Twin Peaks Recap

Posted on October 14, 2011 by socalrunnergirl

Another year, another epic race. Twin Peaks promises to bring a tough, beautiful and fun course. This year it did not disappoint!

My morning started early with a 4:45AM arrival at race HQ. Runners were already starting to gather for the 5:30AM early start. When I hopped out to move the supply truck, I was greeted by a field producer (Lauren Gaffney) from HBO Sports. She and her crew were there to film Catra Corbett as part of a special on extreme sports (set to air on October 18th). My amazing group of volunteers quickly got things rolling and the 5:30AM start came up fast. I was surprised that it was not freezing in the morning. The previous week had been cooler but things were starting to heat up. Jackets were barely needed (though the heat lamps did feel good!) and it was sure to be a sign of a warm day out on the mountain.

It was still a bit dark when I gave instructions to the early starters. Thankfully, the HBO crew had a large spotlight that lit up the starting line. Maybe they can show up to the start of all my races?? The runners were off into the darkness and it wasn’t long before the sun started to rise and the 7AM starters were mingling about. I saw many old friends and some new ones. One of the best part about ultras isn’t it?

I was surprised there only ended up being 84 starters (out of about 130 registered) but part of that was due to the weather related date change. Once the second group of runners was off it was time to set up base camp (a task which would have required a 3AM arrival if we did it before runners arrived. No thanks! :) I fired up my live runner tracking app and started to get data in from radio control. It was rather interesting to watch the race unfold. In the men’s race, early leaders were Dean Dobberteen, Edgar Igor Campos and Ron Gutierrez. They were also first to the top of Santiago Peak at mile 22. Dean had already opened up a 24 minutes lead by this early point in the race. Tiffany Guerra and Vanessa Jones battled it out early in the race but Tiffany opened up a 23 minute lead by mile 22. Those leads become 37 and 45 minutes as the runners bombed back down the mountain to the Holy Jim aid station at mile 30.

Mile 30-34 were the most difficult part of the race for almost every runner. Specially, miles 32.4-34.0 were runners climb a short distance and gain about 2000′ of elevation while the afternon sun starts bearing down on them with a vengeance. On a warm day, as single climb up West Horsthief is enough for most runners, but these runners were doing this during the second half of the race and it was their 3rd or 4th climb (depending on how you measure it). Lauren (a pacer) described her experience going down Horsethief: “The descent down Horsethief was surreal. I’ve never been in a war zone. But this trail seemed so much like a path of the walking wounded, like I was making my way to the battlefield past these runners who were struggling on to safety.” West Horsethief didn’t even spare lead runner Dean. It took it’s toll and by the time he and Ron reach Santiago Peak (mile 42) the second time, there was only a 7 minute gap.

Twin Peaks offers the chance for runners to drop down to a 50K option during the race. They must make the decision at mile 25 and they don’t get any official placement or awards. They DO get credit for finishing a 50K. The early stream of runners coming down the mountain to the finish line all took this option. In fact, 26 of the 84 runners opted for the 50K option. They were just happy to be done!

Dean Dobberteen, who had led the race since mile 10, came coasting into the finish with a time of 9:59. He became just the 4th person in 3 years to break the 10 hour barrier on this difficult course. Tiffany Guerra led the women’s race from start to finish and racked up a time of 12:18. They both earned $250 for their accomplishments.

The carnage was evident with a 52% finish rate. This is not a race to be taken lightly! The website hosting the live runcast also crashed though I suppose that wasn’t the mountains’ fault :) 26 runners opted for the 50K and 14 runners dropped altogether. Most of the dropped runners promised to come back and run the race again. They all seemed to enjoy their experience despite the pain and suffering! Several people had told me the views were absolutely amazing and possibly one of the clearest days they had ever seen up there.

What a beautiful day for an amazing race!

See you next year.

Happy Running & Dirty Feet,
Jessica

Results With Splits
Results Summary

Pictures:
Janine’s Awesome Pics
Mieko
George
Christine
Greg (Pictures in those post belong to Greg Hardesty!)
Mark

Lauren’s Pacer Report
Steve Rose Race Report

Categories: Races & Reports, Twin Peaks | 1 Comment

Harding Hustle Recap

Posted on July 17, 2011 by socalrunnergirl

The Harding Hustle started as a 30k race in 2010 since I realized there isn’t a lot of medium distance trail races close in to Orange County (most are ultra long, ultra short, or too far away).  In 2011 I decided to drop the 50k (officially – it still exists as a fallback) from Twin Peaks and add it to the Harding Hustle.  My first time race directing was the Twin Peaks Ultra in 2007 that started and ended in the same place as the Harding Hustle.  In fact, the 50k race is nearly the same except I like to have my named used in vain along the course so I added a second trip up the rocky Modjeska Peak.  Actually, the 50k was nearly 2 miles short in 2007 so the added trip up made it just over 31 miles.

So here we are in 2011 and my 3AM wakeup call so I (along with Christina, Tee & Martha) could get to the start by 430AM.  Shortly after we arrived at the race, Robert Baird quipped – “tell me why it is again you do these things?”  To which I said – “I always ask myself that right about now.  Ask me again in a couple hours.”

Under the cover of darkness (and rapidly rising sun), a very small group of early starters left for their 50k effort, followed at 6AM by the rest of the 45 starters.

