Gorge Waterfalls 50k

Photo from the Gorge Waterfalls Facebook page

Yesterday I went up to northern Oregon for what I though would be a beautifully scenic warm-up race to kick-start my season after a bit of downtime to recover from Rocky Raccoon then a road marathon three weeks ago for a bit of speed and fun.

Then I saw the entrants' list included a lot of the fastest runners in Oregon so it looked like being even more enjoyable, both for socializing and running hard. Fast men and women like Max King, Eric Skaggs, Jenn Shelton and my North Face team-mate from Bend, Stephanie Howe.

I mainly entered because the RD, James Varner, has a great reputation for tough courses with great views and this one promised 24 waterfalls along the Columbia River valley. Snow higher up meant course changes and the final course had a few less waterfalls and less climbing, but still was scenic and tough - 5,800ft of ascent and around 29 miles...so a little short, but that couldn't be helped.

James had car issues on the morning (a flat tire, I heard) so we ended up starting half an hour late but nobody cared and the course didn't disappoint. It's one of the more technical races I've run in recent years and I found myself feeling tired way too early, after just the first climb at about six miles. Definitely time to start racking up the climbing miles as I only really got into hill work two weeks ago and the course beat me down - this was a tough one.

The revised course was an out-and-back so I could see the leaders as I headed to the turn around - Max was leading as expected, getting redemption for his lost lead the previous week at Chuckanut 50k when he went off course and added 4 miles. I was about a mile back at this point and feeling sluggish.

I had Jace Ives (who won the race the previous year) and Nick Triolo ahead so spent the return trip trying to chase them down, getting ahead, going the wrong way for a minute at the Lord of the Rings-style Multnomah Falls (see photo below) then having to chase Nick and Jace again. I just about managed to stay ahead of them until the finish but was running scared for the last two miles.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

A great event and one that shows off how beautiful Oregon is. Max won in a blistering 3:19 and Stephanie won the ladies' race in 4:07 (watch out for her this year as she moves up from 50ks to longer ultras!). Multiple Garmins told us it was around 26 miles, but they lost signal for a lot of the course so I'm willing to go with the official measurement of 29 miles. Full results here and I was a fair bit back from Max in 3:46...only the 3rd Bend runner to finish, but Bend had a good day with the mens' and womens' wins plus four of the top ten overall.

Also, a whole load of photos of the course are here if you're thinking of running this. But if you are, it'll sell out in hours so make sure you find out the day entries go on sale for 2013.

PCTR Tilden Trail 50k

Lake Anza and the reservoir, Tilden Park

SF and the Bay Bridge

Mt Diablo

SF and the GG Bridge

After dropping out of the last three PCTR ultras I've entered for various reasons on the theme of injury or lack of  recovery, I decided it'd be nice to finish one this time. And since I recently moved to the East Bay, it's convenient that the next available one was the brand new Tilden Trail 50k in Berkeley (only half an hour from home).

6,100ft of climbing on what I expected to be dry trails after a scorcher or a week with highs around 80+ degrees F. However, much of the lower trail network was shaded and the previous weeks of torrential rain had left it boggy and slippery.

That didn't make it any less fun, although I did lose both (road) shoes in one section on lap two of four (with the last loop being different) and had to walk through the mud to retrieve them. And once up to the highest section there were blue skies and perfect views of Mt Diablo as well as most of the Bay Area, with a great vista of SF.

After several months where I've been meaning to get my a@% in gear and run more trails uphill, I think I've finally got a start on the road to uphill fitness so the aim was to not walk too much. Oh, and to not pull either of my calves again. I think I managed it and probably had a running motion for maybe 4,500ft of the total ascent and a decent power walk for the rest.

As always, Sarah and Michael of PCTR put on a great event and were kind enough to leave the hardest climb to the last 400ft of ascent. I didn't ache during the race, felt recovered from last weekend's race and seem to fine the following day too. So all in all it was a 'sensible' way to train and get in a long, hilly run. Plus the 50k was fairly small with just 25 entrants so I was able to win too, in 4h19m.

Next up is American River 50 miler in a week and it looks like the elite field has thinned slightly (Chikara Omine out with a broken foot and Anton K has, I think, opted to give himself more time to get ready for the bigger, longer races of the summer). However, there's still a lot of guys who would generally win anything they turn up to, so a famous race like this will bring out the best in them. Should be fun.

I also just found out that the official rock of California is Serpentinite, which is particularly apt given my London club is Serpentine RC.