Through this long history, the format of the event has evolved, reflecting the demand of the community with regard to the plethora of ultra races now available, locally, nationally and abroad. When I joined our Pacific Association USA Track & Field MUT (Mountain, Ultra, Trail) Grand Prix 19 years ago, Ruth Anderson was a must. It offered three ultra distances (50K, 50 miles, 100K) and you could pick the distance on the go. With scoring done for Men, Women and Mixed teams, our club, Quicksilver, went to score up to 9 teams! Long are these days gone, this time we had 6 men signed up but not even a team strategy to split 3 on each of the two distances now available (50K and 50 miles). Besides, one of the six didn't show up.
With that, and the fact that I had already won my age group this year, plus the stress at work and the fatigue after coming back from a 6-day conference in Orlando, I picked the 50K with three key goals.
- Use it as a test before potentially going to the 50-mile Nationals in November (Tunnel Hill).
- Use it as an additional benchmark of the progression of my rebuild after last year's injury (meniscus).
- Aim at lowering the M60 course record which Frank Bozanich had set 20 years ago at 3:55:57, an average of 7:36 min/mile pace.
I posted last night about my previous race, a 10K where I was disappointed not to break 40 minutes. And the conclusion that I'm still off top shape by 5 to 10%, I believe mostly because of weaker glutes and hamstrings. This longer race on a rolling course will be quite a key benchmark then.
I got to the parking lot at 5:50 am, there weren't too many runners yet. Well, there could have been many more registrants, it had been challenging to build interest in this crowded ultra racing market, despite such a quality event and a course which has seen several national records being set, a couple of international ones too, and even a world record on 50K in 2003 by CJ Albertson (which I heard will be shooting for another record at the Chicago Marathon tomorrow). Above us, a cloudless sky filled with stars and a half moon still shining.
I missed the pre-race briefing and ultra volunteer Stan Jensen had to tell me twice to get to the remote start line as I was still setting up my drop bag, passed 6:50 (with a start at 7). All good, I still had a few minutes to chat with others at the start line, and see half a dozen of carbon plate shoes among the runners at the front. I teased co-RD Anil, wondering what would Ruth think... At least it meant that this was going to be another fast edition! Here are a few pictures from Shiran, including me goofing around:
Sure enough, I quickly lost track of the first 5 runners, feeling hard enough to hold a 7:15 min/mile pace right off the bat (with age, and also after my first COVID in early 2020, I find that I now need at least one mile for the engine to fully come up to speed and roar). As I was trying to balance pushing and setting up a sustainable pace, Oliver Chan from the Excelsior team tagged along and I couldn't believe how loud his shoes were when ponding the asphalt. Must have been another pair of carbon plates. Thankfully, I was able to distance him just before the end of the first loop, so I could focus on my breathing and own rhythm.
Because of the ondulations of the course the first ten miles oscillated between 7:02 and 7:24 and I was able to keep the average pace under 7:15. Then I started getting too excited lapping the tail of the pack and clocked 6:52 on mile 11, oops!
I covered the first 3 loops in 1:37:30. I'm missing the days I was running loops in 30 minutes flat on the 50-mile but Agnès keeps reminding me to stop comparing to the past... The 4th loop felt slightly harder, yet I was such in great mood that I managed to cover it in 32:15 which would end up being the fastest of the 7 laps. I was still not ready to let go of that great pace, yet wondering when I was going to blow off.
At the end of that 4th lap, about mile 17.5, I made my first stop to drink a pouch of Vespa and grab my second GU2O/Brew bottle. I was drinking GU2O rather consistently, but didn't finish my other bottle of water over the 50K, which was on the low side of hydration.
Another action shot from Shiran:
I was still going strong on lap 5 and started wondering when the leaders will lap me. Lost 6 seconds over lap 4, with 32:21.
Lap 6 started strong, still but I felt a sharp pain under my feet, like my sock was sliding and folding. I first thought I was going to run through it until the finish but the pain was really annoying. I did a stop at the half-way aid station --which ended up not being a water station because someone stole the water jugs in the morning-- to untie my shoe, check the sock and super firmly retie the show. Time lost: 1 minute, a botched Formula 1 pit stop... Which led to the only mile above 8, at 8:07 (mile 25). Yet, it was worth it as I still had a 10K to run. But with these extra 60 seconds, I got passed and lapped by the 50K winner just before finishing my 6th lap. That lap was 33:12.
I started cramping a bit on mile 27 and eased a bit, running the final miles between 7:08 and 7:34. My average pace had increased to 7:14 min/mile although I've been credited 7:18 min/mile overall as my Coros GPS ended up with a distance of 31.33 miles.
Crossed the finish line in 3:46:35, happy to be done but needing some space and time to recover from the effort. Which I made even harder by only taking 2 GU Energy gels. As much as Vespa (and fat) does most of the fueling for me now --and I'm not sponsored anymore, this year-- that was on the very low and risky side of (under) strategic carbs. But I survived and was able to check all my goals this time. Improving the M60 course record by more than 9 minutes, and lowering my 50K time from the 3:51:19 at the Nationals in April and 4:04:17 at Jed Smith in February. Progress!
Shiran catching my 10-minute post-race personal retreat...
Anthony Fagundes, 35, won in 3:12:44. At 56, James Scanlan took 4th overall and 1st Masters in 3:35:44. Knowing James, he was probably after my M50 course record which I'll keep one more year at 3:25:19 (2017, I was 53). I ended up 6th overall and 3rd Masters, in a small field.
I got in time to see the first three women finishing within less than 10 minutes: Brook Bray (Impala, 49, 4:05), Zoe Ray (26, 4:12), and the tireless Verity Breen (Tamalpa, 58, 4:14).
All the results were made available online and live, thanks to Wendell's chip timing, plus the assistance of Stan and a few other volunteers.
Speaking of volunteers, quite a few behind the aid station table, serving drinks and fresh food. And I loved the fresh pizzas which co-RD Shiran brought us.
As for the third co-RD, Rajeev, among other race duties, he was busy handing out finisher medals, top finisher awards and age group plaques. And boosting an exciting vibe too!
I'm still mesmerized by the cool design of the t-shirt, thank you for that too, Shiran!
I stayed for 2.5 more hours, recovering first, and chatting with many; what a cool and knit community assembled in Ruth's memory, she must be delighted to see that! Oh, and I finally handed the 2024 Grand Prix M60 Age Group winner plaque to Charles, making him stop for 30 seconds on his way to another successful 60 miles. That was my new age group last year but I couldn't compete because of the torn meniscus.
I didn't mention the weather but you can see on the picture, the cloudy forecast we received from the race directors didn't materialize and the sky was blue all day! Better to get wrong in that direction! ;-) With that, it ended being a hot afternoon for the 50-milers especially.
Big tanks and kudos to Anil, Shiran and Rajeev for perpetuating this tradition, despite the diminishing enthusiasm and strong competition on the running circuit. Respect to the Pamakids for another impressive show with 19 runners! Was great to see other clubs also represented: Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders, Tamalpa, Excelsior, Impala and Quicksilver of course. Might miss a couple, we'll see in the scoring.
Here is Luciano at the finish (4:42). Steve completed the 50K too in 7:19. And Charles the 50-miler in 9:47.
Belated thanks to Ruth for gathering us in her memory; this is such a precious Bay Area ultra running tradition which I hope will live beyond its 40th anniversary! Long live Ruth's spirit then!
PS: all these running analytics in the Coros app... mind boggling!
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