From owner-ius-l@AMERICAN.EDU Wed May 15 13:08:33 1996 Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 10:08:32 -0700 From: Pat Wellington To: ius-l@american.edu Subject: Quicksilver 50K-From Back of the Pack The Quicksilver Running Club does a terrific job organizing the Quicksilver 50M/50K which takes place in the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains just 10 miles south of downtown San Jose. The park lies within the New Almaden National Landmark District which includes the historic New Almaden Mine, the first mercury mine claimed in North America and the largest by total production. This park is also the setting for Wallace Stegner's Pulitzer prizewinning novel "Angle of Repose." A museum in the park now houses a wealth of mercury mining artifacts, ore samples, equipment, memorabilia and photographs and gives a vivid picture of the mines, from their role in the world history of mercury to the technology used to extract and process the ore, and the uses of the metal. The park terrain ranges from deep canyons to fire trails that wind up and down with many varieties of trees, fern and wildflowers growing along the way. Oh, and poison oak too. I really should have been paying closer attention those first few miles, as I'm sprouting polka dots-no rash thank goodness-just dots. The first couple of miles are on a wide dirt road which quickly moves into 6 miles or so of narrow winding tree-shrouded trails and then it's long uphill climbs and long downhill descents on wide fire trails. I found myself alone for a while heading for the 12 mile aid station when I came upon Dick Collins and a pretty young lass sitting on a log out in the wilderness, and as I passed by he said they were getting the rocks out of their shoes. Okay, Dick, whatever you say. And I promise not to mention rocks again in this post. On the long climb up to the 18 mile aid station I was getting cranky because my hamstrings were getting tight (right where the hamstring inserts into the caboose). I was leisurely sponging down and turned around to see Mr. Power Walker Dave Littlehales approaching the aid station with a big 'ol grin on his face. I screamed out loud, completely forgot about my tight hamstrings, and took off with a burst of energy. Now I had a mission. This day I would not let Power Walkin' Dave pass me! And I know he has the power and strength to do so because he has in the past. Luckily the next two miles went down down down, so I ran hard down as long as the downhill lasted because I knew he'd be right there gaining on me once I had to climb again. The last 13 miles pretty much alternated between long uphill climbs and equally long downhills and I found that I was able to really run the downhills but was reduced to a crawl doing the uphills. I kept looking back expecting to see the Guy with Cheshire Cat Grin overtake me. But the last stretch was again down down down and I was home free! And Power Walkin' Dave wasn't all that far behind. But he was behind me. See, we back of the packers have goals too, simple though they may be. It was pretty warm, but with the very well-stocked aid stations every 2-4 miles, I never really got overheated and there was a nice breeze from time to time. I also stuck with water, chips, pretzels and GU, avoiding the Gatorbarf, with hopes of not going through that devastating heave ho routine again. And it worked! We passed the Dam Aid Station (that's it's name) three times at 12, 20, and 25 miles and I think the volunteers at that aid station were drinking their own special brew, or maybe it was delirium from sitting out in the sun all day, but their super enthusiasm was much appreciated. They aslo used humor to keep people like me moving right on through. Today, just for you Jonathan Webber, I wore Red, White & Blue, completing the outfit with a Star Spangled hanky and Fuscia Road Runners bra for C&D cups. Once again (I can't believe it!) I have no bra burn! This is too good to be true. I suffered for so long. Concerning awards, I love the turquoise polo shirt! Okay, so the printing is sooo small you can't read 50M/50K, it's a great practical quality shirt. The Quicksilver Running Club also puts on a half marathon at which they've awarded these same polo shirts w/various park animals emblem for the past several years and I wear them all the time. I now have a selection of white, blue, aqua, black, red and turquoise quality polo shirts. While the buckle is totally impressive, I have one; reality is I'm not going to wear it and so I opted for the glass brew mug, which I can always use as a little flower vase. And, Personally, I would prefer Baccarat crystal to a belt buckle any day. Pat Wellington San Francisco wellingtonpm@cooley.com