Many don't realize the extra burden of running an event as a championship: some added complexity on the organizational side but mostly a financial hit. Indeed, the event has to offer prize money and that money doesn't come from USATF. That's why the sponsors of this race are so appreciated and hat off to Race Director, Victor Ballesteros, for working so hard on that long list.
In contrast to the UTMB money and marketing machine, we are on the other extreme of the spectrum here; not quite family-ran but close, thanks to the involvement of the Tamalpa running club, the assistance of the ultra-experienced BAUR (Bay Area Ultra Runners), and the local Marin Headlands running community manning the aid station and key volunteering spots, all forming Victor's extended family.
UltraSignup has the event running since 1998, with gaps in 2009 and 2010 then during the pandemic, 2020 and 2021. All in all, this year was the 23rd edition. And out of these, Steve Jaber was going for his 20th finish: this is history! The event has served as the 50K Trail Nationals in the late 2000s and again, last year. It's a challenging hilly course with more than 2,000 meters of cumulated elevation. I've run it 7 times and was never able to break 4, happy for breaking 4:30 5 times as a matter of fact. I missed last year's edition and return of the championship due to my meniscus tear/cut.
2007 (Nationals): 4:23 | 2008 (Champs cancelled at the last minute): 4:40 | 2013: 4:19 | 2014: 4:27 | 2015 (Nationals): 4:29 | 2016 (Nationals): 4:27 | 2023: 5:21.
I had quite a few goals for this run:
- First, of course, finish. That was my 203rd ultra race start and I DNFed 17 times so I still need a few finishes to reach 200. 83rd 50K race, my sweet spot, a distance I never DNFed.
- Score in our Pacific Association MUT Grand Prix. There were 13 of us in the M60-69 age group although only 6 registered with PA.
- Win the M60-64 age group. For the Nationals, age groups go 5-year deep. And you of course have to be a USATF member to be eligible. In our group, we were 4. Including Ian Schouten from Pennsylvania, showing with a higher ranking score in UltraSignup, so I had some competition, I will have to fight!
- We had 6 runners from our Quicksilver club at the start so finally an opportunity to score 2 teams, one in Men, one in Mixed. Everybody would just have to finish!
- Another goal was to break 5 again if possible. I had mixed feelings about that one. While I have rebuilt to some extend almost 12 months after I resumed running after the 7-month hiatus last year, I still feel like peaking at about 90% of what could have been my potential without that break. So, when I'm wearing the mask during races, it's because I'm still pushing and trying harder...
- Then, like at Sklyline 50K 2 weeks ago where I barely improved the event age group best of 21 years by a minute, I had my eyes on Mark Richtman's M60 course record of 4:47:35. I have so much respect for Mark's memory after a few good fights on these trails in particular, at that event or Miwok 100K, and still so sad and missing him after he mysteriously disappeared while kayaking along the shore. Note for my following race report: because Skyline's original record was 4:38, I ended up having 4:48 in mind for Mark's record all through my run, read on...
- Oh, and not injure myself, not break anything on this course which includes a few technical sections!
All these goals constituted quite an endeavor with potentially conflicting aspects: I will have to fight for a National title and take the risk to run hard and get exhausted, run fast and take risks on the technical downhills in particular, yet make sure not kill myself so I could finish. Ah, the trade-offs of the ultra racing game...
Just missing Sylvie on that team picture:
After this long introduction, let's get to the start! Victor pleaded we all car pool to the start to limit the number of cars in the Santos Meadow: Anil drove to my house and Stuart picked us in Cupertino, that made 3! We got rain while going through San Francisco then it turned to fog after the Golden Gate: so many micro climates around the Bay Area, I've heard about 16! We got parked by 6:10 am and volunteers were still hard at work despite the lack of daylight.
Victor delivered his briefing sparkled with emotion when remembering a few community members we lost these past years. And we were off promptly at 7:30 am. It was foggy but not drizzling at least. With all the youngsters and speedsters, I settled for a start in the middle of the pack, I'd say in 50th position by the first single track. I was running just behind Stuart whose strategy was to try sticking with me. We ran the first 4 miles trading places until I pushed down to Tennessee Valley.
I had tried to find Ian (Schouten) at the start but couldn't spot him. We've never ran together so I only knew his profile picture from Facebook. At least I couldn't see any M60-64 bib number on the back of runners in front of me at the start. With a large field like that though, above 200, you can't be 100% sure. With that, I decided it was better to be aggressive and potentially build a gap. There was a live tracking of the race with 6 intermediate splits, so I decided to run with my phone so I could potentially check on others' progress and gaps.
Besides the rather engaging ups and down of the first seven miles to Rodeo Beach, I have to say that the detour on the sandy beach itself was quite a workout; I couldn't believe how hard it was on the glutes, despite the flat terrain. Them, right after the beach, it was the turn of the hamstrings to burn on the steep Coastal Trail bump above the lagoon; a few signals I've yet to build more leg muscles, yikes!
