Inwardly I'm smiling. Photo courtesy of Louis Kwan. Don't hold it against him. After yesterday's Ray Miller 50k, I've only got two stiff legs. I've achieved a certain level of accomplishment when I heard shouts of "show us your balls!" seconds from the finish. But that was after I’d hurt the vert, run my own race, and had a great day; well in the future after the rosy-finger dawn rose over the whine-dork sea . The race is one of a cluster run that day at Pt Mugu State Park: 30k, 50k, 50 miles and 100k. Something for everybody, and if getting like worked hard, RD Keira H enninger will deliver, in spades. The 50k course is a lopsided 3-leaf clover and stem, in an approximate clockwise direction. If it was run counter clockwise, it would easily add 2 hours to the average finish. Keira has other things to do besides wait on your sorry ass, so be grateful. I was very glad I didn’t strap on the 50-miler. This will have to wait for a later date. Meanwhile,...
1993 Angeles Crest 100 Mile Finish line at Johnson's Field, Altadena, CA. L to R: Nancy, Coach Jim O'Brien, Larry Gassan, pacer Ray Deschenes. I repaid Ray by pacing him at WS in 94. On June 13, 2013, legendary coach Jim O'Brien was fired by the Arcadia High School for unspecified transgressions, despite two national titles and a winning record going back almost thirty years. ...O’Brien, now 60, was abruptly fired from his head coaching position at Arcadia. Runners, students, alumni and parents were shocked. O’Brien was not apparently involved in any scandal and, though his style has been described as intense, had no real detractors, other than the personnel associated at Arcadia High School associated with his firing. [from the TrailRunner article] On July 24, 2013, friends, students and supporters of Coach Jim O'Brien came out and spoke directly to the Arcadia Unified School District Supervisors in an open meeting as to why Jim was important to them, th...
"Some records are meant to be broken" I just saw this post from the AC100 Official Very Official FB page. The record here is Jim O'Brien's 1989 AC100 GOAT 17:35:48. Nobody's come close. Ever. Ben Hian admitted it was untouchable. Since the 2026 date is finally moved back to its nearly original Oct 6, somebody thinks they have a shot at it. Which begs the question: How? Reining in my usual withering sarcasm, but fully activating my years in the sport: here goes. THE COURSE First. You’d have to run it on the original course. No cut outs. That means up over Mt [Sonny Boy] Williamson, no PGT [Pretty Good Tunnel] on Highway 2. Then, the original Cooper Cyn. The local MYLFs [Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog, you perv] will watch you thunder by. Again, no Pleasant Valley bypass trail. Up and over to Cloudburst, Glenwood Springs, Sulphur Springs. Mt Hillyer, with the Original Crotchless Gorilla suit. On to Short Cut via Charlton Flats. Down the Edison Road to Newcombs. Up a...
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