MUC is short for Marin Ultra Challenge and as mentioned in previous blogs this is my favorite race in the Bay area. Not only does the race start and end at Rodeo Beach which is just 15 minutes from my place but the 50 miler hits all of the best trails in Marin county which I train on and there is not overlap in the course. The race is usually at the beginning of March and I decided to skip out this year since it was so close to Black Canyon 100K and I could not recover in time. Mother nature intervened as she really wanted me to do MUC and there was an atmospheric river event going on the same weekend as MUC so they decided to move the race to the beginning of June. This actually worked out really well because it lined up perfectly with my training schedule for Fat Dog 120 in August. So I joined the waitlist to get into the June MUC 50 and immediately got in as some that couldn't make it in June for the race had to drop out. I always thought that early March was a bit to soon for a 50 miler anyway but I guess if people are training for a spring or early summer 100+ miler it would work.
I arrived early to the race because parking is at a premium for MUC. If you show up late you have to park quite a ways away. Shaun and Ram had arrived shortly before me and we hung out for awhile before the race start. My goal has been for quite a few years to run a 50 miler in under 12 hours. MUC would be a challenging course to do this because it has over 11,000 feet of climbing but my training was going well so I decided to give it a shot. The race started and Ram and I noticed that we were right behind someone that we both recognized by the voice and lingo. It was someone that used to be on a podcast that I listened to. I was surprised that he was running MUC but I was not a big fan of his anyway for a few reasons so I kept my distance. After the first climb I was still with Shaun and Ram and we bombed the smooth easy downhill on Miwok trail. In fact, I think we went a little to fast because we were doing 7:30 miles and wasting a lot of energy. The upside of this is that we were able to get our average pace down to a nice number. On the next uphill Ram separated from Shaun and myself as he is a lot faster than us. We had a steady pace on this climb and all the way to the stinky bathroom aid station. The next section was uneventful and we bombed down our favorite downhill in Marin county, Marincello trail. TN valley aid station was a quick stop to refill water and go. In the next section on the Pirates cove trail Shaun and I got separated. I was determined to get my sub 12 hour MUC and I pressed on. Quickly got out of the Muir Beach aid station and started the long climb up Donkey Kong (Heather cutoff) and the Coastal trail all the way up the Cardiac aid station in Mt Tam state park. On these long climbs I met Nizar and we discovered that we have some mutual acquaintances. I was able to run most of Heather cutoff which proved to be valuable for later on when my pace slowed on the tougher climbs.
Nizar and I stayed together for quite awhile, after leaving the cardiac aid station we bombed down the Dipsea trail into Stinson beach and then we did the dreaded super steep climb up the Willow Camp trail. We kept a steady pace along the Bolinas ridge headed back toward Pantoll campground. Nizar was feeling good in this section and I was starting to hit a wall. Once we got on the Matt Davis trail he took off which I encouraged him todo since he was feeling good. I got back to the Cardiac aid station and then kept a steady pace down to Muir Woods. I started feeling good again on the climb up Ben Johnson trail which was the second toughest climb of the day. I was able to bomb downhill to the Deer Park aid station. Kept a steady pace up the single track switch backs of the Miwok trail. By this time I was starting to feel pretty beat up but had to keep pressing on to get sub 12 hour. I managed a speed just over a shuffle on the Dias Ridge downhill back to Muir Beach aid station. On the next climb up middle green gulch trail I met someone named Shelly who was doing her first 50 miler. She mentioned that she had overcome some health issues in the last few years and at one point couldn't even walk. Through a lot of hard work she came back and started running with a new lease on life. She still had a hard time running downhills but could crush the uphills and keep a steady pace along with being a really fast hiker. She moved ahead of me toward the end of the uphill. Then I passed her on the downhill into the final aid station at TN valley.
