From: Fred Vance Subject: XP:Ohlone 50K Report Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 17:31:28 -0700 I ran my first 50K last Sunday, and it was great! I caught a ride to the start with my co-worker Joe Florio who was running his first ultra. He skipped the marathon stuff and went straight to 50K from a previous longest distance of a 1/2 marathon. I think Joe had a good time too. I left work Friday before John Vonof's email regarding the course change arrived. John was thoughtful enough to offer his cellular phone to runners at the starting line to rearrange their pickup at Sunol instead of Del Valle (if they didn't want to use the shuttle service back to the start). Now how many RD's do you know that would do that? It was a beautiful morning and the mountains were still green because of the unusually wet winter we've had in the bay area. (In the Bay Area, the mountains are green in the winter and usually turn brown by this time of the year, when they dry out from the wet season.) The moon was up for most of the run, a white disk in a blue sky. I tried to concentrate on learning the new course on the map that John had set out at the start. This turned out to be a waste of time as the course was very well marked. There were even placards indicating distance covered at the aid stations. At one junction where we went different directions for different loops that overlapped, there were arrows with #1 and #2 indicating which direction to go each time. I wish I had spent more time talking and galking at the start. I did meet listers Ryan Manning, and Stan Jensen for the first time and said hello to fellow QRC members Gene and Famida Weddle and Ephraim Romesberg. Later, I met more listers working the aid stations. Sorry guys, but your names slipped past me, I was too busy gobbling down Goldfish and Cola. I am always awed to be in the same event with (notice I didn't say "race against") people whose pictures I've seen in UltraRunning and whose exploits I've read about. I met Emma Davies at the start, and I recognized Ray Piva, Chrissy Ferguson and Mo Bartley in the crowd of 76 people. After the start, Joe was soon 20 or 30 yards ahead as I was still galking and talking. He slowed a little as we steadily climbed up towards Mission peak so I had a chance to talk with Gene a little more. About half way up, Joe looked up the mountain and said, "Look up there, that's probably Dave Scott way up there." I replied, "Well let's go catch him!" About that time we took a turn downhill for a short distance and Joe took off like a shot. So there I was chasing after him yelling, "Joe! Slow down! We can't catch Dave Scott, I was only joking!" That's how the first half of the run went, me chasing Joe, yelling "Slow down, we've got a long way to go!" The view of the San Francisco Bay was beautiful as we approached the summit of Mission peak. The first 2100 feet of climb went by really fast. Then we started a long easy descent into Sunol. We could have really flown down the Ohlone Trail, but I kept insisting that we save it for later. We climbed out of Sunol to the Backpack area and were treated with more grand views on the way back down through a beautiful valley carved by Alameda Creek, and known as Little Yosemite. When Joe and I arrived back at Sunol, there was Gene! Unfortunately, he had turned his ankle. I hope he recovers soon, he's working on the Grand Slam this year. I sent Joe on back out on the trail alone as I worked to mix more CLIP in my Aquifer's roll-top. I have had problems with the CLIP gelling in the drinking tube, so this time, put water in a zip-lock bag with the CLIP to pre-mix it before putting it in the roll-top. It worked better, but I still had some plugging and walked up the Indian Joe trail hold the bladder high sucking on the tube. I'm glad no came along to see me. I felt like a hospital patient carrying an IV bag around. (BTW, I started with 2 liters of CLIP that I had mixed 8 days earlier and put in my refrigerator. It tasted fine to me. I couldn't tell the difference when I made up the second batch at Sunol.) I think I heard someone say that part of the Indian Joe trail was not marked and they found it difficult and confusing. I was too preoccupied with my roll-top to get lost. I think I have to concentrate more to get lost. If I'm walking along not looking, I miss all the wrong turns or fail to follow people that take the wrong path. I finally caught Joe and started pressing him on the up hills to try to wear him down a bit so I could keep up with him on the down hills. We met Jim Winne in this part of the course and see-sawed back and forth with him for the last 10 miles. I think it was Jim that I overheard talking about John's book on foot care. I interjected, "Yea, and this is the final exam, I hope you read it well." The last loop around the Maguire Peaks was a keyhole loop, so we got to see the front runners as they headed in and we headed out. It was great! I saw Ryan Manning just as I expected. I knew from his Cool Canyon time of last year that he would be at least an hour ahead of us. Got to see a group that included Chrissy and they all looked like they were having as good a time as Joe and I were, all smiles. Somewhere around the Maguire Peaks, I realized that Joe was in a slump. When he said something about hoping the sweeps wouldn't catch us, I realized that he thought we were at the back of the pack. I tried to cheer him up as we finished the "hole" part of the keyhole loop. I grabbed his water bottle from his belt, and ran 10 yards ahead of him. There I stretched out one of the numerous pink ribbons that marked the course, and when he ran through it, I squirted him with water to celebrate and said, "There, you just finished a marathon, and now you are officially an Ultrarunner. That seemed to cheer Joe a bit, but what really helped, was when we finally began to see some of the back-of-the-packers headed out to the Maguire Peaks. They looked like they were having a good time too. I had predicted 6:30 or longer for us to finish. Joe had talked 6:00, but I really thought it would be closer to 7:00, so when I realized that we might make 6:30, it seemed like a good goal to keep us motivated for the last three miles. The further we went down Flag Hill Trail, the faster we got, and it looked like it would be really close. With about a mile or less to go, we entered a grassy, wet, muddy, cow dung infested meadow and Joe went air borne. He did a half gainer with a half twist and it seemed like it would last forever as I slipped and slid and struggled to stay on my feet. I thought at first that Joe would land on his back, but he somehow landed on his side and was up running again before I even reached him. From the back, he didn't look very dirty, but at the finish, John Vonhof had to wipe the mud away to see Joe's number. I think he would have just asked if he had smelled it first. We got under 6:30 by a matter of seconds, and Joe headed immediately down to the beautiful Alameda Creek to wash off. I followed after getting my drop bag, and cleaned up in the creek too, and changed into some jeans and sandals. How many of you have ever come within 15 seconds of your estimated time of arrival? The food at the finish was wonderful, but the company was even better. It was a great party on a beautiful day as runners sat around eating and talking. One of the things I've noticed about running an ultra is that afterwards I'm completely mellow. I think most of the runners are, and it makes for a very relaxed enjoyable atmosphere. The tee-shirt is cool, the finisher's award was wooden plaque with an Ohlone Wilderness Trail marker on it which was cooler yet. I wish I could get one of those Hardrock Trail markers as a finishing award! To top the day off, John autographed a copy of his book that I bought (in gold ink no less!). In conclusion, the Ohlone 50K was a real party. I'll be back. Now I'm wondering, are all 50Ks this much fun? Regards, Fred Vance fred_vance@moldev.com I am: male, 45, an EE, married 22 years to Susan; with kids: Nicky 12, Alan 10; living in Silicon Valley; a member of the Quicksilver Running Club. Barkley, April 4, 1998: 60 miles, 39:23:xx Hardrock, July 10, 1998 Badwater, July 16, 1998