2024 Terrible Horrible No Good Very Frizzly Day

The first weekend of March, 2024 was one for the books in California. A blizzard with wind gusts to 75 mph and 12 feet of snow in the Sierras would bring gentler but still challenging conditions to the whole state. Way Too Cool 50k was way too cold and on its way to being canceled. What would become of the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day? Would we cancel the race, too? Why are you asking? Didn’t y’all sign the waiver? I believe cold, rain, hail, snow, thunderstorms, lighting, all that crap is covered under “acts of God” section when you signed your life away. I’d been hoping for a rainy, stormy day for THNGVBD, and all my dreams were about to come true. Maybe.

A rainy Friday shakeout run in Campbell

A few weeks prior, I predictably DNF’ed at Black Canyons. It was not as hilarious as I had hoped though my stay at a creepy budget hotel proved entertaining. Maybe THNGVBD would be its polar cousin since I would not likely find a similar hotel in Los Gatos. One would hope. Anyway, the DNF was still training in my eyes even if the biggest hills I climbed were in my mind. The weather forecast for THNGVBD weekend looked pretty awesome. Steady rain both Friday and Saturday, about a half inch each day. Rain and wind on Dogmeat day is something I'd been hoping for since that first heat wave THNGVBD six years ago. I packed all my cold and rain gear and made the drive up early Friday, like the sad, funemployed sack that I am. 

2024 will be known as the Frizzly year because for the past few months, nearly all my running has been with my now 7 month old puppy, Fritz. The vet said he could run as long as he is comfortable, never mind my comfort. I've had him up to a 9 mile hike. He should be strong enough for what’s known as the Puppy Run, 2 times up Dogmeat, +3000 ft of gain over 10 total miles. If you're not familiar with the course by now, the standard race is 10 times up and down Dogmeat, 50km and +10,000 ft, plus the 4 miles and 1000 ft round trip to the base station. And the cop out, 5x fun run, because I somehow convinced a bunch of noobs that a few hours climbing 6,000 ft hill repeats is fun. Morons.

Saturday morning and the air outside was surprisingly dry and what was that big bright thing in the sky? The weather forecast now said dry conditions until 10 or 11 AM. Shit! That means for all but the 50k runners, one had a good chance of finishing without experiencing the hoped for drenching. Frizzle likes the drizzle and then some, so I took my time in the morning, not getting to the trailhead until 7:40 so that we would catch some rain at the end if not a full soaking. To my surprise, there was a large group waiting to start because someone, ahem, not gonna say who, got their messages mixed up and was planning to meet at 8, not 7. The race officially does not have an official start time because that would make it an actual official race. Besides, you’re going to see everyone 20 times on the trail anyway, giving you lots of chances to try and remember their names, or call them the wrong names. You’ve got Dogmeat brain, it’s ok.

We started up the trail with a large group, including a triplet of Alexs, Alexes, Alexi? In case you’re wondering what would make someone want to do Dogmeat multiple times, here is what urban dictionary says about guys named ‘Alex’:

Fritz was getting slightly confused. Although we started together, we weren’t staying together. Fritz is half Australian Shepard and half Dalmatian. With low fire danger that day, he went into shepherding mode, running to the front to slow down the leaders and then running back to speed up the laggards. Didn’t work though. I wasn't, I mean the laggards weren’t going to speed up. Finally, after 40 minutes, we reached the base station and began our hill repeats. Early birds Beau, Mac and Brett were well on their way to finishing their third hill climb of the day. We soon ran into Terri and Ed finishing their first lap as we were starting ours. Sam was knee deep into his solo 50k. With each passing runner, Fritz was getting more jabberwocky, unsure who to stay with. Next year, we may have to start and finish everyone together. You know, for my dog’s sake.

With my crotchety old knee, my plan was to bring my 7 month old puppy so that I’d have a ready excuse to cop out after 2 hill repeats. Frizz had other plans though and was still going strong after his second descent. So up we went for a third. Plus, for the first two laps, it had been annoyingly sunny and dry. I waited six years for rain on this course, and my diddly I was gonna get some. By the time Sylvie and I made my third summit, it finally started raining. It even “snowed” for a bit. She hated the weather. I loved it. Fritz loved it too. So, tie broken. Democracy wins. Take the loss graciously, Sylvie. On the way down, we ran into Nigel who finally came out for a terrible, horrible onesie - an unofficial course on a decidedly unofficial race. That of course meant that Margaret came up with her mobile aid station. You know, I used to think Nigel was the idiot in this pair, but considering Mags came up in 45F windy, rainy weather to provide us an aid station, I’m beginning to wonder. In any case, her homemade cookies are always appreciated and powered my final downhill with Fritz. For puppy and me, 13 miles and 4,000 feet were enough. It’s a Frizz-eat-dogmeat world, now.

Spectator at the top of Dogmeat

It’s a fun spectator sport to see what people do after THNGVBD. You would think a rest day or two would be in order. Alison ran 20 miles and seven summits on Saturday and then ran a sub-2 hour half marathon the next day. Fritz was still all wound up from his failed herding exercise and would not calm down. We made the 300 mile drive home, watching the rain that we wanted to run in, correction, that I wanted everyone else to run in. 

The seven year itch theory says that happiness in a marriage could wane in the seventh year. This being the seventh year of the THNGVBD, despite the regretful lack of a Marilyn Monroe like trail course in my life drawing me away, my heart is still being drawn elsewhere. 2024 is the last year that I will run the THNGVBD and will leave the running of the event in the capable and caring hands of our local Dogmeat queen, Sylvie. So what’s in store for 2025? T-shirts, medals, prize money, live stream, selling out to UTMB? Who knows. As of now, it’s not my monkey, not my circus. 

Wall of Shame

I didn’t keep track of who signed up and who didn’t. Officially, the race only supported 6 entries, so most of you fuckers just showed up. Next year, the new RD might make all y'alls pony up for the privilege.

50k, 10 Summits (Dogmeat time only)

5:46 Sam Cox

7:40 Bradley Rosintoski

Fun Run, 5 Summits (Dogmeat time only)

2:21 Tanner DeVoe 

3:44 James Creed (6)

4:10 Gary Eldridge (6)

4:32 Terri Choe

4:32 Ed Liu

4:38 Gabe Norwood

4:42 Alison Bassett (7)

Puppymeat, 2 Summits (Dogmeat time only)

1:00 Teresita Gomez (3)

1:04 Alex Vaynshteyn (4+)

1:06 Beau Van Zante (3)

1:06 Brett Hall (3)

1:06 Mac M (3)

1:11 Alex Prushynskyy

1:11 Ross Burk (3)

1:18 Stephen Ryner Jr. (3)

1:20 Chris Bassett (4)

1:35 Duke Hong (3)

1:35 Ramiro Garcia

1:35 Alex Lin

1:37 Steve Patt 

1:39 Thomas O'Dwyer 

1:39 Paul Snyman

1:52 Ben Petroski