Sixth place! Wow. I ran the Marin Ultra Challenge 50-mile race on Saturday March 10, 2018 and finished sixth place overall, third in the ultra-competitive 40-49 age group. It was a great day: perfect weather, no nutrition problems, good pace management, and only one small silly mistake. SIXTH!
(Awesome photo by Chris Cleary on Crowdpic)
My first ultra was the 2017 Lake Sonoma 50. 50 miles. 10,000ft uphill. 10,000ft downhill. Sara kept asking me "why?" while I was training. Maybe I'm running from something. Maybe I'm too competitive. Nah, it's just a good way to have second dinner and not feel bad about myself.
I had an awesome race. I made a plan, I ran the plan, and everything worked. I finished half an hour faster than my goal in 30th place. I think I'm hooked!
I've been training hard since mid-May, logging 20-50 miles per week, and Sunday morning it all came together. I ran a 3:08:07 at the Santa Rosa Marathon, a new PR by 32 minutes, and qualified for Boston! It was really hard. I'm really proud of myself.
Ed Sheffield and I ran the 2010 Sonoma County Human Race, a 10k race through Howarth Park (aka Spring Lake), over to Summerfield, ending at Herbert Slater Middle School.
The numbers: Race: Sonoma County Human Race Course: Spring Lake 10k (6.2mi) run Result: 46:12, 79/749 racers (90th percentile), 15th/71 in age group Pace: 7:26/mile