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Avalon 50-Mile Run

April 2, 2005

I was scheduled for a business trip to Los Angeles and I was delighted to discover that the Avalon 50-mile race had been rescheduled from January to April 2 because of a terrible storm.   I decided to extend my trip and run the race.

The Avalon 50 miler on Santa Catalina Island, 22 miles off the California coast, was my seventh ultra in six states since I discovered this crazy sport nine months ago.  Progress has been good since finishing dead last in 14 hours at my first 50, the White River 50, eight months ago.

Avalon

 

My wife, Linda, made the trip with me.   We caught the Catalina Island Express boat on Friday afternoon and laughed when we heard the theme of the Titanic playing on the radio over the boat speakers.   After a wonderful hour ride, we arrived at the small seaside resort town of Avalon.  The number of cars on the island is restricted, so instead auto traffic, plenty of quiet golf carts would roll through the streets.

 

 

I picked up my race packet and then we spent a restful evening walking near the pier and watching the setting sun over Avalon Bay, filled with boats.  It was an amazing setting for a race!  The course would be kind of a figure eight that stretched almost the entire length of the island.

 

The race began at the pier in the heart of Avalon at 5 a.m., with 90 starters.   The first three miles was a nice warm-up out-and-back on a paved road along the shoreline.  Headlamps weren’t really needed as our way was lit by an amazing orange glow to the east as the sun began to rise.  Waves could be heard lapping against the rocks.   I started out running fairly fast.  After three miles we arrived back at Avalon and Linda told me that I was running in sixth place.

 

Next, we headed into a canyon west of town that took us through some beautiful botanical gardens filled with all sorts of cactus and other plants.  Because of the recent deluge of rains, the whole island seemed to be a wonderful green garden.   We made a climb up a mountain road to the top ridge of the island at 1,500 feet.  I resisted the desire to walk and ran most of the way up.  I knew that the majority of the runners would walk this section, so this would be a chance for me to put some distance on the main pack. 

 

 

Looking down toward Avalon Bay

 

The sun was now up, and looking behind me I could see dozens of runners scattered along the road making their way up the mountain.   At the top of the ridge, I could see Avalon Bay far down below and the Long Beach coast across the ocean waters to the east.  To the west a new ocean view came into sight.  I could see the large navy-controlled San Clemente Island off in the distance.

 

The next stretch was a wonderful run along the top of the island rolling up and down, weaving through the ridge tops.  I fired up my mp3 and chuckled when it started playing Kenny Loggin’s “Avalon.”  He sang very appropriate lyrics, “find my way back to Avalon.”  My legs had settled into the run.  As usual, all of the worries of minor pre-race aches and pains turned out to have no effect on my race.  With my Utah elevation training, the island elevation seems to be like running in an oxygen tent, I never really felt out of breath.

 

I kept running sub-10 minute miles and was in about 10th place as we made a brief stop at the Haypress aid station at mile 9.2.   It was a little frustrating that we had to form a short line to fill our water bottles, delaying us for a couple of minutes.

 

I ran for a while with Jennifer Henderson, a former three-time winner of the race.  We talked about various races made the usual running conversation.  I leapfrogged with Robert Harris all day.  We seemed to run an identical race.  I reached the Empire Road aid station (mile 14.5) at 2:31 (elapsed time).  I later learned I was in 18th place at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing three runners near mile 19

 

Next up was the long winding downhill to Little Harbor on the west coast of the island.  The view was incredible.  Whitecap waves crashed against the rocks far below.

As we approached the Little Harbor aid station (mile 21.4), signs warned us that Wackos were ahead.  The aid station was appropriately named Wacko Café and it was full of life and enthusiasm.   I arrived at 3:39, in 20th place.  I grabbed my drop bag there, ditched my coonskin hat because of the heat, and took a little bit longer at this checkpoint to eat and drink.  Several runners caught up and passed me.  So far my stomach felt great.   I was being very careful to take electrolyte caps regularly or at any signs of cramping.   I was living off Gatorade, Hammer Gel, bananas, and Ensure.

Next was a 1000-foot climb up Little Springs Canyon.   This was a long out-and-back section toward the Isthmus and the little town of Two Harbors.   I knew that I would soon be seeing the race leaders and would have a chance to figure out what place I was running in.   At about mile 24, the race leader and eventual winner, Jorge Pacheco came running toward me.   He was about eight miles ahead of me.  I mistaking thought there was an aid station at the Buffalo Corral at mile 24.6 so I ran low on Gatoraid and slowed in the heat.   No buffalo to be seen by me today.  Finally I reached the top of the ridge and began the long decent to the Isthmus.  

