Saturday - June 13th - Camp Pendleton Marine Base 10K Mud Run:
www.camppendletonraces.com
I got a 1st
place in age (70-74). 4,000 runners. Leon & I were
in the solo individuals class, not on a team. |
Leon Gray & I drove down to the race together. Here is Leon
charging through some mud. This is NOT even one of the four
official Mud "Pits". |
Doug all wet, muddy and smiling. This 10K is a riot! |
The 2nd & 3rd mud pits have walls across the center that you have to
climb over. |
Leon crawling through the final mud pit.
Doug
got a first place in the 70-74 age group. Time-1:11:08. Overall, I
was 561 out of 2,994 solo runners. Not bad
for an old fart.
The next older guy took 2:03:07.
I was also 9 minutes
faster than the last time I ran this nutty, fun run in 2003 with
my speedster daughter Michelle. She didn't do it this time
because she is tapering for her upcoming Western States
100 mile race on June 27th. She says next year for sure...
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Doug traded in his 1st place medal for a worthy prize! Note some
of the obstacles we go through on the map in the background. |
Leon gets his 2nd in age 60-64. His time was 1:05:03.
Leon wore his Garmin GPS during the race and read a 6.6 mile distance
(a 10K is 6.2 miles). |
Doug's 1st place medal. |
Gee. I'll have to start going to
more races that have prizes for the over 70's! |
Sunday - June 20th - Billy Goat
half marathon Hill Climb
-
www.oldgoatrunners.com
PANORAMA - Dean
Dobberteen was the 1st to the top and the overall winner in 1:39:58 |
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OH OH!
Signing up for this run was a big mistake on my part.
Some time after I signed up for the Hill Climb half marathon, I
realized it was the day before my much more important traditional
Dad's Day half marathon. The 30th year in fact! Didn't
want to blow my energy by racing up the evil hill, so didn't.
Instead of pushing, I did my usual day after day Transrockies pace &
kept my heart rate always under 130 & had fun taking lots of
pictures. My time was 3:18:17 which put me DFL (Dead F_g Last).
AND I can still say no one older than me beat me. Is that
disgusting or just depressing? |
Steve Harvey, Billy Goat Hill Climb RD greets Eric Clifton.
Eric's jacket is made from many Tyvec bib numbers from his favorite
races. The jacket has a zipper, an elastic neck and cuffs.
Very professional. Eric finished 2nd overall in 1:46:56 |
Some of Eric's favorite ultras. |
Laura Bailiff loves the screaming bright race T-Shirt. It
matches her outfit! |
Doug toodling up the trail. (We started way down there.) |
At the 6.5 mile aid station.
My Mud Run "buddy" Leon Gray (27th overall in 2:29:58) warning me to
stay away from beautiful Michelle Mecham (6th female in 2:29:40). |
3rd Pam Everett (2:04:04), 1st Judy McGuire (1:58:40) & 2nd Holly
Anderton 2:00:00).
YES - the finisher's
medals are indeed cute little Billy Goats! |
1st Dean Dobberteen (1:39:58) and 2nd Eric Clifton (1:46:56) with
Steve. |
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June 21st - 30th annual Dad's Day half marathon - Irvine to Laguna Beach
This year was my
30th annual and consecutive half marathon run from
Irvine to Laguna Beach. I did my only training run to Laguna on
Tuesday June 16th in 1:57:12 and the real push run was done on June
21st - Father's Day - in
1:54:49. All this Transrockies training helps. Usually I
am seeing 2:04 - 2:06 for my first training run.
When Jim
McElroy, Alan Rodely & I started doing this run in 1980, no one even
owned a stop watch, let alone a GPS. We just got moving when our
wrist watches said 6:30 AM and looked at the watches when we
finished. Family picnics afterwards for years. Both
friends are retired. These days, Alan lives in Oakhurst, CA and
Jim lives in Bend, Oregon.
My
fastest time ever (once we were in the digital watch age) was 1:46:23
back in 1992 at age 53 - accompanied by a young Michelle riding her
bike. My second fastest time was 1:48:27 in 2004 at age 65, when I
was just coming off doing my second 50K ever - Baz's Shadow of the
Giants, fully recovered and in great running shape. Michelle met me
at El Toro road (she ran Aliso Woods and down Stairstep to meet me -
probably 8 miles) and then she worked my butt off pushing me that last
3 miles. Was not fun, but worth it! After breakfast Karen & I drove
her back down Laguna Canyon and off she went up Stairstep and back to
the Mormon church parking lot. She was already a stud runner by 2004! |
Taken by my daughter Michelle as she drove along side on Laguna Canyon
Road about 11 miles into it. The screaming bright shirt was what all
runners got yesterday at the Billy Goat hill climb. |
I left my favorite Transrockies shirts at home in favor of my new
hi-visibility shirt for running along busy Laguna Canyon Road. |
9 year old Sierra & Grandpa Doug in matching bright shirts!
She has a natural stride and is fast. She averaged 10 minute
miles at 5K's since age 7 and at age 9 is averaging 7:30 miles.
She is some 33% faster in just one year. |
Garmin GPS time and distance data at the finish. The run starts
at my home at 88' elevation and peaks at 418' - exactly half way
through the course. I love the long gentle down hill for the
last 6.5 miles. My heart rate was 130 at the half way point and
154 at the finish. |
Finish reenactment photo with daughter Michelle (after I caught my
breath for a couple of minutes). Photo taken by 9 year old grand
daughter Sierra. |
Michelle and Sierra ran the last 1/2 mile with me and worked my butt
to go faster! |
Cool picture of Michelle and Sierra in front of the giant Laguna Beach
Festival of the Arts poster |
On the beach below Heisler Park for our Dad's Day picnic. |
Sierra doing a Karate Kid pose with the Pacific Ocean in the
background. |
Sierra, my wife Karen of 32 years (on July 8th) & I. |
Karen, Sierra and grandpa Doug. |
Sierra and Michelle. |
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