CA – Racing Americana

Saturday June 22 2019

Broken Arrow SkyRace – Squaw Valley ski resort, above Lake Tahoe – 11K distance (there are also 26K and 52K options). Part of the Skyrunner USA Series.

Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, it is stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, I caught a very very bad cold, just before we left, and the trip to California was really the perfect storm to exacerbate the symptoms – altitude, pressure changes, time changes, flying, lots of driving, exertion, difficulty sleeping and thus exhaustion. I was honestly as sick as I can ever remember being, in my life, and I still finished the race and thanks to some Fisherman’s Friends, performed OK. I remember thinking very clearly afterwards that if I can get through that 11K with 2040′ of vertical, in that state of fatigue and illness, then no other state will ever be as hard again – what a buzz! It’s all downhill from here, and I’m a downhill specialist…

The terrain was incredibly technical – lots of water, rocks and razor thin tracks, difficult scrubby terrain. There was also lots of snow on the mountains, and descending the slopes would have been almost impossible were it not for my hiking poles (I’d bought them small enough to fit in my Nathan pack). As we descended the summit, it was remarkable how I gained energy – as the level of oxygen in the atmosphere increased the nearer the base you dropped. I rang the bell at the end, collected my medal, and got in the car.

This trip was definitely a holiday trip before it became one of my state racing adventures. Our Lake Tahoe trip was already booked, then I started thinking more seriously about running in all the states, and thought… well, I should try and make use of the fact that we were going to be in California! I found the Skyrunner Series (can’t quite remember how), and just had to fit it in. The 26K was sold out but even the 11K just looked so fantastic. Much to Becca’s delight, booking the race did mean some changing of plans for us – potentially impacting plans to see wineries and take in an amazing restaurant, but with some driving and late nights, we still managed to fit it all in, in the end.

Later in the trip, Becca and I did a Sky dive – which was a birthday present, and amazing. Not great for my condition, but we got through it! We also dressed up to eat at Thomas Keller’s Three Michelin starred resto, French Laundry, in Yountville CA. This was also for my birthday – it was very nice, especially the extra steak and dessert.

With this race completed, I had now raced in four states – MO, NC, SC & CA – and I really started to think, I could do all 50. I’m almost 10% of the way there! So let’s do it – at that point, I really started looking at other possible destinations – working out which states were drivable, which weekends I was free, and when there were races – real, official races. I also started planning which vacations Becca and I could book, around a given race event, and what sort of events I should do. I decided to look at a mix of events and distances – focusing on half marathons but also taking on 10 milers, 12Ks, 10Ks, 8Ks, 5Ks, 4 milers and even a marathon, always working on a mantra that I should always really do the longest distance available (except marathon) if the event looks cool. Runningintheusa.com became a new favourite website, and I started to map out my next two to three years…

The Broken Arrow SkyRace –