Be forewarned that this race report will be rambling account of what turned out to be not merely a training run for my first 50 miler but the biggest trail challenge I've ever faced and the first I should have DNF'ed. [DNF = Did Not Finish]
Short Summary : 31.2 miles of beautiful trail along parts of Western States and Cool covering elevation gain and loss: 7,000' gain / 9,200' loss. Took me 9:10 hours to finish in the 98+ deg heat.
Day Before Race Day I left work early around 3PM for an uneventful two and half hour drive from Pleasanton to Auburn and managed to get to the running store to pick up my bib with 15 minutes to spare. There were a couple of people manning a single table in the back handing our bibs, talking about the pasta feed at Auburn Ale House and chatting about the race. The
Auburn Running Company is nice store with all the trail porn you'd expect for running store with moto, "The Endurance Capital's running source"
. The store even had the latest trail shoes by Atria which you rarely get to see at other running stores. However, I wasn't there for the pasta feed but to meet up with my mentor and his family at a nice restaurant named
Joe Caribe known for pulled pork tacos, enchilada and beer. We chatted about the rather hot weather, the fact that one side of the highway coming in was on fire (not a good omen) and what the weather might be in the canyon the next day.
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| Photo Credit : Norma Stark |
