Big Basin 50k

Marathon Maniac Rob Cowan wins PCTR's Big Basin 50k. At the finish with his daughter. For the photosetclick here.

Not too short but sweet nonetheless and a whole lot of whoop ass! - PCTR style.

Signed up for the race as a training run for the Firetrails 50-miler in October. The course consisted of a 15k loop and a 10k loop. Like most PCTR races there were multiple distance options for the runners, the 50k folks like myself had to do both loops twice. Big Basin is a beautiful run in the Santa Cruz mountains, lots of single track and shade. On the 15k loop you get to scramble up the side of a waterfall.

I started out hard on the 15k loop. I knew my body wasn't fully recovered from the triathlon last weekend but I figured that I could always scale back if needed. Ran great the first hour but then felt myself weaken and had to pull back. Getting stung by yellow jackets was no help either. I was moving pretty well but only up to a certain point. My heart rate monitor said I could go harder but my legs said no more. It's a fine line between pushing and listening and I opted for the latter knowing I've been going hard the last three weeks. Ran with friends, made new ones and they made a world of difference. On the last loop one of the guys I was running with gets his second wind and pulls away slowly, he takes me with him. I follow and surprisingly I get my second wind. As he tired I took my turn at the front and kept on going. The pull of the finish line and my desire for a sub-6 finish took over at this point. I would end up passing two more runners. Finished 5:52? or something like that to come in at 5th place. I publicly declared shortly after finishing that I won't be doing another PCTR event, was met with laughter because I was grinning. What a great run.
Sorry no shots of the trails. I put everything into the run.

Addy with parents. Dad did the 25k and Mom hiked the 10k. Hanging with Patrick and Steve at the finish over chili.