Big Bear Marathon - California, 9 November

San Bernardino Mountains 

I didn’t run a step between Rio del Lago and the marathon. I knew when I signed up for the Big Bear Marathon that a fast marathon the week after a hundred miler was not a good idea. But I signed up anyway. I liked the sound of a scenic downhill course and I looked forward to good hiking days after the race. Before my trip I worried more about how I would be feeling in the days leading up to this marathon than about the hundred miler. 

In the intervening week, having come down to Southern California, I did some good hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest. I didn’t realise there were mountains like these just behind LA. 

The first hike I did was up Strawberry Peak. There was no water at the trailhead and I started at midday with less than 500 mls of water under a hot sun. There was no shade on the hike because the hillsides were just low scrubby bushes. Underfoot was virtually sand. It was really pretty and as I got higher there were layer upon layer of mountains in all directions.

The second hike was up Mt Baden Powell. This time I took plenty of water and it was a cooler day. I have had nothing but blue skies in California. This hike is known for the 40 switchbacks on the climb, but what this means is that there are no PUDs (the D part), it is all seriously uphill which I don’t mind at all. This was pine forest with window views on the way up, and at the peak the views were wonderful, again rows and rows of mountains.

Big Bear Lake

On race morning I again had to be up far too early, at 4am, to get the bus to the start line. It was minus 2 degrees as I drove to the bus. Big Bear is at an elevation of about 7000 ft which explains the cold morning. On the bus I sat with a local runner who was doing her first marathon; I told her, when she asked, how many marathons I’ve run but I refrained from telling her what I had done the previous Saturday. Although  it’s called Big Bear Marathon the race is not in Big Bear at all; it starts 15 km south of the place at a forest parking area and finishes in San Bernardino. I went straight from the bus to the toilet queue, which moved very slowly; I emerged from the toilet as the race announcer was calling 1 minute to the start.

It was just on daylight as we headed off. As expected everyone around me went out fast and I was conservative. The course is about 90 % downhill and I was concerned about the toll on my body since sustained downhill running can get uncomfortable. I was going to wait for the second half to speed up, which I did, running it 10 minutes faster than the first half.

We were running in a narrow forest-sided canyon on a slightly winding road. Soon there were views across to the San Bernardino Mountains. I find the mountains here quite distinctive in their mottled appearance, which is due to a lot of sparse bushes on the sandy soils rather than dense tree cover. There were short uphills which I walked as part of my conservative strategy.

Around half way the downhills became steeper and I really enjoyed this part as I let myself go at whatever felt natural. The aid stations were 2 miles apart and I felt I was flying between them. Almost. The problem with downhill running is that it sounds nice but you still have to cover the distance. The terrain opened out and eventually we followed a wide river valley. By now we were in full sunlight and it got warm. I refined a new skill: applying sunblock while running.

As time wore on I started passing people and it was a long time until my legs felt bad. At some point my hamstring got sore (the other one, not the problem side) but I tried to maintain momentum. 20 miles came and went and I knew I was having a good day. 

Along here the road flattened out considerably and there were demoralising straight stretches. At one point several running clubs had set up small tents as aid stations, probably just intended for their members, and I grabbed a delicious piece of donut from one, a cup of coke from another. I was drinking at each aid station but as the day warmed I don’t think I got enough fluid. I’m also not so used to races without food!

We came into the suburbs and ran through Mentone. Not a patch on ours with no beach in sight. I had been concerned about the urban part of the run because San Bernardino had not made a good impression on me when I drove through it; a vast dusty place with a lot of sketchy parts. But we didn’t get into the city proper. We had just one long strip mall section, where I was reduced to walking several times, and then a long mile in dry parkland where we could see the finish line way ahead in the distance. Finally I made it. I guess 4:11 isn't too shabby the week after a hundred miler although I must admit I would have liked to do better. 

The results desk was handing out spoof BOS luggage tags for those of us who had done a Boston qualifier and I received one of those. This made me the envy of many (younger) people who finished around my time as one of the major draw cards of this race is the above average chance of doing a Boston qualifier. (On the bus back to my parked car I had to endure an hour of the guy in the seat behind me trying to come to terms with his failure to run a BQ.) At the finish they had pizza and an alcoholic seltzer and vegan ice cream. At least the pizza was tasty! 

I finished!

After the race I had a couple of days of hiking near Big Bear. The mornings were freezing cold, literally, but the days warmed up to nice temperature. It wasn’t too surprising my motel room was cold: they were making snow for a play slope overnight only 100 metres from my room.

I started with the Cougar Crest Trail which climbed for great views over the Big Bear Lake and the surrounding mountains. The trail was all in pine forest. Then I continued to Mt Bertha and had a chat with some guys from Brisbane at the top. The trail was very busy and lots of people with dogs, which I like as this gives the mountain lions something to eat first.

The next day I took the Pine Knot Trail, a mixture of pine and oak forest, to Grand View Point, where there was a fabulous view across the valley to the San Bernardino Mountains and the valley I had run through. I continued on the Skyline Trail, one of the nicest trails I have ever walked, as it was along a ridge top with unobstructed vistas and also had interesting granite boulder clumps. I saw nobody on this trail apart from 3 mountain bikers. Then I descended on the Plantation Trail through a pine plantation and back to the car in deciduous forest. Everything was so dusty. In the evening I had my best meal so far on this trip. It had taken me 4 days to find the less grotty eating area of town. I had a burger with a portobello mushroom (instead of meat) and grilled zucchini, with sweet potato fries.

Once I left Big Bear I spent some time nearer to LA and went for a very hot hike in Chino Hills State Park. I did an 8 mile loop along ridge tops and into dry canyons. The hillsides were covered with yellow grasses and there were good views along the top.