To the notes on my Bad Bass bib I gotta add that the only paved road was the first and last mile or so. The rest was dirt trails, wooden bridges, and lots of minor obstacles to trip over. The setting was Lake Chabot Park in the East Bay hills, a truly beautiful little valley I'd never been in before. Going to take pictures if we do that course again. Hoping it happens.

Because we took the hiker start we were ineligable for age group winner medals. Didn't bother me. I was more than happy enough with the fact we finished before the party was over. Knew I wasn't going to be the winner, not enough of a jock for that. We did see a lot more of the people that only had time to hang around for a brief snack after their races. Had to get on with the day, donchakno.

It was a beautiful thing watching most of the race go by us on the back side of the mountain. The first few runners were superb athletes running flat out. Like I probably couldn't run a quarter mile that fast without the law on my tail in a situation where escape is possible. After that the women started showing up. After trickling by for a while there was a clogging artery of a rush. We did our best to stay out of the way of those meat eaters. After them was a parade of joggers, including friends from way back for Virginia. Then for the last couple of miles it was us speed walking about ten yards behind that lady we couldn't seem to pass. Enjoyed every minute of it. Glad there was someone else not that far behind us who wasn't the sweep. Probably s/he wasn't that far behind them though.