Malibu Creek Trail Run - 03.06.11

Malibu Creek
Sunday, 06 March 2011
10km, 25km & 50km

• 2011 Photos HERE, HERE & HERE.
• Race Website HERE. 
• 2011 Results HERE. 
• My Garmin Stats HERE.

A few days before the event, I checked the Entrant's List HERE and saw that Bakersfield's own Anna Frank had signed up for the 25k and I knew all the other ladies would be running for second and that the boys better watch out! Anna has been beating mot of the men in Kern County lately and has almost won a few races out right like the McFarland Christmas run and many others.

A few weeks ago, she ran sub 1:20 at the BTC Half marathon so we knew she was fit but this was a trail race. Well I guess a few hills, rocks and creek crossing did not slow her down much. She ended up running sub 7:30 mile pace over the 25k race! Plus she won the race overall with a time of 1:55:12.

From what I can tell, she tied the course record and took almost 20 minutes off the woman's record.

Top Performances

1. '08 Olver Obagi (34) 1:55:42
2. '10 Eric Martin (30) 1:56:46
3. ...'09 Christophe Sigel (37) 1:59:21
4. '08 Alex Suchey 2:00:59
5. '09 Shigy Suzuki (50) 2:01:23
6. '08 Oswald Obagi (30) 2:05:19
7. '08 Adam Blum (43) 2:11:19
8. '08 Martin Brooks (43) 2:11:49
9. '10 Olver Obagi (36) 2:11:51 
10. 10 Matt Hall (28) 2:12:08

Anna Frank!

Top Performances

1. '08 Jessica McAdam (31) 2:15:51
2. '08 Rosaleen Walsh (22) 2:20:57
3. '09 Marianne Thomas (45) 2:24:45
4. '09 Julie Watts (29) 2:31:25
5.  '10 Kristin Cooley (33) 2:36:25
6. '10 Robyn Dunn (31) 2:38:30
7. '08 Beatrice Davis (33) 2:41:21
8. '10 Fran Reis (30) 2:41:49
9. '10 Nena Jackson (28) 2:45:33
10. '10 Leslie Buehler (41) 2:46:26 

On the Bakersfield Distance Project side, Cindy was our top finisher, followed by Denni, me, Peter, Lyndi, Ruthie and Diana in  the 25k.

Cindy!

Kern County 10kers:

1. Norma Diaz - 1:10:06
2. Frank Velasquez - 1:16:40
3. Victor Lostaunau - 1:18:07 
4.  Evy Velasquez - 1:26:58
5. Ann Caragher - 1:36:20

Kern County 25kers:

1. Anna Frank - 1:55:42 - First Overall, Tied Course Record & Beat Woman's Record
2. Siobhan Beckett - 2:13:33 - 4th Overall and 2nd Woman & Beat Old Woman's Record
3. Cindy Adame - 3:00:34
4. Denni Jorgensen - 3:11:17
5. Andy Noise - 3:14:38
6. Peter Wonderly - 3:27:16
7. Lyndi Wilson - 3:30:30
8. Ruth Saenz - 3:44:54
9. Diana Daves - 5:22:34

 Kern County 50kers:

1. Isaak Romo - 7:08:27

Above our the official times but I think some of the 25k times are off because I know mind is. According to my Garmin, I ran 3:26:09 with a moving time of 3:16:02 but hey I will take their time! My Garmin said the course was 15.1 miles long and the elevation gain was 2,815 feet and I burned 2,547 calories.

The elevation gain was 2815 feet and the loss was 2,828 feet. The minimum elevation was 445 feet and the maximum elevation was 2,430 feet. My average pace was 13:39 with an average moving pace of 12:58 and my best pace was 6:25. Looks like I lost ten minutes waiting to cross the creek!

The day began with a group meeting at Bagels at 5am to carpool to the race. The drive to this race was a short one but then we got to the park and it was not open. It was a little after 7am but the ranger had not shown up to open the park. So we sat in a long line of cars and paid our $12 park entry fee and waited.

The mandatory pit stop.

At about the time some of our kidneys were going to burst, we finally got into the park and then had two new lines to join. The bathroom line and the number pick up line. While waiting in the number line, I talked to Anna and Siobhan about the race and found out it was their first trail run besides our local races. We talked about the course and the aid station situation and I think they revised their pace expectations. In the end, the course did not seem to slow them down very much.

Anna

Despite all the drama, the race still started on time and we headed downhill on a nice paved road that lead to a dirt road. For the first mile, Cindy ran along with Lyndi, Peter and I but once we hit the dirt she took off. Soon after, we hit some switchbacks and started climbing for awhile. Then we went downhill to a lovely meadow.

Heading to the Hill!

At the end of the meadow, the race came to a standstill due to the water crossing. The creek was maybe 20 feet across and about 2 foot deep at most. It was moving fairly fast and the rocks were a bit slippery so having the rope to hang on to was good. Some took their shoes off to cross the creek which slowed down the crossing even more. If the trail was not so tight, I would of tried to cross somewhere else and go around the log jam.

• Mile 1 - 11:40 - up 121 and down 72
• Mile 2 - 11:46 - up 103 and down 285

But I waited, took some photos and rested up for all the climbing we were about to do. After crossing the creek, there was an aid station and then we started going up and up on some fire roads. Lyndi, Peter and I pushed each other up those hills and along the way we caught quite a few runners before we got to the mile 8 aid station.

