Life has a wonderful way of altering plans. My original plan was to run the American River 50M. Then came the college tour for my 16yo and we had to leave first thing on Sunday morning. So I figured I’ll sneak in the Woodside Crossover 50K on Saturday. Nope. Had an event I needed to attend with my wife on Saturday at 5pm that I could not miss. So the 50K became a 35K, but what an amazing 35K it was. All 4,500 ft of gain/loss packed into the 20 miles. Here’s my Strava activity.

Woodside Crossover 35K

Just like Marin Ultra Challenge 50K last month, I was expecting to be running in torrential, pineapple express downpour for the four hours. But nope, not a single drop of rain during the run. The Archery Fire Rd set the tone for the run with a 1,500 ft steep climb in the first couple of miles.

I’d never been down the Purisima Creek Trail which was a fantastic descent deep into the canyons. Vibrant green doesn’t begin to describe how everything looked. Ferns & moss, misty and cloudy, gushing creeks. I was so tempted to just find a place to sit by the creek and soak in the sounds of the forest.

From the bottom, the climb up Harkins Ridge trail was pretty steep too. Pretty muddy and slippery at places, but just perfect conditions to be out there. Maybe half way up, another runner was 20 yards ahead of me and we were both shuffling up a slope when we heard this big crack and an entire branch of tree came crashing down and missed her by just a couple of feet. Shook us up pretty good. Top of Harkins, mile 10 right on the mark at about 2 hours.

The single track on Craig Britton trail was so fun to run. Wild flowers everywhere and it looked like the banana slugs didn’t want to miss out on the party too. We are so so lucky to have these trails right in our backyard.

Back to the top of the Skyline Ridge in 3:20 with just 3.8 miles to go. Having done this descent through the redwood trees so many times, it never disappoints. One of my favorites as the whole thing is runnable.

Crossed the finish line just seconds shy of 4 hours and 7th in age group. Even though I had to downgrade from the 50K, this was so worth being out there. Besides all of the elevation gain/loss on this one is in the first 20 miles anyways. So I didn’t miss out on any of the climbs. Next up is Quicksilver 50K!