QUAD DIPSEA 2007

4 x 671 stairs
(plus tons of stairs no one said anything about at the other end of the course!)
climb: 9,276'
descent: 9,276'
Mill Valley to Stinson Beach and back x2

Unlike some of the runners who planned to run the Quad Dispea last Saturday, I had no trouble at all finding motivation to run this race, probably because I hadn't experienced it yet. BUT I hadn't registered. I had decided to run it just a day or two after the date that registration closed. So .... I waited.... at 7:00 am the registration opened at Old Mill Park in Mill Valley, and the kind volunteers agreed to late another "crazy Davis person" in the race. (Last year two other Davis runners asked to sign up race-day morning.) Hardly believing that they told me I'm running the whole 28.4 (not just the 14.2 that I got permission to run unofficially if I wasn't allowed to register), I shivered and kept off my feet, munching down a not-so-tasty Butterfinger (an extra large Butterfinger is not so easy to eat after eating a triple breakfast that morning to carbo-load just in case), before shedding the layers and lining up for the race.

I was surprised at the whistley sound that came from the RD's megaphone that signaled the start of the race- but too bad- no time to think about it! I was shoulder-to-shoulder with top ultrarunners - names that I recognized from Ultrarunning - who patiently scrambled up the first flight of steps in the tightly packed crowd of 247 runners. Later, these runners would say encouraging words and others would inspire me to keep at it as they whizzed by in a flurry in the opposite direction.

The race was not nearly as emotional as I thought it would be. The first three flights of stairs were pretty exciting, but after I lost my breath and got some pounding from the paved roads, I wondered if this was really a trailrun after all, and don't want to think about the fact that I'd only gone a mile or two so far. The GHTM had its strong ups and downs, but this did not. Even at the halfway point, I couldn't get myself to be very excited ... maybe because I didn't exactly feel like running all the way BACK to Stinson Beach! And around mile 26, we said, "Well, we've about done a marathon", but by that point I was thinking, "So what! I just want to be done!" It was great to see my brother cheering us on at 1.5 miles from the finish ... and I wondered how his legs could move so fast, like they usually do, when mine felt like lead.

And it was great to hear my sister-in-law cheering us on- but I couldn't look up till I got past all those steps!- thank you :)

An experienced QD runner stated on his blog that the first leg is easy, the second is pretty easy, the third is HARD and the fourth is the HARDEST. I believe it now, except I'd contest that the third and fourth legs came pretty close to a tie for being the hardest.

I can't adequately describe the beauty and pain of every mile - just look at Krissy's or Steve's blogs for great reports on the race! Thanks, Steve, for making me feel better when you said that you felt the morning after the race the same or worse as you felt after one of your 100-milers.

I'm thankful to GOD to have participated in this race ... my first ultra...

... a run that makes me so sore that I wonder why I did it...

I felt privileged to run it with so many elite ultrarunners - I won't name them because almost all 247 of the runners fall into this category (minus a few, like me).

Something I found out: ultrarunners have some of the BEST things to say when they're really hurting on the trail. On third lap towards Stinson Beach someone said, "We need an elevator right now, huh?" and the runner going up the stairs towards Mill Valley replied "We need a freakin' helicopter!" ... which made everyone around these two runners laugh as they hid the screaming pain in their quads.

Thanks to Carl Anderson at Aid Station 3 who so sincerely cared for me, making sure I got enough electrolytes, water and food.

Thanks also to the RD, John Medinger, and to all the volunteers who were so awesome and must have really been wanting to run the race with us, but were instead filling our bottles and feeding us with m&m's, bananas, watermelon and other yummy stuff.

And thank you, papa, for filling our bottles at mile 14, and to mama, for everything.