There was only 4 miles to go and I was surprisingly on pace for my sub 12 hour MUC. I made super quick work of that aid station as I only filled my water and bolted. Nizar was at the aid station refueling and I said hi to him as I left out. Although feeling pretty rough I was able to manage a shuffle after getting to the top of the last climb up the Old Spring trail. Shelly must of ran up the entire Old Spring trail because she passed by me after getting to the top. Only a few more steep little uphills and I was on the last decent into the finish at Rodeo Beach. I was relived to know that not only was I going to get sub 12 but I ended up finishing in 11:37 and it was still light out so didn't even need my head lamp. Pretty happy to set my PR on this day and in my favorite 50 mile race. Only a few more months until what will be the hardest race I have ever attempted, Fat Dog 120.
I arrived early to the race because parking is at a premium for MUC. If you show up late you have to park quite a ways away. Shaun and Ram had arrived shortly before me and we hung out for awhile before the race start. My goal has been for quite a few years to run a 50 miler in under 12 hours. MUC would be a challenging course to do this because it has over 11,000 feet of climbing but my training was going well so I decided to give it a shot. The race started and Ram and I noticed that we were right behind someone that we both recognized by the voice and lingo. It was someone that used to be on a podcast that I listened to. I was surprised that he was running MUC but I was not a big fan of his anyway for a few reasons so I kept my distance. After the first climb I was still with Shaun and Ram and we bombed the smooth easy downhill on Miwok trail. In fact, I think we went a little to fast because we were doing 7:30 miles and wasting a lot of energy. The upside of this is that we were able to get our average pace down to a nice number. On the next uphill Ram separated from Shaun and myself as he is a lot faster than us. We had a steady pace on this climb and all the way to the stinky bathroom aid station. The next section was uneventful and we bombed down our favorite downhill in Marin county, Marincello trail. TN valley aid station was a quick stop to refill water and go. In the next section on the Pirates cove trail Shaun and I got separated. I was determined to get my sub 12 hour MUC and I pressed on. Quickly got out of the Muir Beach aid station and started the long climb up Donkey Kong (Heather cutoff) and the Coastal trail all the way up the Cardiac aid station in Mt Tam state park. On these long climbs I met Nizar and we discovered that we have some mutual acquaintances. I was able to run most of Heather cutoff which proved to be valuable for later on when my pace slowed on the tougher climbs. 
Nizar and I stayed together for quite awhile, after leaving the cardiac aid station we bombed down the Dipsea trail into Stinson beach and then we did the dreaded super steep climb up the Willow Camp trail. We kept a steady pace along the Bolinas ridge headed back toward Pantoll campground. Nizar was feeling good in this section and I was starting to hit a wall. Once we got on the Matt Davis trail he took off which I encouraged him todo since he was feeling good. I got back to the Cardiac aid station and then kept a steady pace down to Muir Woods. I started feeling good again on the climb up Ben Johnson trail which was the second toughest climb of the day. I was able to bomb downhill to the Deer Park aid station. Kept a steady pace up the single track switch backs of the Miwok trail. By this time I was starting to feel pretty beat up but had to keep pressing on to get sub 12 hour. I managed a speed just over a shuffle on the Dias Ridge downhill back to Muir Beach aid station. On the next climb up middle green gulch trail I met someone named Shelly who was doing her first 50 miler. She mentioned that she had overcome some health issues in the last few years and at one point couldn't even walk. Through a lot of hard work she came back and started running with a new lease on life. She still had a hard time running downhills but could crush the uphills and keep a steady pace along with being a really fast hiker. She moved ahead of me toward the end of the uphill. Then I passed her on the downhill into the final aid station at TN valley. 
There was only 4 miles to go and I was surprisingly on pace for my sub 12 hour MUC. I made super quick work of that aid station as I only filled my water and bolted. Nizar was at the aid station refueling and I said hi to him as I left out. Although feeling pretty rough I was able to manage a shuffle after getting to the top of the last climb up the Old Spring trail. Shelly must of ran up the entire Old Spring trail because she passed by me after getting to the top. Only a few more steep little uphills and I was on the last decent into the finish at Rodeo Beach. I was relived to know that not only was I going to get sub 12 but I ended up finishing in 11:37 and it was still light out so didn't even need my head lamp. Pretty happy to set my PR on this day and in my favorite 50 mile race. Only a few more months until what will be the hardest race I have ever attempted, Fat Dog 120.