Intro by Charlie Nickell:
Mt. Disappointment never seems to disappoint the participants unless you’re in fact actually trying to have a good finishing time. We’ve never seen a 50-mile ultra where so many participants downgrade to the 50k option mid race than Mt. Dis; this challenged writer included. Can you try running a 10k and opt for the 100 yard dash? Without the 50k bailout, half the field would DNF at Red Box mile 21. It makes TRD ponder: If the 50k option didn’t exist, what would the early demolished 50-mile runners do at mile 26? It’s like exit stage right and after a nightmarish 5-mile climb up the Kenyon Get Devoured Trail it’s over; poor 50-mile bastards who tackled those additional 18 extra miles of exposed fire road.
We don’t know if it’s the sissy elevation, the terrain, Pasadena smog, Jalisco cheese or the weather but Mt. Dis could for all intents and purposes be the Karen Carpenter Endurance Run for the Cure. There are more people puking on the San Gabriel mountain single track than scores of recently hazed frat boys waking up on Sunday morning; the only difference would be the frat boys have their heads wrapped around the porcelain goddess while the Mt. Dis runners just sling chunky projectiles around and keep pressing forward. What’s up with these people?
The 2008 Mt. Disappointment 50k/50 miler once again lived up to its nomenclature. Some of the 50k times looked like 50-mile times. In hindsight, they put facilities like nearby Mt. Wilson Observatory on the top of remote mountain tops for a very good reason. That reason? It’s really high, remote, rugged and no place for group activities. If you have no interpersonal skills, love reading the Windows Vista operators manual or want to study the stars in complete peace it’s a great place to do that. Should 200 half-dressed people surround the place once a year and run like crazed gerbils dogging Richard Gere in some West Hollywood back alley? Methinksnot.
Personally, about the only bright side for this race was the performance of my new Four Moreno Swiftwick socks. Normally, when I get a new pair of socks that feel this good I just sleep in them and don’t even allow them to touch the carpet. However, having destroyed so many pairs of expensive running socks, I decided to see what the technology in these puppies would do in one of the toughest ultras So Cal has to offer.
Getting sick at mile six in a 50-mile race isn’t a great sign and forced me into taking the 50k shortcut inside a blistering 9½ hours of pure agony. The only thing that didn’t hurt the entire race was my feet. Peeling my shoes off post race, I was absolutely blown away how clean and fresh both my feet and Swiftwick socks looked. I actually thought maybe I had changed my socks at mile 21 but had forgotten about it; however, that turned out not to be the case. With no blisters and very little dirt trapped between my toes, I actually blew off my traditional practice of rinsing off my feet before stepping into my flip-flops. The socks themselves would have been considered by this crowd to be worthy of another go before washing. While the rest of my body was worked, from the ankle down it looked like I had only gone for a bike ride on the Newport Beach boardwalk.
Mt. Disappointment 2008 – Greg Hardesty:
We love bragging to our non-running friends about signing up for the Mt. Disappointment Endurance Run. They get a concerned look in their eyes, we say, “It’s an actual peak, near Mt. Wilson above Pasadena, pretty cool name, huh?” and they say “Oh,” and then behind our backs they speed-dial our shrinks, bolt the liquor cabinet, and recite the Stations of the Cross – yes, this ultra sounds that intimidating.
Of course, we don’t admit to our non-running friends that the thought of running Mt. Disappointment makes us want to pee our extra wicking-capable running shorts. Every year, we tell ourselves, “Oh not, it’s August – not again!” But like that scene in the “The Godfather Part III,” when Al Pacino bellows, “Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in!” we keep coming back to Mt. Disappointment.
Although no one here at TRD has heard of any “Mt. Dis” runners turning into bullet-riddled corpses, we can attest that running this ultra probably feels similar. Hmm…run Mt. Disappointment, or suffer death by machine gun? Ah, the tough choices life presents us.
What is it about Mt. Dis that makes the runs so difficult? Is it the heat? The elevation (the start/finish is 5,650)? The proximity to Hollywood? Like the Bermuda Triangle, the electoral college system, and Pauly Shore’s celebrity, the answer forever may be a mystery.
Officially, the 50k course has about 5,700 feet of elevation gain and loss, and the 50-miler 8,700 feet – both completely within the Angeles National Forest. Don’t believe everything you read. Maybe it’s a misprint and they forgot to add extra zeroes.
Broken laces, a lost runner, teeming pools of vomit — this year’s Mt. Disappointment runs, charitably held on what is historically the coolest day of the year, Aug. 9, had it all. Best of all, it had Race Director Gary Hilliard — orchestrating his well-oiled machine once again. Gary gave the ultrarunning community a scare after last year’s race by crashing his motorcycle while heading to mark the AC100 course. A better ambassador of the sport of ultrarunning would be hard to find. So would a more sadistic course designer (although there’s a great case to be made for Santa Barbara 9 Trails’ Luis Escobar).
