From owner-ultra@caligari.Dartmouth.EDU Mon May 12 14:51:51 1997 Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 14:47:51 -0700 From: stanj (Stan Jensen) To: ius-l@american.edu, ultra@caligari.dartmouth.edu Subject: Quicksilver 50 report(XP) (Cross-posted, with advance apologies, to both lists, since content includes both hard-core ultra facts as well as some personal stuff :-) The Mike Popolizio Quicksilver 50k/50m was held on Saturday, May 10, near San Jose, CA. This was the first year for Race Directors Gene Weddle and Famida Hanif-Weddle, and they did an outstanding job with the assistance of the Quicksilver Running Club and lots of volunteers. Full results should be available next Monday, but two course records were broken and about 180 people started the two events (largest field since '93). The packet pickup and pasta feed was held on Friday from 5-8 and gave people a chance to socialize and look over the list of preregistered runners in the two events. Plenty of food and beverages and a chance to avoid one of the lines the next morning. We arrived at the starting area around 5:15, checked in, watched the race day registration and then headed to the bathroom lines. Stood in line behind Scott "just visiting" St. John and Mark "Barkley" Williams and introduced them to each other. It was light enough by the 6am start that flashlights weren't needed and off we went. With about 180 runners on a rolling fire road that turns into a walking climb (for most of us), the start is a comfortable one, keeping you from going out too fast and also avoiding the crowding that can occur when you start on a single-track trail. After a big climb and a big descent, you pass a crowd of spectators and start on a single-track trail which goes in and out of the woods. At mile 6.1 you reach the Webb aid station, precariously perched at a narrow trail junction. From there it's another mile or so of trails before you emerge onto a fire road and descend to the McAbee aid station (mile 8.7). Next you continue on an easy climb in a counterclockwise direction past old mercury mines, drop down briefly, then climb past the dam to the next aid station (mile 11.5). >From there you run the longest stretch of the day (4.6 miles) on a fire road, through scattered trees, climbing gently. It was here (about 8:30) that the sun finally broke through the overcast and started warming up the conditions. Some people thought it was humid, but overall the weather and trail conditions were the best I've experienced in four years. At mile 16.1 you reach the Cape Horn aid station and then start a long climb up a fire road (with one short trail section) to the highest part of the course at Bull Run (mile 18.4). Just before we reached the summit (at 3:23) Scott St. John came flying down the hill on his way to a 3:42:49 victory and course record! After Bull Run you descend a winding road back to the Dam aid station (mile 20.5) and get a chance to watch the leaders as they run up the hill to their last aid station. It's nice to have a course where you can see the leaders and maybe 20-30 passed us before we headed out in a clockwise direction to McAbee again (this time at mile 23.3). >From McAbee you continue up another fire road to the Dam (mile 25.3 this time) and trudge up the long hill to Bull Run (mile 27.5). This gives you a chance to watch the back-of-packers as they come down the hill, so you've now seen the first and last finishers! One final check of your watch (5:10 with 3.6 miles of downhill) and you're off. Familiar route down to the Cape Horn junction, then a small climb and a fairly steep section that you traversed hours ago when your quads were fresh and then finally the finish line appears! A small crowd is gathered in the shade to cheer you on, the RD brings you a choice of a buckle or a mug, and then you can relax and enjoy a burger and a soda. We stuck around for a few hours and watched Sherry Johns from Arizona finish in 7:48:46 to set a new record in the 50m, beating Chrissy Duryea-Ferguson, who managed to beat her record from last year by two minutes. IUS-L interlude: My pre-AR50 ankle sprain has healed! I ran a tactical race, hitting all ten aid stations within 5 minutes of plan and finishing with a PR for the course and no lingering ankle problems. Saw lots of fellow list members (Ceis Wildin, Eric Robinson, Gary Wang, Jane Colman, Kathy Welch, Mike Palmer, Pat Wellington, Richard Pon, Roger Dellor, Ted Moore, etc.), many of whom seemed to being having a good day, too. Spent the last part of the run with Jennifer Kalfsbeek, who was running her second ultra and finished first or second in her age group. You could say we "paced" each other, and thus had an advantage, but it also made the run more enjoyable and that's important, too. This was my fourth year at QS and I'll run it again next year and continue to recommend it. It's well organized, it's challenging, it's fun and it's good value for your money. For more info, you can check out my web page at "http://reality.sgi.com/stanj/qs50.html". ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stan Jensen, Systems Engineer for "SGI Direct" stanj@sgi.com Silicon Graphics Inc., M/S 120 Phone:(415)933-5822 P.O. Box 7311, 1401 No. Shoreline Blvd. FAX: (415)932-5822 Mt. View, CA 94039-7311 "I (heart) Tonks" "http://www.sgi.com" "http://reality.sgi.com/stanj" ------------------------------------------------------------------------