I'm not sure if it was the promise of lovely trails through the Santa Cruz Mountains,
the free entry including aid and T-shirt, or the fact that Bay Area ultrarunners
were hankering for a birthday run after John Medinger's Epiphany Ultra was cancelled
this year, but the inaugural Stevens Creek 50K on March 23 attracted 30 starters,
along with 8 in the accompanying 20-miler. Alas, it also attracted a rare day of
rainy, cold (Bay Area cold - 50's), and windy weather.
The race starts from the main ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains and drops quickly
into Stevens Canyon, crossing Stevens Creek less than a mile from its headwaters.
After a day of rain, what is usually a dry- foot crossing was anything but. Fred
Vance, "El Cuervo Loco", took off like a shot and led the runners down
the canyon to the point where the route crosses the creek yet again, this time at
ankle level. From there the route climbs for five miles up Table Mountain to the
turnaround at Saratoga Gap. By this time, favorite Andy Black had taken the lead
in the 50K, led only by Ian Hersey and several other of the 20M speedsters.
Doubling back from Saratoga Gap, the route crosses into Long Ridge on the west side
of the ridge, which normally affords beautiful views all the way to the Pacific.
Normally, but not on race day. Instead, the runners had to concentrate on foot placement
in the mud (claims in the course description that "course drains well and only
minor mud will be encountered" notwithstanding) and keeping the wind from blowing
their hats off, something which no doubt contributed to a number of runners, including
Andy, getting off course at one time or another in the race.
The first one back to the start at Horseshoe Lake was indeed Ian Hersey. Ian, a sub-3-hour
marathoner, had scoffed at the idea that 3 hours would be a challenge on this "mere"
20-miler. He actually didn't arrive at the finish line until 3:09:35, but had "finished"
at 2:57:52 and then spent 10 minutes wandering around parking lots looking for the
cleverly hidden finish line. His 9:02 pace is indeed impressive for the course and
conditions. Beverly Anderson-Abbs, who came all the way from Red Bluff, was first
female in 3:53:58, edging out Lina McCain by just 20 seconds.
In the 50K, self-proclaimed mudder Fred Brooks had overtaken Andy Black, and led
into the 20-mile aid station by a minute and a half. The rain had actually stopped
just as the race started, and most of the first 20 miles is run under tree cover
anyway. But by the time runners reached the 20-mile point, the rain had returned.
For nearly half the field, the prospect of heading out for the last 11 miles across
an exposed ridge was too intimidating. The R.D. might even have joined them had the
prospect of DNF'ing one's own birthday run not been too much to contemplate. 17 hardy
runners pressed on through Skyline Ridge and Russian Ridge to the turnaround and
then back to the finish. Fred, Andy, and Kap'n Kirk Boisseree took the top three
places for the men and Kristina Irvin finished as first, and only, woman. The winning
time of 6:03:04 was undoubtedly affected by conditions; the course record is unlikely
to stand after next year.
Finishers were treated to racing T-shirts with a full-color picture of Stevens Creek
on the back courtesy of Stevens Creek Software, sub sandwiches, and delicious carrot
cake cupcakes featuring the Stevens Creek Software logo. As with most ultras, and
even more so because of the rain and windy conditions, the real heroes were the volunteers
- my wife Debi Jamison, who served as chief organizer at the finish line, and aid
station workers Karen Wells, Rick Schaefer, Bruce Linn, Susan Vance, Nicky Vance
and her friend Nola, and Chuck Baughman. Also pitching in with critical help and
food were Fred Vance, Kristina Irvin, and Andy Hergert; Greg Favor helped with course
marking. All were invaluable.
As an R.D., I was shocked by the number of people who the race attracted (I was initially
expecting 6-10 people!), quite pleased with the overall result, and definitely bummed
by the weather. My primary reason for putting this race on was to share some beautiful
trails with my fellow runners, and in general I did succeed in that. But part of
that beauty is the spectacular view from Russian Ridge, which is one of the few places
where you can see the entire San Francisco Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean at the
same time. On race day, however, the views were non-existent. The course was also
atypically muddy, which means runners had to spend more time looking down and less
time looking around and appreciating their surroundings. Needless to say, planning
for next year's edition on March 22 has begun; good weather and no mud are virtually
a certainty.
Complete results for
the race are online
Steve Patt
R.D.
Birthday boy
7th finisher