Montana de Oro 25K, Morro Bay CA

Having enjoyed the last Montana de Oro run in April, I decided to make the drive down to Morro Bay again for this run, and an excuse to visit the many good Paso Robles winemakers. Unlike last time, no Bay area regulars toed the line in the beginning, with the exception of Dave Delucchi (who won masters last time).

This time it was overcast at the start, but this yielded good running weather on what might have otherwise been a hot August day. We ran out on the bluff with beautiful views of the surf, and then turned inland after about a mile. We did the switchbacks up to Valencia Peak, which I reached at 50 minutes this time. Coming down off the peak Dave Delucchi caught up and we chatted for a bit, but I couldn't wait for him and pulled away. He beat my 15 minutes last time so I was surprised. But he was just running the course today for fun while accompanying his wife. I got back from the first 12K loop in 1:08 and went back out at 1:10. This was a minute or two faster than I did in the spring.

Heading up the road I got passed by one guy before turning right off the road to climb Hazard Peak. I felt like I ran this stronger than last time, but the course was slightly different and it felt a bit longer. Wendell later confirmed this. I never saw anyone in front of me or I would probably tried to hunt them down. I only saw Dave behind me a few minutes back on a couple occasions. So perhaps I didn't run as aggressively as I did before. I finished in 1:33 about four minutes slower than in April. This was good for third master and eighth overall.

I hung around at the beach for a while chatting with Jorge Diaz, who had won the 25K in his very first trail race and Dave Delucchi, who filled me in on his recent Ironmans.