After 8 days of no running due to a bad case of flu followed by a sinus infection (!), I decided "what the hell" and ran the Saddleback Marathon. OC Register columnist David Whiting wrote about his experience in 2007 http://www.ocregister.com/sports/race-mile-trail-1922664-few-marathon. Here's my take.
The race starts at Blue Jay campgrounds and includes some of my favorite local trails in the Cleveland National Forest. This was the first race that all 5 team members of "Coastal Cuties" (the name coined by the Trail Headz) have been present at. Race Director Baz was in fine form, throwing insults to everyone and anyone as he explained what was to come. We were off, first on pavement, then on trails. Now these are not the easiest of trails and there's always rocks and roots waiting to catch you unawares and trip you. That's what makes it fun! Uphill start, down Trabuco, then up, up, up Holy Jim. Winding along on Main Divide and finally a welcome downhill finish. Maya screamed ahead as usual (she is so fast these days!), Shelli and I stuck together and Beiyi and Kristen were right with us. I found I could run the downhills reasonably comfortably but coughed all the way up. About 10 miles I began to think I maybe, just maybe, should have volunteered at an aid station rather than run. But, I don't believe in quitting unless you really can't go another step so I finished the race. Shelli (bless her) stuck with me the whole way, Beiyi finished ahead of us a full 2 hours faster than last year! And Croc Lady Lorraine had an amazing race too. Note the "Coastal Cuties" post-race shoe of choice....
Post-race analysis of GPS data by iDad Doug, and subsequent animated discussion by group techno geeks, showed recorded elevation readings for ascent and descent totals to be wildly inaccurate, with a spread of several thousand feet. I'm going to leave it to the Trail Headz mathematicians to figure out whether or not Baz's claim of 5100 ft of elevation gain is accurate or not. Until next year....
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