Running Journey

Twin Peaks Course Poll

Opposition

 “Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.”
Orison Swett Marden quotes

“Don't be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with the wind.”
Hamilton Wright Mabie

Today I want to thank the people who have provided opposition for me in relation to Twin Peaks.  The opposition has only made me stronger and smarter and allows me to put on a better race each year.  Even though some of it has been ridiculous.  I do take pride in Twin Peaks and realize that the majority of the feedback has been positive.  The negative ones just tend to speak louder and are much more long winded.  None of the negative feedback came from anyone who's put together a race before.  It can be a very thankless job and is definitely a labor of love as any RD will tell you.  Why else would we spend hundreds of hours putting on an event knowing that at least a few people will complain when it's all said and done?

Do me a favor... Every race you run - if you liked it - tell the RD.  Send them an email.  Give them a call.  Thank them for their efforts.  If you didn't like it, try to be constructive in your feedback (they will listen to that and make changes) Every RD gets negative feedback and knowing that there are people who are enjoying our races is what keeps us coming back and putting on more.  We do it for the love of the sport and the smiles it puts on faces.  I've known RDs who've thrown in the towel or are considering doing that because of the criticism and enormous task putting on a race is every year.  So thank your RD - And volunteer at least once per year.  Rounding up volunteers is by far the hardest task RDs face and without volunteer support there would be no races.

Onward & Upward,
Jessica

Twin Peaks Race Reports

Here is a smattering of Twin Peaks 2008 race reports from people who were literally in the trenches.  Am I missing anyone?

Bob
Catra
Jeremy
Jeff
Rachael
Stuart

The 2009 50 Mile course is slightly different and very slightly easier.  The 100K course is new and possibly one time only.  The 2009 50k course will be the same as the 2008 50K course.  At this point I'm planning on the 2008 course for even years and the 2009 course for odd years, so you can run the race year after year and literally  not run the exact same race two years in a row.  Partially that will depend on how the 2009 course works out and when Harding Truck Trail reopens.  I'm also working on something else (more on that tomorrow).  If you are not running the 2009 race and want to help I'm starting to gather volunteers.  The more the merrier!  Per suggestions from other RDs, if I am short volunteers the day before the race, it will risk cancellation.  Better the runners are safe than put on a race with too few helpers.  So if you are running you have extra incentive to round up some volunteers :) 

Happy Running & Dirty Feet,
Jessica

Poll Day!

Please vote in these polls.  The more votes the better.  Thanks! :)

Twin Peaks Photographs

The official photos are posted!  Check them out.  The photographer captures everyone as they went through the Holy Jim Aid Station around mile 14.

Some samples:

Twin Peaks Pictures

Course Marking with Matt & Kyle

Check out this weather the day before the race!

Me & Virgil (our great Forest Ranger) at the start

Looking up the mountain in early morning

1st Place 50K Women - Keira & Michelle

Tracy Moore - First in the 50mile by nearly an hour

More pictures here

The Race that Almost Wasn't...

Just two days after Twin Peaks the Santa Ana Mountains saw snow.  Just 4 days later that snow was nearly 1 foot deep in places (according to local resident Steve Harvey).  It's pretty likely the race would have been canceled by the Forest Service if that had happened as no aid would have been possible for the runners.

Check out this OC Register article and especially that first picture in their slide show.  Amazing!!

Happy Running & Dirty (or snowy) feet,
Jessica

Twin Peaks Comments

Here is what people have been saying about Twin Peaks 2008:

