Subject: Fat Ass 50K - Santa Cruz Mountain Version (California) From: "Lee Jebian" Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 20:47:46 -0800 Run story starting and finishing at Saratoga Gap, Santa Cruz Mountains, California. Fat Ass 50K - Santa Cruz Mountain Version Saturday, December 27, 2003 Lee Jebian (Run Co-ordinator) The "who knows what" version of the FA50 was held on Saturday, December 27, 2003. It started from Saratoga Gap in the Santa Cruz Mountains on a very cool, frosty day. After many cloudy, rainy days in the area, the sun was out shining its winter cold down on the earth turning many of the open grassland areas of the redwood forest a Christmas white. This apparently was good, as the normal sticky mud after the rains were frozen making the footing on the open areas of the trail quite secure. One of the early highlights was the sighting of a rare snow plow heading down the road near the start to dump sand on the road. The day was exceptionally beautiful with the redwood forest trails being extra soft and cushiony. The views on the tops of the mountains were clear and stunning with the ocean and barges off on the horizon. All this was staged to build envy into the heart of our "special" guest runner from Texas. She even got to run almost three full miles up a mild grade gaining 2500+ ft of elevation on one hill with soft cushiony trails lined with 300 ft redwoods. Total elevation gain (reported by Joe Mitchell using his Christmas present) was 7800 ft. The award for earliest start (7:10 AM) goes to Kristina Irvin. The latest arrival time at the start award goes to Christina Brownson and Tom Kaisersatt (8:45 AM). The most unique arrival award goes to Vladimer Gusiatnikov who came in a cab. He also gets the latest start award leaving at 9:00 AM after enjoying a chocolate croissant and cup of coffee before departure. There were 27 elite participants in this classic non-event. They are listed below in some unknown order of significance: 1. Tom Kaisersatt (first man to finish after sunset) 2. Christina Brownson (first woman to finish after sunset) 3. Chris Batteate (first man in a Volkswagen beetle) 4. Terri Hayes (first woman from Hawaii) 5. Wini Jebian (first woman married to an Armenian) 6. Sophia Lewis (fastest female who walked the whole way, almost) 7. John Stotts (most spectacular fall) 8. Joe Mitchell (best photographs) 9. Buddy Pohl (only finisher with RR100 Tee shirt on) 10. Tom O'Connell (first male married to a Legal RD) 11. Paul Fick (first 25:08 WS finisher) 12. Linda Hurd (first female from Texas) 13. Jon Easterbrook (most consistent uphill trot) 14. Philip Stark (first snicker bar recipient) 15. Pete Hazarian (first Armenian finisher) 16. Kristina Irvin (best license plate "N8RUNNER") 17. Jim Winne (East Bay lead madman) 18. Steve Patt (first ponytail) 19. Jeff Collins (2nd place Real Deal finisher) 20. Brian Robinson (flyin' Brian award winner) 21. Whit Rambach (first to send "thank you" e-mail) 22. Larry Visak (fastest Mt Diablo runner) 23. Vladimer Gusiatnikov (Best Breakfast award) 24. Herman Cohen (most out of shape runner) 25. Ron Perkins (most traveled runner) 26. Gayla Johnson (fastest female to China Grade) 27. Clement Choy (first to finish & Worst ankle award) Since there were no entries in the 50 mile version of the Santa Cruz Mountain version of the FA50, there will be a new and improved 50 mile course next year starting and finishing at Saratoga Gap along with the 50K. I hope the real non-RD can figure that one out. Photos of the non-event are available at http://community.webshots.com/album/107163569HgjLTQ courtesy of Joe Mitchell.