the unknown 50 km

I first heard about the Unknown ?K from Charlie Nickell in January. It was to be an invite only ultra run of a distance somewhere between 50K and 50mi at a not yet disclosed location off of Ortega Highway. Since we had just run 30 miles in the San Mateo area on December 29, 2007 and another 20.08 miles mainly in the Trabuco area starting at the Candy Store and going a short distance into San Mateo on New Year's Day 2008, I had my suspicions of where the course would be. It turned out to basically be the reverse direction of our 30 miler and started at the Candy Store as opposed to the Morgain Trailhead off of Killen road and would total 31.5 miles. It included most of the same group of runners plus many more for a total of about 25. There was gourmet food at the finish and the best aid station food one can imagine at three separate aid stations manned by a fabulous group of volunteers who were pretending to be picnicking in case the ranger was watching. It was a fat ass event. Mum was the word when it came to the ranger Boo Boo. I arrived in time to see the 6 am group milling about and performing their rituals prior to the start. Michelle Mecham, Gina Natera, and I had carpooled up from Orange County and Michelle was starting with the first group. This was the start of her first ultramarathon event. After greetings and morning chit chat in the dark they began their run. Their lights could be seen marking the trail as they slowly disappeared over the hill. Over the next hour the sun began to come up, more runners showed up, and we began to prepare for the second start. Charlie led us across Hwy 74 from the parking lot to the trailhead and very unceremoniously said, take off. Spirits were high and everyone seemed to be talking at once. It didn't feel like a race, because no one really broke away from the group. We ran along single file for miles. occasionally moving around to talk to different people. We had a good time running the 14 miles out to the first aid station. Unfortunately, two of us were having ailments. Jerry Armstrong and I began to have trouble in the last mile or two. We were both recovering from previous injuries. He decided to cut out at the first aid station. I decided I'd continue. Only now, it was a lonely run. After arriving at the second aid station, they asked me if I wanted to drop out. I told them I wasn't running my usual and it was bothering me considerably, but would continue as long as I wasn't keeping them out there unnecessarily. Fortunately for me, it bothered me more on the downhills than the uphills and the next section was miles of uphill on an old overgrown truck trail. It was warm and there wasn't much breeze. Perfect! I had a blast in that section and must have been running a little better because towards the end of that section and into the next, I passed a few people from the first group. At the third and last aid station at Morgan trailhead off of Killen road it was very windy and downright cold. It would have been easy with my ailing knee to call it a day, but with 26 miles behind me where several were still making a go of it and only 5 miles left, I decided I'd continue. Those last 5 miles turned out to be rather pleasant miles. The wind subsided, the sun had a chance to warm me again, and my knee began to feel rather well, even though that direction on Morgan Trail drops several hundred feet. I really enjoyed that section and felt like I could run further, in spite of my knee, as I began the final descent that would return me to the start. I could see the parking lot at the finish and was thankful that I hadn't caused my knee any further injury along the way. I'd give it some time to heal now and chalk off as a great day of running and hanging out with my ultra buddies.