Sand, water, and flamingos - sounds like paradise!

Mrs Notthat and I did the 30K course of the Inside Trail Racing Santa Cruz race. I chose the distance because it covered all the trails and included two river crossings. Mrs Notthat originally was only interested in the 10K course since it was the only distance without any river crossings.

But then she surprised me and decided to do the 30K after all. Not only did this mean she would have an opportunity to swim a couple of times, but she would be going a distance longer than a Half Marathon in a race for only the second time ever, and the first time on trails. I was thrilled she was willing to do this.

I've wanted to do a race in this general area for a long time - Coastal Trail Runs does a version of the race that has the same river crossing (San Lorenzo River Race) that I have always missed due to a conflict. That race is earlier in the year when the river is higher, which of course still makes it a must do race in the near future. The ITR version starts in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and has three basic loops.

All distances do the first loop, which has significant climbing on trails that are infested with deep sand. This was not a lot of fun, but there was the potential of a nice view up on top.

The 10K runners head straight to the finish after this loop - all other runners make a left and head for the river. Loop 2 is fairly gentle. If you are running the Half Marathon, you get to head back after that loop - all 30K and 50K runners head onto the UC Santa Cruz campus, which has some nice trails above the main campus. This loop had the most climbing, although it was not steep.

The really tough part of the course came just after you crossed the river while heading back to the finish - that steep little hill was not particularly fun. (50K runners had to go back out and do the first and second loops again, and were spared the third loop.)

Mrs Notthat and I decided to spend Friday night in Santa Cruz. The idea was to go the Beach Boardwalk Friday Night Concert, which had a version of the band "Santana" playing. Once we checked in though, we realized that neither of us was motivated enough to go to the concert, so we went out to dinner and headed to bed early.

This meant we were able to sleep late and still get to the race plenty early. The checkin process was smooth and there were a lot of people we knew there.

Etep, Mas, and Nad (not their real names) were all doing the 50K distance. Ytsirhc joined us for the 30K

Nahgem was also there with Akire (not their real names) and also doing the 30K, but MUCH quicker than the rest of us.

This is the kind of sand we had to deal with for a lot of the first loop.

The reward of that sandy loop were the views once you got to the top. Well, actually the views we would have seen if the marine layer wasn't so low. (I loved the family eating breakfast at the picnic table on the right. They just kind of stared in amazement at all the wacky runners passing by.)

Also, note that Ytsirhc and Mrs Notthat are not that far ahead of me. I was shocked that I was keeping up with them.

I even got ahead of them for a few feet.

And then we were at the river crossing. By the time I got there, Ytsirhc was already across and Mrs Notthat was nearly across.

ITR volunteer (and hopefully certified lifeguard) Kcirtap (not his real name) took a video of both Mrs Notthat and I crossing the river. Above is a frame of the video as a happy Mrs Notthat leads a group of runners safely across.

Wisely, no runners followed me across. And happily, neither of us fell in. At least for this crossing.

I took this picture when I was about halfway across. Ytsirhc is using every tool in her superpower arsenal to will me to slip and fall, but to no avail. And because of that, I had caught back up to them!

One of the fun things about ITR races is that you will usually see flamingos along the trail just before you get to an aid station. Flamingos end up being one of your best friends.

The first aid station, mile 6.6.

After that stop, we headed off to the second loop, which was quite tame compared to the others. Above, Mas is just finishing that second loop as we are heading into it. It was at this point that I lost track of Ytsirhc and Mrs Notthat - they had survived the course's biggest dangers and no longer had any need of me or my map reading skills (the trails were very well marked, with signs, flour, and ribbons, including blue ribbons marking wrong turns).

This perky volunteer was here to make sure the 30K and 50K runners went up the third loop while the Half runners streaked for the finish line.

Weirdly, as I was entering the third loop I was again met by Mas who was just finishing it.

The second aid station, mile 10.5. I'm pretty sure that I was the last runner to come through here.

Whenever you get a chance to do a race in the Santa Cruz mountains, you need to do it. There are a lot of beautiful trails with lots of massive trees.

Flamingos!

And the third and final aid station, mile 14.5. Both Kcirtap and All Day were there to tell me that I was getting my butt kicked by Ytsirhc and Mrs Notthat. They didn't even bother to say "if you hurry you can catch them." They knew better.

When I got down to the river, there was a new lifeguard. "Please don't drown" she said.

I know it shouldn't matter, but for some reason the crossing was easier going in this direction. Just head to the pink ribbons. And try not to step on a trout.

