Crystal Stings at Crystal Springs!

We have a real hard time passing up a trail race out of Huddart Park outside of Woodside. The summer version of Coastal's Crystal Springs event was our third race out of this park this year. Both Mrs Notthat and I signed up for the Half Marathon (there were also 50K, Marathon, 22M, and 5M distances).

Mr. Coastal: "How many have kissed a banana slug?"

We arrived in time to see the longer distances take off. (To allow the trails to clear out a bit, there's a 30 minute break between their start and the shorter distance's start.)

This is seriously hard to explain. Suffice to say she's not from around here. (She also won the Marathon.)

Eventually the longer distances were sent on their way.

While Baby Coastal was thrilled I hadn't dared a longer distance, he tried to convince me to drop to the 5M (or even better, stay here and cut up fruit, but only with a plastic spoon).

Once we got started, it was a lot of fun on the trails. Granted, the "fun" involved a ridiculously long uphill climb, and for some, an attack by a group of irritated wasps. (We've probably done a dozen races out of this park and have never had wasp problems before, so this was a bit of a surprise.)

Eventually I made it to the top of that long hill and to the first aid station, where Drannyl (not his real name) asked what took me so long. (For the record, I wasn't in last place. But I wasn't missing it by much.)

Mrs Notthat pausing for a picture. Then taking off like a bolt of lightening.

The Half runners headed out of this aid station for 1.2 miles of out-and-back trail along the Skyline ridge. Other than it feeling more like 5 miles, I like this stretch since it means I get an idea of how far Mrs Notthat is ahead me (lots, as usual) and how many people are behind me (not many, as usual).

It's REALLY hard to miss the Half turnaround.

After that out-and-back, you end up back at the aid station. I asked Drannyl if I had a chance of catching Mrs Notthat. I've never heard that guy laugh so hard before. (Also for the record, I really had no chance. But she turned out to beat me by only 16 minutes.)

That's Mr. Coastal trying to decide whether it's safe to cross the finish chute in front of me.  That was so cute! He could have crossed a dozen times before I finally made it that far.

I did it! I managed to finish and not in last place!

A group of great runners swapping trail horror stories.

Mrs Notthat managed to get second place in her age group (I got tenth). She also managed to get stung by a very brave wasp that went after her head, of all things.

I believe Ynnep (not her real name) is having too much fun playing doctor.

Mrs Notthat was explaining how the wasp attacked her head and how it felt like it was still there. So the 50K and Marathon winners set to work to see if the wasp was really still there. They found its stinger was, indeed, still there.

This was the last of the really cool moments of the day's race. I had found out about three weeks before this race that a coworker, whose office is close enough to mine that she has intimate knowledge of the words I use when my computer fails to play nice with me, was running the 50K in this race. Before that day, I had no idea she even knew what a trail race was. Even more bizarre, we actually ran the same race once and didn't know it (she is a proper runner and is MUCH faster than me).

And what made this special was that it was her first 50K. And she nailed it!

The race was a blast! The trails were amazing (as always) and the volunteers were stunning. And to top it off, Mr. Coastal spent a lot of quality time with a grill and there were a lot of tasty things to eat.

And that's about it. We have one more race out of this park this year, and I can't wait.

Although hopefully the wasps can't wait either and will have moved on by then.

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see a lot more pictures here.

Getting revenge on the San Lorenzo River

Back in June, I ran the Coastal San Lorenzo trail race, and ended up getting a bit wetter than intended.

In August, Inside Trail Racing puts on their Santa Cruz trail race, which is sort of a backwards version of the Coastal version. The important bit is that I got a second chance at the San Lorenzo river.

Mr. ITR glaring at me. It's not like I was mocking his pre-race spiel. (As far as he knew.) 

There was a large turnout for the race, and the conditions were perfect. And the river was calling my name. I signed up for the Half while river-averse Mrs Notthat settled for the river-free 10K.

But before the river, we had to do the 10K loop, which involved a long climb on some of the sandiest trails you will ever see (that aren't actually on a beach).

Trust me - the sandy trail was a lot more annoying than it looks in this picture.

Eventually you get to the top of the hill and get to start heading down. A lot of the downhill is actually on a paved road, which normally I would despise, but after all that sand, the pavement was actually welcome.

The 10K runners started flying past me on that paved bit of trail.

After we finished the 10K hill, the Half runners headed over another hill and down to the river.

I had thought that, since it had been two months since my last time here, the river would be down a bit. I'm pretty sure it was just as deep this time as last. And as wet. The good part was that I was able to make it across while staying upright.

After the river, we head towards Highway 9 and our first aid station.

"Show me how you would protect me from a big rig!"

After crossing the highway, we had a lollipop to do. It was tasty.

Heading back after the lollipop, you come up on the Bermuda Triangle of this race. If you are doing the  30K or 50K, you have to make a left here and do a second lollipop. Half runners got to giggle as they ran past this and headed back to the highway.

Back at the aid station - the orange runner is the eventual winner of the 50K, out for his second lap.

