San Diego 100 Mile Run

Dad ran the San Diego 100 Miler on June 6th. He signed up for it earlier in the year and ran the two 100K races to prepare for it, but he waited to say much about it to anyone because it takes a lot of time to train for a 100 miler. He agreed with Mom that he'd drop from it if it was ever too much or caused too much stress on the family.
Dad also wanted to run another 100 miler to try to erase some fears and bad memories Mom and Alex had from the finish of the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Miler he ran last year in July. At TRT100, the finish line volunteers had Dad sit around by the space heater at the finish line to get warm. However, because Dad wasn't up moving around after running for so long, he got light headed when it was time to stand up and go home. He needed help walking back to the car, which got Mom and Alex worried. Dad's number one goal was for Mom and Alex to have a better finish line experience at the SD100 so they won't worry about him when he finally gets into and runs Western States someday.
The San Diego 100 Miler is in Lake Cuyamaca at about 4500 feet elevation in the mountains east of San Diego. It follows the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for several miles, loops through an alpine meadow, loops through a deep desert canyon, then connects back to the PCT and backtracks to the start.
Dad finished in 20 hours and 33 minutes, which was good enough for 8th place overall. Most important, the finish line went really well this time. Dad kept moving and got some much needed solid food on the walk back to the car. He took a shower to wash off 20 hours of dirt, and then climbed into bed for some overdue sleep. Because he finished in the early hours of the morning, everyone was able to get some good sleep, wake up in the morning, and go to sacrament meeting at the Julian Branch (another goal Dad had for this race).

 At the start line

 With the kids before the run started.

All the runners stomping away from the start. 

Our cabin rental was on the hill across from Lake Cuyamaca start/finish area. 

  It was a beautiful start to the morning.

 Picture Dad took along the PCT about mile 28. It wasn't really hot, but it was sunny and exposed.

 Also along the PCT, just before heading into the shady pines again.

 The meadow at mile 52.

Climbing out of a deep canyon around mile 62 in 9th place at the time. There are two guys catching up to Dad here. They eventually caught him and dropped him to 11th place. But Dad passed them both later on when they sat down at aid stations to rest.

Waiting for Dad to get done! 

 Dad at the finish talking to the race director, Scott Mills. Alex and Lily were glad to have Dad finish!

The whole family at the finish. Glad to be done with another 100 miler and ready to drive back to the cabin.