From owner-ultra@caligari.Dartmouth.EDU Tue May 20 07:11:56 1997 Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 06:30:05 -0800 To: ius-l@american.edu, ultra@caligari.Dartmouth.EDU From: "Larry Gassan" Subject: Ohlone Wilderness Inferno Run [fwd] Note: I think of all the races to be at this weekend, the Ohlone Wilderness 50k was it. Kirk Boisseree is describing the fun with all of his usual understatement and post-modern irony. Read on... =========================================== Tropical John and the rest of you misfits: The good news is that the Ohlone 50K this year was an excellent heat-training run. In addition to the usual ups and downs , the weather was HOT. John Vonhoff added about 1500 feet to the total climb/descent - Dave Scott provided a more accurate assessment before the race via his altimeter watch. Thanks a lot. On Saturday, the temperature in Fremont was officially 99 deg F. I was in Livermore Saturday evening and the temperature was at least 99 deg F. This was not a good sign. 75 or so hearty souls (soles?) started. I knew that things were going to be bad when I 1) wanted to douse my hat and neckerchief into one of the troughs on Mission Peak and (2) found it BONE DRY. I drank 3 bottles within the first 1:45. The temperature continued to climb as we entered the vast exposed areas beyond the heart of the Sunol Regional Park. The infamous Backpack area uphill was a sauna. A slight breeze that we had had was cut-off by this wall at mile 12-13. Several of us soaked heads under the water tap in the backpack area - we were dry within 20 minutes. The usual challenging fireroad into Goat Rock (mile 16) was radiating with heat. I remember leaning over at the station, gasping for air, with Hollis saying "better load all your bottles - the next piece is really exposed." What a f***ing understatement from the literal one. On we went. The first descent into Indian Creek (another of my preferred dousing spots) was also DRY. Climbing to Maggie's Half Acre, I reeled in a few wayward souls. At Maggie's, runners were stopping at the water tap to cool off before walking the 100 feet to the aid station. There was a lingering odor of brains frying. I felt like crap. Barely cool fluids at the station soon warmed to body temperature down the trail to Stewart's Camp. More radiating heat. More sun exposure. At Stewart's Camp, I was treated to Wolfie struggling to pump water from a stubborn tap. My favorite open savannah rolling into Schlieper Rock was scorching. A ranger's truck approached - Mark Samuelson was being driven out after dropping at Maggie's. I was spoiled by the service of Jim and Mary Weston at Schlieper - they even had ice ! I tried to speed down the 1100 foot descent into Williams Gulch, only to find that my dehydrated quads were a shadow of their usual ability. At Williams Gulch, I shared the stream with Duane Day (sp) who was suffering leg cramps. I bailed water over my head, wanting to linger but knowing that I had only 3 miles to go. The climb out of the Gulch left me dry at the top of Rocky Ridge (15 minutes or so). The final descent (another 1800 feet or so) was an unusual mixture of rubbery legs and hammered toes compounded with continual heat radiating from the sun-soaked fireroad. I crossed the finish a few seconds behind Melinda Creel, with whom I had spent quite a bit of the day discussing the suffering that we we were sharing. I have never felt so spent after 50K. I sucked down a few sodas before walking down to Lake Del Valle for my ritual swim. A few hundred civilians packed the beach - clearly they had more sense than the 70 or so runners crawling in from Fremont. Dave Scott won in 4:22, about 20 minutes slower than usual. Mo Bartley won in about 5:30 - she seemed pleased with her performance. Chrissy Durea started 5 minutes late, but still came in third in 5:46. I took a full 6:30:54, my slowest time to date on this classic course. Jim Wholey finished his 10th time and received a nice post award from John. Nice shirts, nice awards, good food, good friends. A day to remember. See you all at cAmp, Kaptain Kirk