Friday, November 12, 2010

Inaugural Boggs 50k

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Larissa, chilled and headed for registration.

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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.

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With Brian Wyatt shortly after our finish.

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With RD Gary Gellin.

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With RD Leor Pantilat.

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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.

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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.

7 comments:

  1. Congrats on the race and I love the logo - kudos! You know, I AM going to do an ultra one of these days!! It is so on my bucket list and reading your race report makes me wish I was closer to checking it off! :)

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  2. Thanks! Funny thing is that the last two races since Boggs have both been shorter than a 50k and they have been a blast. I'm really enjoying the shorter stuff too.

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  3. A skirt? You're in a skirt? LOL

    Seriously, that's Victoria? It doesn't look like her AT ALL.

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  4. I was hoping to make it to Boggs for the soft single track, but opted for Helen Klein instead (hadn't done that one before either). Maybe next year. Glad to hear the inaugural event went well and your legs are treating you well.

    Cynthia

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  5. That is some cool schwag - a lunchbox is very unique, and I love the idea. Great job on the race, Rick, and I really like the logo you created for it!

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  6. Sounds like a blast Rick. Love the photos and nice work on the logo. Peace EricG

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  7. What an attractive design, Rick, and I agree that the color combination is really nice. I'll have to keep that one in mind for next year, since I will likely have to look for more hip friendly courses (i.e., less hilly and/or more compliant running surfaces.
    Enjoy the holiday season and hope to see you soon, Ann

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