Race Stats:

Time = 7:45:26

Place = 230/384

Garmin Stats

What’s up everyone! Time for another race report from yours truly, this one is from the Avalon 50k which is on Catalina Island that took place on Saturday January 7^th, 2023. In my 54 years I have never been to Catalina Island, so it was a good excuse to make a trip and spend a fun weekend with some friends and check out the Island. We have had a big winter out here in California and the big concern was if this race was going to be rained out as a big storm came through during the week. Lucky for us, Friday the storm left, and the race director emailed everyone saying that the race was on. Good thing because we rented an AB&B for the weekend. 7 of us made the trip, 4 runners being David C., Angelo C., Erica R. and me! Our 3 crew members were Angelo’s wife Irene and their 2 youngest kids.

Friday morning, we all met up in Long Beach where the Catalina Express would take us over to the Island which is about a 1-hour trip ride. The weather was nice and clear for the trip, we even saw some dolphins! Soon enough we were on the Island and settled in. Our place was only a short walk from downtown Avalon where the run would start and finish (Avalon is a very small city) so after we unpacked, we took a walk to the main boardwalk and grabbed lunch. Angelo and David are members of many running and triathlon clubs, so we ran into many of their friends who were also running in ether the 50k or the 50 mile. After packet pickup we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant and settled in for a big day in the morning.

The Famous Casino

We woke up Saturday morning around 4:30am, had breakfast, did our bathroom duties and headed over to the start which was at 6am so it was still dark. I lined up at my usual spot which is toward the back and at 6am sharp we were off! The first 4 miles went through the town and then up to the ridge line and were all up hill. Once at the top we followed the Airport Road a few miles to the Catalina Island airport which was around mile 1. These miles had rolling hills and were not too bad. The entire run was on the access roads that wind around the Island, so they were easy to run on and not too muddy considering the rain we had recently. After the Airport was a downhill section to Little Harbor and this is where I paid the price for using new shoes as I started getting blisters on both of my heels. I stopped to re lace my shoes but I forgot how to do a heel lock so I just tightened my laces which would result in my toes going numb later on, LOL. The highlight of the run was the little harbor area which overlooked the Pacific Ocean, you should have seen dozens of runners stop in their tracks, pull out their phones and take videos and pictures, and yes, I was one of them. This was around mile 18, and now we were faced with the long slog up a valley that slowly sucked the life out of me but not before the Eagles Nest aid station at mile 22 where they had a full-on barbeque and bar offering shots! Mile 22 was way too early to start drinking so I did not have any and continued on my way. I also stuck to my own nutrition which was a gel every 4 miles and oranges and coke at every aid station.

L-R Erica, Dooshbird, Angelo and David

Pre Race

A Couple of miles after the Eagle Nest aid station we passed by a farm with horses. A couple of us stopped to take pictures of them and while doing so I looked up the hill from the barn and there I saw them…2 Bison! It looked like a mom and her baby. I was able to get a picture of them as that was one of my sub goals of the run was to see a Bison as that is what Catalina Island is famous for. Score! After what seemed to be forever, I reached the pumphouse aid station at mile 27 and then reached the Airport Road once again a mile later. From there it was mostly downhill to the finish which sounds good on paper, but the last 3 miles were on a very steep road and by now my legs were shot and my blisters were barking so I had to stop every once in a while, to cool my feet down. During this part I passed the area where they did zip lining, I am afraid of heights and would never do it, but I did stop to watch a couple of folks zip on down which looked terrifying to me.

Bison mamma and baby

Finally, I saw the city of Avalon and heard the cheers of the crowd which meant the finish was near. I shuffled my way across the finish line at exactly 32 miles (51.5K) received my medal and walked back to our townhouse where I took a quick shower and to charge my phone as it was dead and then headed back to the finish line to wait for my friends and try to get some video of them finishing. Erica was the first to arrive before I got back to the finish though and she told me David and Angelo were further back, so we went back to the townhouse and texted them to let us know when they were done. David was the next to finish and finally Angelo! We all made it!!

Yeah!

As we were running Irene cooked us an awesome post-race meal of spaghetti and meatballs with bratwurst sausages and of course a few post-race beers! It was so much better than waiting for a table at a bar or restaurant which were all full of hungry runners and the usual weekend visitors to the Island. We spent the rest of the evening going over the days event happy to all have finished.

My time was 7:45 which was right about where I predicted I would finish (I was predicting 8 hours for this one) as I did not train very well for this due to a hip injury I got in December and my slacker training method which consisted of drinking too much beer and running occasionally, LOL. The next day we packed up and headed back to the mainland full of great memories and sore legs.

The Avalon 50k was a great race, perfect for a mini vacation and also good for slower/older 50k runners since because they also had a 50 mile run, the 50k runners got bonus hours to finish!

Little Harbor around mile 15

I took only 3 days off from running after and am slowing building up for my next adventure which will be the surf city marathon on February 5^th which only gives me 4 short weeks. Wish me luck as I will need it.

Trail views