Miwok Trail 100K May 6, 2000 Summary: 57 miles of fireroad and trails, 5 miles pavement, in the rugged Marin Headlands. A loop course with an out-and back; spectacular views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate at dawn, and miles of wildflowers and ocean views on the Coastal Trail. RD John Medinger does an excellent job of organizing, the trail markings are copious, and the volunteers at the aid stations will ply you with food and drink. There's a barbecue at the finish, with food even for the back-of-the-pack runners, and a great finishers t-shirt. The Details: My first foray into distances beyond 50 miles started inauspiciously. The "youth hostel" that Jim Winne and I stayed at (2 miles from the race start) didn't quiet down until midnight, and then a commotion a 4 am brought the cops in. Next, upon setting out for the starting line, I discovered that I had a flat tire. So I abandoned my car at the side of the road and threw my stuff in Jim's truck. But the day was dawning cool, calm and clear, and as the 180 runners climbed out of Rodeo beach, we were greeted with spectacular views of the Bay, San Francisco, and the Golden Gate bridge. The course was a little changed this year so after a couple of miles of running along Conzelman Road, instead of continuing along the ridge for views of Sausalito we dipped back into the valley, crossed Bunker Road, and climbed back out ( does that make the course 11,000' of climb instead of 10,000'?). This new section was all on fireroad. After Tennessee Valley (mile 11.2) we headed toward the beach on a paved road that turned into a fireroad, and then climbed up on the Coastal Trail for the first of many spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. We ran along a fine, single-track trail, then started a steep descent until I thought we were going down to the water itself (Since the next aid was named "Muir Beach", I thought it was actually going to be set up on the beach.) But at the last instant we turned inland and ran along a weed-overgrown car path. The weeds were well beaten down, but I didn't like this section because the ground below the mat of weeds was uneven. Operating from memory I knew there was a big climb between Muir Beach and Pan Toll aid stations, so I ate and drank as much at I could at Muir Beach. However it turned out there was a 3-4 mile section right after the aid station that was runnable. I ran as best I was able, with all that food sloshing around inside. But finally we started the big climb ( 1500' in two miles ) and soon found ourselves in the redwood forest. I enjoyed the serenity of the forest, chatted with other runners, and digested that huge mass of food I had eaten at Muir Beach, and, before I knew it, was at Pan Toll (21 miles). The day was perfect, warning up to the upper 60's and the wind was still moderate so I dropped my polypro undershirt there, picked up my HammerGel dispenser, and ate some more food from the wide selection at the aid station. From Pan Toll to Bolinas Ridge (miles 21 - 28) we had more stunning views of the Pacific. Most of the trail was excellent, following the contours of the land out to a ocean view and then back into a fold, with Oak trees and perhaps a tiny creek. However there was one section of a mile or so where the trail was not really a trail at all - the ground followed the natural slope of the hill, it was overgrown with grasses and flowers, and the footing was uncertain. The section from Bolinas to the turn-around was more fireroad through the forest, and then the last mile or so come out into open fields again. About this time a light drizzle started. This rain continued for the next 5 or 6 hours, and low clouds rolled in to block our view, but at the same time the wind died. Since the air temperatures remained in the upper 60's conditions remained fine for running, and the only downside was that my feet got soaked from raindrops clinging to the overgrown trails. My race plan was to take it easy, eat and drink, and arrive at the mile 35 point just ahead of the cut-off and ready to boogie back to the finish. I had met most of those goals, having been about 1/2 hour ahead of my pace chart all along, and having eaten far more than I normally do. However, starting around mile 30 I had pain from the IT band in my left leg. This didn't hinder me much on the gently rolling terrain; I could run the short downhills without a problem. The big descent from Pan Toll to Highway 107 was a different matter - I felt pretty good, but couldn't run more than a few minutes without the pain increasing. Still, I felt pretty good, and wasn't falling behind my target pace. (I had arrived at Pan Toll - 50 miles - in 11:20 elapsed time). There I changed my soaked socks, put on a windbreaker, ate as much as I could, (the strawberries were particularly good), and set off. This steep downhill cried out to be run non-stop, but every few minutes I took a walking break to ease my ITB. In no time at all: "What's this? A road?" At first I thought Muir Woods Rd (CA107) was Hiway 1 - but where was the aid station? I knew it had come far too soon, so I reluctantly continued on the marked trail, worrying about the warning "don't go back to Muir Beach aid station". But almost immediately came a trail junction, with the left turn well marked, and that problem was solved. Looking ahead, I could see a pretty unbelievable climb up to the ridgeline and (presumably) Highway 1. After Hiway 1 aid station, the climb got worse. It was by far the toughest climb of the course, and I was pretty well done after that. I stumbled down the descent into Tennessee Valley, got some hot soup, a preview of the rest of the course from a volunteer, and good advice from Stan Jensen. "Just keep going and get it over with." But thinking about it afterwards, maybe I should have stayed for some more soup, since I was really slowing. There was about an hour of daylight left, and that got me pretty much to the top of the last climb. I could see the beach buildings in the distance, the occasional glow stick marked the turns, and I had my flashlight. What I didn't have was fresh batteries, and after about 10 minutes the flashlight was useless. So I made my way down as best I could, walking on what seemed to be paths and didn't have too many rocks, searching for glow sticks. There were some steps formed by wood beams in the ground, these glistened in the reflected skylight, but then the steps turned into irregular stone which were completely invisible in the gloom. This last mile must have taken me 30 minutes, but finally there were people ahead pointing the way, and then the finish tent. There was soup, drinks and burgers, but I was too tired to eat more than a little. Finishing time: 15:35, five minutes ahead of my pace chart. Then I got some welcome news - John had arranged for someone to fix my flat and drive my car to the finish! Thanks, John. I drove home, numb with fatigue, but the next day I'm already thinking "I could cut an hour off that time..." What a great course!. Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 16:56:48 -0700 From: "David Wright"