I, along with approximately 30 other cheapasses or ultrarunning purists, started at Torrey Pines at 5am and ran along San Diego's beautiful coastline all the way down to Downtown San Diego. The 5am start allows for as much cool early morning running as is reasonable and it also allows us to be done before 5am the next day (so not too much sleep lost). I originally thought running a 9-10 minute pace would be a good goal until I was reminded by a friend also doing this race, Natalie, that maybe going her goal pace of 10-11 minutes might be a safer bet. Its a fine line with this race between going too fast and not going fast enough -- you definitely cannot slack if you want to make the cutoffs but you can't explode either. So I stuck with Natalie and a young friend we made along the way who was doing his first 100 miler. Blake is a pretty cool kid, at 22 years old, not many his age would consider doing this with their time. We stuck together all the way until South Park and kept each other company. Natalie ended up going a little faster than we had originally endeavored, around 9:30 pace, mainly based on the fact that it felt so easy effort wise (it always does early on haha). I did my part in keeping close to our original desired pace.
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| Mile 9ish with the squad |
This race is so beautiful and it goes through all the beautiful coastal parts of San Diego. I cannot recommend this race enough just based on THAT alone. They have a 50 mile option for those just wanting to experience this part of San Diego. We went through La Jolla, Bird Rock, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Point Loma then Downtown SD. As we got to Ocean Beach mile 20, Elana and her husband Wayne were there with their surprise pop up aid station which was INCREDIBLY awesome of them. Elana came out to pace me for this race last year but like a jerk I ended up accidentally dropping her as we ran into Downtown. I forgot to share with her the pace I was wanting to run at. Nevertheless she decided to come back and help out this race and I'm glad she did. I must have seemed like the cool kid in town as running through San Diego I saw a good amount of people I knew, including Elana's husband filling up at a gas station in OB, and so it made it seem like I have a lot more friends than I actually do (I don't). So we say goodbye to everyone including RD Ed, who also had a surprise pop up station at La Jolla Cove at about mile 9.
We work our way into downtown and agree that if anyone wants to pick up the pace we shouldn't feel obligated to wait. I originally wanted to stick with Natalie, and now Blake, so I could guide them where exactly to go since I had memorized every turn of the course and knew for sure I wasn't going to get lost. Being a runner in San Diego combined with being a rideshare driver, I was extremely familiar with San Diego and is why this race was absolutely perfect for me. I knew at some point though that we might get split up so I agreed to this and also agreed to stick with them for as long as was reasonable.
We run along the harbor in San Diego, which at this point was already pretty busy at 9am, and all I could think was thank goodness for that early start! If it had started even one hour later like it did last year it would have definitely had been too crowded to reasonably run! So we catch up to some other runners after the Convention Center, including Mike Edwards with whom we did a training run on the course a month earlier. We pass them on our way up to Balboa Park where I see Trail Crasher Deb on her morning run! On we go to meet up with my first friend to run with me Mick! He's there with Pineapple by the Dog Park on Prado. I scarf down some Pineapple, which lemme tell you about the anti-inflammatory properties of Pineapple! Its really a thing! Really! I felt fresh enough to keep running a strong pace into mile 31 as we approached the first checkpoint in around 5 hours 30 minutes. I got what I needed to here and was ready to go, and checked to see if either Natalie or Blake were ready and it seems the heat of the morning had gotten to Natalie already and so she said she needed time to cool off. So with that I took off with Mick as we headed towards rocky as heck Switzer Canyon and the 4 foot tunnel that's about 100 feet long. We made it through and were on our way to City Heights.