The line.

Fun!

• Mile 3 - 18:02 - up 339 and down 18
• Mile 4 - 17:54 - up 573 and down 0
• Mile 5 - 17:08 - up 509 and down 0

Lyndie

• Mile 6 - 13:27 - up 322 and down 116
• Mile 7 - 13:03 - up 203 and down 192
• Mile 8 - 15:20 - up 149 and down 135

An Interesting Peak.

Probably the coolest part of the run besides the creek crossing was the interesting rock ridge in the above photo. We went up and over it and then hit the second aid station. I never stay long at these and just grbbed a coke and some gold fish and then took off to do the last major climb.

As I was approaching the aid station, I saw Denni taking but knew that would be the last time I would see her. On the last climb, I caught a couple Bakersfield runners (Nikki and Isaak) who were doing the 50k and we chatted a bit before they left me on the downhill section.

Nikki & Isaak

• Mile 9 - 15:34 - up 307 and down 156
• Mile 10 - 10:25 - up 0 and down 700
• Mile 11 - 10:59 - up 73 and down 478
• Mile 12 - 11:53 - up 0 and down 444

As you can see, we did some serious downhill running. In three miles we dropped over 1600 feet down those rutted fire roads. About halfway down I caught up to a 6'6 ultra marathoner who had just finished his first hundred miler a month ago. I decided to stay with him because he was almost going my pace, plus he had some great stories that made those last miles go by a little quicker.

My Ultra Buddy

Finally we made it down to the M.A.S.H area started seeing quite a few tourists. This spot was 2.5 miles from the parking lot so these people had hiked quite a bit.I figured that the rest of the route would be flat but it was rolling the rest of the way. While went went by the creek, a couple ladies caught up to us and I decided to run in with them.

Can you hear the theme music?

We ran in together.

• Mile 13 - 14:45 - up 0 and down 34
• Mile 14 - 11:00 - up 39 and down 164
• Mile 15 - 12:21 - up 39 and down 31
• To Finish - 7:27 - up 39 and down 0

As you can see, I ran the last part pretty fast. The girl above had her boyfriend join her with a less than half a mile to go and I thought she had beat me but then I thought what they heck and I caught her.

Her pacer.

In the end, I covered the 15.1 miles in a time of 3:26:09. My pace was 13:39 but my moving pace was 12:58 over the 25k course. Though I enjoyed the race and ran well, I doubt I will return to Malibu Creek. I like trail runs with more single track and more up and down. Going up a fire road for miles and down a fire road for miles is just not that interesting.
 

Hotels/Motels, Camping

Start:

Malibu Creek State Park, 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, CA 91302. Directions

Course:

Map  |  Elevations  |  Descriptions

---

Malibu Creek State Park, located in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains, was the center of Chumash Native American life for centuries. Hundreds of movies, television shows, and commercials have been made in this spectacular area, including MASH, Planet of the Apes, and How Green was my Valley. (Distances are accurately measured using a Rolatape® surveyor's measuring wheel.)

Aid Stations:

Fully-stocked aid stations every 9 - 12 kilometers. You can expect fresh fruit, salty snacks, assorted candy, boiled potatoes & salt, water, and Clif Shot Electrolyte sports drink. However, it is highly recommended that runners carry at least 20 oz. of water between aid stations.

Awards:

T-shirts will be given to all pre-registered runners. Award medals are given to the 1st female and male finishers overall and in each age group. Ribbons are also awarded to the 2nd & 3rd place finishers in each age group. All 50km finishers will receive a custom coaster for the event.

Participants are automatically included in the race series and points are awarded to the first 8 finishers in each age group.

Santa Monica Mountains - 11.20.10

Santa Monica Mountains
Sunday, 20 November 2011
9km, 18km, 30km & 50km

Race Website HERE.
2010 Photos HERE.
PCTR FaceBook HERE.

Mens Results
30,000 Meters
Andy Noise 4:55:22 BDP -

Womens Results
18,000 Meters
Gayle McNeir 3:53:54 BDP -
Ruth Saenz 2:45:40 BDP -

30,000 Meters
Shawna Rountree 3:26:18 BDP -
Denni Jorgensen 4:04:44 BDP -
Cindy Adame 4:16:07 BDP -
Norma Diaz 4:39:09 BDP -
Lyndi Wilson 4:49:56 BDP
Lisa Sorensen 4:56:07 BDP -
Diana Daves 5:25:00 BDP -

For years I have wanted to do a trail run but the only ones I have done are the Mr.Toad's 20k and the Rio Bravo 10 miler and they are not really trail runs. Recently I started hiking and though I like doing it, I don't like having to carry all the gear and worrying about water and food out in the wilds. So I surmised that a real trail run would be the best of both worlds.

After doing this race, I proved my prediction because I really enjoyed the event. The Pacific Coast Trail people know how to put on an event. I only wish they had more races in the Southern California area because traveling to Northern California can get expensive.

I picked this race this summer and told my Bakersfield Distance Projecters about it and many were up for the challenge. In the end, eight of us decided to do the event and we put together a car pool to get there. Though it was only 130 miles away, we decided to meet at Bagels & Blenderz at 5am so we would be there in plenty of time for the 8:30am start.

