This year, instead of running the F&L 50km/50 mile run put on by our great friends Don and Gillian from
ZombieRunner, I volunteered at the race. This gave me a chance to rest my leg today and drink heavily last night.
I was given Mile 14 aid station - considered by all to be the most vital of all aid stations and was always entrusted to the most devoted and trusted support volunteers (although when I ran through this spot where the station was supposed to be last year, ZombieRunner Don hadn't quite got there yet....the line was long at Starbucks I suppose. Consensus was this year's Mile 14 aid station made the race).
Rare for San Francisco, it was a cold, foggy, slightly rainy start, with fog blankets whipping around the top of Twin Peaks.
Mark Tanaka readies himself for the race.
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This year's crop of Fear and Lothers line up:
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Don and Gillian bark out orders....oh, OK, they politely explained the course and wished everyone good luck :)
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Then the fast and furious start was on:
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On the top of Twin Peaks, there are coyotes to go along with the road runners:
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Runners had to follow these signs throughout the city (for laughes some of us snuck out last night and flipped them in randon directions):
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Down below Twin Peaks runners were just visible through the fog:
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The highly organized and top-of-the-line Mile 14 aid station:
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Front runner Mark Tanaka flies into Mile 14:
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There Mark quickly empties the trunk of all food and drinks leaving nothing for the other runners ("You snooze you loose" he stated):
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Next, in second place, is Pacific Coast Trail Run co-RD/Owner/Guru Wendell Doman ("What?! Where are all the supplies.....that darned Tanaka!"):
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Next comes in KapnKirk who would have been there sooner but got sidetracked at a Trekkie Convention downtown:
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This group of fun loving runners show up and re-fuel. This group consists of (in no particular order and probably with wrong names anyway....I wasn't really paying attention as I was eyeing a sushi resturant across the street): Fred, Gavin, Rick, and Steve.
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Here comes the first woman - Ellen is actually an employee at ZombieRunner who I think was sent to make sure I wasn't pocketing any of the ZombieRunner supplied supplies. This was her first ultra and she trained well with some tough 5K's in college:
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Then flying down the hill Mariza and Penny lead the way for Steve. The three of them stop for a bit and comment how much nicer it is to have an aid station actually in existence at Mile 14 this year compared to last.
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Mariza and Penny found my stash of Thunderbird in the trunk and helped themselves:
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They chose not to share the fine wine with Steve who was making breakfast crepes on the wall in the background:
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One can see the strong effects of a fine vintage of Thunderbird as Steve wonders why the ladies were going so fast:
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As all the runners went through my station (except those who took short-cuts or got lost), I headed over to Coit Tower at mile 17. There it was a big party (these shots were taken right before everyone donned togas and the keg was delivered):
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Instead of helping these runners at Mile 17, I was taking photos of the beautiful city skyline (hey - I was volunteering....maybe ZombieRunner can actually pay us next year):
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I left from Coit Tower, passing by the runners as if I were in a car and they were on foot:
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I was always keeping a close eye on our runners to make sur....hey...is that a sushi restaurant?
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The toga runners enter the 20 mile aid station (guess they left their togas hanging from the rafters at Coit Tower along with an empty keg, 3 cases of empty whipped cream cans and a trapeeze):
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Here comes Chief Toga Runner with Ellen (who quickly ran over to snitch to Don and Gillian that I was keeping all the supplies to myself. Despite the empty energy bar wrapper in my hand, I quickly "explained" that Tanaka took them all and everything worked out well):
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End of the race - back on top of Twin Peaks (surprise....fog). First place overall was Mark Tanaka who even beat Gillian and I back to the starting line (we are reviewing all videotapes of taxi cabs and buses in the city):
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Mark is awarded his first place bottle of high quality wine made from Kazakhstanian prunes and bottled in the finest Mongolian wineries:
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Here is Mark and Gillian with Mark showing of his wine and finisher's mug (I did note that when Gillian went to get the mug, Mark grabbed a couple cases of salt tablets, gels, and energy bars from her trunk....really Gillian, it was Mark...not me)
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Here comes second place 50kmer Kap'n Kirk doing warpspeed 7 up 7th avenue towards the finish line:
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I would have stayed longer but like I mentioned, I wasn't being paid....plus I had a trunkfull of supplies to empty.