Rodeo Beach 50K - Sausalito, CA - December 2010

Growing up in California, I have a tendency to go home for the Holidays. This particular December, I decided to sign up for a 50K race in the hills just North of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Waking up at around 4:30 AM on a lovely Saturday Morning, Dad and I began our drive to San Francisco.  SF was a bit foggy, but that never seems to detract from the feeling of driving over the Golden Gate Bridge. We arrived at Rodeo Beach plenty early, and I was still trying to decide what to wear. The weather was low 50s with low overcast...Perfect running weather!

As soon as I had gathered my things from the car, Dad drove off to spend some quality time in a downtown Sausalito Starbucks. After I checked in, I walked around and got a good stretch in. A guy named David started talking to me, and he told me this was his first ultra. Awesome! I then learned that he didn't have a water bottle, which is an ESSENTIAL item to have! 50K races aren't simply a 5 mile jump up from a marathon, there's thousands of feet of elevation climb and fewer aid stations. This guy was a marathoner, and perhaps he didn't do his research. I gave him one of my spare water bottles and a couple GUs, and that made me feel a lot better. He was a great guy, I hope he did alright.

The race started with a hearty climb, and the overall pace was pretty strong. The 30K runners started with the 50K group, and so everyone was mixed in at the beginning. Much like the Forest Park 50K, it was hard to tell who was running which race, making it hard to pace with anybody. I just kept a comfortable stride running up the hill, playing the patience game. Whenever someone's breathing down my neck, though, I can get a little competitive and tend to run harder than I should.

The race reached a point of equilibrium, where runners stopped passing me and I stopped passing runners. My pace was consistent with another runner, and we started chatting. His name was Eric and an East Bay resident, and earlier that summer he had ran the Tahoe Rim 100 miler. So, I was excited to talk with him! We talked shoes, hydration, and general running stuff. He made good company, and we stuck together for half the race. He signed up for the 30K, so we eventually said farewell and went our separate ways.

After the 30K point, the course repeats itself with a shortcut that makes it into a 20K loop. At least I knew the course since I had just run it, but those hills kicked my butt the second time around. My training consisted of runs up to 3 hours, and so up until the 3 hour mark in the race, I felt great! After that, my legs labored up the hills and my pace was significantly slower. My downhill pace was okay, but nothing like my Bunker to Bonneville finish. I was essentially alone for the entire last 20K of the race, so there was no one to pace with or at least push me to run faster. That's fine, I was content going at my own pace.

With about 2 miles to go, the course crosses the road that leads to Rodeo Beach. Just before I crossed it, I  saw my Dad drive by! I tried waving, but he was already turning the bend. Good timing, though! Afterward I finished fairly strong, and feeling great aside from the fatigue. Dad was there to film it, as he does with all family occasions.

Results:     4:51:50 - 5th out of 57 Finishers

Pace:     9:25 min/mile

Finally, I broke the 5 hour mark for a 50K! I was pretty happy with how the day went, considering my training could have been better. The weather stayed consistent throughout the day, and I even ran a portion of the race without a shirt on. There was some misty rain, but nothing to worry about. The course was mixed single track and wide dirt road, and portions of it were mucky from the typical wet coastal winter weather. Overall, it's an incredibly runnable course with some great hill climbing. I can only imagine what the views would have been like on a clear day!

Pace.