The G Running Diary

Fun for a Whole Day: 10/15/04

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The nice thing about the 50 mile distance is that it lasts all day. I even joked with the ranger taking our parking fees in the morning about it--what a great way to spend a day, and I do mean a whole day. We knew we would see lots of familiar faces at the race, but the best part was seeing them volunteering. All of the aid stations at the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 were very welcoming. The course is an out and back, which is nice because the first time through the aid stations, you can say, "Thanks, see you later."

The race started in the dark. Oh, did I call it a race? We were teased about that later. We sure didn't treat it like a race. We were in last place from the start. At least if you stay in the mid-pack for the start, you get the benefit of light from the people who came prepared. But the first mile or so was pavement and the sky soon lightened, so it didn't matter.

We chatted with people around us. We met Brad from Texas, who was running his first 50 miler and only his second ultra, on very low mileage training. He seemed nice and relaxed and was pacing himself well. In this first part, I felt like I was dragging, so I thought Don should go ahead. I wouldn't have wanted to hold him up, since he was planning on driving to Susanville afterwards for the Bizz Johnson marathon the next day. If he could finish sooner feeling good, then he'd have more rest time.

So then as we were heading up a single track on our way to Skyline Gate, I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my knee that made me yell. It's been 20 years since I've been stung by a bee, but that's what it was. Nasty thing. It started swelling pretty quick. Sarah gave me a special bee sting swab that she always carries since our run at Pacifica where a yellow jackets' nest caused many runners to do extra mileage. Then I got more special treatment at Skyline Gate, with an ointment that I was told would stop the swelling. I guess I believed enough, or it really worked, because the knee felt better. On the next stretch another bee got me on my side, but I had my two jog bras in the way, so it didn't hurt as much.

On our way to the Sibley aid station we started to encounter marathon runners. They had started from our turnaround point. The first place guy had a good lead and looked smooth. But it was fun to see the people at the back, the ones who were talking away while running.

As we kept going, the scenery kept getting better, until we were up on the hills with views of San Francisco and the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a clear blue day. Wini caught up to us because she was worried about the cutoff at the turnaround. We knew it would be fine, since it was 4 miles almost all downhill and we had over an hour, but Wini pressed on. We saw Philip at the turnaround, who was waiting to sweep the course. Don had slowed down with some back pain, but a little sitting and stretching fixed him up. We picked up our great tuna sandwiches--always good to have something to look forward to--and went back up the hill.