed more to maximize the training opportunity. But at least I didn't fall or hurt myself, which is super important too given my other goals for the year. To the next one then, one quarter done in 2023 already, and I've never logged so many miles in 3 months, averaging 80 miles per week so far. Some good volume to rebuild these glutes. And now some hilly terrain to work on the hamstrings and quads. One step and one race at a time...