If you aren't familiar with City Heights its the more "urban" spot of San Diego, which among other things means more stoplights. This was also part of the challenge of making the 11 hour 50 mile cutoff to continue for the race. We lucked out and most of the lights were in our favor, only causing us to occasionally pause in our running. I picked up some gatorade at a 711 (of which there are many on this street we run on until College area) and ran to SDSU. Mick told me he would turn off at Montezuma and so we parted ways and he wished me luck. I continued towards Cowles Mountain now, mile 42ish. I passed a runner and then caught up with another runner only to have him pass me up Cowles. I met Whitney at Cowles for the first time since the morning and she brought me my trail shoes (Altra Timps). I had originally decided to wear Escalantes for the first half because its mainly road, then planned to switch to Timps at around now. It was around 1pm and since Cowles is East County you really start to feel the heat. It was obviously a hike up to the top and there were many basic ass people climbing up and down Cowles at it is the most popular hiking trail in San Diego. I'm talking people with those elevation training masks that do nothing, people blasting their bluetooth speaker systems, people with 20 foot dog leashes. Ugh. Got up to the top and surprisingly saw my brother there. How weird... he also made a cameo appearance last year during this race as well but in Downtown. He has no idea I'm doing these races really. Just a weird coincidence. And I haven't seen him since the race last year. Anyways I make it down to Big Rock Rd where Whitney is waiting with my pacer Jeff Miller! He picks me up and we head towards the halfway point mile 50 at Santee Lakes.
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| Coming in to mile 50 |
We hit mile 50 at 9 hours 50 something minutes. That's good enough. The plan was 9-10 hours for the first half. The heat of the day was getting to me and you could see I was losing a ton of salt as per usual. I was doing an okay job but couldn't wait for the sun to go down! I took 5-8 minutes getting what I needed, some "Chinese surprises" from Ed, some pepsi from Whitney and filled up by handhelds with Tailwind and we took off. Shuffling at first we went into the trails that lead to Sycamore Canyon. Jeff really enjoyed this part since he had never been. I... on the other hand... I was kinda struggling, but I assured Jeff that this was really because I'm like Olaf and I was melting in the sun. I told him as soon as night came I would come back around. And sure enough like clockwork when the sun went down I started picking it up! We had a reasonable time getting to mile 62 where Robert was waiting to pace. Oh, but the mud that stuck to your shoes! Ugh!
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| Jeff catching me struggling |
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| "Vert is not real" - Jeff |
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| Beautiful but WHY WON'T THE SUN GO DOWN ALREADY?! |
We approached mile 62 and it was already dark. It was maybe 6pm. I had estimated between 5 and 6pm. Okay, still doing good. Looking at lot better than last year, Ed affirms me, which is the point at which I dropped because of severe cramping and overall just going into all the deficits. Got what I needed from Whitney and HEY -- Tsehay came out and she was there too! Awesome Tsehay thank you soo much for being there! Jeff was gonna hand the baton to Robert but I convinced him to stay with for at least 5 more miles where Whitney and Tsehay were *guaranteed* to meet us. So we run and I'm keeping a strong pace and we see some lights ahead. I get tempted to try and catch up with them but Robert reminds me it's too early yet, only mile 65, and he says save it for later (the race starts at 75). So we inadvertently pass them anyway a little while later and it's 3 people. Robert's thinking 3 racers, but I tell him it's most likely 2 pacers 1 racer. It was. We keep moving strong and when we get to where Whitney and Tsehay are supposed to meet us they aren't there! Oh no. Okay, well Jeff, looks like you'll have to call your wife Elaine and tell her you're going just a little bit longer! Poor Jeff, this was only the 2nd time and not the last time he'd have to extend his stay with us. I tell Jeff to call them and meet us 1 mile further down the road, Whitney gave an "okay". We approach and they're not there! Turns out they're close to where Robert had picked me up originally! Sorry, Jeff. At this point I'm running low on stuff because I had planned for them to be there. Robert comes in to save the day with some CarboPro he had in his water bottle. The next checkpoint would be maybe 6 miles away. We continue on Old Coach Trail on towards Escondido when Whitney and Tsehay and Gloria meet us at Highland Valley Road! Oh thank GOODNESS! I restock at their beautiful little makeshift aid! Then, as I'm getting chilly, I take off with Robert and Jeff finally gets to go home. Thanks Jeff!
