Fried Pickles from the Sequoia Brewing Company
Robin had a half of a sandwich and salad at the Sequoia Brewing Company.
After we had finished lunch we headed over to Mark and Joan's house where we would meet up with everyone, eat some Mexican food, and go to bed early for the big day on Sunday.
At sometime around zero dark thirty the alarm went off and we got up and made our usual Dave's Epic Everything Bagels with avocado before piling in the Subaru and heading into the western High Sierra's for a date with a trail half-marathon later that morning.
Since I was the only one who opted to buy the V.I.P. parking pass we dropped off Mark and Joan's car at the shuttle point then all six of us piled into our Subaru for the five-mile drive to race parking. Once we arrived the kind gentleman pointing out where we should park determined that since I had an all-wheel drive I could make it up a steep hill and over rocks to park in the 4-wheel drive lot. We made it, only bottoming out once. We all unfolded ourselves out of the car, grabbed our gear and ice chests, and headed for the 3/4 mile walk to the starting area.
The half-marathon would start first, and there was a roped off area for faster runners to be in so I headed for that. It's important at this race to start out fairly quickly because of the amount of dust that is kicked up by the runners and I wanted to make sure I breathed as little as possible of the stuff as we got going.
The start of the 2018 SAR Bigfoot Half-Marathon
The first two miles were mostly downhill and it was relatively easy. I tried to hold back knowing that what lay ahead would be tough going. Right about the start of mile 3, we went up a trail that was almost vertical. This was one of the steepest hills that I have ever seen as part of a race. After this, the course mellowed out with the usual ups and downs associated with trail races.
One of the many uphill sections of the race
Soon enough we also were joined by runners of the 5 and 10k races at various parts of the race as the course snaked in and out of the coves around Shaver Lake. It was during this point that I tripped and fell while in a crowded section of the race. I went down in soft dirt and rolled before popping up. I was lucky, nothing felt broken, and there was no bleeding. A couple of people asked if I was alright but no one stopped to check me out. I re-pinned my number back on and tried to get back into a rhythm. The fall happened just before a split in the course so within a hundred yards I was running alone again. When I arrived at the next aid station some volunteers helped me wash some of the dirt out of my water bottle lid and off of my face. I continued in the race but my confidence was lacking from there on to the finish. I hiked the uphills and ran the downhills just wanting to be done.
Elevation Chart of the 2018 SAR Bigfoot Half-Marathon
I'm heading to the finish covered in dirt
A little over an hour later Robin finished in 3:38, good for second in her age group, and not far behind her was Andrea in 3:39. Robin and I got engraved Swiss Army Knives for our age group awards. Trevor ran the 5k, and Mark and Joan finished the 10k. After everyone had finished, we all headed to the picnic area for free burgers, hot dogs, beers, and ice cream. The race organizers really do put on a top-notch event. There's a DJ with music, great shirts, medals, food, awards, and beer for the participants.
Our finishers medals from the 2018 SAR Bigfoot Races
Andrea and Robin posing at the Bigfoot Statue with their medals after the race
Pre-race selfie, everyone was clean and still smiling
We all hiked back to the four-wheel drive parking lot where we had parked. It had been an awesome day but we all had to head home and get ready for work on Monday. This race is definitely a 6 IPA race. We are all looking forward to the next edition of the SAR Bigfoot races.
