Inaugural Boggs 50k

Larissa, chilled and headed for registration.

The start, photo courtesy of RD Leor Pantilat.

Fresh from the warmth of Javelina, into the cold, misty fog of Boggs 50k. Boggs Mountain is about a 2.5 hour drive from San Francisco. Originally we had thought about camping the night before but the forecast of rain put a stop to those plans.

It was cold but not overly so and the rain held off until the afternoon. We had great running weather. The damp ground was in great shape and the moisture meant no dust. It was a really beautiful course. It reminded me of Mt. Tam a bit with all the trees and pine needle covered single track but not as technical and at least for the trails that we were on, not too hilly. There were two distances, the 25 and 50k. They were two different loops with some overlap, not a single 25k loop run twice for the 50k.

I came into the event with a training mindset but left the option to race if I felt good. Well about 2 miles into it I got lost and worst of it was, some people followed me into the wrong turn. Ah well, training it was then. At the bottom of the hill of this wrong turn Brian Wyatt was already there retracing his steps. On the way back up he run past our group and I decided to tag along. We would end up running the rest of the race together. That was a lot of fun and a memorable experience. Brian is one of my oldest friends in ultra and we always race against each other because we have comparable times. He always pulls away at the start and I eventually come creeping back up to him. Some days I catch him and some days I don't but we are always racing. Well this time, for the first time, we worked together and paced each other to a finish. I clocked a 5:56, a second behind Brian for 12th. We chased after our buddy Larissa Polischuk who we knew was in front but never caught up to her. That lady ground out a great race coming in third woman and her boyfriend Brett won the 25k event.

With Brian Wyatt shortly after our finish.

With RD Gary Gellin.

With RD Leor Pantilat.

The fire, right before it started pouring; Victoria in the pink beanie, Larissa with the crazy smile and Brett.

Lots of laughs at the finish but unfortunately it rained not too long after finishing and despite a fire, Brett, Larissa, Joel and I left. We were getting cold and damp. I never did get my free Lagunitas Beer but I did take home my post race burrito. Hopefully next year they hold the race again and the weather will still be cool but sunny. It was truly a beautiful, beautiful course with lots of single track. Kudos to Leor and Gary who worked very hard in putting this event together.

Boggs 50k race schwag which I thought was great. It's a triangular lunch box with a spork. It's made in Sweden which is awesome because I like Swedes and Swedish design and because I already have too many things made in China. The logo on the shirt is my creation but I thought they did a great job choosing a blue shirt to complement the colors of the logo - again great job Leor and Gary.