Race 09-103 Stinson Beach 25k

November, 7, 2009
25k - 18th/126 - 2:16:30

Generally I prioritize other races over the Envirosports series, mostly because they are similar (but not quite as good) to the PC Trail Runs and I’m still a little bitter over a poorly marked 18k course in the fog which I turned into a long 10k. However, there is 1 course they use for use 2 races that I enjoy running so I entered the Stinson Beach 25k. I have run the course 3 times in the spring when they call it the Muir Woods 25k but I had never run it in the fall when they call it the Stinson Beach 25k.

The course follows the Double Dipsea course (no shortcuts) to the bridge at the bottom of insult hill. There, instead of taking a right, it gets straight up Steep Ravine to Pan Toll station. It goes down the Old Mine Trail to the top of Cardiac, briefly follows the Dipsea trail toward Mill Valley before taking a left down a trail I don’t know well but ends up in Muir Woods. Then there is a long uphill through more trails I don’t know well up to Pan Toll and then down the Matt Davis Trail to Stinson Beach. Due to fast time and GPS discrepancies it has been suggested that the course is well short of 25k, but I haven’t seen anything conclusive enough to count this as anything else.

Before the start I talked with Will Gotthardt who was looking to break 2 hours and Kennet de Silva who I thought would be running the marathon. I would have liked to be under 2 hours but I didn’t expect it at this point in the season. The race advertises one start time which they then use for the marathon. The 25k runners start about 15 minutes later and then the 7 mile runners another 15 minutes later. You find this out when you get there. It sounded as though Will did not know this was customary at an Envirosports race (I like it this way because it gives me time to watch the marathon start and get ready for my own race).

When we finally started I started in the back of the lead back. The leaders pulled away like I expected but I knew I was in for a not so great race when a larger than normal number of people passed me going up the first hill. I got passed by several more going up Steep Ravine and I didn’t go by as many marathoners as I’m used to in that section.

The first aid station was at the top of Pan Toll. Sometimes there is food and water, sometimes water only. It was a rare occasion that I wanted food this early and inconvenient that this was one of the times where they had water only. I ran in a group toward cardiac and we caught up to some non-racers down the Dipsea trail. A bunch of us missed a left turn (our fault, just following the person in front) and we had to back track. I didn’t lose more than a minute. Because of this I (re)passed people going down to Muir Woods.

By the time I was climbing out of Muir Woods I lost the pack. The only people in back of me were 2 chatty women who didn’t at all know the course. I had earlier told them the layout of the 2nd half. I knew I wasn’t running as fast as normal but I felt like I was giving a solid effort.

Getting to Pan Toll the 2nd time is my favorite part of the race because it’s 4 miles downhill from there. There was food at the aid station this time but I wasn’t in the mood to eat and didn’t take any because I knew it is an easy finish. I didn’t leave the aid station running very fast but I started to pick it up as I looked across the hills and started to see runners in front of me. It was very difficult, if not impossible to tell the difference between 25k runners I was catching up to, marathoners I was catching up to (because I was picking up the pace), and 7 mile runners who I was catching up to. I decided to try to catch everyone.

After the marathon turnoff I could rule them out and it was easier to see. There is a large woods section with downhill switchbacks so and it’s easy to gauge if I was gaining ground. I ended up passing several more people although I still couldn’t tell what race they were in. I think only a couple of them were in the 25k. When I hit the road at the end I tried to catch the only guy in front of me. I ended up passing him after almost running into the back of him as we were turning off the road to the narrow finish.

I didn’t run with a watch so I had I was surprised to see how slow my time was. I expecting a little under 2:10 (my course PR is 2:02:25) but I ran 2:16:30 which was a personal worst by 5 minutes. I do know I could have gone faster if my legs felt better but I didn’t think I was almost a whole minute a mile slower.

At the end I talked with some people I didn’t know as well as a few I did. I saw Will who ran well under his goal time. I stayed until Kennet had finished his race. Also Dimitris Sklavopoulos was there who I gave a ride home to after he went swimming in the ocean and I took some pictures.