As I
came through the Cardiac Aid Station for the second time with roughly two miles
to go I glanced behind me and saw third place exiting the woods less than a
hundred yards back. I had already given
up on the win when I entered the aid station and was informed that I was nearly
5 minutes behind the leader, which had shocked me slightly. While I was not having my best ever
performance I was certainly not having a bad day.
The
trip started well, with a great pre race run the day before where I previewed
some of the course, ran down the beach, over some boulders and inadvertently through
a naked game of Ultimate Frisbee. The
race had started well too with a steep climb up from Stinson Beach. After leading for about a mile I could feel
that everyone but one competitor had dropped off the pace as we climbed through
the early morning fog. Temperatures were
perfect and just as the race began to thin out we broke out of the fog to see
the top of Mt. Tam ahead of us with an ocean of clouds sprawling beneath
us.
Just as we broke the clouds Galen Burrell
passed me and while I maintained my pace he destroyed the remaining mile of the
climb. I saw him briefly about a minute
ahead of me at the top and that was the last I would see of him until the
finish. I ran solo for a while as the
coastal trail cut its way across the mountain to the first stop at Cardiac Aid
Station. By the time I hit the aid
station I had been caught by three guys and we proceeded to FLY the next
several miles of descent. There were
countless switchbacks and the four of us stayed pretty tight all the way to the
bottom. We all stayed close until the
final climb on the Dipsea Trail where I was able to regain my runner up
position and give myself some cushion.
Then right before the top I got sick like always and by the time I
crawled into Cardiac the second time I was not sure how much energy I had left. When I saw third place come out of the woods
right behind me however I got a second wind and took off. I knew that most of the remainder of the
course was downhill so I held nothing back.
The trail was fairly smooth and except for a few hairy sections on the
stairs, and there were lots of stairs, there was nothing to slow me down. By the time I exited the Matt Davis Trail at
the bottom my legs were trashed but I could look back and see empty trail so I
knew I was safe. I cruised the remaining
400 meters or so to finish crossing the line in second still well under the old
course record, and only 50 or so seconds ahead of third place. Galen it turned out had finished 5 minutes
ahead. Knowing that it wasn’t my best
day I would like to say that I could have competed with him had I felt better
but honestly that was one of the more impressive performances I have seen and I
know I have a ways to go before I could have contended with him on that
course. After the race I hung out for a
while with the other competitors and enjoyed the post race food and drink. Then I hopped in my car and headed up highway
1 towards Point Reyes. I had seen
pictures on Google of a waterfall above the ocean that I was reasonably sure I
could find. I found the trailhead 20
minutes later and walk/jogged the four miles out to the falls. It was a steep climb from the trail to the
beach at the bottom of the falls, called Alamere Falls according to the sign,
but it was worth it. This was definitely
one of the more beautiful places I have been in my life.
I relaxed on the beach for a bit went for a
swim and then headed back to Stinson for dinner. I was going to relax for the rest of the
night but the coastline was so beautiful that I had to keep exploring so I
parked up on highway 1 south of Stinson and climbed down the ocean. For the next couple hours I climbed and
navigated boulders along the water’s edge as I took pictures and headed
south.
I finally found a destination in
the form of a huge rock jutting out from the mountain and after a steep climb
using ropes left by other adventurers before me I reached it. I sat there for a long time as I watched the sun set and then hiked up to the highway and headed back to my car.
By the time I reached it I felt like I had
run an ultra but all the beauty I had witnessed was worth the soreness. It was nearly 10 when I reached the car and I
crashed for a few hours in the back seat before heading back to San Francisco
for the flight home. I should have been
tired as I wound my way back highway 1 but somehow I felt incredibly energized
and alive by the early morning air streaming through my windows. I could smell the freshness of the sea, feel
the adrenaline of my recent adventures, and the excitement of heading back to
my wife and soon to be born son, and in the moment, life was good.