The start of both the 50k and 50-mile versions of Mt. Disappointment, a downhill paved section along Mt. Wilson Road, is comical in how uncharacteristic it is of what’s to come. Did we make a wrong turn and end up at the St. George Marathon? Nope. It’s just Hilliard toying with us. Many a runner has made the mistake of going too fast during this 2.5-mile section, only to hit Eaton Saddle (where the dirt begins) and go, “Oh no, I forgot I was running a hilly race in the mountains.”
A short climb later, to Markham Saddle, it’s time to take in a 360-degree view of seven peaks. Starbucks has a stand there (not). After a steep but shortish climb past San Gabriel Peak (6,000 feet), there’s a very fun (but slippery) downhill switchback section on the Mt. Disappointment Trail to the first aid station, Red Box (mile 5.7). This year, the carnage already started on this downhill portion, when a female runner fell and severely injured her ankle.
Speedster Rob McNair was among several runners who stopped to help the runner, sacrificing a lot of time. Despite this selfless act of gallantry and taking a wrong turn much later in the race, Rob still managed to catch up and pass some solid runners and finish strong in the 50-miler, with a time of 10:59. Rob is 54 years old. We don’t know what he eats or drinks, but when we grow up, we want to beon the crack he’s on.
Everyone who runs Mt. Dis who has done his or her homework becomes so obsessed with surviving the last section that the guts of the run sort of blend together: fireroad, pavement, cheering volunteers, singletrack. Rinse and repeat. The end of both races, of course, is the infamous 3.1-mile climb up the Kenyon Devore Trail, a seemingly endless series of switchbacks. The total elevation gain on Kenyon is 1,910 feet, which works out to 616 feet per mile — tough, even on fresh legs. Of course, the climb comes at the end of both ultras. Ouch! But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
After the first aid station at Red Box, runners hit the Gabrielino Trail and hoof it to Switzer’s Picnic area, where a catered meal from the Corner Bakery awaits (not, although the aid stations here are top notch). The climb from the Clear Creek Aid Station (mile 10.8) on a twisting fire road that ends at Josephine Saddle (mile 13.5) is steep but affords some great views of the canyons and, in the distance, Paris Hilton seeking to grab some headlines through the thick smog covering the L.A. basin. Media whore!
We at TRD particularly enjoy the single-track section from Josephine Saddle, along the Colby Canyon Trail and the Strawberry Trail, which has great views of the Big Tujunga Canyon and beyond. Don’t ya love all these trail names? Who’s on the naming committee? Like, Strawberry Trail sounds like something concocted by a gummy bear – some sort of shaded Eden of treats and leg massages. Right! Big Tujunga Canyon? We could make a crude sexual joke here, but the TRD is above that. Anyway, the runners then make their way back to Red Box , which doubles as aid station at mile 21.25.
There comes a time, during combined ultras like Mt. Dis, when those who signed up for the 50-miler have a choice: Continue on, or drop down to the 50k. At Mt. Dis, this choice happens at the West Fork Aid Station, conveniently located at mile 26.1 — just after you’ve run a marathon! Turn right or turn left. Vomit more or vomit less. Swiftwick Obama Socks or Swiftwick McCain Socks. Folks, life is full of tough choices, and this is just one more of them.
For the 50-milers – well, turning left at West Fork changes everything. It’s not “just” 19 more miles. It’s like having an additional kidney removed; it’s a whole’ nuther ordeal (but fun, of course – we do run ultras for fun, right?)
Leaving West Fork, runners climb four miles to the Newcomb Aid Station – the same Newcomb Aid Station in the AC100. Here, you can pretend to be a real stud/studette. Then it’s time to go back to reality for a 2-mile “make-up loop.” This doesn’t mean that Xy Weiss and other dirt divas freshen up on this portion of the course – it means runners do a 2-mile loop that brings them right back to Newcomb before tackling what proves to be the toughest portion of the 50-miler.
After a refreshing 1,200-foot downhill on fireroad, the 50-miler runners arrive at the lowest location on the entire course — 2,800 feet —- in the San Gabriel River Canyon. Then the fun begins. Over the next six miles, as the sun hits it peak, runners climb to 4,750 feet, to the Shortcut Aid Station (mile 40.9.) This part of the Mt. Dis 50-miler is, oh, how shall we phrase this: pure hell? Unadorned misery? Yeah, that sounds about right. Just as runners prepare for a spot to fall down and die, a makeshift aid station, at around mile 38, saves them from a merciful death. Hilliard, ever the genius, parked some Search and Rescue experts here under a canopy with ice-cold drinks to make sure runners would at least survive and make it to Shorcut. His strategy worked.
After that lovely ordeal, runners enjoyed a fun but technical single-track all the way to the base of the Kenyon Devore Trail, where all that separated them from the finish line was that last brutal uphill. But compared to the climb out of the San Gabriel River Canyon, it almost feels pleasant, as most of the trail is shady.
The stories from runners of this year’s Mt. Dis were thick with anecdotes of agony and conquest – the usual mix from a battle-scarred ultrarunner.