The week leading up to the race went well but news of raining being forecast for the weekend made all of even more nervous. We had not done a trail run and adding mud and water to the mix made the idea even more daunting. The day before the Sunday event it rained quite a bit and we got wet at the Killa Hilla run that morning while others got wet or cold at the Turkey Trot.

That night I was awaken in the middle of the night by the rain pouring off my roof and I thought this is not a good sign. But when I got up at 4am, the sky was clear and there was a brilliant full moon in the sky. I loaded up my van and headed to Del Taco to have an early breakfast.

Now most would say "Del Taco?" but for me it works. I get a steak and egg burrito and I am good to go. Awhile back, I heard someone say that ultra running is more of an eating contest than a running contest and I believe that is true. Now today's 30k is not an ultra but I was going to be out there for 5 hours and you can not go that long unless you eat and drink properly.

So in training I am like a bear, bears are omnivores and so am I. I experiment with eating all kinds of things so that my body can handle what ever I throw at it. In a race, you do not know what they are serving at the aid stations and if you did, they might run out of it or it might taste awful. Before a long run, I fuel up on all kinds of things and have found that a regular meal works for me.

For instance before I run the Los Angeles marathon, I eat a Tommie's chili burger at two or three am and it has served me well during the race. So at 4:30am, I hit the drive-thru at Del Taco and there was a line. The van in front of me took forever to order and then their order took forever to make. They got six cokes, three coffee drinks and three bags of food! Guess somebody was hungry. Finally I got my food and headed to Bagels to meet my BDPers.

Because of my food pit-stop, I was not the first there and in a few minutes everyone was there. We loaded into Lisa and Denni's SUVs and headed off for our adventure. Most of the talk was about the weather and what were we getting ourselves into. As we drove by Frazier Park, it started to rain and then it snowed a bit. Fortunately once we went over the Tejon Pass, the precipitation disappeared for the day.

In Filmore, we made a pit-stop at the Starbucks and then we were on our way again. After some GPS meanderings through Oxnard, we finally made it to the race around 7:30am and parked on the PCH. The ocean was stormy but the skies were clear. When we got out of the car it was cold but I expected it to warm up by race start.

What was nice was the start and number pickup was right at the entrance of the park which was right off of PCH. So we grabbed our numbers and then went back to the cars to figure out what we would wear for the run. I think most of us guessed right and were glad the rain stayed away for the day.

By now it was time for the start so we headed back to the park and got ready for our first real trail run to begin. Everyone liked how laid back the start was and then we were off. We only got a little ways up the trail before we hit a traffic jam. There was at least 40 in front of us and they were not moving. I thought perhaps it was a creek crossing bit found out it was just a gully with a little mud.

The good thing is it let me catch my breathe and look at where we were headed and it looked all up hill. The first miles were the most technical and the steepest too. I knew coming down this section was going to be tricky and going up was not a piece of cake either. I also saw the runners thinning out in a line and headed to a very tall peak and knew this was going to be a long climb.

By this time most of my BDPers were out of sight and I would not see them again till the finish. Lisa was ahead of me and Diana was right behind him. It was easy to keep track of Lisa because of her hair that was the only color out there besides the orange trail ribbons. The trail was single track for the most part and only muddy in spots.

Which was good, because we needed all the traction we could get since all we were doing was climbing. After a number of miles we reached the top and were treated to a great view of the coast line and a flat/slightly downhill trail too. So after doing mile one in 17:53, mile two in 16:47 and mile 3 in 18:44, I finally got to run more than I walked. Miles 4,5, and 6 were done in 12:50,13:43 and 13:44.

Miles 5 and 6 were through a large grass meadow which reminded me of Jurassic Park and I kept looking for dinosaurs. By now Diana had caught me and was leading the way. We were both trying to catch Lisa but I knew soon we would lose sight of her when we hit the technical downhill section that we had earlier climbed up.

I stayed with Diana for a while in this section but then she told me to go ahead so I did. Here is where I had wished I had wore my trail shoes because the rocks hurt me feet and I kicked quite a few too. Plus now it started to feel warm out and I wished I had worn my camelbak. I always train with it but at races, I like the light feeling I get by not wearing it. Usually I can get by carrying a bottle and refilling it at aid stations but here the aid stations were 6 to 7 miles apart.

Plus i was trying to take pictures and having a camera in one hand and a bottle in the other was not a good idea. I almost fell a couple times but managed to stay on my feet. I was alone during this section and mile 7 was done in 15:23. But at least I was at the aid station. They had all sorts of food but I just refilled my bottle and took off.

Over the summer I have been listening to the Trail Slammer pod casts and he warned about lingering to long at aid stations so I heeded his advice. He ran one ultra that had chip timing at the aid stations and was amazed to find out how much time he stayed at aid stations during an ultra. his pod cast is where I heard about ultras being eating contests btw.

Now the course was going on the second longer loop (11 miles or so) and we would get to do two more 1200 foot climbs. As I head up the first climb, I could see Lisa with a group of runners and set off to catch them. This was made more difficult by the steady stream of faster runners coming done the single track as I was trying to go up. About half way up I caught up with her and then pressed on because I can not run downhill very fast.

I have the technique down but my size limits how fast I can go. I am like a Mack truck going down the Grapevine and I could easily be a runaway train if I do not brake myself. I did miles 8, 9, 10 and 11 in 16:38,17:17.17:11 and 17:11 and passed about 8 runners going up. The views on this single track were spectacular and at the top, one could see where we were going.

