From owner-ius-l@AMERICAN.EDU Wed May 22 13:59:45 1996 Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 09:53:49 -0700 From: Pat Wellington To: ius-l@american.edu Subject: Ohlone Wilderness 50K-From the Rear Kudos to Race Director (and List Member) John Vonhoff for his herculean efforts in rerouting the run and organizing aid stations at the last minute when park authorities wouldn't allow access to key points along the scheduled route. Normally, the Ohlone Wilderness Trail Run goes through four East Bay Regional Parks in Southern Alameda County: Mission Peak Regional Preserve, Sunol Regional Wilderness, Ohlone Wilderness, and Del Valle Regional Park connecting Fremont and Livermore. This year we started at Mission Peak, covered the same first 10 miles to Sunol Regional Wilderness and then did three different loops around Sunol. There were still plenty of long steep up and downhills, with an emphasis on the uphill, or was that my imagination? The Sunol Regional Wilderness is a wonderful place to run with sweeping views of rolling hillside covered with oak, elderberry, madrone and gray pine trees. Wildflowers were in full floom along the way as well, including California poppies, mustard, goldfields and lupines carpeting vast areas in yellow, orange and blue. The new route also took us past Little Yosemite-a scenic gorge on the Alameda Creek with rock formations and waterfalls. After the first ten miles where I ran with Lee and Wini Jebian, I found myself running alone. Actually, Lee and I were initially trying to keep up with Wini, who was moving very well after running a great 50-miler at Quicksilver just a week before. I suspect Dick Collins, who was cheerfully manning the 21/27 mile aid station, might have been spreading the rumor that anyone who ran with me would end up being mentioned on the internet...I can't imagine why. But everyone sure beat feet after that 10-mile aid station! We also got to meet grazing cows up close and personal. We seemed to be invading their space. And, no Stan, I wasn't really bothered by the cow patties. It was the swarms of flies covering those cow patties who knew fresh meat when they smelled it as I passed by that made me shiver. Just think what all those flies were carrying on their little hairy legs when they landed on your skin! And the Gold Star Award for Creativity goes to the white trail marking arrow drawn over a big cow pattie! Being in the rear, I am able to report that everyone was very careful not to disturb that priceless marker. I hope someone took a picture or maybe saw fit to preserve it so it could be brought back again as sort of a mascot at future Ohlone Wilderness runs. Diversity being the buzz word of the 90s, I couldn't help but notice that the cows were segregated according to color. You never see a black & white with the browns or vice versa, so I'm assuming it's intentional. Are cows only allowed to mate with their own color? I guess I just notice these things because I participate on the Diversity Committee at the firm where I work (I don't volunteer for these things either; I just seem to get appointed). I was a bit concerned about being alone for so long. I even started talking to the cows; but they didn't seem to be interested in what I had to say. My only comfort was knowing that there had to be at least one person behind me because the Trail Sweep wasn't behind me! I felt good. I just don't seem to cover as much ground with each step as others do when climbing. And we did climb and climb and climb! Now, downhill I can do! The weather was perfect. While the sun was shining and it was fairly warm, there was always a nice breeze too, so I was never overheated. And that's also because of the great volunteers and well-stocked aid stations. The ice in the sponge bucket at mile 27 was a nice touch! Finishers are awarded a unique Ohlone Wilderness Trail Marker plaque, with age group winners being awarded the whole Ohlone Wilderness Trail Post. Of course, we never did make it to the Ohlone Wilderness, but what the heck. It's a great award idea! Super vermillion T-shirt too--my kinda color choice! Today I wore a yellow singlet and black shorts ensemble, accessorized with black & white neck scarf and matching black gloves and, most importantly, a black Road Runners bra for C&D cups--the ultimate solution to bra burn. Pat Wellington San Francisco wellingtonpm@cooley.com