Calico Trail Run: Race Report

The Calico Trail Run, near Barstow California, is perhaps one of the most picturesque and beautiful races in the area. There are two distances 30k and 50k. I did the 30k race for the first time last year in 2007 and had such a challenging fun time I had to do this race again.

We left home at about 4:00 am to make to make the 7:00 am start. The weather was pleasant and seemed to be in the mid 30's. This was much different from the 2007 race where at the start the temperature was only 17 and did not seem to even get above 40. At 7:00 am there were over 200 individuals ready to race. The race start/finish is right on the main street inside the Calico Ghost Town. The first two miles or so are some down hill on the side of a road then it cuts into the trail. This part of the trail is sandy with lots of rocks. There is the first aid station at about mile 7. This race always has good aid stations with quite the assortment things to eat. Upon leaving the aid station one, a few miles down the road was turn in the course that took us on an out and back that was about 2 miles. This out and back was not part of the course last year. As it turns out some pranksters modified the course. Since every one else was running it you kind of had to since you are racing against them. No problem. However, I kind of trained to do 30k not 33.5k so that extra bit kind of weighed heavy on my mind. After the unexpected out and back came the most challenging part of the course. You enter some really rugged and steep areas. I have never been able to run this part of the course and many props to those who can. At this point runners get really spread out at about mile 14 where one comes to aid station two. A bit after station two the course splits, 50k go left and 30k go right. From that point to theterrain gets really rough, lots of rocks, sand, and steep areas. I saw one fellow ahead of me take a really bad digger but he got up and kept running. One of my favorite part of the course is in the very last part where they make you run though those arch liketunnel things. The final part of the race drops you down in to the camp ground, through the parking lot, and up one of the meanest hills you could ever imagine. After climbing the hill is a fast 200 meters to the finish!

Overall this is a very fun race and overall well organized. If you are looking for a fast trail run this is not it. Rather, you can call it more of an adventure. The date for next years race it set for January 19, 2009. Again, I will do this race, the 30k, and hope that it is only a 30k next year. As for my nipple problem, see previous post, I solved it by a couple of bigband-aids. For more information about this race check out the race web site: http://www.calicotrailrun.org/