Here the single track became a fire road that was pretty steep but runnable. Unfortunately everyone I passed could run down it a lot faster than I could and they all passed me on the way down to the second aid station. Miles 11, 12 and 13 were run in 15:21, 13:21 and 11:57 and I was glad when we hit the flat road to the aid station where I caught up with Lisa and her friend.

We walked to the aid station where we were glad that we could refill our depleted bottles. There was plenty to eat too but I just grabbed a couple handfuls of salty stuff and took off. Lisa and the others looked like they were planning on staying a little longer but I knew I needed to get going.

As I headed up the road, I heard some shrieking and turned around and saw Lisa and her friend dancing away from something. I was hoping it was not a snake and later I found out it was a large spider. Soon after their encounter with a beast, I started up the beast on the course. We headed up fire trail to fire road and it was steep. I caught a couple people going up and felt good even though it was hard.

All the hiking at altitude this past summer made this course a lot easier. The trails were steep but having air to breathe is a big bonus. So once we got back on the fire road, I was able to increase my pace and catch a couple more runners. I needed to push the uphill because I knew I was going to get caught by many going back downhill to the finish.

too be continued ...

2010 BTC Summer Series 6.0

BTC Summer Series 6.0

2010 Final Points Standings HERE.
Summer Series 6.0 Results HERE.
Best Scratch Times HERE.
Summer Series 6.0 Photos HERE.

‎Bakersfield Distance Project Blanca Anderson wins the Points Race, Cesar Mireles was the fastest male (16:25) and Arianna Celis was the fastest female (18:52).


Final Standings for Runners Scoring in 3 Races

1 Blanca Anderson 101 37 7 15 283 59
2 Mike Holmes 157 33 23 49 266 105
3 Jessica Lopez 193 52 139 43 20 115
4 Roslyn Vasquez 16 120 70 35 121
5 Sharise Moreland 25 47 53 125
6 Carla Tafoya 215 242 22 7 105 134
7 Veasna Sok 76 38 25 235 76 139
8 Scott Faulkenburg 13 71 58 142
9 John Banales 15 94 38 163 147
10 Lori Christian 57 23 78 158
11 Greg Tesch 9 125 29 163
12 Juliet Scrivano 62 81 29 127 172
13 Barbara Maddox 18 158 80 76 158 174
14 Ashley Foster 28 109 37 203 174
15 Amie Birks 67 8 101 176
16 Sidney Hessler 44 108 33 185
17 Melissa Banal Hoyt 80 55 63 71 189
18 Eddie Gonzalez 51 89 56 130 196
19 Jane Cherry 35 116 46 197
20 Donovan Gabriel 85 173 44 77 294 206


BTC Handicap Series ---- Race No. 6

1 Jamy Garcia -26:07 21:40.3 47:47.3 -17:47
2 Troy Kelly -2:09 24:59.2 27:08.2 2:52
3 Justin Garibay -4:06 26:25.7 30:31.7 -0:32
4 Lupe Chavez -1:14 26:58.4 28:12.4 1:48
5 Maria Luna -12:11 27:07.0 39:18.0 -9:18
6 Kathy Torres 1:39 27:08.3 25:29.4 4:31
7 Juana Escobedo -19:30 27:09.0 46:39.0 -16:39
8 Veronica Garcia 0:49 27:10.0 26:21.0 3:39
9 Alana Kirkley -8:45 27:14.3 35:59.3 -5:59
10 Claudia Ponce -6:47 27:21.2 34:08.2 -4:08
11 Roxane Chavez -6:48 27:21.7 34:09.7 -4:10
12 Blake Haley 2:33 27:30.8 24:57.8 5:02
13 Haley Gilbert -11:14 27:30.9 38:44.9 -8:45
14 Kimberly Brower -9:16 27:40.0 36:56.0 -6:56
15 Traci Hicks -17:02 27:43.9 44:45.9 -14:46
16 Mike Mayo 0:23 27:48.3 27:25.3 2:35
17 Bryan Calvo 7:21 27:52.4 20:31.4 9:29
18 Jovita Melero -19:15 27:54.3 47:09.3 -17:09
19 Jennifer Smith -9:24 28:01.5 37:25.5 -7:26
20 Jessica Lopez -6:10 28:07.2 34:17.2 -4:17
21 Lizzie Burciaga -6:22 28:15.0 34:37.0 -4:37
22 Susanne Campbell -10:54 28:16.6 39:10.6 -9:11
23 Daisy Ramos 0:04 28:20.2 28:16.2 1:44
24 Brian Nelson 8:36 28:20.8 19:44.8 10:15
25 Mark Thoennes 7:09 28:22.2 21:13.2 8:47
26 Jim Kirkley -8:32 28:25.1 36:57.1 -6:57
27 Samantha Gonzalez -1:13 28:28.4 29:41.4 0:19
28 Allison Roberts -12:19 28:28.7 40:47.7 -10:48
29 John Haley 1:51 28:29.04 26:38.0 3:22
Heather Ramos -11:33 28:29.04 40:02.0 -10:02
31 Mike Christian 2:09 28:29.9 26:20.9 3:39
32 Rileigh Hutchins -9:06 28:32.9 37:38.9 -7:39
33 Sidney Hessler -9:50 28:36.0 38:26.0 -8:26
34 Matthew Ames -0:18 28:46.57 29:04.6 0:55
35 Roslyn Vasquez -3:40 28:46.58 32:26.6 -2:27
36 Joseph Hutchins 3:10 28:48.1 25:38.1 4:22
37 Luis Mireles 10:52 28:50.1 17:58.1 12:02
38 Alex Barajas 2:33 28:50.7 26:17.7 3:42
39 Visente Simental -3:01 28:52.1 31:53.1 -1:53
40 Lindsee Handel 3:06 28:52.2 25:46.2 4:14
41 Ryan Underwood 3:36 28:53.0 25:17.0 4:43
42 Louise Trevino -18:02 28:53.31 46:55.3 -16:55
43 Yasmine Felipe 6:25 28:53.35 22:28.4 7:32
44 Sonia Holguin 6:24 28:53.7 22:29.7 7:30
45 Sheree Skelly -10:09 28:54.08 39:03.1 -9:03
46 Jane Cherry 0:34 28:54.11 28:20.1 1:40
47 Ken Berckes 4:20 28:55.2 24:35.2 5:25
48 Kerry Macaulay -2:17 28:57.1 31:14.1 -1:14
49 Blayne Poon -7:04 28:59.2 36:03.2 -6:03
50 David Eggers 0:24 28:59.5 28:35.5 1:24