From the river, it is less than three miles to the finish, but man, the first mile and a half is tough, especially on tired legs. And I was very impressed with all the 50K runners I ran into (such as Nad, above) - they all had already finished the 30K and headed back out to do the Half course to get up to 50K. It takes a special runner to do that.

There were quite a few bike riders on the trails, but for the most part they were not much of an issue. More of a worry were the horse riders since the last thing you wanted to do was surprise a horse. Fortunately, this wasn't a problem for me since they were going the other way and I just had to stand to the side and let them go. It's a tougher problem if you want to pass one on these narrow trails.

Eventually I found my way to the finish line.

First, I was the Dead Last Finisher for the 30K. I'm OK with that. There was a guy I had past back on loop three (he's in the tree picture) that I thought I had put some distance on, but the combination of me crawling up that last hill and him smelling the finish line pushed him to not only beat me, but one other guy too. Talk about a strong finish!

Second, I missed breaking five hours by thirteen seconds. Five hours is fairly pathetic for a 30K, but while this was a short 30K (about 18 miles), it had a fair amount of elevation gain (3200 feet). And I lost some serious time with the river crossings. And stopping to take a lot of pictures. And avoiding getting trampled by a horse. So I'm OK with my time.

Third, I got second in my age group! I love getting an age group award while being DLF! Mrs Notthat also got second in her age group.

These two were FAR too perky at the finish. Why they are flashing some sort of gang sign I'll never know. (Brats!)

It was kind of funny how, for a non-muddy trail race, your shoes got very dirty. (A number of runners stopped to take their shoes off before crossing the river. I've tried that before and it really didn't work for me - I've learned to just splash on through and it will all come out OK. Eventually.)

It was a great event, and I think we picked the perfect distance. Mrs Notthat now has a new distance notch on her running belt (even if it is a bit wet). The weather was cool and perfect. The volunteers were awesome. And the salsa at the finish line kicked butt!

And my shoes will hopefully be dry by next week.

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see more of my pictures here.

San Francisco first Half Marathon done! (Maybe…)

Mrs Notthat likes bling. The bigger and flashier the medal the better. And the people that run the San Francisco Marathon and Bridge Tour know that, and have come up with a devious plan to get people back the following year:

• If you finish the first and second Half Marathons in consecutive years, you get a bonus medal with a center bit that spins.

• If you finish the first and second Half Marathons and the Full Marathon in consecutive years, you get a bonus sweatshirt. (Yes, they missed the bonus bling boat with this one.)

• If you finish the first and second Half Marathons and the Full Marathon in the same year, you will get locked up since that's clearly not vaguely possible.

Since Mrs Notthat also likes a bargain, she jumped at the chance to save a few dollars and registered both her and the blog for the first Half Marathon. (It wasn't until much later that I knew I had been registered. I do not like road races, especially massively crowded ones like this one, so she took the "do it then ask for forgiveness later" approach.)

As race day approached, a couple of things became apparent:

• We had double-booked the weekend, and were both set to run the Brazen Bad Bass Half Marathon the day before this race.

• Mrs Notthat was not going to be at her best due to a bad cold that had hit her earlier in the week leading up to race day.

Due to the cold thing, Mrs Notthat dropped down to the 5K at Bad Bass, but since I am freakishly healthy, I ended up doing the Half Marathon there.

The Half Maniacs picture at the expo, which I photo-bombed since I'm not actually a Half Fanatic yet. Eventually I'll get around to signing up.

After we finished the Bad Bass race, we cleaned up a bit and then headed up to the city for the expo to pick up our bibs and do some last minute race shopping. I was slightly concerned about how this would go since I had never gotten the pre-race email, which the race people insist you must print out and bring with you to pick up your bib. (Mrs Notthat emailed them to try to sort this out, but got an email back saying they were getting lots of emails and hers was going to be ignored.)

In any case, it all went fine - nobody cared about printed out emails and they had computers where you could look up your bib number.

Mrs Notthat and I waiting for our newly adapted seventh wave to start.

One issue with this race are the logistics - with the Half Marathons, your start and end locations are not even vaguely close to each other. This means you need to park near the Full Marathon start area, then catch a bus, either at the end of your first Half or at the start of your second Half.

Needs Cool Name (the grandkid's dad) made this whole process much easier by dropping us off near the start line, then parking near the finish line. He then used his bike to meet us as we went on to and came off of the Golden Gate Bridge. So the race should have been pretty much stress-free for us (Weird Haired Mom - the grandkid's mother - also did the first Half Marathon).

