WS100 Training Weekend - Day 3 (Monday)

For Monday, we ran the final 21 miles of the race from the river crossing to the finish in Auburn. This is a very nice, relatively flat, and runnable section of the course. This was also my second time running this portion - useful as this is the part I'll be running at night. Yet another beautiful sunny day with a starting temperature of about 75, warming-up nicely to around 90 by the time we reached the (American River) Confluence area. After I worked out some initial stiffness and soreness over the first few miles, I felt surprisingly good and ran the section in just under 5 hours - a 23 hour pace for the full 100.

The North fork of the American River flows under the Foresthill Bridge just prior to the confluence with the Middle Fork about 3 miles from Auburn. The Foresthill Bridge is the tallest bridge in California and is often used in films, commercials, and (legal and illegal) bungee and base jumping.



Also in the Confluence area is the famous No Hands Bridge. The name "No Hands" stems from the fact that the bridge was originally a railroad crossing and as such did not have handrails. When it was converted to a pedestrian/equestrian bridge, handrails were eventually added - probably after someone fell off and sued. The bridge, at mile 96.8 of the 100 mile race, is certainly a welcome sight for weary runners! This pic shows runners on the No Hands bridge; the Foresthill bridge is visible in the upper left.



A rare picture of me! After crossing No Hands and already logging 74 miles in 3 days, I'm ready for the final 3 mile climb into Auburn!