Siskiyou Out Back 50K, Ashland, Oregon 3,2 Elevation Gain: 4200' - High Point: 7000' - Low Point: 6000' - RESULTS Scrolling Photographs of the PCT at SOB July 27, 2013 - The most difficult challenge I have always faced as a practicing athlete is REST. Scheduling two ultras a week apart should deserve plenty of rest and lots of eating, but I would prefer to just go, go, go between events and let the chips fall where they may. I had planned a snow climb of Mount Shasta in northern California mid-week between the Tahoe Rim Trail 50M and this race in Oregon, but unrelenting hundred degree temperatures all week rendered Shasta's snow rotten and extremely dangerous, laying waste to that part of my go, go, go. The weather proved so miserably hot that all the doing I could accomplish in the week between the two events was a single mid-week run of 12 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. The balance of the week I had no other option than to REST. Somehow I worked on my patience and got through it - rested and fattened up. As soon as I opted not to risk the Shasta climb I drove up to Mount Ashland just across the border into Oregon, the venue for this race, known in the running community simply as "the SOB". I set up camp on a lovely breezy ridgetop east of the top of Mount Ashland at about 6500 feet to escape the miserable heat down below. Being less than a mile from the race start/finish I was able to sleep in on race morning and still get to the starting line on time. On race day smoke was in the air from forest fires to the north near Grants Pass. As dry as the West has been, wildfires are an ever present threat any time you spend time in the mountains. You just hope you are able to stay clear. I decided ahead of time to vary my strategy for this shorter 50K event and begin at a much quicker tempo since most of the first mile was slightly down hill before connecting with single track on the Pacific Crest Trail. Once we were headed out, all systems felt fine until the course started undulating on the trail through the woods. Either I was just not trained for the quicker tempo or my legs were still not recovered completely from the previous week's 50M effort in Nevada - probably both. I knew I was in over my head by two miles, so I stopped and stepped out of queue to catch my breath and hopefully slow my tempo once I started again after a half minute or so. Even after resuming the race I continued to labor for the balance of the first five miles, thinking by this time that maybe I might be racing too much!!! Things finally settled and I found my rhythm as the morning began to heat up and we began a long climb after reaching the Siskiyou Gap aid station at 9M. My climbing skills once again came to my rescue as I began to pull back members of the field I had given ground to earlier. From this point until the finish no one would pass me again, as I reeled in dozens of faster starters. At the turnaround and high point of the course at the Jackson Gap aid station at 16.4M my time was at 2 hours and 47 minutes, a more than satisfying time given the amount of climbing and how crappy I felt for much of the event so far. I felt confident I could complete this 50K in under six hours at this rate, so doubled down and got right to the business of racing. From this point forward I had to conclude that all the tough racing I do makes me stronger - physically and mentally - and able to reach down and find the toughness that many others lack. While not as fast these days I bring a whole lot of TUFF to the game, maybe more than ever before, and that is this geezer's edge. As this out and back course retraced its way back to the Siskiyou Gap aid station my time was right at four hours for 21.9 miles. It took me another hour to climb back up to the Willamette Meridian aid station at 26.1 miles and then less than an hour to roll to the finish in 5:54:04 for 64th place of 195 finishers and second geezer overall, four minutes back. Except for a mostly sluggish first third of the event it was a satisfying performance. I collected a coveted cow bell as an age group award and some other cool swag, had some killer tacos and a tasty SOB Pilsner with some new friends before leaving this beautiful mountain retreat to head back to 106 degree California and bring my vacation to a close. Unlike the previous week's near hundred degree temps this race was a much cooler affair, starting at 61 degrees at 0700 and ending at 82 degrees - much easier on the stomach. There seem to be both some pros and some cons to racing so many miles so close together. Overall, since too much rest annoys me, I'm probably better off racing more, rather than less. The body seems able to take it, with minor complaints of course. The Pacific Crest Trail was a delightful powdery singe track alternatively passing through darkened, shady fir/pine forests, open steep avalanche chutes filled with wild flowers, and sparse ridge tops that show that ravages of both fire and wind. Without many roots or rocks to stumble over I fared well once again. It was an enjoyable contrast to run a second race where my feet didn't get wet. Gotta love the West for that. The scrolling photographs at the top of this page were shot a couple days prior to the event. During the race smoke from proximal forest fires blocked much of what would have been spectacular views of this striking Siskiyou country. Photography on race day would have been severely compromised. |