Naturally, that was not to be, and that was all my fault.

The first issue was that, once we got there, I noticed that my timing tag was no longer stuck to the front of my bib. This meant I wouldn't get an official time, and worse, that this race might not count towards my quest for the spinny medal next year.

The second issue was that earlier, I smuggly watched as Mrs Notthat and WHM stood in a long port-pottie line, happy that I was fine and didn't need to do that. Until about 20 minutes before our wave started - I suddenly had to go very badly. So I stood in a port-pottie line, did my business (my apologies to whoever had to go in there after me), and hustled over to the wave area.

To make the starting process easier, you are assigned to waves based on your projected finish time. WHM told them a time that got her in wave three, while we used a realistic time and were in the sixth wave. (There was ten minutes between wave starts, which meant she would have a thirty minute head start on us.) I entered the wave area where Mrs Notthat had been patiently waiting for me and joined the back of our wave, only to be told that they arbitrarily were going to make us (and others at the back of the sixth wave) start with the seventh wave. (There are eight waves total.)

Starting in a later wave doesn't really affect your race time, but it does affect a couple of other things:

• There is a cutoff for running on the road part of the Golden Gate Bridge. If you show up too late, you have to use the sidewalks, and deal with the tourists. The later the wave, the greater the chance this might happen.

• There is a general course cutoff time, and again, the later the wave the tighter this will be.

• The later the wave the greater the chance that they will run out of food and such at the finish line.

All of this is why WHM (and MANY others) pretended to be a Kenyan when she registered, just to ensure they would have more time on the course.

The first Half Marathon course is by far the most popular since it is far more scenic than the second half course and includes the chance to run on the road across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Mrs Notthat hugging the curb. The runners had two traffic lanes - one for heading out and the other for returning.

Mrs Notthat charitably decided to stay with me, both because of her lingering cold and because of my timing chip issue, since this way we would know exactly what my start and finish times were.

There were a HUGE number of runners, so it was unlikely that we would see anyone we knew. And then I passed The Walking Diva!

I don't know if this guy ran the Half or Full Marathon juggling these balls, but it was astonishing to see.

It really is pretty cool to run on the deck of the bridge.

And to get taunted by another runner we ran into that we knew - Nerak (not her real name).

That's NCN taking a picture of me coming off of the bridge. He actually had the police called on him by some woman in one of those houses because he was making too much noise while cheering. Bizarre.

The finish line. We actually did pretty good. I suspect Mrs Notthat might have set a new PR if it hadn't been for her staying with me, but as it was, we finished with a sub-2:45 time which was pretty good considering the race we did the previous day.

A coworker of mine, Nala (not his real name), also did the first Half Marathon. Last year he did the second Half course, so this year when he finished he got his fancy bonus spinny medal. Mrs Notthat is VERY impressed.

Super Crew NCN with WHM and Haiyr (not her real name, sitting in blue) discussing bridge strategy.

A total surprise seeing Nairb (not his…) and a daughter in the finishing area. By the way, those attractive foil blankets are not just for style - once you finish running a race, if it is cool at all (and it certainly was today), you get cold very quickly, and these things are surprisingly effective at keeping you warm.

Two happy burritos!

The shirt, medal, and unused timing tag (which I found at home - I suspect the dogs knocked it off my bib during the night while busily protecting us from imagined dangers).

In the end, the event was not the horror I had expected. For a road course, it is pretty good, with some nice views, some hills, and lots of cheering as you go along.

The only real negative (and another vote for lying about your finish time so you get into an earlier wave) is that they ran out of the Irish coffee we were supposed to get once we finished. It was cold and we were both craving something warm, but instead we were rudely told there was nothing left. And we were far from the last finishers - how this could happen is beyond me; they know how many runners there are and should be able to easily predict how much of this they will need. (There was plenty of other food, which was nice.)

I filled out a form for the timing company explaining my timing tag issue, but have heard nothing back. I still have hopes of getting an official time, but won't be that bummed if it doesn't happen.

Unless it keeps me from getting my bonus spinny medal next year. (And we are already signed up for the 2013 second Half Marathon. This Half is not nearly as pretty or popular - no famous bridge to cross - but it's also a much easier course with fewer hills.)

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see more of my pictures here.

PPS: Next year's race is in June due to the America's Cup thing going on later in the summer. We are gambling a bit that this isn't going to conflict with something else that might end up going on that weekend.

A Daunder at Loch Chabot

A few weeks ago, it was time to sign up for Brazen's Bad Bass race, so Mrs Notthat and I signed up for the Half Marathon. (Mrs Notthat managed to catch a nasty cold the week before the race, so ended up dropping to the 5K, where she could take it easy and push herself too hard. Yeah right.)

