Seacliff Beach 50K - Oct 23rd YO!

Decided, while having a quart sized Tecate beer the other night, to run the Seacliff Beach 50K. Again, this race and course is put on by the friendly folks at Pacific Coast Trail Runs, whose motto is "Runs that aren't' races in beautiful places." What's great about the race organizers and the people who run these races is that they pick the most beautiful locations in the Bay Area, they always have gnarly hilly courses, and the races are meant for enjoyment rather than the typical "I must PR" road marathon mentality. Sure, some people rush and race, but this racing/running crowd is laid back, friendly, and almost always, when you are out there on a monster, mile long hill that only goes up up up, the person coming down says, "good job."

I believe I'm ready for this race. 31 miles and ~4500 elevation gain is no little stroll in the proverbial park, but I will run smart, slow, walk periodically on the hills, and save most of my punch and vigor for the last 10 miles. Wait till mile 20 to start pushing. It will be an awesome race, since the 50K course starts at Seacliff Beach, runs up into Nisene Marks, loops up and down through that park 3 times, hitting almost every trail in the park, then back down for the victory lane down at the beach. Sea-Tree-Sea, baby!

Nice picture of a hill on the Pacifica race I ran last month. Now THERE's a hill. YO!