Last Saturday, August 8, 2009, I participated in the Headlands Hundred, organized by Pacific Coast Trail Runs.  The race was set in the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Two options of distance were offered for runners: 50 miles or 100 miles.  The course had been changed from the prior two years due to California budget restrictions.  The resulting new course was very well thought out and organized, by doing a 25mile loop “washer machine” style (reverse direction each lap).  Each lap consisted of 5000 feet of elevation gain making this a very challenging course.  Thankfully though the trails in Southern Marin are very manicured and relatively easy to navigate with tired legs.

At 7am both the 50 and 100mile runners where off up the steady climb to Wolf Ridge.

View of the start from the top of Coastal Trail

Trying to heed the advice of fellow runner Harry Walther to start out slow, I really focused on staying relaxed and calm the first 10 miles.  I fell into some good conversations with Brain Krogmann, Evan Hone, Mark Tanaka, and Joe Palubeski (Joe also on his first 100mile race).  Keeping conversation going helped me to stay calm and relaxed in the early miles.  After going through the Rodeo Valley aid station (mile 16) I ran the long climb up Rodeo Valley trail with Shan Riggs.

Shan in Rodeo Valley

It was great talking with Shan about SF One Day as well as his future plans.  Shan soon flew pass me going down the SCA trail (he’s a beast on descents). By mile 25 I was running right at my desired pace and feeling energetic and fresh.

At Rodeo Beach Aid Station (mile 25) I meet my crew captain Larissa Polischuk and eventual pacer Brett Rivza Rivers.  I grabbed a smoothie, peanut butter and honey sandwich, and a fresh Gel-Bot before hitting the trail again.  About half a mile from the aid station there is a stretch of about 5 miles that is mostly up hill.  My stomach quickly realized that it was not happy with what I had just put inside of it.  I began to mentally prepare myself for the purging that was about to happen.  I slowed my pace and tried to relax hoping to wretch in an efficient manner without disrupting my stride, much like people who can urinate while running (I am not one of those who can accomplish that).  Within about a mile I realized that the smoothie was starting to settle, my stomach wasn’t happy but everything was going to be staying in me for the ride.  When I arrived into the Conzelman aid station at mile 30 I was feeling great.  I meet my wonderful crew and had them make some adjustments to my nutrition plan by diluting the remaining smoothies with an electrolyte mixture.   Once that adjustment was made I began a runners high like I’ve never experienced before.

On that high

I felt amazing, just running smooth and effortless on the trail.  I was sitting in something like 4th place at this point and feeling content about it.  Coming into the 50mile aid station I was surprised to learn Brian Krogmann had taken a wrong turn and that I was now in second just a few minutes behind Joe Palubeski.  I said my hellos to people including Ryan Commons who had just finished the 50mile race in 8:08 (great job Ryan).

Ryan Commons crossing Rodeo Lagoon

I then set-off in chase up the trail of Joe and his pacer.  It was great being able to see the other runners coming down the trail to the turn around.  This gave me a good sense of where I was in the race and gave me the chance to encourage the other runners.  I kept working on Joe’s lead, trying to seal some of the gap he had opened.  Going into the Tennessee Valley aid station I was finally able to close it up and pass him.  I took off down the trail in hopes of putting some distance between us.

At Muir Beach aid station (mile 58) my pacer and good friend Brett Rivers was in his short shorts waiting.

Brett pre-short shorts

We took off quickly climbing up the Coyote Ridge trail.  For the next 28 miles Brett and I couldn’t stop joking around, laughing and talking about most anything imaginable, even some good goes of name-that-tune.  There were some stretches of trail where I was amazed at how fast we were running.  We were putting down splits I would be doing on a medium distance training run, but we were laughing the whole time..  I also seem to remember professing my love to all of those present at the mile 75 aid station.  By then we had opened a 25 minute gap on the next runners.  At the end of our run together my voice was getting tired from all the hooting and hollering that Brett and I had been doing, but my legs were still feeling fresh and ready for some miles.

Encouragement from RD Sarah

My second pacer was Jim Vernon of The Endurables running club (the club I run with).  Coming into mile 86 where I picked-up Jim there was a group of cheering spectators that had come out to cheer me on.  Seeing them really gave me a huge boost of energy.  Jim and I quickly took off up Miwok trail.  We worked the trail hard but were having a great time talking about the beauty of the Marin Headlands.

Rodeo Lagoon at sunset, Pacific Ocean in the distance

Seeing the fog roll into some of the valleys while we were up on the ridges was truly sensational.  Coming out of Muir Beach Aid Station Jim and I worked to make it into Pirates Cove and made quick work of the tough climbs present in that section of trail.  We were both amazed and excited at how clear it was down in there.

Doing the final climb up to Wolf Ridge with Jim was really remarkable.  Seeing the lights of Rodeo Beach below, and hearing the crash of the sea really helped to get me moving for the remaining miles.  We both flew down the final miles (except for the stairs which I took at a snail’s pace).  I crossed the finish line with a time of 18hours 45minutes to finish my first 100mile race.

Jim, myself, Larissa, Brett

Going into this race I kept telling myself that I needed to go out and have fun, nothing else; I ended up having the time of my life, and smiled almost the whole way.  I pushed my mind and body hard and it responded well.  The whole experience was made better by all the people that helped me through the journey:  my crew Larissa Polischuk, Brett Rivers, and Jim Vernon, you guys made this exploit more enjoyable than I could have imagined.  Thank you to all the friends and family that came out to support me along the run.  Thank you to Hydrapak; your Gel-Bot and SoftFlask products were awesome for me keeping a steady intake of calories during the run.  Thank you to all the crews of other runners for the kind words of encouragement.  Thank you to all the volunteers for the hours of work setting up the course, clearing markings, maintaining aid stations, and making sure we were all safe.  And a huge thanks to Sarah and Wendell of PCTR for a well-organized race, you both bring such wonderful aspects to each of the races.  I look forward to my next PCTR event.   Congratulations to all the runners that toed the line on Saturday.  I hope to see you all at a race in the near future.  Not too soon though, as I’m currently focusing on eating some food before I start planning my next adventure.

Complete results can be found here:

50mile

100mile

An Excellent fly-over of the course can be found at TheRunScout.com

Photos from the day can be found here