Bishop High Sierra 100K

I ran the Bishop High Sierra 100K in 13:41:57 this past Saturday. It was hands down the most beautiful race I've ever run. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures on the course, but I did take some pictures from the weekend, which was quite eventful.

I left Berkeley Thursday, and my truck promptly broke down. I had it towed by AAA from Applegate to Truckee, where I spent the night at SW & MT's. Friday I rented a car, drove to Bishop, and went to the pre-race dinner, which was wonderful for everyone else but annoyingly not vegan friendly. (They did have veggie lasagna, so veg folks probably think it rocked, but there was no meatless spaghetti sauce.) I camped at the Millpond campground right next to the race start with my friend Nano and his girlfriend Megan. Saturday she won the women's 20-mile race, and Nano placed top-10 in the 50-mile event. Nano and I ran together for a few hours, but I didn't want to go 50-mile pace when I was running 100K, so he got away from me fairly early. I didn't really push myself, because I didn't want to hurt myself before the San Diego 100, and this is only my second 100K, so I don't have a very good idea of how fast I can run. I didn't think I could keep up a 5mph pace, and I knew I have to do 4.17mph to break 24 in San Diego, so I did some quick math in my head and decided I should beat 4.5mph and run the race in under 14 hours. And that's what I did. My calf cramped a little, so I took a lot more electrolyte tablets than normal, and made an effort to drink a lot of water, and I think that worked--I managed to actually pee a couple of healthy-looking times during the race when I normally don't. It didn't hurt that it was overcast and cool for much of the day--almost ideal race conditions.

The aid stations were wonderful--tons of fresh fruit and potatoes, lots of helpful people, some music, and a great atmosphere. The finish line was rather a let down--very little food there and really nobody hanging around. I prefer a social post-race atmosphere to a social pre-race dinner any day. The race got up to around 9400 feet and was almost all on dirt roads, but the lack of singletrack was completely made up for by running under the sheer east face of the Sierras, and Mt. Humphreys specifically.

I spent Saturday night at the campground, then Sunday drove to Mono Lake and Bodie State Historic Park. I spent the night at Zack & Buddha's in Tahoe City. Monday I drove my limping truck, with a low-end knock and devoid of second gear five miles before the engine completely seized and the truck was dead for good. Having killed it, AAA was now willing to tow it again, so I took it as far as my 100 free miles got me, to Ducky's house in Sacto. I went back Tuesday with the title and got $400 for the scrap. Now I have a spare Club if anyone wants it.

Here's Nano's race report.

Here's a Picasa album of photos from graduation, the race, Mono Lake, Bodie, and a few rather surprising shots of what I see when I look at my neighbor's house through my dining room window.

If you're short on time, here's my favorite shot from the whole trip.

And here's a video I shot in Bodie. It was far away, so the sound is low, but it was a cool moment.

Splits were as follows:
1.51 mi--17:42
5.75 mi--42:55--1:00:38
9.77 mi--51:24--1:52:02
11.27 mi--18:18--2:10:21
14.94 mi--55:18--3:05:39
17.40 mi--25:29--3:31:09
20.39 mi--52:13--4:23:22
23.40 mi--32:09--4:55:31
26.50 mi--36:11--5:31:42
29.00 mi--42:40--6:14:22
31.93 mi--39:46--6:54:09
35.03 mi--45:02--7:39:12
37.49 mi--36:09--8:15:21
41.16 mi--44:25--8:59:47
42.66 mi--18:52--9:18:39
46.39 mi--42:11--10:00:50
48.50 mi--28:30--10:29:20
52.10 mi--1:03:04--11:32:25
54.45 mi--25:40--11:58:06
56.75 mi--39:17--12:37:23
60.35 mi--47:36--13:24:59
62.01 mi--16:57--13:41:57