San Diego 100 Race Recap

I’d like to get a couple things ironed out going into this race…

It would start with this race towards the end of last year. Ok, well maybe about 3 years ago when I was setting my sights on the San Diego 100. I was looking for a prestigious, challenging, highly regarded, out of state, epic race to do. The Lottery seemed to come and go as I was contemplating which races to do each year. Getting a qualifying 50 miler done at 1^st was the pre req along with the time off from work, the ability to fit it into my current training schedule and all of that.

Applying for Western States now two years in a row produced no entry for me for 2016/2017 and thus opened up that coveted June slot for me. The day I had waited for was finally here. I applied Jan 1 and was quickly notified on the 4^th I had gotten in. This year apparently didn’t draw the group size in year’s past and even had some additional slots open. Let the planning begin.

Over the next few months leading up to the race, I managed to get in quality runs, long good runs, some races and even a down and out at the Grand Canyon in May to help prepare me for San Diego. The goal leading in to June would be to have a steady ramp up of higher than average climbing weeks. In the range of 3500-8500(peak) pretty consistently as well as a topper of 52 miles in a week had me considering if I had done enough for this challenging course. Race description and profile info. here.

Race week: My crew and I had met to go over last minute plans, logistics etc.. This would be a great meeting since we had already discussed some things prior to which mainly focused on the “why†I was doing this race, what would be new this time around and what to expect.

I wanted to use this race experience to help “iron out†two primary things: Challenge myself on new and unfamiliar ground. Leadville 100 would be coming up in a couple months. Surely, I wouldn’t have been able to run that course, do the recon I wanted to and a host of other things in prep. Yeah, I’ve been to Leadville, run some of it, done Silver Rush 50m twice but this would not compare to what I would experience in August of 2017.

The second reason for going down this San Diego road would be to put other logistics, crewing, packing and things like that to the test.. A “dry run†of sorts. This would prove pretty critical when I reflect back now. Everything was executed flawlessly thanks to my faithful crew(Brian and Meghan Slavin), leader and wife, Tara. They were simply awesome and I have ZERO complaints or issues as to how things went! Brian wore that UD Crew Bag well, very well! :)

Brian sporting the UD Crew Bag well. PC: Meghan Slavin

From the moment we arrived at Lake Cuyumaca to the moment we left, I felt I could definitely see myself coming back in the future. The best way I can describe it for those who live in or are familiar with Arizona would be: Prescott and the Prescott Circle Trail meets Payson and the Mogollon Rim trails. Oh, throw in a little of Norman Rockwell and a hell of a lot of PIE options!! More on that as the race goes on.

This race had 275 entrants signed up and ready to go the day before the race.. Final stats here.

For those curious about the course itself... 100.5 miles(41 of them on the PCT/Pacific Crest Trail). Other notable sections: Noble Canyon, Pine Creek, Anza Borrego State Parks and the immediate area surrounding Lake Cuyumaca. There would be a total of 11 aid stations some being double out and backs and well stocked!