• Not much you can do when a surprise storm shows up.  All things considered, you and your Team did an awesome job!!!   Thank you very, very much for all of your hard work to plan, organize and execute such a great event!!!
• I was a bit surprised to find the Upper HJ aid station leaving when I went thru there the third time, but I'm not sure it was really needed - unless for the safety of hypothermic runners.
• You and your volunteers deserve a medal for actions beyond the call of duty for taking care of us in lousy conditions.  Like I said in my earlier email, the aid stations on the Divide Trail and especially the top of Santiago (thx, Xy and JoAnn!) were the best.  As the Forest Service officer said when he passed me when I was going up Santiago the second time, "All of you are crazy!".  Thanks again for letting/helping us be crazy.
• THanks alot for a fun day out! You can't control the weather and I actually enjoyed the change of weather. We were warned about cold and rain but many took a gamble not to dress warm-can imagine it's hard to believe in ca. it can do that, but it obviously can!
• The aid stations were fine for those of us in the middle/back. Xy was at the top and I even got an offer to get in some bikers truck to warm up (politely refused). There were also a couple cars that went by to check on runners which was neat. shirts are great, very cool.  liked the small groups staggered starts and overlaps so we could see each other at various points.  potatoes a real good idea at stations. thanks again!
• The course was well marked, I never got lost, and the volunteers were terrific.  I had stashed my light at the first aid station on the way up, but someone picked it up.  Luckily an angel loaned me her light to get down the hill (in the rain), otherwise I would have been screwed. 
• You are awesome Jess! You can't control the weather conditions and I feel you did an amazing job, along with your volunteers, and made it well worth it!!
• Jessica, For my first race you left me a great impression of what this is all about and I really appreciate all your work and all volunteers work. Hopefully, I can return favor on your next event by volunteering my time.
• "Awesome job Jessica! This year's Twin Peak's was amazing again. It was a party out there! You have a way of bringing people together. A true gift! I love the finisher's necklace! Congratulations!"
• "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, it was a great race and you had some amazing volunteers out there who hung in there for us no matter what.  You should be proud and very happy.  Thank you for everything!"
• "Thank you so much for all of your effort into making your race amazing!!  That was one tough course!! I loved it!! Mother Nature was wreaking havoc at Santiago Peak!!  Great course markings, aid stations and I love the finishers necklace!!  Very clever!!!   Thanks for the incredible day Jess!!!!!!!"
• Jessia,THANK YOU again so much for loaning me your shoes! I really enjoyed my first 50k.  you sure know how to plan a race! I have so many awesome memories of the day!  I am thinking about signing up for twin peaks 2009, and if I do  OR don't my husband really enjoyed volunteering and will be happy to help again!
  Thanks again for everything your awesome!
• Jessica & Abbie: Oh my gosh what an adventure for everyone today.  Thanks for a great day.  What an adventure, I don't know what else to say- it was well organized, the runners were happy, it was just cold, windy and chilly which nobody could have done anything about!
• Thanks for a great race. The trails were very well marked and the course was beautiful. My only complaint was that there was no gels or salt tablets at the aid stations. Regardless, it was a good experience. Thanks.
• Thanks to you, Jessica, for putting the whole thing together again. I can only imagine what goes into planning such an event. Yea some of the aid stations opened late, yea there could have been more hot soup and a little more variety of food, yea there could have been less hills (that's what really wiped me out more than the weather, but then again when you only average just over 20 miles a week training  for a 50 its gonna make for a grueling day regardless.) But honestly, I know you put alot into this race and if the weather had been better things would have been much smoother
• Thanks so much for putting together yet another terrific event!  Thanks for waiting for me till 8:00 pm.  The course was great, weather was awesome, people fantastic, motivating and supportive....what else could we ask for?
• This is one tough course even in a perfect day.  Can’t say I enjoy every minutes of it.  Certainly enjoy the rush and happiness after crossing finish line with smiling face.  The finisher’s necklaces were unique.  One comment is the letter were so small, I can’t even tell what is what with my reading glasses and magnify glass.  You may want to consider improve it or just go without finisher’s medal in the future.
• Please say “Thank you!” to all the volunteers.  They all hang around with the windy, wet, cold condition.  Even though they were short handed, they all give full attention and support to all of us.  Couldn’t say enough “THANK YOU” to all of them for what a wonderful job.

Twin Peaks Race Recap

Pictures coming soon!

  Twin Peaks 2008 will forever go down as a bittersweet memory for me.  When all is said and done, the race was a large success, especially considering the obstacles that were faced.  The first, of course, being the postponement of the course from February due to the devastating Santiago Fire.  With all that finally getting behind me I was looking forward to race day and yet another storm was brewing - literally.  The mountains of Southern California on race day were plagued with a nasty storm that sent temps down to 30 degrees and saw snow coming down horizontally.  Throw in a lack of volunteers (including some no shows) and it made for a very stressful day!  Little did we know what was coming when we set off the first wave of runners at 4Am.  I knew Twin Peaks was a tough course.  I personally had ran every step of that course (though not all at the same time).  I gave the 4AM starters 16 hours to finish the race and knew some of them would miss the cutoff.  How was I to know that the drop rate would be 57% overall in the 50 mile race?  It was a near disaster out there.  I scrambled to get aid to Santiago Peak (because of the no shows) and watched as ominous clouds hung over the mountain all day long, whlie trying to figure out placement of our limited supply of volunteers.  The forest ranger had been up on Main Divide Road and brought down a report of pretty treacherous conditions.  I'm quite thankfull the volunteers got to the aid stations at all (though some late which also cause a few problems).  One lesson learned it to mark the course for volunteers as well as for the runners.  Some aid stations can be tricky to get to.  They deserve a great big thanks for braving those miserable conditions.  I had warned people to come prepared for any type of weather but even this was a very rare storm for these mountains.  I began to worry.  Was there enough food?  Were running going to get hypothermia?  There was not much hot food on the course and they sure could have used it.  My stress hormones were kicking into overdrive.

