Congrats ultrarunners

[Jon]

toojue said:

Congratulations to both Jon Burg and Rick Gaston! I am thoroughly impressed with your 3rd place finish this wknd. This will give you the confidence for Western States next year! Chapeau!

Thanks toojue!

Not ready to think about the next 100. I'm sure a few more days will change that, though.

[thr3ee]

rickgaston said:

steve - You looked good last time I saw you on the course. Serious / determined but still smiling. Good to see that Harry finished as well. Thought about you guys out on the course. Congratulations on your first 100. If it makes you feel better I also got lost in my first 100, twice.

Thanks Rick. You looked awesome out there as well, getting stronger and stronger as the race went on. Congrats on a great finish.

I really did have a good race and enjoyed myself immensely. Taking that wrong turn was all part of the experience and it really didn't bother me (nor did it bother me when I missed the Miwok cutoff later). In fact, the first 50 miles were actually the worst part of my race. I expected to feel much better given how slow I had gone and was worried about deteriorating as the night went on. However, the opposite turned out to be the case and the pattern of pushing through a bad spell early on only to find myself with extra energy at the end of the race is starting to be the norm.

I don't think I could ever express enough thanks for all the volunteers, Sarah, Wendell (and Aaron) to convey how grateful I am for all the support they gave in helping me to accomplish one of my life goals.

[pctrailruns]

grumbles said:

How come no one ever thanks Aaron for the great job he does?

• • • •

Here’s a great big THANK YOU to Aaron, and Sarah and Wendell, and the rest of the PCTR extended family of runners and volunteers. Saturday was an absolutely unforgettable, breathtakingly scenic, and occasionally quite painful day. The support and the chow at the aid stations was fabulous, got to hang out with a lot of runners I’d not met before, marveled at some of the most stunningly gorgeous views on the planet, and came home filthy and exhausted. What a perfect day.

Not sure how you’re going to improve it next year, but I’m sure you’ll find a way.

Thanks so much to all involved.

Actually, we're trying to improve the course by making some minor changes. We realize that running through Pirates Cove is spectacular but 3 times up those steep stairs for the 100 milers is daunting.

We're hopeful that the following changes work, distance wise, and would be a big improvement:

- Take the shortcut from Field Rd to Conzelman (-.7 mi.)
- From Rodeo Valley, take Bobcat/Alta/Marincello to TV (+1.5)
- TV to Muir Beach, take Middle Green Gulch instead of Pirates Cove (-.7 estmate)
- Return through Pirates Cove like this year.

For the Hundred:
- the first two changes are the same as above.
- TV to Muir Beach, take Middle Green Gulch out, instead of Coastal Shortcut (+.6)
- Muir Beach to TV, take shortcut up Coastal, instead of Pirates Cove (-1.25)

50 Miles = 50.1
100 Miles = 100. 8

What does everyone think?

[leinfellner]

Approved.

[pctrailruns]

leinfellner said:

Approved.

Done! Thanks, Norbert. That's all we needed to know.

Btw, on a serious note, I'm embarrassed to say that I missed taking your cool photo when you finished Sat. waving two small flags. I'm very disappointed. I think I froze in amazement. From where did you pull those flags?

Wendell

[rickgaston]

For the 100.
I like the idea of using Middle Green Gulch out to Muir Beach instead of the Coastal shortcut. I saw at least one runner make the mistake of trying to use the shortcut coming back from Muir Beach. I think there would be less confusion with Middle Green Gulch out, Coastal shortcut back.

However I like the Pirates Cove part exactly the way it is. Absolutely it's hard to have to do it three times but it's the kind of feature that runners will discuss in hushed tones and reverence, so to speak. Kind of like the "trail from hell" section at Cascade Crest, the "canyons" of WS or "the wall" at Bighorn. I've only run a handful of these 100s but the memorable ones were the type that had at least one particularly sadistic, a** kicking feature that made you question your sanity and I think the Pirates Cove climb to Coastal fire road x3 is that feature for HH100. My two cents.

Rick

[pctrailruns]

Thanks so much for your input, Rick. I totally understand and agree with you.

Everyone's comments about doing Pirates Cove 3x just made us feel empathetic. We don't want the HH course to be too daunting. Everyone knows that we're a little sadistic. We just don't want to be outright mean.

The other changes are more to reduce the overlaps and confusing intersections.

