Berry Creek Falls
The Skyline to the Sea 50k, organized by Pacific Coast Trail Runs and sponsored by La Sportiva, is a gorgeous point-to-point run from Skyline Ridge to Waddell Beach on the Pacific Ocean, traversing through the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Big Basin State Park and Wilderness. The trail is almost entirely under forest canopy, much of it spectacular old growth redwoods. The path is technical in spots with some fun running on weather-polished sandstone. While the course is net downhill by 2,600 feet, there is still 3,000+ feet of climbing that feels like more vertical because the climbs are steeper and follow lots of downhill running. One of my favorite parts of the course is at the bottom of a long descent along West Waddell Creek when you round the corner and Berry Creek Falls comes into view (pictured above left).
The weather was cool with temperatures starting in the low 40’s under low clouds that burned off to sunny skies and temps in the upper 50’s by the finish – pretty much perfect conditions for running. Fellow La Sportiva teammates Caitlin Smith and Mark Tanaka participated in the run. Caitlin produced yet another win and course record running a 4:17:54 (despite getting off-track for several minutes) and Mark Tanaka ran a 4:26:30 after a 150 miler last week! I ran 28 seconds faster than my time from last September finishing in 3:38:05. Troy Howard was second place in 3:56:47, Nathan Yanko was third in 3:59:33, and Will Gotthardt rounded out the top four in 4:02:02 (complete results here). Congratulations to all the runners and thanks PCTR/volunteers for making this another awesome day on the trails!
Runner photos courtesy Calvin.
OK, that does it, I’m moving to California …
Nice work again CA teammates. I look forward to meeting you on Mt Diablo 6/6 at my old stomping grounds!
I am so stoked to see you guys continue to crush it at all these races. It keeps me motivated, keep up the outstanding work!