After running Skyline to the Sea in April I ramped down my running a bit. Winning a spot for the St. George Marathon and signing up for the Santa Rosa 1/2 marathon in late August brought me back to a regular running regimen though.
A few weeks of relatively short runs made me itch for a race again. The PCTR Angel Island 8k seemed perfect. The previous weeks had seen a few speedy sub-10 mile runs, and I figured it would be good to try a short and fast race opposed to a long and slow one as S-2-S.
I caught the ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island at 8AM, and had some time for a little warm-up run and some stretching. The course essentially went straight to the top of the island, and back down. After a quarter mile it hit some stairs, which slowed the field down a bit. Despite walking up the stairs, I managed to pass some people, who had passed me off the starting line. The climb following the stairs wasn't too bad, but I was still glad to reach the top, and switch into cruising mode for the downhill section. The very top had a out and back section, and I counted that I was in 10 position at the summit. The 3 miles back to the finish area were quite pleasant. Nice single tracks, slightly downhill, with amazing views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. An amazing day to be out on the island! Having run the last 1/2 mile of the course during the warm up paid off, since I caught up to some guys, who had problems finding the right trail, while I knew the way to go. I crossed the finish line after 42:44, good for 5th place overall and 3rd in my age group.
There was some time left, before the ferry left back to Tiburon, which was spent chatting with some friends and munching on the snacks provided by PCTR.
A great event on a great day!
