ear running friends,<br><br>saturday, i drove up
to malibu for the last leg of this four day event.
what characters there were... what animals. many ran
four days, a few miles on thursday, 50 on friday, 40
on saturday and 30 on sunday. this was really a
crusty ultra event.the range went from novice , like me
, to a grand slam record holder and everything in
between-about 40 in all.<br><br>it was the hardest 50k course
i've ever done (not that many) but i can tell you that
i thought it made bulldog look like a walk in the
park. beautiful and hard. I made the first cut off
(1pm)by about 15 seconds. i didn't think i would make it
so i was pushing. i was about to give up hope when i
came around a corner with about 1 minute to go and saw
the aid station up the hill. i let out with a huge
AGGGGHHHHHHH from the bottom of my feet and hurled the old bod
up the hill. i thought i would die but i got there.
i made the 3pm cut off with about 4 minutes to
spare. this sport can make you very humble.<br>the
personalities were wonderful. there was a big group from
ridgecrest. they have so much fun, all of the time that i
concluded that they must have lithium in the drinking water
in that little town. one of the ridgecrest women
concluded our "awards" ceremony - where i got a pair of
fish slippers because i must need rest because i was
dry heaving on the finish line--with an exhibit of
her impressives skills as a baton twirler! people
came from all over. chris, the organizer did a
wonderful job of entertaining and taking care of us. <br>it
made me think that we should organize a nice little
event up at our neck of the woods to repay the
hospitality of so many who host for us. patagonia was one of
the sponsors and even had a rep at the aid station
where i tried to use my vocal cords as feet to propel
me up the hill-- he did give me sort