After the aid station, it was time to cross the river one more time. I took my time again, and took the alternative route across - the same route that I slipped and fell in on last time.

And I won!

I  got across without falling in.

Any guesses which way you head after getting out of the river?

Once the thrill of the river crossing is over, you face the anti-thrill of a steep climb. But if you stick with it, you eventually get to the top and get to cruise in to the finish line.

These trails really are spectacular.

Can you guess which one of these belongs to a river-averse trail runner?

Eventually I finished. And naturally we spent time comparing shoes.

And eating pizza while drinking Mountain Dew.

This was a blast of an event! Even the absurdly sandy trail was memorable. And since I safely crossed the river twice, I called off my plans to build a dam across it.

At least until next year.

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see more of my pictures here.

Bad Bass and Speed Racer

This was going to be a busy weekend. Brazen Bad Bass on Saturday followed by a drive to Santa Cruz and our fourth running of the Wharf to Wharf race.

Mrs Notthat and I had decided to do a shorter distance at Bad Bass - the 5K for her and the 10K for me - so that our bodies would better be able to handle the pavement the next day.

(Minor historical note: The very first trail race I ever did was the 2010 Brazen New Year's Day 10K on this very same course. Since then I've always run the Half distance. Always. Eight times since then. I almost made it nine times when Brazen announced that the Park Ranger was going to let them use the fun stretch of single-track that they had teased us with before. I wisely stuck to the 10K, but my heart was out on that Half course.)

Great races start with great nails.

Or not.

The first aid station and 5K turnaround at 1.5 miles.

My hope for my 10K was to get past the 5K turnaround before any 5K runners (who started ten minutes after us) caught up to me.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, I failed. But not by a lot - I think maybe only four or five 5K runners got past me.

Once we got past that aid station, the pavement ended and our first real obstacle showed up…

… the wildly unstable Bridge of Death. (It's not really all that bad, and is pretty unique since it is most often protecting you from a nice dry trail, as you see in the picture. In the winter though, this area is often flooded and a life vest would be required to use that dirt trail.)

After the bridge is The Hill. This hill is often quite steep, but generally is just relentless.

The 10K course, like the 5K course, is an out-and-back. The closer I got to the top of that hill, and the 10K turnaround point, the more runners I saw coming at me. I knew that Not Normal Sirhc (not his real name) was pacing 6-year-old Speed Racer on the 10K. And I wasn't surprised to see that they were significantly ahead of me as they flew past me. I'm used to getting beat by NNS, and for that matter, 6-year-olds as well.

Eventually I made it up to the madness that was the 10K turnaround. I let out a minor cheer, touched the sign, and headed back down.

I've climbed this hill plenty of times, but only rarely get to run down it. Running down it is much easier, although the steep bits are a bit challenging for me.

Eventually I made it back to the Bridge of Death. If you look really hard and use your imagination a bit, you can see Nivla (not his real name) taking pictures of the runners as they crossed the bridge.

This is the shot he got of me, smiling as I realized I was going to survive the crossing. (The woman behind me is texting her friends about my big butt and how it was clogging up the trail. Or maybe she was ordering a pizza.)

Another volunteer photographer capturing the tired runners less than two miles from the finish.

As I was lumbering towards the finish, I was stunned to see NNS and Speed Racer just a little bit ahead of me. Suddenly visions of beating NNS and a 6-year-old started dancing in my head.

I picked up my pace.

And I passed them! I was going to do it! IN YOUR FACE!

Sadly, that small burst of running quickly caught up to me, and the two of them shortly blew back past me. Here is Speed Racer flying towards the finish, a few steps ahead of me. I still had a small chance.

Actually, no. I had no chance. The two of them finished, and while I was plodding towards them…

… I was momentarily distracted by the bagpipes playing a spirited version of Smoke on the Water.

Three hot trail runners in a post-race bliss.

Eventually I managed to finish. Only to find out that Mrs Notthat had ripped through the 5K and won second in her age group. (I think I was 140th in my age group. Gah!)

And that was it. The race was a blast as always, but I found myself wishing I had gone for the Half. I missed the eucalyptus groves, the 21,000 gun salute as you cruise past the shooting range, and the fun single-track that had been added back in.

On the flip side, I was done in less that 90 minutes and was not nearly as tired as I would have been. And we were both ready for the next day's Wharf to Wharf.

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see more of my pictures here.

PPS: The funny thing I found out later is that I technically beat both NNS and Speed Racer. They crossed the finish line first, but they also crossed the start line a bit ahead of me (I always start at the back of the pack) - the difference was minor, BUT I BEAT THEM!

No dogs, but two reservoirs!

At first I thought it was a bit odd to give a trail race the same name as a quirky, wildly violent movie. But unlike that movie, this race actually had not one, but two reservoirs! And quirk to spare. I don't remember any dogs though, but I don't think that movie had any dogs either. (I've never seen that movie since I'm pretty sure Adam Sandler wasn't in it and Mel Brooks had almost nothing to do with it.)

