By volunteering of course!
Saturday I took the easy way out. I got a cool shirt and was part of an ultra. I got to lounge on the aptly named Cocktail Rock (no – I didn’t bring any) for a couple of hours and watch a bunch of tremendous athletes enjoying themselves during the first hour of their ten plus hour appointment with destiny.
My job was pretty simple. Be out on the trail by 5:30AM, about an hour before the start. I got to run under the stars for 2 miles to make sure that a critical junction at mile 3.6 was still accurately marked. Then, I got to hoof another 2.5 miles to make sure no one took a left when they should take a right at the Old San Juan junction. Finally, when the last runner passed, I returned the was I came to make sure no one was left and all the ribbons and markings were cleared. I got to enjoy a beautiful dawn, peace and solitude on the trails, some tremendous scenery, and dodge a few out of control mountain bikers.
Come enjoy the hills of south Orange County with me:
Congratulations to all the finishers of the Chimera 100s ultramarathon!
* When all was said and done, I even got to take a 2 mile shortcut each direction, so even though I was at mile 6 of the course, I only had to run 8 miles total.
