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Headlands Hundred 50 &100 Mile Endurance Runs

2008 Results Letter

What a weekend!  Beautiful weather – fog in the morning which cleared as the day progressed, leaving crystal clear night skies with magnificent views of San Francisco, the bridges, and the moon on the ocean.  And those fabulous Marin Headlands trails – so spectacular, so varied, but so challenging.  Add lots of trained, eager trail runners, and it really doesn’t get much better than that.  Thank you so much for joining us – we hope that your experience out there was all that you’d hoped it would be. 

In the men’s 50, Oswaldo Lopez took it out fast from the start, putting a few minutes on Juan Sanchez, a few more on Victor Ballesteros, and even more on the rest of the field by the time they reached the Rodeo Valley aid station.  It wasn’t Victor’s day out there so he stopped early, which meant Lon Freeman took over third by the time the runners traveled back down from the higher sections of the course.  Oswaldo came through the Muir Beach aid station looking fresh and happy on his way to Tennessee Valley and then the finish.  Just less than 15 minutes later, Juan came into the aid station looking a bit more worse for wear, but anxious to keep moving and get it done.  A few more minutes passed before a relaxed Lon rounded the corner at the Pelican Inn and cruised into the aid station before beginning one of the last climbs on the course.  Unfortunately for Oswaldo, after climbing up to the Coastal Trail and traversing above Pirates Cove, he went off course, heading back down toward Muir Beach rather than turning toward Tennessee Valley.  Juan, having arrived in time to see Oswaldo heading down but being unsure whether that was correct, decided to wait for Lon before moving on.  Lon caught him up there, showed him the pink ribbons of the correct route, and both runners headed toward TV and the finish beyond.  Upon realizing that he was now in first place, Lon decided to make more of the day than ‘just’ a good training run for his upcoming hundred miler, so he pressed the pace a bit more and finished in a course record setting time of 7:43.  Juan came in just 9 minutes later, followed after a long gap by Kevin Rumon, Harald Walther, Howard Wood, and Oswaldo Lopez, who was the last runner to break 9 hours for the 50, even after his time spent off course and regrouping at the Muir Beach aid station.  

On the women’s side, Beth Vitalis and Kelly Ridgway were the early leaders, both looking strong and fast from the outset.  It was impressive to see Beth running so well just a week after setting a 50 Km age group record, and great to see Kelly, last year’s second place female, right up there, too.  Kelly was able to keep Beth in sight throughout the day, finally passing Beth with about 10 miles to go and having enough left to stay in front and cross the line in 9:09, good for 8^th place overall.  Beth wasn’t far behind, finishing in 9:20 and 10^th overall.

Needless to say, the 100 mile folks started out at an easier pace.  The first men in at 50 miles were first timers – neither Evan Kimber nor Matt Aro had ever run a hundred before, yet both looked calm, fresh, and ready for more when they passed through the start/finish area in first and second, respectively.  Third through was Adelaido Solis of San Jose, whose wife, Maria, arrived to crew for him just minutes prior, showing her usual perfect timing.  All three men were in and out in good time, and it wasn’t long before John Fors, Brian Wyatt, Tony Dunnigan, Donald Buraglio, and others passed through the 50 mile mark.  The first woman in was Kris Whorton of Tennessee, who was running side by side with her husband, Randy.  They made it to 50 in just over 10 ½ hours.  It was another 45 minutes before the second woman arrived, but when she did, first-timer Lauren Wincze looked as if she’d only run from her car in the parking lot – completely fresh, chatty, and happy.  Time passed and runners passed, most continuing on to start their first of two 25-mile loops.  And just after the 14-hour cut-off for the first 50 miles, in came Matt Aro, ready to get a bit of aid and head out for the last 25.  He was still looking strong as he and his pacer marched out toward the beach.  It was over half an hour later when Evan came through, running alone and planning on staying that way, working his way toward his first hundred finish pacerless.  Another 25+ minutes and Adelaido was at 75 miles, greeting Maria, picking up his pacer, and heading out for one more loop.  Once again Kris was the first woman into the start/finish aid station, still running with Randy and having put more time on Lauren, who arrived nearly an hour later.  Lauren was still looking and feeling great, though, so we figured that she’d finish a solid second.  Later that night, though, Kris and Randy returned to the start/finish and withdrew, thereby moving Lauren into first while out on the course. 

 Many of us at the finish line were getting pretty tired as the time ticked by but, before 3:30 a.m., we saw the first fast-moving lights coming down the switchbacks, and it wasn’t long before Matt Aro crossed the line in 20:23 to the cheers of all the helpers and his girlfriend, Shevy.  The next lights indicated a pair of runners and, sure enough, it was Adelaido and his pacer cruising in to finish in 21:15, having passed Evan on the last loop to run a 2+ hour 100 mile PR.  Another forty minutes and Evan came down the hill, still moving well and ecstatic with his first hundred-mile result.  The night wore on and became morning, with people coming through, some and at 75 miles to restock, regroup, and head back out and others to finish and get some welcome rest.  It was nearing 10:30 when we looked up to see Lauren and her pacer, running down the last switchbacks toward the finish and just a few minutes more when she ran across the wooden bridge to the cheers of all and the hugs of friends.

The finish area stayed a busy place for the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon, as runners continued to finish. It was just after 3:15 when the last two finishers, Brian and Danni, came into view over the last rise.  We were most excited to see these two first-time hundred mile finishers coming down the road and make the last turn across the parking lot.  It signified the end of a really amazing weekend, one filled with emotion and energy, happiness and disappointment, laughs and quiet times, cheers and commiseration, successes and promises of ‘next time’, and, no matter the outcome for any one person, so much support from all sides.

It was really great to see the more experienced ultra runners out there on the course along with lots of people going for their first 50-mile or 100-mile finish.  So many people finished a “first” or ran a “fastest” last weekend…and Matt Aro even did both, setting a course record while running his first hundred miler ever!  Complete results are available at:

Results

We owe such a big ‘thank you’ to all those who helped out last weekend – their names are listed below.  As those of you who ran know, we had some of the most amazing people helping on the course at the aid stations, hanging glow sticks, and helping with the results at the finish.  There is no way we could put on event like this without them, and we hope that they realize how key and fabulous they are.

 Again, we want to thank you for joining us last weekend at the second annual Headlands Hundred 50 & 100 Mile Endurance Run.  We hope that your experience on the Headlands Hundred course was a positive one, one on which you will look back and be proud, and we hope that we see you again out on the trails one of these days. 

Wendell & Sarah

PCTrailRuns.com

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