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| Mile 65ish with Robert and Jeff. Robert was srsly awesome all night. |
We approach Mule Hill Trail on Sunset Dr in Escondido. It was approximately 9:38pm. I asked my friend Leo who lives down the street and runs that trail all the time if he could meet me around 10pm at that trail. Wasn't sure if would be able to make it but he told me he would be there. Well, he wasn't, unfortunately, but to my huge surprise Omeed was there! Holy shit! I had helped this guy run this course last year on his own in December and he decided to return the favor and surprise me by showing up! Super stoked, I give Robert a much needed break and take Omeed for the next 14 miles. I'll be honest, these miles were pretty slow, but man oh man did Omeed make for AWESOME company! This guy is super awesome to have along. We talked and caught up on things and shared story.
As we get towards the end of the trails on the side of actual Lake Hodges, I knew there was a point where Ed had sent a last minute email saying the trail is closed at night and that we would have to run along the highway. I wasn't exactly sure at what point that would be but luckily there was a creeper out there in a car with a flashlight saying we couldn't go down a trail because it's closed and that we'd have to run along the highway. We ran along the highway for a little bit hoping not to get hit by a drunk driver, then luckily there was another creeper hanging out in the the trail far below with a headlamp. He informed us that we'd have to come down to where he was somehow. We managed to find an access road that led us down there and continued the way.
So we continued and as we hit the annoying switchbacks (if you're familiar you know what I'm talking about) I asked Omeed to let me know what time it was when we hit Artesian Road. It was 1:30am. I thought I had remembered the cutoff for mile 89 being at 2am. We were about 2 miles away so I told him we had to pick it up as there is a creek crossing and a steep hill right before the checkpoint. I ran through the creek, originally intending to find some way of not getting wet and freezing, but realized that wasn't going to be feasible. Boy was that cold but oh so good feeling afterwards! We ran into mile 89 like:
I told Ed, as I pulled in at 1:56am, "I'm so glad I made it, didn't think I was gonna make cutoff". He asked what do you mean? The cutoff is not at 2am! It's at 3am! UGH You're kidding! haha. Anways, enough with the dramatics, I bid Omeed goodbye and thanks and then I take off with Robert who is concerned that we might not make it. We had a buffer at the last checkpoint to get away with 18 minute miles but now we have to do 14 minute miles. I tell him no worries as we start running strong towards the finish. By strong I mean 12 minute pace. HEY this is a 100 miler here, that is a tough pace towards the end! haha.
So we finally make it towards the final little uphill trail and we built a nice 20 minute per mile buffer for the last couple of miles and so we feel good. The ETA on Robert's watch, as he kept needing to inform me, said around 4:42am. Great! We can do this! So we work our way towards the finish and lo and behold there it is! No finish line, no crowds, no nothing! Just Ed as he runs across the street to greet us with cheers and congratulations as his phone says my name.
YES! I did it, as I hug Whitney and Tsehay. I redeemed my DNF from last year. I set a challenge for myself and accomplished it. I did this entire course without the aid of navigation and I did all 100 miles in under 24 hours! Thanks so much to everyone who decided to help me in this effort and if you are thinking about doing this race, I cannot recommend it highly enough! I told Ed at the end that this is my favorite 100 mile race of the year, you know why? Because of the course, and the cheap cost, yeah, yeah, but most importantly because the person who runs it does it for the heart of it! He does it for the spirit of ultrarunning and recognizes the importance of fostering that ever so important element of the race. Everything is too fake these days, too glamorized, too sensationalized, too worried about rules and requirements. This, this is real. Thanks so much Ed and I hope if you're reading this you decide to do it next year. You get UTMB points by the way! haha
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| With Ed Wang the RD. One of us just ran 100 miles. |
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| 100 miles. 23:43. 8700 ft. Harder than it sounds. |
Thanks. This was good. "Harder than it sounds." It sounds pretty hard!
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