 

Above Two Harbors at the Isthmus

 

I ran into day hikers and bikers on the way down and arrived at the Isthmus aid station (27.7) at 4:58.   By counting runners I discovered that I was in 20th place.  I filled two water bottles, anticipating a hot return trip to Little Harbor.   I wanted to stay well hydrated.  Once I reached the top of the ridge, I started to feel incredible.  I kicked it into a higher gear on the decent through Little Springs Canyon.  Along this stretch I passed 73-year-old Hal Winton who was running his 23rd Avalon 50.   He went out very fast but now was traveling pretty slow.   We chatted for a couple minutes, I wished him well and continued on.

 

Little Harbor

 

I again reached the Wacko Café at Little Harbor (mile 34) at 6:15, in 22nd place.  They had a golf driving range opened.   I decided to pause and play.   I used a driver and had a nice drive with a little slice toward the ocean.   A few oos and ahs came from the fans.  I changed shirts, put ice in my hat, and began the next long uphill stretch.  My pace was labored during this stretch but the ice in my hat cooled me nicely.  The road took me to a beautiful canyon, Middle Canyon, with numerous stream crossings.

 

I reached Eagles Nest aid station (38.8) at 7:32.   I had fallen to 23rd place.   I realized that I was faltering.  With another hat full of ice, and a squeeze of Hammer Gel, I decided that it was time to push it.   My running gear kicked in and I was able to immediately pass about five runners.   As I pushed on ahead, I became nervous that I might miss a turn.  The course had few markings.   Several times I slowed to make sure others were heading in my direction.  I didn’t like being the navigator.  Finally I linked up with Allen Bursey and Robert Baird for a while who both had a good pace going.   This stretch turned out to be the most difficult stretch for the majority of the runners in the race because of the intense heat.   For some reason it had little effect on me.  We passed by a few other runners who were faltering.   I ran out of water about a quarter mile before the next aid station and let Allen go ahead for the last time.

 

I reached Pumphouse Hill station (mile 44) at 8:35.   I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I had climbed to 16th place!    I realized that a sub-10 hour finish was very possible.  I felt fine, but just had to resist the temptation of being lazy.  Robert Baird caught up with me as we reached to top of the island again at mile 46.  We both set our sights on finishing strong before 10 hours.  I didn’t realize at the time, but we were both running tied for 3rd place in our age group (Men’s 40-49).   Robert went on ahead as the road headed downhill.

 

The home stretch was a beautiful long three-mile, 1500-foot downhill, along a winding paved road.  Thankfully the road was shaded with trees and a nice cool breeze blew off the ocean — a great relief after the hot run up.  My knees complained on the way down and I had to keep pushing myself to run faster as I dodged many tour busses driving up and down the road.   Could I make it in time?   I kept thinking how much I would be disappointed if I went over 10 hours.   I pushed on.  Deborah Clem and Lorraine Gersitz passed me going down sharing words of encouragement.   I could see Avalon approaching.  I set my sights on landmarks ahead, pushing myself to reach them by a certain time.  Soon the town was very close.  I realized that I would make it! 

 

The last 200 yards toward the finish at the green pier

 

I finally reached the bottom but was unsure where to run.  The roads were crowded with people.  Off in the distance I saw Kim Gimenez waving to me.   I kicked it into a wild and very fast sprint for the final two hundred yards.   Cheers of congratulations were heard.  I almost bowled over a little kid who wasn’t watching where he was going.   I broke through a ribbon stretched across the finish line and 9:49.  I was shocked to learn that I had finished in 19th place overall, 4th in my age group.   How could this be true?   Only six months ago I was the back of all back-of-the-packers.   I felt super, still full of energy.  I was impressed that Jorge Pacheco (1st place) and Angel Perez (2nd place) were both greeting each and every runner at the finish line.  That was classy.  Kim Gimenez (1st female) was cheering and congratulating every runner within a hundred yards of the finish line.

 

Of the 90 starters, 86 finished.  All the DNFs threw in the towel around mile 44 after the long, hot stretch.   I quickly ate a big bowl of ice cream, two cheese burgers, took a quick shower, and then returned to cheer on many of the remaining runners.   The closing banquet was great fun.

