OC Curtain 100K Ultramarathon Race Report

At the finish line of every ultra race, I always do the same thing. I promise my wife I’m swearing off the stuff. I usually say something like “That was terrible… I’m never going to race again!” A few days after my last race in January (Avalon 50), my wife noticed that I was on the office computer and asked what I was doing. I admitted that I was looking at upcoming ultra races. She laughed and commented that this was the shortest amount of time between one of my “resolutions” and my returned interest in racing.

We left the house at 5am to make the 30-minute drive to Liberty Park in Cerritos. There were 65 runners who signed up. They were evenly split between the 50K and the 100K. Rain was in the forecast. But fortunately we stayed dry the entire time. The temperature was cool – in the 60’s for most of the race. Perfect weather for racing.

The OC Curtain 100K (see oc100k.com for more information) was created to prepare and qualify Southern California athletes for international competition. It’s flat and fast. Ninety percent of the route has a dirt trail that parallels the course. The only “challenge” is the course is actually a 10K, 10 times. It’s not even a loop1 Instead, you run downstream along the San Gabriel “River” for 5K and then return. South St., Del Amo Blvd, Carson, Wardlow Rd., reverse, rinse, repeat.

I started the race way too fast. My pace for the first 30K was 10:36. Later, I was clocked at no faster than a 15-minute mile. I later realized that I was running with the 50K runners when many of them “dropped out” half way through. I also spent way too much time at the aid stations. Though I carried a GPS watch, I didn’t use it to its full extent. With better clock management, I could have cut a lot of wasted time.

As the race continued, I became fatigued. I focused not at the end of the race, but making it to 80K. That’s when my “pacer” would arrive. My daughter returned from college this weekend for the express purpose of pacing me when I needed it most – at the end of the race. Since filled the last two laps with a constant stream of stories, comments and insights. Lauren was so helpful, I don’t know what I would have done without her – and, I told her so, many times. She even held the flashlight on the last lap when things got really grim. I politely asked that she not talk for the last 10 minutes because it was keeping me from “focusing”.

My final time was 14 hours and 43 seconds. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t make the 14-hour cutoff. However, my only goal was to finish. And, I accomplished this. I have signed up for the OC Marathon. But in terms of ultras, I don’t have any plans right now. But, I wouldn’t be too surprised if someone told me that I would continue to test my limits with ultra-endurance events in the future.