Due to a bus getting lost and missing a runner pickup, I decided to start the 30k in two waves at 715am and 730am (61 runners total).  I really wanted to start them all together but the 715am group had been waiting for some time,  so I wanted to get them on the trail while I could.   Shortly thereafter, I found out that the first two 50k runners, Jon Clark & Jesse Haynes had already reached the first radio checkpoint – 9.1 miles into the race – a couple minutes before the 2nd wave 30k start.  They were certainly tearing up the trail with lead 50k runner Michelle Barton not far behind and the thermometer heading up to around 90 degrees.

The day, and the race were certainly heating up.  Last year’s 30k overall winner, Gilbert Salazar was running with a handful of other super fast hopefuls.   The top 5 30k runners at the top of Harding Truck Trail were within 10 minute of each other – who was going to be the better downhill runner?  Turns out, Timothy Roberts who was first to the top of Harding and took home the 30k overall win with a new course record of 2:10:03.  He ran blazing 8.5 minute miles uphill (with 4000’ of elevation gain!) and just under 6 minute miles going back down.

The women’s 30k race was won by Wendy Marshall who was a last minute entry with a time of  2:49:52.  It was pretty exciting to not only see the speedsters but also those who were running their first trail race or first race of this distance.  Running up and down Harding Truck Trail is no simple task, and everyone who ran this (100% completion rate) is just plain awesome.  I heard some of the runners were talked into this race by friends, not knowing what they were getting themselves into.

It wasn’t long before I heard “first runner in through Maple2”.  I checked my watch, realized the lead 50k runner, Jesse Haynes, was at mile 22 in just over 3 hours.  Keep in mind there is almost 7000’ of elevation gain over the first 15 miles!  Jesse would go on to win with a time that will be hard to beat at 4:06:47 and Jon Clark finishing his first ultra with a very respectable 4:25:29 in second place.  Michelle Barton lead the female race from beginning to end as she was too busy chicking all but the top 2 guys in 4:36:52 and besting the second place female by over an hour.

It was quite a fantastic day by all accounts and the end result makes me proud of the work I put into the race as well as the work from all the super awesome volunteers.  Next year’s Hustle will tentatively take place on July 7th, 2012.  Hope to see you there!

Check out some pictures here, here and here.
Happy Running & Dirty Feet,

Jessica

Categories: Harding Hustle, Races & Reports | 3 Comments

Hoka OneOne Mafate Review

Posted on June 29, 2011 by socalrunnergirl

Clown shoes.   That’s what some people call them.  Gimmicks.  Fad.  Whatever you want to call them, Hoka shoes seem to be here to stay.  Karl Meltzer wore them for his entire run on the Pony Express trail.  Catra wears them and runs hundreds of miles per month in them.  They are making the rounds for sure.  When I first heard about them I was too busy being sucked into the barefoot running rush to notice, and I dismissed them off as a fad.  Then I got injured.  I partially blame my toe problems to running in minimal footwear.  I did all things right by easing into them very gradually – first walking around in them a lot them running low miles and ramping up.  But something happened to my big toe.  My Doctor told me to wear more cushion and get shoes that don’t flex too much in the forefoot.  What was I to do now?  Enter the Hokas.

I didn’t want to buy them at first, mostly due to the spendy price tag.  They are also not readily available (yet) in the United States.  So, you have to spend a lot of money on shoes you can’t even try on first.  I did a lot of research and couldn’t find one person who bought them and didn’t like them.  It was pretty much love at first site for anyone who had them.  So I bit the bullet and forked over my hard earned money for the Mafates (trail version).

You can see the box above and the shoes here:

They were immediately comfy when I first put them on.  I ordered them in my usual running shoe size and they actually seemed like they had a little too much room up front but I think they’ll be okay.  I’d order them true to size (at least the women’s version).  My first run was only 1 mile and they did take a little getting used to over that first mile.  The mechanics are a bit different than most running shoes, however that is mostly due to the cushiness.

Remember when playgrounds used to have sand?  Now they have that squishy surface that is supposed to be safer for kids.  I liken these shoes to walking around on that surface.  Some say these shoes are like riding a full suspension mountain bike vs. a hardtail (minimal footwear).  It may be a matter of preference to some and necessity to other.  If running in overly squishy shoes helps you run longer and more often then why not?  The same argument has been used for people who were plagued with injury and now run pain free barefoot.  The question I have for these shoes – is what effect do they have in the long run?  Are they weakening certain parts of your legs and feet?  Making others stronger?

My verdict is that they are awesome.  I have been running with no toe pain for about 4 runs now (2 miles each run).  They work well on pavement and dirt trail and they roll over small rocks like no ones business.  In fact, you won’t even notice many of the small rocks even if you go straight over them.  The shoes have a wider base which helps with stability and allows you to fly down technical hills with ease.  While the shoes seem taller, I don’t feel taller in them.  I think it’s because the foot sinks down into the cushy insole.  Aside from the wide base for stability and abundant cushioning, these shoes don’t flex much in the forefoot. Strange for a running shoe?  Perhaps.  But it’s just what the doctor ordered for me (literally).  In fact, these shoes seems to promote a more forefoot strike (like in minimal shoes) but instead of flexing off at the toes, it has more of a rolling or rocking effect as you go into your next stride.  The result seems to be a pretty smooth and efficient stride overall.  Consider me pleasantly surprised!

These shoes may not be for everyone but they are certainly pretty awesome and if you are looking for a change in your running footwear or have problems with your toes or not enough cushioning, then I would definitely give them a try!

Happy Running & Dirty Feet,
Jessica

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