NEW RUNNERS ESTABLISHING HCP

Andrew Ariey 15:00 31:29.5 16:29.5
Galvin Gonzalez 15:00 31:50.6 16:50.6
Alvaro Amaya 15:00 35:12.5 20:12.5
Edgar Verdugo 15:00 35:21.9 20:21.9
Ismael Molina 15:00 35:50.8 20:50.8
Tommy Valles 15:00 35:56.8 20:56.8
Cesar Espinza 15:00 36:17.3 21:17.3
Natalie Fernandez 15:00 37:17.4 22:17.4
Jonatan Lopez 15:00 37:37.9 22:38.0
Clarissa Rivera 15:00 38:15.7 23:15.7
Jorey Braughlon 15:00 38:16.7 23:16.7
Augustin Duenas 15:00 38:49.3 23:49.3 J
Dianitza Diaz 15:00 39:09.1 24:09.1
Thomas Valles 15:00 39:15.6 24:15.6
Ruben Duenas 15:00 39:27.8 24:27.8
Wesley Welz 15:00 39:59.9 24:59.9
Caesar Castillo 15:00 40:02.6 25:02.6
Carina Perezchica 15:00 40:04.4 25:04.4
Salvador Bormejo 15:00 40:18.7 25:18.7
Eric Isidoro 15:00 40:32.3 25:32.3
Elena Molina 15:00 40:33.8 25:33.8
Brandon Stevens 15:00 41:21.0 26:21.0

Best Scratch Times

1 Cesar Mireles 16:25.0 20 79.03%
2 Andrew Ariey 16:29.5 19 78.67%
3 Eddie Lee 16:37.6 23 78.03%
4 David Bacus 16:44.0 25 77.53%
5 Cameron Miller 16:50.0 16 79.09%
6 Galvin Gonzalez 16:50.6 32 77.02%
7 Robby Baker 16:55.0 18 77.13%
8 Jesus Villalpardo 16:55.9 17 77.76%
9 Jose (CSUB) Lopez 17:11.0 22 75.50%
10 Juan Calderon 17:15.2 18 75.63%
11 Ryan Lucker 17:19.7 23 74.87%
12 Oscar Fuentes 17:24.4 20 74.53%
13 Zach Holt 17:28.0 18 74.70%
14 Craig Varner 17:42.0 18 73.72%
15 Blake Haney 17:43.8 14 77.32%
16 Nick Cramer 17:44.0 25 73.16%
17 Jason Lewis 17:51.0 24 72.68%
18 Carlos Cabanillas 17:52.0 26 72.61%
19 Alex Garcia 17:56.0 18 72.76%
20 Brant Jones 17:56.6 20 72.30%
21 Roberto Quintero 17:58.0 19 72.21%
22 Luis Mireles 17:58.1 16 74.09%
23 Conner Fisher 18:08.8 15 74.35%
24 Jaime Bravo 18:09.0 21 71.48%
25 Raul Carillo 18:20.4 17 71.79%
26 Oswaldo Velasquez 18:21.0 24 70.70%
27 Steve Dirkse 18:24.7 40 73.21%
28 Troy Mullen 18:25.9 17 71.44%
29 Abran Ayon 18:27.0 14 74.30%
30 Efrain Cornejo 18:29.9 21 70.13%
31 Alvaro Gonzalez 18:37.0 13 75.04%
32 Tobias Lopez 18:40.5 17 70.50%
33 John Purcell 18:43.0 19 69.31%
34 Eric Millan 18:43.5 16 71.10%
35 Brian Solis 18:43.9 18 69.66%
36 Alex M. Gonzales 18:51.0 18 69.22% Je
37 Santiago Lazarit 18:56.0 18 68.92%
38 Evan Bowman 18:58.0 15 71.13%
39 Francisco Mosqueda 18:59.0 15 71.07%

