Greg F.'s profile
Events that Greg F. has reviewed
This is a gorgeous race that lives up to its difficult reputation especially this year ('09) with the addition of some 20 mph headwinds and pretty cool temps. Most people have heard of this race's great reputation, but it is not without its faults. The hotels love to jack up their rates for the weekend, my wife and I even went to the trouble of finding one near the finish in Carmel, only to be told at packet pickup that there were no spaces left to leave from the finish, but instead have to drive back up to Monterrey at 3:30am to catch the bus to drive back through Carmel! Luckily we had great friends who dropped us off in Monterrey so we could leave a car near the finish. My second complaint echos one of Marty's, the fact that they shove so many races into the day that the main event sacrifices its prestige to 4 other races going on so the course is packed, you have to freeze your ass of for 2 hours for the race to start and you finish the race mixed with the walkers. But all told, this race is worth doing at least once (I have raced it twice now, the first being in '02)
The course is relatively flat and fast with enough undulations in the bike to change up the muscles a bit. Would have been a great race for me back in '07 except for one detail. The beach the swim takes place in had been closed down for high e coli rates in the water and was opened up for the race. I felt great until most of the way through the bike, then spent the beginning of the run in the bathroom and was soon slowed to a very discomforting walk. Had it not been for the bad water (or perhaps my bad swimming that allowed me to take in a bit of the water) it could have been a good race.
If only there were more than 5 stars to rate the difficulty of this race! This is one of the hardest races I've ever completed, and I finished it back in '05 after racing an Ironman anda PR Marathon. I knew I was in trouble when the race director declared that in all his Ultramarathon experience his best 9 Trails times was still slower than his best 50 mile time! The course zig-zags up and down the mountain, with next to no flatness anywhere. All is on beautiful trails through the mountains with some spectacular views of the Santa Barbara Coast Line. I was going into this race thinking I would finish in no more that 5 hours and I was off by almost 3 hours! As my first ultra experience I was amazed that my legs could keep moving for so long. Better than the course and the views are the amazing people. I met one man who fell off one trail during training a week prior and broke a rib! Most of us would believe that would be a great excuse not to run, but he ran the entire race with a bicycle tube wrapped around his rib cage to keep it in place! Another man fell off one of the trails 10-15 miles into the race and messed up his ankle, fellow runners helped him back to the trail and to the nearest aid station. He was able to get to the hospital to get patched up and was waiting to cheer everyone on at the finish line on crutches! These ultramarathoners have a love of life matched by few others. I will be back again to take on this great challenge, though its harder to sign up for now that I know what I'm getting into! If you are looking for a grand challenge, here you go! Just don't fall off the trail :)
This race is amazing! (except when it snows, but c'mon that was only once) A great season opener that is run by one of the greatest and amazing collegiate triathlon clubs, Cal Poly Triathlon! (Ok, I might be slightly biased since I'm an alum). But seriously, this race has one of the longest histories of any collegiate run races. Has a course as beautiful and tough as Wildflower and at a fraction of the cost! And what profit this race may make goes back into the triathlon community through the team. The swim is a bit chilly since this race is still early in the season. Last year the swim was a bit short (yay for us non-swimmers) but '09 made up for that. The bike is a bit hilly, not drastically hard but you won't be laying down any PR's here. Part of the course winds around the beautiful lake, with a fun decent off the damn then rolls through the vineyards of SLO county and back again, almost beautiful enough to forget the pain of coming out of the off-season! The run is an out and back that is mostly on a winding gravel road back through Lopez Park, this year they added a lovely challenge of a steep hill at the Olympic distance turn around. You won't set any records here, but you will enjoy it none the less and it will give you that kick in the @ss to get you seriously training for the approaching race season! If the Olympic is too much to tackle this early in the season there is a shorter Sprint distance as well.
Don't be confused, this is a half marathon race with a marathon tacked on. I went into the race expecting a quality run race to be sorely mistaken. I kept passing aid stations asking where is the food to only receive blank stares. There was no food on the course until mile 17! By this point I was in such glucose deprevation that the race was wasted. I could no longer enjoy what was I'm sure to be beautiful Redwood scenery, but was blinded by my rage to want to cross the finish line and smack the race director. To my dismay the race director was a woman so there was no smacking. I will not return to this race. Some of my fellow avid runner friends did not even finish the race and one even ran the entire route and refused to cross the finish line of this race.
Simply Amazing! The community is whole-heartedly behind this endeavor and it shows! The volunteers are great and just plain enthusiastic that they get to show off their beautiful town and scenery. The race is well organized the pre-race meetings really get you pumped up. Last year ('08) the lake still had a winter chill (about 58 degrees), but 2000 athletes help warm it up (if you know what I mean). The bike course has some fast flat sections and some hilly challenging sections which when are combined allows you to change up the muscle groups to divide up the monotony of 112 miles. The run was mostly flat and fast and the finish through town is amazing and exhilarating. Would recommend to anyone looking for a great domestic IronMan..
I've raced this amazingly organized race 4 times and will be back again this year.The course is challenging, but being surrounded by vineyards and other amazing triathletes adds motivation.
I raced the 1/2 Marathon back in 2007 and had a marvelous experience. The course is beautiful and thrilling as a majority is on single track trails. Has a pretty decent elevation change that kicked my out of shape butt into gear and hope to return this year for a significant improvement in time.