Again, with all these speedsters motivated by both National fame and the prize money ($10K total purse), I knew I was way behind. Looking at the splits while I read this I see I indeed passed on the Rodeo Beach aid station timing mat in 52th place, I had estimated that pretty well. Carrying two bottles and a few gels, I didn't stop and it was game on for the climb on Miwok Trail, a section I passed a handful of runners. Then 4 more runners while flying down Tennessee Valley again. I knew it was aggressive but couldn't help pushing in the red zone. At some point, I passed 2 younger runners who were chatting, albeit a fast pace already. Right after I passed them, they sped up and followed-me, something which made me uncomfortable at the speed we were going, over the long stairs in particular. Eventually, they joked about getting passed by a M60 guy and backed off, phew!
Per the race rule, I walked through the stables area, then sprinted again through the aid station and passing a few runners who had stopped. Per the recorded split which I see after the fact, I was now in 37th position, 15 spots gained in one aid station! Picture from Shiran Kochavi:
I passed two more runners in the next climb then, about 2 miles after the Tennessee Valley, scrambled to check on Ian's position with my wet fingers and wet phone screen. It looked to me like the splits were actually not posted, dang! I was at mile 13.
After slowing down for that, I resumed pushing again in the uphill and caught up with a M40-45 runner, whom I passed at the Highway 1 crossing aid station as he stopped for a few seconds to get his flask refilled. Then another runner in the next uphill, I was still on fire. I really enjoyed the long and tricky downhill to Muir Woods Road, where I didn't stop either, jogging the first half mile of Cardiac. There I decided to check on the splits again and, to my surprise, saw that Ian was actually marked at DNS (Did Not Start), after all. After all this hard work and pushing in the red zone I was of course tired but, mentally, realizing that I was chasing a ghost or rather, that I had lost the rabbit in my head, kind of killed my mojo. These 2 miles up to the Cardia aid station on Deer Park are runnable since it's well-graded fire road, not to mention some shade, but no joke between mile 17 and 19. I alternated some walking and jogging, catching up a gal from Impala but ended up being passed my that M40-45 runner plus one of the runners I had passed on the way down to Tennessee Valley aid station, just before getting to Cardiac.
I finally reached Cardiac after 3hr10 of running at mile 19.5. I lost a bit more of my mojo again when I saw the lead two runners leaving the station as I was getting in. Oh my, I was way behind indeed! But, again, in a different league anyway, goal wise. It was my first aid station stop and it took a good minute to get some ice in my bottles and refill them. Gobbled a GU Energy gel and a piece of banana and off I was, toward the traditional Pantoll crossing. Only to get yelled at that I was supposed to go down on the Dipsea trail.
Wait, what are you saying? There was definitely a timing mat on the trail to Pantoll and, no, for a change, I had actually studied the course careful since Victor had insistently asked us in his pre-race emails, we were certainly not meant to go down on Dipsea Trail. I started argumenting but ended up complying... One hundred yards later, I crossed four runners going up to Cardiac, I was so confused. A few hundreds yards later, I cross a couple of hikers and ask them if they had seen other runners running down in the direction I was on and they acquiesced. At this point, I capitulated and went on as hard as I could, with my mental reservoir now leaking as I don't really like that section.
The only relief at the end of that section was to hear that we were turning around at the highway, not all the way down to Stinson Beach as we do during Quad Dipsea. While it boosted my mental to cross other runners, the way up on Dipsea was hard, physically. I clocked a couple of 15-minute miles and started to convince myself that, while I could break 5 hours, it was going to be really hard to get under Mark's mark of 4:48. Oh wait, since we saved more than a mile not going down Matt Davis, and saving about half a mile not going up on Steep Ravine, the course had to be shorter, right? Indeed, upon getting back to the Cardiac aid station, the volunteers indicated the course would be 1.7-mile short. That could help.
I still stopped at the aid station to get ice in my bottles as I knew the upcoming section to the finish was very exposed and, when the fog was clearing, felt hot. A M55-59 runner passed me before Cardiac, and a tall runner passed me right after. I was remembering how fast I had been on these last 3 miles in better days but wasn't able to push as hard anymore. Then I got into the final switchbacks above the Meadow. 4:36 and 3 more switchbacks. 4:38 and 3 more. 4:40 and 3 more, ... My watch showed 4:47 when I finally landed on the meadow and I sprinted to a 4:48:45 finish, phew! All the way down the switchbacks, I was thinking that it didn't matter much because, the course being shorter, it wasn't fait to Mark's record and I wouldn't want it. But, still, I felt it would be embarrassing not to try and not get close to it with a shorter course. As I wrote at the beginning, his record is actually 4:47, there you are!