1 Ariana Celis 18:52.9 20 76.24%
2 Casey Glassey 18:53.5 20 76.20%
3 Cecilia Lopez 20:22.2 18 70.93%
4 Melisa Cruz 20:29.1 19 70.18%
5 Shawna Roundtree 20:46.0 28 69.32%
6 Lina Nunez 20:46.5 22 69.29%
7 Ashley Thomas 21:00.0 20 68.55%
8 Pam Boyles 21:14.0 45 74.23%
9 Monica Guzman 21:18.0 17 68.28%
10 Johanna Montes 21:22.1 21 67.37%
11 Erica Silva 21:39.2 24 66.48%
12 Ashley Nolasco 21:49.0 19 65.90%
13 Judith Mata 21:53.0 21 65.78%
14 Esthefani Perez 21:56.0 15 67.64%
15 Andie Condie 22:00.0 13 69.67%
16 Carli Preston 22:15.0 15 66.68%
17 Natalie Fernandez 22:17.4 0 0.00%
18 Amanda Pitts 22:22.0 28 64.36%
19 Lori O'Lin 22:23.0 33 64.31%
20 Yasmine Felipe 22:28.4 13 68.21%
21 Sonia Holguin 22:29.7 12 69.73%
22 Sarah Baker 22:37.0 0 0.00%
23 Corina Garcia 22:38.0 16 64.82%
24 Caroline Haney 22:51.0 17 63.65%
25 Tijerra Lynch 22:55.0 17 63.46%
26 Casey Holman 22:55.0 28 62.81%
27 Nicole Rivera 23:01.0 22 62.54%
28 Samantha Ortiz 23:11.0 13 66.12%
29 Loshay Morgan 23:22.0 16 62.78%
30 Paige Cook 23:34.0 28 61.08%
31 Jennifer Ramirez 23:38.2 14 63.68%
32 Moriah Millwee 23:41.0 15 62.65%
33 Lesli Bocanegra 23:47.0 12 65.95%
34 Ana Nunez 23:51.5 16 61.49%
35 Kaylee Moyer 23:52.0 16 61.47%
36 Jessica Campbell 23:52.9 0 0.00%
37 Britany Perez 23:54.0 15 62.08%
38 Megan Thompson 24:02.0 18 60.12%
39 Dianitza Diaz 24:09.1 0 0.00%
40 Therese Coyes 24:13.3 31 59.43%

Mount Whitney 2 Andy Noise 0

In 2009, I got 2/3rds of the way up the 99 switchbacks and swore I would not try to hike Mount Whitney in one day ever again. I wrote the following blog right after that experience. At the time I felt it was the hardest thing I had ever done but 2010 was Hors Catégorie which means "beyond categorization".

In 2009, I went about 8 miles up and reached over 13,000 feet. This year I hiked the entire 99 switchbacks and reached Trail Crest and entered the Sequoia National Park. (13,777 feet). The view was amazing and worth the effort to get there. But then things got serious then.

How I got to Trail Crest started almost a year ago after I got over my first attempt and decided if I trained harder I might be able to summit in one day. Since that day, almost every workout I did had Whitney as it's focus. I tried to walk every where no matter the conditions or how tired I was. I would tell myself that Whitney would be harder and just kept going.

Knowing I was very weak in other areas, I started attending Joe Petersen's Building Better Bodies Boot Camp as often as I could. I know it helped me with my agility and strengthen my core which would help on the downhill sections. Last year before Whitney, I started the Bakersfield Distance Project with Joe and this helped me put in even more miles and got me back into doing marathons.

Often I would walk to our long runs at the Bluffs, do the workout and then walk home. I would leave my house before 6am and not get back till 1pm. Then walk that evening too. I logged at least 70 miles a week and did over 100 miles in a week three times. I walked in all kinds of weather and often when I was exhausted. I remember doing a 22 miler with the BDP and then eating lunch and then taking Blanca for a 4 mile walk.

Just this year I did the 26.6 mile BUMR, the LA Marathon, San Diego Marathon and the San Francisco Marathon. Plus I walked 50 miles at the Relay for Life. So I had the endurance but I knew the steep rocky trails would get me in the end. Because of my size the steep stuff slows me down a lot.

I am like one of those semi-trucks going up the Grapevine. I can haul on the flat or moderately hilly stuff but steep is just a matter of physics. The old F=MA rules the day. Force equals Mass times Acceleration or in this case, Acceleration equals Force divided by Mass. Which means you need a lot of Force to overcome the Mass to get any Acceleration. This is why a sports car can fly up the Grapevine and the Mack truck goes so slow.

This slowness also comes into play going downhill too. Just like the Grapevine, the big trucks are forced to hit the brakes hard so they don't runaway. Again F=MA rules the day and it takes a lot of energy to safely go down the treacherous rocky trails of Whitney. Size also makes it hard to move quickly and makes the descent even more dangerous. You can not go jumping from uneven step to uneven rock as nimbly as one's lighter counterparts.

Now slowness is not an issue in most endurance events except when there are artificial time limits. At Whitney there are real and artificial time limits. The real ones are the afternoon storms and darkness. The artificial one is the 24 hour permit. Now I know I could do Whitney in a two or three day backpacking and may do that in the future but for now I want to do it in one day.

So I put in the training but had little hiking training mainly do to my schedule and not liking to travel. To make up for the lack of trails, I tried to hit the trails at the Panorama Bluffs a couple times a week. Though the trails at Whitney are much rockier, steeper and longer, at least I got some kind of trail work in.

