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| The famous steep ravine trail ladder |
This was my second time running this race and it turned out to be very memorable. I floated the idea out to Jessica's cousin Joe and his wife Debra about this race and to our surprise they thought it was a great idea! Debra was going to run the half marathon with Jessica and Joe was going to run the 50K with Shaun and myself. Also, two of Debra's college friends decided to come and join the fun in the half marathon as well! Paaaartaaaay! I was a little nervous about my ability to train for this race because it was less than two months after Bear 100. Mt. Tam 50K has the some incredible scenic views but is a tough race with 6,800 feet of climbing so I knew that it was something I had to be prepared for. I took a week off after Bear and started to put in a few miles. Running was not easy as my body wanted a longer break. I slowly increased mileage over the following 6 weeks or so although the amount of long runs I did was very minimal.
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| Joe working his way up Dias Ridge |
Race morning arrived in a flash. The race started and Shaun, Joe, and myself were sticking together at the beginning and having some good laughs about random topics. We hit the Steep Ravine trail and there were some trees down after rare October storms. Shaun and I slightly pulled away from Joe in this section but it was a conga line so he was always in sight. We regrouped at the first aid station and then headed down to Muir Woods. The first climb up Ben Johnson was a grind as it always is. We were talking to a girl who said she has not drank a beer in 4 months because she had been training for the race! Then we got to the next aid station where we refueled and I encouraged Joe to eat some food as he was looking a little down. Next we slogged up the easy grade Miwok climb to Dias Ridge. This is where Joe started to feel the grind as he wasn't use to all the climbing. We got up to Dias and Joe had told me a few times at this point to go ahead. He was also talking about possibly dropping out or reducing his total distance on the day. I knew that he needed some calories and also knew that he was just going through a rough patch. I told him that it's possible to get out of the funk etc..however he was pretty convinced that it was not his day etc.. The pace we were going at on this downhill was not really sustainable in order to finish within the cutoff.
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| One of many epic coastal trail views |
I asked Joe several times if he was sure that it was ok if I pressed on and he assured me that he was cool with it. I felt like he needed to be by himself so he could find a rhythm or pace that worked for him. I could tell it was stressing him out because he felt as if he was holding us back. So I gave him a gel and told him to eat that and it would help him feel better. Then Shaun and I took off on the smooth downhill on Dias Ridge trail leading into Muir Beach. We were flying pretty good and making up some time. I struggled mentally from leaving Joe as I was not sure if it was the right thing to do. We got to Muir Beach and made quick work of that aid station. On the way out Joe passed us as he was on his way to the aid station. He actually seemed as if he was in decent spirits and that gave me a little mental boost that Joe might rally. Shaun and I started up the Donkey Kong climb and we were doing a rhythm of 300 steps running and 300 steps walking on the uphill. This really helped save our pace from dropping to much on the climb. As we were getting pretty high up I'm pretty sure I saw Joe coming across the field before the Donkey Kong climb. This made me happy that he didn't drop at Muir Beach. On the way up coastal trail toward Cardiac Hill I really started to feel drained. Shaun beat me to the aid station but I wasn't too far behind. Then we set off to do the second Muir woods loop of the day which was longer than the first one.
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| More excellent views! |
We came across a random aid station in the woods that some people had hiked in and set up. They had liquor and beer available but I settled for some coke (a-cola). We made our way down to Muir Woods and then grinded out the second climb up the Ben Johnson trail. Finally we reached the top of the last long climb of the day at Cardiac Hill. I started to worry a little bit about Joe because he didn't have his cell phone with him so if he dropped it might be logistically tough to communicate. The three miles back to Stinson Beach went by pretty quick as it's almost all downhill. Shaun was feeling good and he ended up beating me by a couple minutes to the finish line. I was happy for the day to be done as the 50K worked me a lot harder than I anticipated. I thought I might see Joe at the finish as he mentioned possibly skipping the last loop that went down to Muir Beach but I didn't see him there. I was greeted by Jess, Debra, and one of Debra's friends. I asked them if Joe had called and they said no and Debra checked with the timing table who mentioned his status is currently still on course! This gave me some excitement that he was pushing on but we still didn't know what his status was. They were out of veggie burritos so I settled for a few bags of chips and sat with Jess in our chairs cheering on runners as they were finishing. Jess had done really well in her half marathon just like she always does. Debra and her two friends had a really good time on the trails.
The girl who had not had a beer in 4 months came by and I yelled "time for that beer!" and I could tell she was super psyched to be finishing what I assumed was her first 50K. Honestly this is a pretty tough 50K for your first one as there is 6,800 feet of climbing which is no joke so kudos to her. Another guy was coming into the finish shoot and some older gentleman turned on the jets to pass the guy in the shoot. When the guy who got passed realized what happened he turned on the jets and passed the older guy right at the last second to beat him. There was no reason to pass someone like that when you 8+ hours into a 50K, I mean if it was a battle for the first 5 spots or something I could see it but at this point it's almost an ethical issue. I'm glad that guy didn't let him finish ahead. Anyway I was nervous about Joe as we didn't really know what was going on with him. Debra and her friend had gone down the road a little ways looking for him. All of a sudden he appeared and was coming down the road to finish!!! He rose up from the ashes like a phoenix!! I was so psyched that he stuck it out and was finishing the 50K. He had joined forces with two other girls who were also struggling and they stuck together and helped each other out. I started yelling as he got closer and I could tell he was super stoked to be crossing this finish line.
During the race Joe said he would be mentally cool with not completing it. Afterwards he realized that wasn't true and said he would of been so bummed if he dropped. I am so proud of him for gutting it out and getting it done. Joe, Debra, Jess, myself, and Debra's two friends went out for some food and drinks to celebrate and we had a really great time. This was definitely one for the ages!
