The Northface Endurance Challenge

With the Holidays upon us, I have totally neglected writing in my blog. With Facebook so conveniently in my face everyday, I forget that I should update the blog once in awhile for the couple of people who do read it.

Last Saturday I ran The Northface Endurance Challenge 50 mile race that is a Championship race and the last of 6 races in a national series. There is a lot of money on the line for the winners. Ist male and Ist female win 10,000, 2nd wins 4,000, and 3rd wins 1000 dollars. As you can imagine, the race was stacked with some of the most elite ultra runners in the world.

It was an early start, 5am, and running for a couple of hours in the dark posed an interesting slant on a 50 miler. The weather Gods behaved themselves for the most part, and despite the rain and wind, it could have been a lot worse! The course is very challenging with lots of ups and downs and several sections of stairs that are endless. We even had to climb a vertical ladder on the Steep Ravine Trail. It is beautiful running in the Marin Headlands overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge.

I was happy with my time, as I started the race with minimal training and a very tired body. I was pleasantly surprised that I ran strong from start to finish. My good friend and pacer Suzanna Bon was excellent and it was so great to have her out there with me. My finishing time was 9:42 which put me at 16th woman, and 1st in my age group. I'm happy with that. I started the race with a sore low back and today it is still really hurting. I have been using the foam roller and stretching but I think a chiropractor appt. and a massage are in order.

Saturday was also the WS 100 mile lottery, and once again my name wasn't drawn. Oh well, what's a woman to do? Run a more exciting race, right? Well, I'm working on that. I'll let you know.