Racer Wesson

From Wrightwood to Pasadena. 100 miles includes 90 miles of trails and 8 miles of dirt road in the Angeles National Forest including portions of the Pacific Crest Trail, and 2 miles of paved road. The race starts on Park Street in  downtown Wrightwood and finishes at Johnson’s Field in Pasadena. There is a  21,610 ft. accumlative elevation gain, 26,700 ft. accumlative loss, resulting in a 48,310 feet total elevation Change. The highest point is Mt. Baden-Powell at the 9,210 ft. level.

“Wow, we’re in the minority here today aren’t we?”

“Yep,”  smiled Vanessa.  “But that’s how it always is.  Only about 10 women finish AC every year.”

“How many start?”  I asked.

“Well, this year I think about 40 are registered,”  she said nonchalantly as we worked our way up Mt. Williamson, the first big climb in our 27 mile.  Suddenly I felt like I was a character in ‘The Hunger Games.’  I would later find out that my new friend Vanessa had placed 2nd in the race in 2010 – probably part of the reason that the idea of finishing didn’t phase her.  For me, it was all that I could think about.

Was I naive to think that I was actually going to pull this off?  Considering I was only one of 3 women  that was showing up for these training runs, I felt like my chances were pretty good.  I’d know the course, and I’d be prepared for issues as they arose, because even today I was trouble shooting things like lung issues at altitude and wearing the wrong anti-chaffing cream – both potentially 100 mile crippling issues that I could fix now for race day.

We showed up at Chilao Campgrounds at 7am on Sunday to shuttle over to Islip Saddle.  Some of us were still pretty tired from our 8 hour trail work requirement the day before, but that didn’t stop us from coming with our enthusiastic attitudes.  About 25 of us would spend out morning and afternoon covering arguably the most difficult section of the Angeles Crest 100 course.  I was excited and a little nervous, but the idea of running that type of distance was no longer an issue.  I was more concerned about how long it would take me, and getting seperated and lost from the group - rightfully so.

For the first half of the run,  I was surrounded by a few other strong runners.  Rainer was out there and had brought his pacer, Joe.  Fenton, the dad of a semi-elite level runner Peter was with us, and a few other familiar faces surrounded us.   By the time I reached Cloudburst, I was on my own, as all of us fell into our own pace.  Here and there I would see Joe and Rainer not too far ahead.  I’d catch them on the ups and then lose them on the downs again.  But I was enjoying the peaceful time on the trails by myself, listening to my music and thinking about race day.  Sometimes I get antsy for the miles to fly by, but not today.  I was enjoying every moment.

Maybe that half explains why suddenly about another 5 miles down the road, I had lost sight of everyone and couldn’t find any yellow ribbons, the course markings. I back tracked about a mile and decided to wait for another runner who knew the course.  Nothing for a good 15 minutes.  Weird… I knew there were some people still behind me.  Then I back tracked even more to find that I’d missed a ribbon leading me down a narrow single track.  Back in the right direction, I travelled along till I began to worry again.  I waited until I saw 3 other runners approaching, inclusive of a man named Andy, a self proclaimed power hiker, who only ‘runs when he has to.’ For a walker, he was damn fast, as I was running to keep up with him half the time.  The two of us negotiated the last 5 miles or so, to join the party at the Chilao Visitor Center at the end.

A starving group of 6 of us headed to lunch/dinner at Newcomb’s Saddle after a day long adventure, knowing that food was the key to stifling grouchiness on our long drives back down Hwy 2.  They crinkled their noses and offered opinions when they saw the gal that just ran 27 miles order her burger without a bun, reminding me I was back in my alternate community again.  All of them had previously finished the Angeles Crest 100 and had advice to give to me as a first timer, all well received.

Maybe the odds are against me, but I can’t help feeling like this is a battle I will win.  I will at least know that when I reach that start line, I geared up with every piece of ammunition that was handed to me.   With the right preparation, the right team and a little bit of luck, I’m starting to believe that I might actually pull this off.

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