It was a very satisfying weekend at the Angeles Crest 100. At the end of the day, I earned the same finishing place, same time (within a minute) and same Rhino award as I did in 2013: 23:14:50, 7th place overall, 6th man, Rhino (master's) trophy winner.
The path getting there was a bit different though as this year was hotter, more humid; nevertheless I ran 45 minutes faster for the first 60 miles than in 2013. But then the heat took its toll along with blown quads, bruised feet, severely sore lungs from smog or poodle dog pollen or whatever, and a large puddle of vomit in the Chantry parking lot, so that I ultimately lost that 45 minutes and finished with the same finishing time as 2013.
What is important to me in all this is first, my great gratitude that I was able to run despite fracturing my hip socket in a fall at Idlehour last year (http://fredippides.blogspot.com/2014/06/training-run-gone-bad-self-rescue-with.html), and second, my great gratitude for the joy of my son crewing me with my friends Dale and Tina. It was fabulous:
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| My son running me through Chilao to my crew set up. What a smile! |
That picture, shot by Tina's son, summarizes what the day was about for me. His smile is worth 100 silver buckles or bronze rhinos, but it was nice to get those too:
Full race report here: http://fredippides.blogspot.com/2015/09/last-month-i-finished-my-third-ac100-in.html
