Mount Baldy 8-Mile Trail Race 2011
First of all, I need to mention that this was the best and most crazy trail race I have had the opportunity to witness and cover. Yes, I do know that there are other trail races that are more brutal, but for mere mortals this race has it all!
Lets start from the beginning. About two weeks ago at a running club social, I learned about this race from one of my buddies in The Santa Clarita Runners Club. Jim, you are a stud and I hope to catch you some day! Anyway, I decided to not hike or run this race. I arrived at the parking lot at 7:00 a.m. Just one hour before the start. Good, I thought, I brought my mountain bike off I went. Ha! As many know, it is much easier to run than bike uphill. Anyway, I huffed and puffed up to "The Knotch", a restaurant about two miles from the top. Hiking up was a struggle, especially when I learned that the race got called off due to lightening strikes! Great! Now what am I going to do? Well, just keep pressing forward, get the pictures and a few video clips and go home.
The view at the top was just spectacular! This is what I live for! I got passed up by the top runners because I really had no lungs to beat them, even with close to an hour head start! Those guys are animals!!
I spent a good amount of time at the top photographing various individuals making it through the finish. Did I mention that the race was called off? Well, The race officials ended up letting the 1st 100 runners to race to the top. The times were not going to be official, but they didn't care! True competitors.
I was able to interview a gal by the name of Michelle Barton. Yes, the Michelle Barton! Wow! 1st female finisher, and a mom of an 11 year old daughter. She was kind and gracious to give her thoughts about the race. Congratulations, Michelle!
Mariano was a nice guy to give me his input and I got a cool shot of him with the beautiful vistas in the background.
Charlie from New York was such a cool young guy who helped make the decent to my bike very enjoyable. He ran this race in 1 hour and 51 minutes, in Five Fingers!! Man, he is tough! And, only with 1 year running under his belt! I could go on and on about this race, but I figure people like to see pictures and videos. By the way, the guys from USC showed their guts and even though this race was "un-official" everyone who made it to the top, had a blast! Here is the link to my YouTube video, flickr photo sharing and the race website.
posted by Tony Cota @ 4:23 PM
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