  We had spent 6 hours marking the course the day before and by most accounts runners had no problems with markings.  But then again, we didn't know we'd get rain, snow and conditions so harsh you couldn't see the runner next to you.  Friends Michelle Barton and Keira Henninger, who finished hand in hand, dropped down from the 50 Mile to the 50KM (and were the female winners at that distance) told me they could not see each other while they ran the race together.  Fourth place 50K finisher, Dean Dobberteen, had missed a key turn for the 50 mile course and ended up with the 50K finish.  Runners began dropping like flies out there.  If they weren't dropping from the 50 mile race altogether, they were dropping down to the 50K.  Many 50 milers opted to skip the second trip to Santiago Peak but refused rides back down to the finish.  They "unofficially" finished the 45 mile race and while I don't have all their names, they deserve much respect for toughing it out to the finish line despite not getting finisher awards.

  By 3:30Pm there were 36 runners who had not yet reached Santiago Peak.  I knew there would be drops - but this many?  The aid station was set to close in 30 minutes.  I made the decision to send a caravan of SUVs to the top (including myself) to pick up stray runners.  When I reached the Main Divide I could personally see how miserable the conditions had been up there all day.  Visibility was horrible.  It was raining and freezing.  Near the summit the trees were covered in ice.  The mountain was not very forgiving on this day!

  Tracy Moore, a talented and fast runner, won the overall 50 mile race in 9 hours 30 minutes with his nearest compeition almost a full hour behind him.  Only 4 of the 22 finishers (Tracy Moore, Patrick Sweeny, Greg Hardesty & Cris Francisco) even managed to come in under 12 hours.  First place female (and 5th overall) Gina Natera-Armenta in the 50 mile race finished in an impressive 12 hours flat.

  Jonathan Mitchell took home top honors in the 50K race desepite taking a rough fall at the top of West Horsethief Trail.  He finished, covered in mud, in 5:35:30.  Andy Salinger and Robert Rust rounded out the top 3 with firt places females Michelle & Keira finishing 6th overall.

  The course ran long and is now arguably going to go down in the books as one of the toughest races around.  Both the 50M and 50K ran long by 2.5 miles.  I joked after the race that I threw in the extra 2.5 mile for free.  The 50K boasted 11,000' of gain with 17,000' in the 50 miler. 

  One of the real stories of the day belongs to Jim Skaggs.  His DNF came not because he couldn't finish, but becuase he chose to help someone else out instead of finishing.  Somewhere near Santiago Peak, and a testament to the harsh conditions, someone had rolled his truck off the Main Divide Road.  Jim heard the noise and went to the rescue.  He stay with they guy (who at least had a broken hand) and the two of them hoped into Louie's truck (a Twin Peaks Roaming support person) and drove back to the Finish line.  Kudos to Jim Skaggs for looking out for another runner when he could have easily kept running (especially when Louie came by)

  As runners and race directors, we all learn something new every time we put on or go to a race and this race was no exception.  I certainly learned some valuable things that I will take into consideration next time around.  I also learned that ultra runners are a hardy bunch (but I really already knew this).  Despite the conditions, most of them were smiling in the end.  They were happy to have the chance and some have already told me how they are ready to conquer this race again.  Next time, hopefully, the weather will not be so extreme, but then again - unpredictability is the name of the game when it comes to ultras and a least one person was sort of serious when he said "I hope you bring the same kind of weather to the next race."  Let's hope not!

Twin Peaks in 10...9...8...

Twin Peaks is coming up in 10 days and I'm frantically busy with last minute details.  For the inner workings of just SOME of the things that goes on as and RD 10 days from a race, here you go:

1. Does at least one volunteer at each aid station have an SUV so they can get to the aid station?
2. Does each aid station have tables, chairs, cooler, pop up tent, etc?
3. Communications between aid stations?
4. Help with course marking
5. Making sure there are enough volunteers in general
6. Making sure there is enough food and buying it
7. Making sure all the sponsors have sent or are sending their stuff
8. Few days before the race:  buying all supplies, getting all the food, stuffing all the goodies bags, pair up shirts and bibs, etc. etc., making the course
9. What kind of food will be at the finish line.  if hot - how will we keep it hot?

Those are just a few of the things.  Right now I'm scrambling with volunteers.  You'd think with 200 members between the two trail running groups (not to mention the road running groups) in Orange County that it wouldn't be an issue?  Only a few have offered help so if you are reading this - I'm looking for more!!  If only 5% (instead of 2.5%) of those 200 members volunteered then we'd be all set by now. :)  If you have or have access to an SUV for course marking on the 12th or aid station work on the 13th that is a huge plus.  We also need early morning race check in people and a few backups for aid stations in general.

if you can help - let me know!  Pass this on if you know someone who might be interested in helping.  The more the merrier - it's always better to have TOO many volunteers :)

Jessica