Inside Trail Racing's Reservoir Dogs race was the first one to get access to the trails that loop around Briones Reservoir, which made this race pretty exciting and a "must do." To loop around the reservoir though, you had to sign up for the 35K distance (the longest offered). Mrs Notthat and I were not quite feeling up to that, so we both did the Half Marathon, which turned out to be an Ultra Half, and more than enough for us.

This picture, taken just before the 35K start, has two interesting bits:

1) A woman is trying to pull up a tree while a guy feebly tries to hold it in place. I forgot to verify whether the tree was still there later.

2) Another woman, the amazing Enibas (not her real name, in the purple calf sleeves, red shorts and yellow shirt) is carrying what appears to be an emergency backup runner on her back. This 35K is just a tuneup for an upcoming event where she will run across most of Iceland, and the pack is to simulate the pack she will use for that, when she must carry all her food, clothing, and sleeping bag with her. Emergency backup runners are optional.

Once the 35K runners were sent on their way, we had 30 minutes to prepare for our Half start. I figured I wouldn't be able to keep up with Mrs Notthat, and I knew I had no shot at Nerak (not her real name), but I thought that, just maybe, if all goes well, I could possibly keep up with Alegna (not her real name either). You can see how worried they all are about my chances.

Also note the sunshine. It actually wasn't all that warm at this point, and the sun felt good, but we also knew that it would soon warm up. We really had no idea what to expect from the trails - were they exposed or shaded by lots of trees? We would soon find out.

I love this picture - does Mrs Notthat look like a stud trail runner or what!

This is only the second race that I have worn a hydration pack, and I wouldn't have worn it here except I was still recovering from some sore spots on my lower back from a past run with poorly adjusted shorts. Wearing a pack messes with me mentally and I think it slows me down a bit. At least that's the story I'm going with.

As it turned out, a lot of the course was through trees, with a lot of fun single-track trails. There were hills, but they weren't as bad as the elevation chart made them look.

Go Mik (not your real name) Go!

The Half and 10K courses were out-and-backs that shared the same trails for 3.1 miles. Just before the 10K turnaround, you had to go up a fairly steep trail to the Briones dam. I just kept telling myself while trudging up that hill, that, eventually, I would get the thrill of flying back down it. Not like Mik was flying, but what passes for flying for me.

Aynwat (not her real name) greeting me with a smile and fluids!

Once you made it to the top of the dam, the 10K runners got to turn around and head back down that hill. I was thinking at this point that the 10K runners were extremely smart. For the Half (and 35K runners much earlier), we got to keep going along Briones, but uphill still.

A very tempting bench and nice view.

The cool thing about an out-and-back is that you get to see all the runners - those in front of you ("Hi Mrs Notthat!") and those behind you (very few in my case). Mrs was not as far ahead of me as I had expected, but I knew my chances of catching her were slim since most of the way back is either downhill or flat(ish).

Nowhere did the course description mention a creek crossing.

There was a cruel little gully to go through to get up to the Half turnaround point. The surprising thing though was that I still had not seen Alegna - she was either hopelessly lost (unlikely on this course, but she has surprising talents) or I was about to catch her.

This is how close I got to her - that's the turnaround at the red awning. She yelled a bad word and sprinted away. (It does not go well for your ego if you get geezered by me.)

For a proper Half Marathon, the turnaround should be at mile 6.55. This turnaround aid station ended up at just under mile 7. (Yes - I paid for 13.1 miles and ended up with nearly 14! Booyaa!) Note that the 35K runners kept going straight from here to do a lap around Briones.

I didn't spend much time here since I still felt I had a chance at catching Alegna, and I headed back down the trail.

Leaving that aid station was a bit of rolling trail before the last real climb, which was reasonably mild and would be followed by a lot of downhill that was very runnable. This could happen!

But it didn't. My left knee acted up a bit at about mile 20 or so during Brazen's Dirty Dozen the weekend before. For this race though, I figured it would be fine since it was a relatively short distance, and so I opted not to wear my knee brace.

Bad decision. Once I hit the top of the hill and started down, the knee yelled at me a bit and I knew catching Alegna was not going to happen. So I resigned myself to walking the downhills and enjoying the views.

This is looking across the reservoir at the 35K runners going across the dam on a long, exposed bit of trail. By this time it was quite warm and I knew that couldn't be pleasant.

I made it back to the first aid station, ate some fruit, and stumbled down the trail that I had long been dreaming of flying down.

I had no trouble imagining how the others had floated down this trail. Heavy sigh.

This sign made my day. (Well, it and that little yelp from Alegna.)

My goal had been a sub-3:30 finish, but I ended up settling for a sub-4:00 finish (barely). I was quite happy to see the finish line regardless of the time.

It was a great event! I loved the trails and getting bonus distance for my Half Marathon dollar! I do think the 35K is the ideal distance though - I heard that the trails were pretty good around the reservoir (other than that flat, exposed bit along the dam).

There should have been more dogs though.

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see more of my pictures here.