Armstrong Redwoods 50K

DK told me about a local 50K that I'd actually never done before, which is a rarity, so I was happy to sign up for it: PCTR's Armstrong Redwoods. They say it's got 8,500 feet of climbing, which feels a tad high, but it was definitely a very hilly race, which I enjoyed. The weather was rainy, which is pretty weird for California in May. The redwoods were cool, but there aren't that many giant ones, it's more of a small grouping like Muir Woods, so it's over in ten minutes and then you're in oak for the most of the day. There were several stream crossings, one of which surprised me by being waste deep, so that was fun too.

I finished in 6 hours and 44 seconds, in fifth place, three seconds behind number four (it wasn't a big field). The course ended with a mile-long flat mile extra lollipop  section starting right from the start/finish area just to get closer to the necessary mileage, and I screwed up and started doing the loop part of the lollipop twice before realizing my mistake, and though I had just passed the guy who finished ahead of me in fourth, he passed me back due to my mistake, and I lost two or three minutes, and didn't break 6 hours. DK also blew a spot and got third instead of second because he was expecting the lollipop to be longer so he took a breather to get water before starting it, even though it was only a mile or so that he could have just powered through. Whoops.

Round numbers are the worst.

Get out of the trail so you don't get smushed, buddy!







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