Speaking of record, I was holding the M50 one at 4:27:28 since 2016 but I knew it was in serious danger not only with a Championships but also the presence of Jonah Backstrom plus two other M50 runners with higher scores than him on UltraSignup. Sure enough, Jonah had won his age group in a remarkable 4:02:26. But then, the revised course was definitely short, my Coros had 29.07 miles at the finish. Although I would disclose that I was in the classic Run mode, not Trail Running, which tends to be more accurate on hilly trail courses.
I have to give credit to Ian for setting me up on fire for the first 18 miles. And Mark for giving me another goal, time wise. I met most of my goals then. One which we missed as a club is scoring a Mixed team after Sylvie (Abel) turned around on Miwok trail, shortly after Rodeo Beach, what a disappointment, for her, and for us. Stuart finished in 5:01 and 44th overall. Hiro, who wasn't sure he could break 6 after a disappointing run last year, clocked 5:31 for 81st. Anil, 6:07, and Marco, 8:11. Steve got his 20th finish, in 9:11, respect! Anil's finish:
Stuart and Hiro with their USATF awards.
I ended up 38th overall, 27th Men, 6th Masters and 1st M60. 23rd age group national title, and counting, with quite a few handed over by my friend and USATF official and liaison, Lin Gentling.
Nutrition and hydration-wise, not much thanks to 3 pouches of Vespa Power (2 before the start, one concentrate at mile 19): 5 GU Energy gels, 2 bottles of GU Brew, 4 Succeed S!Caps, 1 piece of banana. No cramps, just some lost fire on the Dipsea trail, losing the drive to push harder. Barely any soreness on Sunday, that allowed me to run 10 miles at the track to shake off the legs. Not fast but still under 8 min/mile.
As for the winners? Oh, they were so fast, and young, and close! In the Men: Cole Campbell, 26, 3:31:45, Liam Merow, 29, 3:32:25, Spencer Ferguson-Dryden, 27, 3:32:29. For the Women: Tayler Tuttle, 29, 4:02, Caroline Alcorta, 29, 4:06, Ellaney Matarese, 22, 4:10. Phew!
Overall, an unusual high rate of DNS (Did Not Start), especially given Victor's diligence to ask runners who couldn't toe the start to leave room to clear the wait list, but a low rate of DNF for such a challenging and hilly 50K. Well done all, and special thoughts to those who couldn't make it especially because of injury (been there too much last year, this really hurts).
Great Moroccan food from the Casablanca Moroccan & Mediterranean food truck, not even having to wait in line! With Jena, grabbing a bite while managing the pick-ups of DNFs (fortunately,
Great goodie bag, the hoodie for winning my age group.
So, what happened with that course change? Well... yet another crazy curved ball thrown to Race Directors and their team of volunteers. On Friday night, a car rolled over from the road at Pantoll. Miraculously, the women driving survived the many flips and was able to get extracted from her car, alive. But the car ended up on its roof, right in the middle of the trail we were supposed to use after Cardiac. The problem: nobody from the park service had communicated with Victor until about 8 am on Saturday, after the race started! Victor scrambled to assess the situation and make the decision that the only option was for us to go down to Stinson Beach on Dipsea, then, hence the out and back and shorter distance. At least that section was marked since we were already supposed to climb back to Cardiac on Dipsea after, a few days ago, a mud slide closed the standard return on Steep Ravine. Talking about a series of curved balls...
Note that, for Trail Nationals, the distance can't be certified since it typically includes single tracks, so the distance isn't as important, as long as everybody runs the same distance of course. By opposition to road races which have to be carefully measured and certified, so records can be established.
I skipped all the aid stations but Cardiac, but still much value the presence and encouragements of the volunteers at every aid station! This is a challenging course to mark given the multiple park management organizations and requirements, not to mention remote and hilly trails, and the many trail crossings. Much grateful to Course Director, Ken Michal, and all his volunteers, that was perfect!
Special thanks again to the generous sponsors:
- I believe Arc'teryx in particular provided most of the winners' purse.
- Katemi
- Skratch serving their chocolate-flavor recovery drink
- San Franciso Running Company
- Organic Jambar
- Tamalpa Runners
- Victory Sportdesign with the famous Victor-designed drop bags
- PondFarm Brewing Co.
- Mount Tam Sport & Spine
- UltraRunning Magazine
- East Peak
- Trekker Soap Co.
- Facchino Photography
- Art2Life
- bungalo munch
- Succeed
- thoroughbred studio
- AnimalRun
- Kahtoola
- Unalome Outfitters
Car pooling with Anil who was shooting for 6 hours, Stuart and I had some time to recover after the race and catch up with many from our local ultra running community. With all the fog still on the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, traffic ended up being rather smooth on the way back.
That was my 8th finish and looking forward to next year's edition already!
PS: a few additional pictures.
Bib pickup, 6-6:45 am.