Shortly after that we realized that the day after Bad Bass was the San Francisco Marathon, which we were signed up to do the first Half Marathon. I wasn't too concerned since, by Brazen standards, Bad Bass was a pretty tame course.

What I didn't notice was that they had fixed that problem.

The nearly terminally ill Mrs Nothat (ha!) talking with Mrs McBrazen and The Brazen McRabbit, who sported kilts. "All the cool kids will be wearing them!" they said. Yrrek begged to differ.

Mr and Mrs McBrazen watching the Half Marathon start.

For reasons never quite explained, this edition of the Bad Bass race had a Scottish theme. And you have to hand it to Mr McBrazen - he pulled off the look rather nicely. (It's not true that he spent most of the day looking for a caber to toss. He did seem to toss those orange pylons into the truck rather enthusiastically once the race was done, however.)

Was that Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap I heard?

The rangers at Loch Chabot do not allow amplified music, so alternatives have to be found. These two were very cool!

It was so cool to see Nairb and Hteb (not their real names) at the first aid station. This was the first time they had ever worked one of these, and this one is a doozy - it has to be the first one set up and it sees all of the runners, including the bonus of seeing the 10K runners twice! Nairb did his best WalMart greeter impersonation while Hteb did her best to keep a stock of water and sports drink filled cups ready to go.

Just replace those brown patches with green and this could easily be a scene from the Scottish Highlands.

There are some hills to climb, but you get a great reward of nice views at the top of them.

My arch-nemesis was not running this race, so I had to deal with my emergency backup arch-nemesis, Ytsirhc (not her real name either). I can take being beaten, but this sort of taunting can crush my spirit. Or cause me to rally and do some serious running. (Smart money is on the crushed spirit thing though.)

The second aid station, and the 10K turnaround. I like how the turnaround cone is a bit before you get to the aid station, which meant you had to add some distance to your 10K if you wanted to grab some M&Ms or a cup of water.

Super runner Aluap (sigh...sorry about this) protecting the Half runners while crossing this busy road. She was showing her truck-stopping technique. It must have worked since very few runners were run over by trucks.

After the brutal taunting, I managed to get significantly ahead of Ytsirhc. And yet, there she is, piling on more insults.

I'm not sure what happened, but somewhere in the next few miles Ytsirhc passed me (heavy sigh…) and took off. Also somewhere along this stretch, we realized that the course had been changed a bit, with some bonus hills added. The course change also took us closer than ever to the shooting range, which was overflowing with wildly enthusiastic gun owners blowing through thousands of dollars of ammo. I prefer to think of it as our 21,000 gun salute.

There were several places where the poison oak was already turning colors. So pretty! And treacherous!

The third aid station and my arch-nemesis Yram. When she saw me straggling along, it was hard for her to not toss her jacket to the side and beat me. Again. Instead, she happily pointed out that Ytsirhc was way ahead of me and that, once again, I was going to lose. And that I could fill my own dang water bottle.

The last aid station, which meant that there was only one more mile to go to the finish.

The finish (almost). It seemed like it had taken days to get here, but in reality, it was just a bit over three hours. Not a great time by any means, but considering the changed course and that I was putting in a mild effort to save something for the next day's race, not too bad. Or at least that's what I kept telling myself.

Ytsirhc and her buddies picking on me. Next time Ytsirhc, next time. "Are you sure you don't need to sit down cupcake?" AARRRGGHHH!!!

Hteb and Nairb survived their aid station and then hung around a bit to cheer in some runners. They had a blast and will do this again! (The free race thing doesn't hurt either.)

Picture by Brazen volunteer.

I love this picture of Grandkid Second Born sprinting to the finish.

Picture by Brazen volunteer.

And this one of a tired Grandkid Dad pushing a borrowed kid across the finish line. The kid loves it, but the Nayr has a new respect for people that making running with a stroller seem effortless.

I love the medal, and am pretty sure that "B" is not willing to do double-duty.

It was a great event with great volunteers. The course changes (which were due to the rangers being concerned about that single-track stretch that used to be in the course) only added about 300 feet of additional climbing, but it felt like a LOT more.

And how did the "I'm going to take it easy in the 5K" Mrs Notthat do? She was third in her age group, beating 15 others with a solid top 100 finish.

And thankfully, there was no haggis at the aid stations. (Bottles of Scotch, however, might have been nice.)

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see more of my pictures here.