 

  AVALON BENEFIT 50 MILE RUN

Avalon, CA      April 2, 2005

Dirt roads and paved roads

  1 Jorge Pacheco,37,CA               06:37:14

  2 Angel Perez,33,CA                 07:50:10

  3 Chris Stephenson,39,CA            08:18:09

  4 Kim Gimenez,40,CA               F 08:31:21

  5 Trevor Labuschagne,35,CA          08:47:44

  6 Dan Stumpus,53,CA                 08:50:31

  7 Brian Luschwitz,37,CA             08:53:04

  8 Ambrose Fisher,36,CA              08:53:15

  9 Keith Richards-Dinger,37,CA       08:59:12

 10 Andy Brand,45,CA                  09:13:07

 11 Chris Muller,35,CA                09:13:14

    Lisa Henson,43,CA               F 09:13:14

 13 Scott Fitzgerald,34,              09:30:18

 14 Allen Bursey,39,CA                09:31:10

 15 Robert Baird,44,CA                09:39:49

 16 Robert Zulka,46,CA                09:41:09

 17 Deborah Clem,48,CA              F 09:46:42

 18 Lorraine Gersitz,50,CA          F 09:47:45

 19 Davy Crockett,46,UT               09:49:52

 20 Michael Kogutek,55,CA             09:59:18

    Jim Good,46,CA                    09:59:18

 22 Robert Harris,37,CA               09:59:25

 23 Gene Joseph,52,AZ                 10:07:34

 24 Joe Rizza,56,AZ                   10:17:35

 25 Danny Trudeau,51,CA               10:23:07

 26 Patty Giebel,58,CA              F 10:24:52

    Mark Giebel,58,CA                 10:24:52

 28 Tonja Chagaris,31,AZ            F 10:26:42

 29 Jennifer Henderson,46,CA        F 10:30:26

 30 Brian Draper,52,CA                10:30:57

 31 Xy Weiss,43,CA                  F 10:32:23

 32 Carol Mortier,55,CA             F 10:46:11

 33 Peter Goren,22,CA                 10:50:10

 34 Hwa Ja Andrade,64,CA            F 10:51:47

 35 Sandra Vazquez,32,CA            F 10:54:54

 36 Mike Artino,32,CA                 10:58:06

 37 Joe Magruder,58,CA                10:58:13

 38 William Lawrence,64,CA            10:58:46

 39 Robert Advemian,58,CA             11:00:30

    Jeffrey Su,42,CA                  11:00:30

 41 William Harns,59,CA               11:02:32

 42 Steve James,54,CA                 11:04:29

 43 Colleen Vinson,47,CA            F 11:05:30

 44 Les Martisko,60,MN                11:05:43

 45 Mike Henebry,60,CA                11:07:02

 46 Jim Parker,34,CA                  11:10:10

 47 Jasper Mueller,37,CA              11:13:34

    Alli Menear (Lacroix),29,AZ     F 11:13:34

 49 Brad Norris,51,CA                 11:13:41

 50 Peter Mireles,65,CA               11:16:48

 51 Brent Speers,47,CA                11:19:00

 52 Shannon Farar-Griefer,43,CA     F 11:25:05

 53 Meryl Brown,41,CA               F 11:25:07

 54 Beth Epstein,50,CA              F 11:30:09

 55 Kathryn Buchan-Varden,32,VA     F 11:31:00

 56 Michael Haviland,63,CA            11:31:37

 57 Patrick Clark,59,CA               11:34:20

 58 Bob Silverman,58,CA               11:40:30

 59 Kent Holder,65,WA                 11:41:50

 60 Jeff Vinion,44,CA                 11:42:30

    Steve Owens,50,CA                 11:42:30

 62 Bill Andrews,53,NV                11:45:41

 63 Susan Handing,49,CA             F 11:47:30

    Karen Tallman,47,CA             F 11:47:30

 65 Randle Dewees,50,CA               11:58:00

    Linda Dewees,48,CA              F 11:58:00

 67 David Saine,55,CA                 11:59:30

 68 Gary Ruttenberg,59,CA             12:06:29

 69 J.C. Love,63,CA                   12:31:53

 70 Kristin Leaf-James,50,CA        F 12:34:23

 71 Cathy Valdez,53,CA              F 12:43:14

 72 Ken Nagy,58,CA                    12:46:40

 73 Carmela Layson,35,CA            F 12:49:33

    Jennifer Evans,46,CA            F 12:49:33

 75 Jack Spjut,60,CA                  12:57:40

 76 Hal Winton,73,CA                  13:02:03

 77 Tom Crull,61,TX                   13:05:50

 78 John Ingro,70,CA                  13:06:10

 79 Marlene Henry,52,CA             F 13:16:00

 80 George Velasco,51,CA              13:29:30

    Christine Welsh,32,CA           F 13:29:30

 82 Ken Glenn,47,CA                   13:31:40

 83 Bob Moses,58,CA                   13:38:39

    Pat Moses,66,CA                 F 13:38:39

 85 Richard Tregaskes,31,CA           13:44:28

 86 Bill Price,72,CA                  14:46:40

 

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