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baarbed wire takes the Gold Rush 24 Hour in a downpour by 12 minutes over Dirty Avocados/Thin Air.

13.11.2007

This year the race started in Pinecrest and finished in Tuttletown near Sonora. The first beautiful trekking leg around Pinecrest Lake led teams to the Strawberry Store where they grabbed bicycles at a bike drop only assistance point before heading down the fun 'Flume' trail for several miles to Spring Gap and then Fraser Flat campground for ACP 2 and a switch back to foot travel. This long section began with entertaining hiking and scrambling to Beardsley dam and then down the Middle Fork Stanislaus River to the climb site for a 400ft rappel on angled slabs. The teams all passed this by dark, crossed the river and passed through Sand Flat before climbing Crandall Peak which is where dusk fell the rain began and the trouble started!

Gold Rush weather Karma conspired to bring the first rain of the season as dusk descended on this hotly contested race. The rain then continued all night sapping the pace and the spirits of the racers. Once over Crandall Peak teams followed a long ridge which dumped them into a thick dark forest with a maze of trails. Rain, mist, dead of might and not as map trails slowed racers.
At ACP 3 it took a load of willpower to get on bikes and depart for the cycle route to Melones Lake. The early teams began arriving at 7:27 and arrivals continued through the evening into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Several teams arrived at ACP 3 and called it a day after a long cold night in the woods on the tough but magnificent trekking section.

The first half of the bike course was a single track loop through Deer Creek coming out not too far from ACP 3. This proved the downfall of several more teams as after battling the rain and cold for several hours they bailed back to ACP 3.

Four teams did make it Melones Lake where the lead teams put on the water, avoided a big log jam and paddled the Stanislaus canyon to the finish at Tuttletown Rec Area.

Thanks to 'Kool N Fit Sport' , 'Hi Tec Sports' , 'Zombie Runners' our registration host ‘Tuolomne County Association of Realtors', Bureau of Reclamation provided the finish venue, the Stanislaus National Forest, BLM and Shadowchase Running Club for their support.

And a special thanks to the most dedicated set of volunteers we could ever be fortunate enough to find - (in order of appearance!) Betsy Gilon, Kyle Richardson and family, Will Gilmore, Julie Gleason, Mary Phoenix, Vance and Martha Roget, Ed Miller, Barbara Elia, Jack Styer, John Styer, Penny Albuin, Dale and Loretta Ghaner, Heidi Ryan, Mike Ariza, Deborah Steinberg and daughter and friend, our climb site crew; John O'Donnel, Karl Royer, Jon Bonwick, Karen and our lake safety crew: Rex Nixon, Randy Emrich and Tom , Megan and finally Chuck Proctor.

Thanks from Gold Rush Adventures

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