Endure the Bear Report

Endure the Bear has been a staple on my calendar for the past few years. It is the race I first got involved with helping to organize (Karen Lundgren race director) and really first opened my eyes to running on the trails of Big Bear. It is a fun event right in the Village of Big Bear and held at an amazing time of year for running in the mountains.

I ran the 30k with every intention to run as fast as I could and compete for the win. This of course always depends on who shows up, and this year it was James Walsh from San Diego who ran away from me pretty quickly. I spent the week prior to the race on a 5400 mile road trip to a friends wedding in WI and then a baby shower for Rachael (and me!) in KY.  Lots of fun, but lots of sitting and driving leaving me pretty stiff at the start of the race. It was pretty evident on the initial climb that I didn't quite have the speed needed to run with 1st so I settled into a good pace and tried to enjoy the miles and stay efficient.

I felt good until the last climb up 1E01 where I had to stop and walk a few times as my outer hips had a hard time with the uphill and were giving me a grinding feeling. The run back down into town wasn't exactly speedy and as I was approaching the finish line I felt somebody come flying past me. It was 1st overall Female Maggie Nelson who wanted to sprint finish, so I obliged and came across 1 second ahead!

A New Belgium beer at the finish line was pretty refreshing and then the rain started, and kept coming! It rained hard for what seemed like the next few hours and most people huddled under the easy ups and watched finishers come through in a downpour! The rain would soon let up and the sun came out again making for a nice finish to the day. Would definitely like to be a little better prepared for this race next year and give the 50k another shot!