On December 4, 2010, I ran the North Face 50K Endurance Challenge in West Marin County, California. This is really one of the toughest races I have ever run. The elevation profile tells much of the story.
My time was 7:12.50, or 7 of 17 in my age group of 50 to 59. That time was pretty much a middle of the pack pace, which was 7:22. This was the largest crowd of ultra runners I've ever run with; there were 307 finishers in my race. I finished 155.
We also ran with the much smaller 50 mile and marathon groups. The trails were often crowded.
I did lots a passing in the first 10 miles. From miles 15 -25 I faded and the groups I had been running with left me in the mud. In the last 5 miles when I forced more food into the system I made up a lot of ground and past a couple of dozen, passing about 10 of those alone in the last two miles.
The conditions made the race very difficult. It was raining most of the time and the trails, mostly single-track, were very slick, making the going rather slow for most of the course. At the end of the race my legs were covered in mud all the way up to my shorts. Plus, I hadn't quote broken in my new trail shoes and I was running in my road shoes. I could have used bigger lugs on the tread for this race.
The scenery was fantastic. The race either skirted the coast, with magnificent views of Muir and Stinson beaches, or into the rain forests in the gullies in the little coastal range of mountains along the coast.
Son-in-law Casey ran the marathon with an impressive 5 hour time, considering it took me an additional 2 hours to cover an additional 6+ miles.
As usual, when I'm getting towards the end of the race I think to myself that I'll never run again, but now I am looking forward to the next race, a 50-miler in Orange County.
2 comments:
Way to go. Wow, lots of climbs, does look tough. Well done, good showing.
I am ever impressed by your tenacity....
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