Bee Loud Race: Pacifica 35k - Finished in 10th! (Or 8th?)

I ran the Pacific Coast Trail Runs 35K on Saturday and it was great! I came in 10th with a pretty decent time of 3:53. Actually, two people ahead of me only ran 31K (must have gone off course) so that would make me 8th. I ran a smart race, which meant to walk going uphill during some of the uphills. Mainly when it was a crowded single track, there was no room to pass, so powerwalking was as fast as the runners. And, walking up some of the steep hills coming back from Montara beach was not only smart, it was nearly mandatory, as the grade was so steep running was nearly impossible. Overall elevation gain: 4500 ft.

During the first 7 miles of the run, a swarm or hive of bees attacked the runners. I was following behind this guy, having settled into a nice pace with him, a woman and man behind me, as we all chatted. All of a sudden, I see a pack of nasty little Kamakazi bees dive bombing the guy ahead of me. I mean, these bees were assaulting him. Then, the next thing I knew, I was being bitten and flailing wildly to get the bees off me. I decided to run my ass off. I looked back up the single track switch back and saw the lady helping the other poor guy behind me swat a swarm of bees off of him. I got about 3 big stings and a few little ones. It stung pretty bad. Ate some Benedril. The guy behind me (who I ended up running with most the way) got about 10 stings. One woman I saw at the aid station had a back full of welts. All along the trail you could see clumps of dead bees, people's clothing they had shed and left, every once in a while a person stopped trying to get bees off them. It was crazy.

All in all, though, a beautiful race, and the views from the peak of Montara mountain were worth the climb and the bee stings.