PCTR Pacifica 50K

I ran the Pacific Coast Trail Run Pacifica 50K this past Saturday, January 17.  This was my first ultramarathon of 2009 and it was a pretty damn tough 50K course with over 7,000 feet of ascent and descent. To put into perspective, the hike from the Yosemite Valley floor to the top of Half Dome is around 4,800 feet.

The race kicked off at 8:30 and started with a climb up to the summit of North Peak (11.9K/7.4 Mile loop).  There was some pretty challenging single track but I kept a steady pace even though I felt like a lot of runners were ahead of me.  I figured they were mostly 21K and 30K racers and realized I was correct once the runners in front hit the turnaround at the summit and I could start counting race numbers.  I felt good and stuck to my pace and game plan.

After two loops of the Hazelnut Loop (9.3K / 5.8 Miles each) we again climbed North Peak.  I caught up to Charles Hofacker at the start of the loop and chatted for a bit until he pulled away on some steeps.  As I was still heading up, Nathan Yanko came cruising down in the lead and looked to be running real strong.  No one else passed me and I ended up catching Charles on the descent and I pulled away to have a bit of a cushion.  I figured I was in second place as just Nathan was in front of me, and was told the same at the last aid station (that Nathan was about 16 mins ahead).  I did one last loop of Hazelnut and came cruising into the finish in 4:58.43.  Somehow I ended up in third (?) but was still pretty stoked for breaking 5 hours in a 50K for the first time, and that it occured on a pretty tough course.

I chatted with my The Endurables coach Rachel Rodriguez after as well as with a few other racers which was great.  Nathan Yanko ended up winning and I was shocked to hear that it was his first Ultra!  The guy ran really strong and probably has a lot more first place finishes on the horizon.  I also was pretty stoked to finally meet Shan Riggs and his wife Abby as I had come across Shan's blog after his 1st place win in the SF One Day (24 Hour race) and his 23rd place finish (3 spots ahead of me) in The North Face Endurance Championship which was great.

Overall it was a great day and a blast to be back out on the trail.  Congrats to all of the runners at all distances and thanks to Sarah and Wendell from PCTR for another great event.  Also a big thanks to Rachel for sticking around for the finish and having a few of us over for post-race burgers at her place in Pacifica.

My Race Results:
Total Time 4:58.43, 9.438 Pace
Overall Place 3rd / 51
Full Race Results: Click Here
Race Website: Click Here