ANGELES CREST 100

Here is a race report from Yanco Javier who finished 8th at the  2012 Angeles Crest 100 miles Endurance run . Congratulations Yanco!

AC100 – July 21, 2012 – 8th Place – 23:03  – Special Thanks: Andy at  Ultraspire , Benji at  Poler , Monica at  New Balance – Crew: Liz, Mom, Dad, Ari, Robert, Jeff, Nina – Pacers: Arno, Oliver, Ben, Kyle – Support – Jon, Jenna, Don, Pat, Richelle, Ty

Well, where do I start?

Liz and I drove up to Wrightwood on Thursday afternoon, getting one last look at Hwy 2 and the aid stations along the way. Friday I had to weigh in, get my blood pressure taken and sit through the pre-race meeting. After the meeting, we had dinner and got back to the room by 6. Getting to sleep before a big race is always difficult. I finally crashed out around 9:30.

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MIWOK 100k

Right after the  North Face Endurance Challenge  I signed up for the lottery to participate in the  Miwok 100k  which is a race a little longer than the NFCE but not by that much (100K is 62 miles – only 12 miles extra!) so I felt it was within reach if I kept my training about the same and even built on the acquired endurance leading to NFEC. What really attracted me to the Miwok ultra is that it was in the same area as the NFCE. I was enchanted by the Marin Headlands in December and I wanted to go back. In addition, my ultra friend André de Castilho with whom I ran NFCE wanted to do it too.

And one week after NFCE I received an email stating:  “Congratulations, you have been selected to participate in the 2012 Miwok 100K.” I feel pretty lucky this year with race lotteries (I also got into  Pikes Peak Marathon  which is not really a lottery but it’s pretty random as the online registration gets clogged).

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North Face Endurance Challenge 2011

I haven’t raced much in 2011. I think I was a little burned out from all those Ironman events. I engaged in other things, mountaineering and trail running (see previous  Trans-Sierra-Express post ). I enjoyed staying away from the crowds and the commercial buzz of all races. I had signed up for the San Francisco marathon to run with a friend but he broke his foot so I skipped.

So I really entered only two events this year but they were truly unique. One was the  Amsterdam Marathon  that I ran with my son and the second was the  North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miles trail run . Both runs were truly special. I wrote about the Amsterdam marathon  previously . Here’s the NFEC race report!

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amsterdam marathon

My older son is born in Amsterdam fifteen years ago. Since we live in the US we went back to Amsterdam a couple of times and I promised we would back when he would turn 15. We did go back when the was 13 on a lark to watch the Soccer World Cup Final on Museumplein (we were in France already). They lost… And one day we became aware that the Amsterdam Marathon was one day away from his birthday (some years exactly on his birthday) so I asked him if he would be interested to do it. And he said yes! A perfect example of someone who jumps into their first marathon and doesn’t know how painful it’s going to be and that’s great! I did my first marathon when I was about 16 and I actually walked the whole time – and I couldn’t walk for one day!

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trans sierra express

Or how to run across the Sierra Nevada and beat the car!

This summer I thought about the following challenge: I bet that I could cross the Sierra Nevada range running and go faster than a car which would have to drive around it! And I won (kind of)!

I decided that the race would start from Cedar Grove / Road’s End on the west side of the Sierra Nevada and end on the East Side at Onion Valley Campground. By foot (running) it’s a 22 miles trail run (with 7,000 ft of climbing eastbound, less westbound). By car, it’s a 354 miles ride taking 7 hours according to Google maps (not counting pit stops, see the map embedded below). I thought I could beat that both ways so I got started with preparations.

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