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| Rio Del Lago 100 Mile Trail Race Granite Bay, California Sept 14-15, 2002 by Linda Hurd |
| To my friends and family: RDL was my first 100mile race. This landscape of oak studded-hills and granite is special to me. I had lived and worked in the Folsom -Fair Oaks area from 1984-1991. Placer , Eldorado and Amador Counites had been my playground; the difference being that back then my sport of choice was bicycle road racing. Any chance I have now to return for a visit to this area is appreciated, and the opportunity to play on these trails from sunrise to sunrise (plus a few bonus hours) during RDL100 was not taken for granted. I enjoyed this race immensely. I wandered into trail running in early 2001. I had run my first marathon distance exactly one year ago on these trails at 2001 SNER; I was on a relay team. If someone had told me then that a year later I would be back for RDL-100, I would have thought the person ludicrous. But what a fun year it turned out to be (with the exception of knee surgery in Oct 2001). . I did my first 50mi distance on some of these trails last April at 2002 American River 50mi. Therefore , it made sense to try my first 100miler also on these trails at 2002 RDL. |
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| Photo #1: A photo of Jim O'Neill, Sue Norwood and me at the pre-race meeting. |
| I flew from Houston,TX to Sacramento a week before RDL. I spent the days before the race visiting with friends and spending some time up in Tahoe National Forest with my friend Ron looking for the WS trail (photos from Tahoe Natl Forest) |
| Photo #2: A photo of my friend Diane Kato. We use to go on bicycle training rides together in the mid-1980's when I had lived in the area. |
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| Photo #3: A photo of me in the Cavitt School Gymnasium about 15 minutes before start of race. I used Coban wrap on both legs to give the knees some support. The Coban wrap stayed in place during the whole race. |
| Photo #4: The first 20-30 minutes of the race are in the dark. I carried a small flashlight for this section. This photo was taken as we went through Granite Bay park along Lake Folsom. I believe the runner ahead of me is Dan Maransik. Dan was one of the people I had met at American River 50 in April, on the bus ride to starting line. |
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| Race Day morning. My friend Ron drove me to Cavitt School around 5am.. Cavitt School would serve as starting line, 68 mile mark aid station and the finish line. |
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| The medical check-in and pre-race briefing were held at the gymnasium Cavitt School in Granite Bay on Friday afternoon. RD Norm Klein explained how the course would be marked and warned about dehydration due to the daytime temperatures. Norm told a host of stories from his years as WS100 director, and also introduced various accomplished ultrarunners present at the meeting . Norm also gave out some awards. |
| I was fortunate to be crewed by Doug Spencer and his friend Sophie who had driven up from Los Angeles. Doug is a good friend of one of my running friends in Houston, and Doug was also my pacer for the last 38 miles of race. |
| Photo #5: Arriving into Rattlesnake Bar aidstation at ~13miles. |
| Watching the sunrise over Folsom Lake last year during SNER was very enjoyable... I did not carry a camera with me at SNER last year. This year I wanted to get some photos of the sun rising along different sections of the lake. The stretch between Rattlesnake Bar and Maidu is a long one. |
| Photo #6: This photo was taken looking back over the lake .. |
| Photo #7: Another photo taken looking back towards the shoreline we have already traversed. |
| Photo #8: This photo is taken looking ahead .... the lake gradually narrows the closer we get to the Auburn area. |
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