| Rucky Chucky Roundabout 50Km Foresthill, CA March 22, 2003 Page 3 of Photos |
| About half of a mile after the turnaround point, I went into a slump... I was passed by runners in both directions in this section. It took about a mile or so to pull out of the slump.... just before I reached Norm's Aidstation About a mile out of Norm's aidstation , the trail stayed close to the ridge that followed right above the middle fork. The wildflowers were beautiful in this section. |
 |
|
|
|
| My plan going into Rucky Chucky Roundabout was to treat it as a training run so that I would have enough energy for a 15-25mi run on Sunday. I set my goal for being under 7:30 at the 50k. I reached Rucky Chucky River Crossing right at 3hours... In my efforts to refill bottles with Clip2 mix and get some food, I forgot to take a photo at turn-around-point: Rucky Chucky Aidstation. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Photo 13 : A view of the middle fork of American River. |
| Photo 11 : A blanket of poppies. |
| Photo 12 : Lupine along the trail. |
| Photo 10 : David Cotter was taking photos at the Rucky Chucky Aidstation. In this photo that he took , the aidstation is in background to the right. Linda is running in foreground, beginning the trip back to Foresthill. |
| The rest of the way to the next aidstation, I tried to run the flats and downhills and walk/run the uphills... That downhill section that had been so much fun descending earlier on the course, became a long tedious uphill in the reverse direction. The clouds were starting to move in, which was good. The clouds prevented the afternoon temperatures from becoming too warm. Arriving into the last aidstation, with 3.7mi to go to finish, I stopped to have a water bottle capped off which turned out to be unnecessary . It was 70% full, and I had a full water bottle in my waist pack.. so the capping off seemed a waste in retrospect after I left the aidstation. About a mile or so after the aidstation we start climbing up the final series of switchbacks (~1.0 to 1.5miles worth) in the last part of course . About half way up I started getting cramps in the right calf if I tried to run on a certain grade and higher. So I would run in sections I could and would walk once I felt the cramp try to grab on. I had been disciplined about taking electrolyte replacement on the hour during the race (I set my watch timer ) , so I think that the cramping was not related to lack of potassium. Almost to the top, another runner was in my sight. I almost caught up with him, but reaching the road section of the course he blasted to the finish. When I came to the road section of the course, I could see that I had a chance to break 7:15. Although my legs were incapable of blasting, I maintained a moderate pace and I crossed the finish line at 7:14:27.... within my sub-7:30 goal. I was satisfied with my effort, and I had a lot of fun. Thanks to Robert Mathis and all the volunteers for a well-organized and scenic race. |
|
 |
 |
| After the race, I drove out Mosquito Ridge Road to see if I could get to Big Tree Grove before snow made road impassable. The snow became impassable just after Big Trees (about 25 mi from Foresthill) . While returning back to Foresthill, it became dark. About a mile after crossing the horseshoe bridge, we saw a cougar cross the road in the beam of my car's headlights .... this is the first cougar I've ever seen. Seeing a cougar (especially a Sierra cougar) was the highlight of the trip ! |
| Photo 14 : Lee Jebian waiting in front of their hotel for his wife Wini to pass by on her way to finish line. |
| Photo 15 : Wini Jebian approaching the finish at elementary school. The clouds were beginning to move in. |
| And a mountain lion sighting....... |