SATURDAY
This entry has 2 parts because really the trip started on Saturday night. I had a reservation to get a rental SUV at 4PM from SFO. I planned to pick it up, and go to the annual DSE Gala Dinner at 7PM, then leave S.F. with Oliver and head east toward our reserved hotel in Stockton. Upon coming home from a trip to the gym (ran there and back of course) I realized the dinner was at 6PM, not 7PM. So I hurried to get the car and went to the dinner. I had 5 cars from which to choose and I took a charcoal Jeep Cherokee Laredo. It had under 1000 miles and it was an automatic with a slap stick shifter.
I left the rental place and headed for the Gala Dinner. The dinner was very good. Ken did a great job of putting it on. I had the salmon for the second year in a row. People had a great time letting off loud squeaky balloons at random times. The balloons shots around the room, flying up toward the ceiling, and darting at people hair, and going all over the place. We saw an excellent movie about Harry, a totally blind runner who ran the Dipsea race. Most everyone in the club knows who Harry is.
There was a low key awards ceremony. Instead of handing out trophies and the like as names were called, it was up to us to pick up our hardware from a table. They just announced the names and it was up to us to stand up when we were called. it was much better this way as it moved along. i found it helpful to leave my awards on the awards table because there was limited room on the dinner table. I got several awards:
- A Mongo trophy for having done a certain number of DSE races and volunteering (I don't remember the requirements, I just do them)
- A small trophy for 1st place Age group points. This was largely due to Grant not moving to SF until February, getting lost on a couple courses, and missing that start for another race, etc. He will win from now on if he wants to.
- A plaque for being 2nd overall in top 5 finishes (ironically Grant was 1st, because when he did run the races he usually won). The plaque was also for most racing miles in 2007. This is the award I care most about. I ran 606.5 miles in 2007 (plus swam a 1 mi. race that didn't count toward my total). I achieved my goal of 600 (50 race miles a month). This is largely due to running most races I could find up to 31 miles. It is difficult because I actually race every race with 100% effort. I don't ever run a race and take it easy (why go?). The thing that really helped was getting in 2 races in many weekends (or sometimes 3 races, and on one occasion 4 races in 1 weekend). I have set a goal of 800 race miles 2008 and 1000 in 2009, so we'll see where it goes.
At some point I invited nearly everyone I could to he snowshoe race Sunday but had no more takers. After I left I picked up Oliver who had gone home to finish packing and Chikara who couldn't make the dinner. So it was rainy and uneventful for the group as we went to the Stockton hotel. We checked in quickly and made it to bed at 1AM. We scheduled a 6Am wakeup call.
SUNDAY
The wakeup call came at 5:45. I took a shower, Chikara and Oliver opted not to. we checked out without a problem and ate at a MacDonald's just up the road. I had orange juice, and a biscuit with cheese (I took the bacon out). I don't really like MacDonald's but we were in Stockton before 7AM on a Sunday and our options were limited. The weather looked good for most of the way. We noted how many Ron Paul signs were in people's lawns (there were a lot). I started to get a little nervous about chain controls after we saw a sign saying CA-4 was closed at a certain point. According to Oliver's GPS the closure was 4 miles past where we were going.
As we started climbing the road became wetter, then slushy a little, and just past Arnold we hit the Caltrans authorities. They turned us around for not having chains so we went back to Arnold to get some. The 4 or 5 stores we went to were out so we didn't know what to do. A courageous member of the group wanted to hitch, a less daring person wanted to go back up and try to talk our way through, and an undecisive one of us did not offer an opinion or break the tie. So we decided to go see how far we could get. When we got back to the chain control checkpoint the police cruisers were gone and only a couple Caltrans people. The same woman greeted us and informed us that chains are required. She also noted that she was not an officer, she was just Caltrans.
So we made it through and got to the race at 10:16 for a 10AM start. However the race was postponed until 10:30 and Patty Jo (the race director) was very accomodating to make sure all entrants were ready and had their equipment ready before started. So we didn't miss the start. Chikara, another guy and I started in the lead group. After about 10 minutes Chikara started to open a serious lead (so what else is new), Oliver caught up and passed the other guy and me, and the places were set - Chikara, Oliver, other guy, me. It stayed that way for the whole race, other than Oliver missing a turn (not his fault).
It felt fine while we were running, but it was freezing after. the temperature was 33 degrees and during the race we picked up a couple inches of snow. After geting warm clothes in the car we went in for food and awards. The food was excellent for the 2nd year in a row. I had a few different soups, some bread, and hot chocolate. I got a medal for 2nd in my age group (Chikara counted as 1st overall, not age group). I also won a candle in the random draw prize. There were 3 big prizes - 2 pairs of snowshoes and an Ipod. None of us got those despite odds that were more favorable than normal. we stayed a while, took some pictures, and headed home.
Going down the mountain wasn't so bad. I kept it in 1st gear for an hour as went about 15mph and lost 2000+' of elevation. I didn't have to hit the brake at all in that stretch and we didn't slide on the snow at all. By the time we got to 5000' there was no more snow and it was a long boring drive back. We stopped for gas because we were on E for quite a while. We got quick cheap food at a K-mart. I ate a pound of Twizzlers, Chikara got a hot dog and nachos, and Oliver got something I don't know what it was because I never saw it before. ("Asian delicacy" he says). i dropped them off, and went back to bring the car back. Unfortunately since we didn't make it back until after 8PM we got charged for another day with the car (I haven't told them yet!). It was a very fun trip and all 3 of us were very glad that we went.
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