SaddleBack Mountain Trail Marathon

Cleveland National Forest, CA, October 30, 1999

The Course: 26.2 miles on forest trails and truck roads starting at 3300ft, maximum elevation 4194ft. Not sure about the elevation gain but the run climbs, drops to a few hundred feet then climbs up again to the maximum elevation.

To quote from the race director (a pommie called Baz Hawley), "This is the toughest marathon in California. Be ready it's tough…You'll love it!"

This is a popular race with the Southern Californians (SOCAL) as it caters for those runners who don't run the longer distances of ultra-marathons, road runners who want to try their hand at a trail run and the more serious ultra-runners who are coming back after their 50 and 100 milers earlier in the race season. Many familiar faces turned out from Los Angeles and San Diego areas.

As usual the race started late, in typical Baz style with a brief speech abusing everyone he recognised, he also mentioned about the course, conditions and to keep hydrated (as, even in winter the weather is still hot).

A lead pack of 8 runners quickly broke away on the initial 1 mile tarmac prelude to the trail, including some local stars, Tom "Peaches" Nielson winner of AC/100, Doug Spencer last years race winner and Rob McNair holder of a number of ultra records. I knew 6 of the 7 other runners and soon got to know the other, a triathlete called Mark. We hit the first climb that was on fairly steep fire trail that caused the group to break up as some of the group decided to save energy by walking the steeper parts.

We arrived at the top of the climb and first aid station with two of us (Mark and myself) having gained a small lead on the chasing pack. Next was about 3 miles of downhill on single-track trail with some switch-backs interspersed with technical (rocky) sections. My plan was to gain a little edge on the downhill as I knew that some of the guys close behind were strong climbers and the next section included a sharp ascent on a single track trail with 21 switch-backs, a tough climb in anyone's books.

Well, we hit the technical section of the downhill with a crash, it was Mark who came tumbling down behind me although he got up immediately, inspected himself and said he was OK. He was lucky only getting some minor scrapes. We later found that a few other runners had come a "cropper" on this section, notably Rob McNair who cut and scraped a number of areas of his body including a small head cut (just in time for Halloween!), not enough to slow him down much though (endorphins are amazing things)!. We continued our sprint downhill for the next couple of miles to the aid station extending our lead by a couple of minutes.

The temperature had begun to rise in the valleys, it was a typical beautiful SOCAL day with the addition of a cooling wind on the ridges. The terrain in this area is arid and covered with chaparral. Birds of prey can be spotted soaring on the thermals of warm rising air spying for the numerous small rodents and reptiles in the undergrowth. The mountain-tops provide a panoramic view of the ocean to the west and the desert valleys to the east.

We started the climb running alongside a stream that meandered it's way through some vacation cabins. I noticed Mark had begun to drop back and he was soon out of sight as the climb began in earnest with a narrow covered trail. I settled into a comfortable pace trying to conserve energy waiting for the coming onslaught. About 2/3rd's of the way up I started to hear the familiar chatter of Tom Nielson (and someone was listening!). I couldn't tell how far they were behind until the trail opened up on the last mile before the top. By this stage Rob was nearest, within a minute with Bill Barthen close behind, also the two Tom's (Nielson & Cheese) were in view. I had that sickening feeling of being "reeled-in"!

Reaching the aid station which signaled the end of the climb, I took some ice and drink from familiar faces including Annie Langstaff winner of Vermont 100 earlier in the year. As I left Rob came in and shouted at me to hold on for him, he had to be kidding! No way was I waiting, knowing full well that he would catch me within minutes, he did! The remaining 10 miles of the race included good running with four sharp climbs on wide fire-trail called the main divide. It was dusty, hot and not my favourite section. Rob passed me moving ahead, I began thinking if whether I could hold out and stay in the top 5 or would I be overrun by the chasers. Suprisingly I still felt like I could hold a reasonable pace so caught up the 10 yards I had lost. This battle continued for the next 9 miles, we swapped places pushing each other. I was running on the edge and hoping Rob didn't realise.

The final aid arrived with us running in together. I decided to sail straight through as I knew that Rob had a fast "kick", this gained me 20 yards as I began the remaining downhill to the finish. I didn't look back until a bend ½ a mile from the end seeing that Rob had dropped back a little so all I had to do was keep up a good pace to the finish. I then felt an ominous whip on my ankle, my lace had come undone. Great! all I needed at this stage. I decided to stop and lace up, having to bend down to do it. When I straightened up I almost cramped, and found it difficult to get going again. A felt a major relief as well as pleasure as I crossed the line in the lead to complete one of my best results and toughest races. My thanks go to Rob for pushing hard to the finish keeping us ahead of the pack as many times I felt like slowing down. He came in shortly afterwards with Tom a few minutes behind him.

Scott Mckenzie had a great race coming in looking very fresh in 4th. Suzanne Branna had a steady race shaking off her stiffness after winning AC/100 and Western States finishing with a large gap on Cindy and Mary Lou who came in together looking like they had some fun. Some other notable finishers inlcude another couple of San Diegans, Tracy Moore finishing 8th overall and Jennifer Janis had a strong race taking 4th place and winning her age group. Also Ken McIntyre at age 60 and another gentlemen, Link Linquist, at 72 years young (amazing!).

Fortunately the finish line was in shade and there was a plentiful supply of fluid (including beer) and snacks. Following the awards ceremony there was a raffle of a variety of items supplied by Baz's race sponsors including Montrail shoes. Thanks to Baz and all the volunteers.

79 starters 1. Jonathan Worswick 3:15:50 36 (1st Strider & San Diego Bad Rat) 2. Rob McNair 3:17:04 44 3. Tom "Peaches" Nielson 3:19:52 40 4. Scott Mckenzie 3:22:08 44 5. Bill Barthen 3:34:35 23

17. Suzanne Branna 4:13:01 41 28. Cindy Susarow 4:40:01 44 29. Mary Lou Lackey 4:40:01 47