Also a month ago Diana and I wogged a 24 miler on Sunday and then did the 16 mile Half Dome hike on Monday. This was a tough double and some of the Half Dome ascents and descents are similar to Whitney. So when Jeri contacted me last Monday that she had an extra permit, I was ready to go. Or so I thought.

On Tuesday, I decided to shoot the BTC Summer Series 5.0 and then walk home. I had planned this before I got a permit but still decided to do it to test out my headlamp and get one hard workout before Whitney. That morning, I coached run camp and then did my Yokuts & Bagels walk for about 12 miles. That night I ended up doing 13 plus miles in the dark and it felt pretty easy. So I knew I was fit and I decided to take it easy the rest of the week.

My 2010 Whitney experience started when I woke up at 6am Saturday for run camp at the Bluffs. On schedule was a Double Hilla Killa which usually I would do after I walked there and I would have walked home after it. But on Saturday, I only did one Killa Hilla because i was heading to Whitney that afternoon. The workout went great and everyone really killed the course. Blanca even did the whole thing with me (her first).

Then, I took her and Nicholas (he did the one Killa Hilla) to Zorbas for breakfast. Now it was about noon and I was antsy to get going so I packed off and headed to Whitney Portal around 1pm to meet Jeri and pick up my permit. I should have done what I planned to do and took a nap till 3 or 4pm and then drove to Whitney but I was not tired and just wanted to get going.

The drive to Whitney is a dull one but I do like driving by Red Rock Canyon and at least there was light traffic and I made good time. It is amazing how the only stations that come in loud and clear out there are either religious or spanish.

Around 4pm, I made it to Lone Pine and the place was busy. Every hotel was full and the streets were bustling. i stopped for a quick bite to eat and then I headed up to Whitney Portal to find Jeri who had our hiking permits. As luck would have it i found her rather easily and we spent some time talking about what our plans were for Mount Whitney.

She was planning on leaving around 3am and hoped to complete the first couple miles in the dark and get to the first difficult section at dawn. This is what my group did last year and it is a good plan of attack because the first miles are pretty easy to do with a headlamp and you have company along the way. Leaving this early should give you time to summit and get back down before it gets dark again. Which we did last year except we turned around at the 8 mile point of the 11 mile hike and got to the cars before dark.

Knowing that I go slow up the steep stuff, I had a plan of leaving at midnight so I would not have to descend in the dark if I made the summit. Going uphill in dark is not so bad even if the footing is bad. So I figured I could go slow and bank some distance up the hill. This meant walking in the dark for 5 hours by myself but I figured it was doable.

In the past, I have proven to myself that I can stay up for a couple days and still function pretty well. The year before I was up for 40 hours straight when I did Whitney and this year I walked the entire 24 hour Relay for Life and felt find with no sleep (I covered 50 miles). Plus I figured I could take a quick nap at trail camp if needed.

6.3 miles: Trail Camp, a good place to rest before the grueling 96 switchbacks to Trail Crest. (12,039 feet)

So midnight was the plan but before I left home, I read a posting about starting the climb even earlier. One can hike the first 2.7 miles to the Lone Pine Lake trail crossing without a permit and so one could start earlier.

2.7 miles: Cross Lone Pine Creek. Shortly after crossing, trail forks to Lone Pine Lake on left, right continues towards summit. (9,980 feet)

You just needed a permit to enter the Whitney zone and the day permit is valid at midnight. So you could hike to this point and wait for midnight. I figured it would take me two hours to get to that point and decided to leave at 10pm.

While this strategy would give me the best shot at making the summit, it could also get me in trouble. Sure I would get up higher before I needed to turn around to avoid the afternoon storms but it meant my day would be even longer than normal. More time on my feet, more time at altitude and more time out on the mountain. This meant more time for something to go wrong.

In retrospect, one should probably leave at 3am at the earliest and just go as high as you can. If it means not getting to top in a day, that just means you need to make it a backpacking trip. But since I do not like camping and with my size adding at backpack into the mix means hauling over 300 pounds up the hill which is impossible with the terrain up there.

But I had sealed my fate and decided to go at 10pm (I told everyone beforehand I was going at midnight.) So I went back to Lone Pine, ate some dinner and waited to start my ascent. At 10pm, I left my car (never did fall asleep) and started walking towards the trailhead. As I neared I noticed a truck stop in the middle of the road and four of five headlamps too. Then they all shouted at me "There is a bear to your right!".

Not what you want to hear before you have not even started. Of course my feelings on bears are the same as sharks. If you want to surf it is their home, if you want to hike it is their home. I try not to do anything to dumb and hope for the best. If either wants to attack me they can and there is not much I can do to stop them except not entire their homes. If they do attack I will fight but when I am in their homes I just do not worry about them.

So I just looked over and did not see anybody and walked past the other headlamps and started my hike. The weather was perfect and the first miles of the travel are fairly easy. I crossed a small creek and then the larger one with the logs. Occasionally, a group passed me going downhill but no one was going up. Most asked me how far they had to go and most looked beat. I should have looked at their faces and turned around with them and went home but I just kept going.