Ben Gaetos, last year’s winner of the “Get to the Finish Award” for most determined runner, finished the 50-miler in 12:54, compared to 14:24 in 2007 — good for almost dead last. “My goal this year was to redeem myself from last year’s almost disastrous finish,” Ben said, referring to throwing up from halfway to the climb to Shortcut until the finish. “My blue shirt almost turned all white due to electrolyte loss,” Ben recalled. “Man, that was the worst feeling.” Yes, like most ultrarunners, Ben is blessed with amnesia.
Kirk Fortini (14:22, in the 50-miler) waxed poetic about Mt. Dis, a return venue for the veteran ultrarunner from the Salton Sea or somewhere like that: “The best part of every race is the sea of familiar faces. You realize that, while solitary in nature, our endeavor is not a function at which we are the center. Rather, we feed into it as much as we get out of it.” Are you getting Brokeback Mountain vibes here?
“Indeed,” said Kirk, whipping himself into a lather, “we feed from one another’s energy. And, to share a few words of nervousness, encouragement, or humor with our fellow athletes only helps to emphasize that we need each other all the more.”
Jeez, Fortini – sounds like you’ve been watching too many episodes of Dr. Phil. For his punishment, the laces on Kirk’s Salomons broke before he ever left the pavement. So, for more than 48 miles, he had to deal with that nagging problem.
“It’s cool, though,” Kirk says, “because when I bent over to fix the things, a mountain biker used my behind to park his bike. Must have thought it was a bike rack.”
To add to the surreal factor of Mt. Dis, two of the Search and Rescue officials who were working the death-march stretch to Shortcut shared his surname. Wow, trippy man!
Gina Natera-Armenta, coming off a fabulous San Diego 100, where she was the top female finisher, got sucked into the mysterious vortex that is Mt. Dis. She dropped to the 50k, finishing in a respectable 8:09, after feeling crappy from the start. Gina says she felt overheated only two to three miles into the race. She ended up going to the hospital after peeing blood. Now, we ultrarunners can be hardcore, and sometimes stupid, but when the crimson tide flows, it’s always wise to call it a day and get checked out. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery, Gina!
Bill Ramsey, who runs his own city in south Orange County (“The Real Bureaucrats of OC,” a TV pilot in the works, is based on his life), said, “Thank God that Gary offers both a 50M and 50K option and allows runners to change their minds mid-race. I had never changed events in mid-race, but there’s always a first time, and MD50 was it for me.
“Don’t know if it was the fast downhill asphalt start or the terrain or the heat, but my butt was fairly kicked by the time I arrived at the 26-mile aid station. I had lots of company, though.”
Ramsey also pulled a McNair, helping out a runner in distress. He and Bud Phillips (12:15, 50-miler) came upon 30-year-old Nicole Luque sitting in the middle of the trail sobbing and unable to get up due to severe leg cramps. The two decidedly older gents tended to her and eventually coaxed her to stand, and with an arm over each of their shoulders, walked Nicole a distance down the trail until she was able to walk off the cramps.
“When she assured us she could move on her own,” Ramsey said, “we wished her the best and headed down the trail. Later, at the finish, I saw her come running across the finish line. What a studette.”
Indeed: Nicole finished the 50k in 7:25, less than a half hour behind Bill, who finished in 6:59.
All in all it was a successful day for anybody who just made it off that darm mountain alive. Yes, there are super-human androids like David Goggins who was home cutting the lawn before most people hit the 20-mile mark but his performance along with others like Kyle Hoang we’ve come to know and expect. We’d break those guys legs if they weren’t such stand-up guys and world-class athletes. Plus, we can’t catch them anyway.
So, it’s time to lick our wounds, break out the Mona Vie Pilates video and get back to our triple-padded burber carpeting in the safety of our Orange County living rooms. It’s time for some quality reading to get in tune with the deeper, more important things in life: “OK kids, who moved my SKY MALL magazine?”
Stumbled and reported by Charlie Nickell.
Ran and reported by OC Register writer Greg Hardesty.
What: Mt. Disappointment 50k/50 Miler
When: August 2008
Where: Angeles National Forest, CA
Race Director: Gary Hilliard
Course Short Description: Cement, Climb, Puke, Short Cut & Die!
50-miler Men
1.) Jorge Pacheco 7:41:00
2.) Troy Howard 8:27:44
3.) Kyle Hoang 8:55:52
Women
1.) Renee Roberts 10:18.26
2.) Juliette Morgan 10:42:11
3.) Jannifer Heiner 10:46:12
50-K
Men
1.) Jonathan Mitchell 4:55:20
2.) David Goggins 4:56:13
3.) Cheppo Jimenez 5:03:59
Women
1.) Janice Anderson 6:33:01
2.) Lynn Lognan 6:54:48
3.) Maya Kass 7:00:04
Web site: http://www.mtdisappointment50k.com
Category: Mt. Disappointment 50k/50m
