Monday, March 16, 2009

Way Too Cool 50K

Ran the Way Too Cool 50K down in Cool, California this past weekend. This was my first ultra in California. Traveled with Gaby and Dave. Had a blast ... it was a lot of fun. We drove down Friday, raced Saturday, drove back Sunday.

There was a big turn out for this race ... 400+ runners. The weather was great. Not too hot or cold. No rain during the race. The course was mostly single track, about 3,600' of climb in total. There was a mile or two of road at the start, which was good for getting runners sorted out before hitting the trail. A few minor stream crossings. There were two pretty big climbs, and several smaller ones, that required walking. Some of the downhills were very technical ... and hard on the quads. I took one tumble ... nothing serious. I was doing okay until about 40K when I started running out of gas. The last few klicks were a struggle. Finished in about 5:20 ... I was targeting 5 hours, but I think I went out too fast. Will have to pace myself better. Gaby did real well, finishing in 4:40ish, third in her age class. Dave finished shortly after me. Scott and Nok were there too, as was Meghan who also did really well.

Pics by Scott and Nok