Before I got to the Whitney zone, I heard something moving in the woods above me. Now that I was pass the streams it was super quiet so I could hear everything. At first I did not want to see what was there but as I rounded a switchback I flashed my headlamp into the darkness and to my great pleasure, all I saw was a doe. Finally I crossed the last stream and made it to the Whitney zone at midnight which was when my permit was valid.

2.7 miles: Cross Lone Pine Creek. Shortly after crossing, trail forks to Lone Pine Lake on left, right continues towards summit. (9,980 feet)

Now I had to begin the first difficult section which unlike the first section is much steeper and rockier. In the dark, this section was slow going and this would become an issue as the night progressed. Spending so much time up high will eventually bite you.

After a mile, I reached Outpost Camp and could see a few tents and wished I was in one trying to sleep instead of wandering around in the dark by myself.

3.8 miles: Outpost Camp with Thor Peak dominating the view. (10,360 feet)


too be continued ...

2010 Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon

2010 Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon

Race Website HERE.
2010 Relay Results HERE.
2010 Individual Results HERE.

Bakersfield Distance Projecter Denni Jorgensen and her teammate, Laura Amason (photo) came in 8th out of 59 female teams.

Below are the individual Bakersfield finishers,

659 Jeff Aguilar Bakersfield CA 40-44 Male 41 M 1:57:50.8 1:58:26.2 518 291 48 52:33 1:05:16 8:59
543 Andy Anzaldo Bakersfield CA 30-34 Male 34 M 2:11:35.3 2:12:05.1 1019 430 80 58:24 1:13:10 10:02
544 Rochelle Anzaldo Bakersfield CA 35-39 Female 35 F 2:11:34.3 2:12:04.9 1018 589 96 58:23 1:13:10 10:02
554 Adam Arriola Bakersfield CA 25-29 Male 25 M 2:00:44.8 2:02:05.9 625 327 67 52:08 1:08:35 9:13
566 Jessica Ayler Bakersfield CA 21-24 Female 23 F 2:26:00.7 2:26:59.7 1414 898 80 1:02:29 1:23:30 11:08
604 Wayne Bedford Bakersfield CA 30-34 Male 33 M 1:58:12.5 1:58:29.4 525 295 61 55:27 1:02:45 9:01
660 Melissa Boyd Bakersfield CA 30-34 Female 34 F 2:06:50.1 2:08:18.5 842 455 121 1:00:59 1:05:50 9:41
757 Andria Carlson Bakersfield CA 21-24 Female 23 F 2:00:44.3 2:02:05.8 624 298 38 52:08 1:08:35 9:13
786 David Chapin Bakersfield CA 25-29 Male 28 M 2:56:22.1 2:58:25.4 1878 611 107 1:03:09 1:53:12 13:27
815 Jason Cipriano Bakersfield CA 25-29 Male 27 M 1:59:33.4 2:00:23.1 584 313 64 53:06 1:06:27 9:07
816 Sara Cipriano Bakersfield CA 21-24 Female 24 F 2:26:39.9 2:27:29.9 1426 908 81 58:31 1:28:08 11:11
903 Virginia Dao Bakersfield CA 35-39 Female 36 F 2:02:51.1 2:04:26.5 709 357 59 55:45 1:07:06 9:22
1171 Corrine Gann Bakersfield CA 30-34 Female 30 F 2:30:27.1 2:31:49.1 1515 974 223 1:01:09 1:29:17 11:29
1221 Joseph Gonzales Bakersfield CA 1-20 Male 20 M 2:03:30.4 2:04:52.4 733 361 9 52:44 1:10:45 9:25
180 Lane Gray Bakersfield CA 21-24 Female 24 F 2:22:28.9 2:24:55.3 1316 820 74 1:03:37 1:18:51 10:52
1265 Cameron Guinn Bakersfield CA 21-24 Male 24 M 2:36:26.8 2:37:27.3 1628 565 25 1:08:22 1:28:04 11:56
2932 Doug Harkins Bakersfield CA 45-49 Male 48 M 3:19:16.6 3:21:40.5 2016 637 64 1:16:05 2:03:11 15:12
1385 Chelsea Hopkins Bakersfield CA 25-29 Female 26 F 2:35:50.1 2:38:00.9 1617 1056 209 1:06:56 1:28:53 11:53
1387 John Hopkins Bakersfield CA 25-29 Male 26 M 2:39:03.6 2:41:13.4 1670 570 103 1:06:58 1:32:05 12:08
1623 Teresa Lastrico Bakersfield CA 30-34 Female 32 F 2:25:36.0 2:26:40.8 1401 888 204 58:40 1:26:55 11:06
1759 Crystal Martin Bakersfield CA 35-39 Female 36 F 2:05:42.6 2:07:04.1 807 428 69 56:39 1:09:02 9:35
1804 Pete McKenzie Bakersfield CA 40-44 Male 40 M 2:30:52.7 2:32:49.2 1523 542 76 1:07:30 1:23:21 11:31
1805 Sophia McKenzie Bakersfield CA 40-44 Female 42 F 2:30:53.0 2:32:49.1 1524 982 123 1:07:31 1:23:21 11:31
1836 Jaime Michaelson Bakersfield CA 30-34 Female 31 F 2:08:16.4 2:11:04.5 898 499 127 57:57 1:10:18 9:47
1837 Scott Michaelson Bakersfield CA 30-34 Male 32 M 2:08:16.5 2:11:04.5 899 400 76