Go ahead, Whistle Punk, make my day!

Rob Rhodes' Bay Trailrunners host a series of events - film festivals, 50ks, and... a number of great shorter trail runs in the peninsula. So whatever forces there were compelled me to sign up for one of his half marathons - my first half marathon race in over twenty years! OK, you may be wondering what the big deal is since I regularly have runs longer than that in my stockings. Well, first, since I don't actually race that distance, I don't know how to pace myself to finish 13 miles fast. Second, I don't wear stockings as often as you might imagine.

The Whistle Punk Half Marathon is held in the Purisma Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, a land of giant trees conveniently located about halfway between Mavericks and Facebook HQ, homes of giant waves and giant nerds. With all the storm damage that we've had the past few weeks, we were fortunate that the trail and roads weren't washed out. And as luck would have it, the torrential rains of 2017 paused a few days before the race, making for perfect running weather and muddy but still runnable trails.

The participant list and estimated finish times on ultrasignup weren't too intimidating at first. I'm not a particularly fast runner but I held onto some hope of finishing near the top. Hopes were dashed when local speed demons Stephen Wassather and Bree Lambert were announced entrants, as was Eric Byrnes, star of Diamond to the Rough. Oh well, if races aren't opportunities to disappoint yourself, then what good is it?

Me, Bree Lambert, the wife, and Summer

The sun was out, but it was still a cold day in NorCal. Temps at the start were a balmy 39F. This required a fast start down the steep Harkins Ridge Trail, dropping 1,600 ft, often at -15%. I wanted to walk the Purisma Creek section because it was so freakin' beautiful. I was having a trailgasm every few yards when another waterfall or three appeared. Definitely coming back when no one is watching my finishing time. 

The climb out of Purisma Creek to Grabtown was no joke - only 3 miles but it was not my day. I was feeling light headed, possibly from under-eating or from my son's fever that hit me the day before. But I was also undertrained - my calves were not happy campers. Summiting with the Tarahumara Indian (an India-Indian runner wearing sandals) brought welcome relief as I've always been a good downhiller. I caught up with most of the people that passed me or or I'd lost on the way up, including Ramiro.

We'd run for over an hour and a half under what I assumed were sunny skies. Deep in the canopy of the redwoods, we could only glimpse the sunlight at the top of the trees. The final climb broke out into the open sunlight. Shirts were off for me, as I needed to "train" for a potential surf trip to Hawaii - working on a pre-tan so I don't arrive there like a shriveled NorCal vampire. The 3.5 mile climb was largely runnable, depending on the condition of your legs. I got lazy here - what ultra runners call "pacing" - and walked half and ran half, finishing in 2:31, mid-pack overall, third Asian, and first in ethnic/age category. It's a stretch, but one I'm willing to call out.

My wife, Martha, ran and hiked the first and steepest section of the course. My daughter helped out at the finish line, along with Bree's daughter, Summer. To no one's surprise, Stephen won the race by a wide margin. Bree, Chris, Ashley and Ramiro ran well. Veronica came back from a 100 miler just a few weeks ago. Paul came back from injuries and finished strong on his birthday. Cupcakes and beer all around!

The day was capped with lunch at famed Alice's Restaurant. Besides all the sport bikes, half of the convertibles in Silicon Valley were there. It was a perfect ending to a beautiful day out in the woods. So, yes, while I might have disappointed myself, Whistle Punk, you still made my day.

All the pretty cars, bikes and ladies at Alice's Restaurant - Tiger Sunbeam on the right

Lunch under the watchful eyes of a buck

The Harley crew

Street Bike Freaks left their mark