Wendell

[leinfellner]

Hi Wendell,
the story with the flags is a little long, but I try to keep it short: At TRT50, my friend Thomas and his friends prepared a huge Austrian flag (9x4 feet) for him to run "through it" when he runs to the finish line, like his body fully covered with the flag. When I approached the finish, they put up the flag for me, but I misunderstood and ran around, not through the flag. My wife was really upset with me.
To make things easier to understand for me, this time (at HH100), my wife prepared two little flags that my kids would hand me over just before the finish (again it wasn't agreed upfront). But, this time I got it, grabbed the flags and crossed the finish line with them. Marriage saved.
Here is the link to the Picasa web album:
picasaweb.google.com/leinfellner/HH100

(I grabbed some other race photos from the Florida guys - thanks!)

Norbert

[pctrailruns]

Norbert,

Great story about the flag issue. Excellent that other competent photographers were at the finish to get a shot.

Wendell

[Pacific Coast Trail Runs]

How come no one ever thanks Aaron for the great job he does?

Now you make Aaron's favorite brownies AND write his favorite posts!

Sarah

[thr3ee]

I'm sort of with Rick on this. Doing those stairs three times is sort of a "badge of honor" that we all complained about, but that, in the end, stands as one of the proudest accomplishments of the race. Granted, you have to take my comments with a grain of salt as the lure of those stairs was so strong for me that I accidentally ran to the base of them instead of to Muir Beach in the middle of the night. I also like them because they are pretty much a forced walk for everyone which helps level the field for us downhill specialists .

Here are my detailed comments on the proposed changes.

- Take the shortcut from Field Rd to Conzelman (-.7 mi.)
Yes! Any amount of road you can eliminate from the course the better. Also, the 8.6 miles to the first aid station is pretty long especially during the night when it took many of us close to 2.5 hours. Now, if you can just do something about the road at the end...

- From Rodeo Valley, take Bobcat/Alta/Marincello to TV (+1.5)
This sounds interesting. Still different from the Miwok course. I don't know what the climb is like, but it might be cool to get up on that ridge the third trip around sunrise.

- TV to Muir Beach, take Middle Green Gulch
This looks like a pretty good option. The shortcut itself is a fairly uninteresting bit of trail and using Green Gulch would assure that those really, really brain-dead runners couldn't accidentally turn left and head out to Pirate's Cove.

- Muir Beach to TV, take shortcut up Coastal, instead of Pirates Cove
Again, I don't like this option though I don't know what you can do about the distance. When I was thinking about my third loop this isn't even the part that I found daunting since once I made it to Muir Beach, I knew it was only 9 miles to the finish. In fact, it was the first, long trudge, to Rodeo Valley that mentally got me even though physically it is much easier. Each time I came up the stairs it was a different experience. First, late afternoon with the sun heading down over The Pacific. Second, at night with the sound of the waves hitting the coast and the distant boom of a fog horn. Finally, in the morning as the last tough bit of a long and satisfying course. Besides, if you remove this, what are those of us who are now veterans of the race going to say to put proper fear into the hearts of the first-timers next year

That is my 2.02 cents.
-Steve

[jthomson]

I agree with Steve -- I like the 3x at Pirates Cove! At that point I was more afraid of downhills than uphills... some enforced hiking time was pretty welcome by mile 92! Ditto on the "badge of honor" comment too.

By the way Wendell, when do we get to see those finishers shots you took?

And again... thanks for all you guys do for the bay area ultrarunning community. I periodically entertain the idea of moving back to NYC to be closer to my family, but what would I do without PCTR?

[ultrajegi]

The 3x pirates cove was my favorite part of the course - awesome. Of course it is hard, but it's not a long climb, and 18k of overall elevation gain puts this run nicely in the middle in terms of a challenge. I consider this to be a very good and doable first 100, with no particularly nasty surprises. Please absolutely leave this in

However, I could 100% do without the pavement downhill on the return section. Can't you just route the downhill the same way we do the uphill in the Pirates cove race? I guess even then you have some pavement, but just less.

Happy Recovery!
Beat

[thr3ee]

ultrajegi said:

However, I could 100% do without the pavement downhill on the return section. Can't you just route the downhill the same way we do the uphill in the Pirates cove race? I guess even then you have some pavement, but just less.

Happy Recovery!
Beat

Yeah, but who the heck want's to go across the sand 6-times! Another option would be to head back down the Miwok and then just come in along the side of Bunker Road.

However, a better option would be for some of us to rent a backhoe and do everyone a favor and remove the pavement from up there. ;D

[ultrajegi]

I think you misunderstood. In Pirates Cove you go up the hill we descend. The difference is that some of the paved road is replaced by trails (the first part).

Also, are you signing up for Javelina or not?