The 36th running of the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run returned to the original point-to-point route from Wrightwood to Altadena through the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California, which made everyone very happy. On Saturday, August 3, at 5 a.m., 195 runners toed the start line in Wrightwood at an elevation of 6,000 feet.
Once the race started, the separation of runners followed soon after because of the initial 5-mile climb up Acorn Trail to 8,400 feet. This year, the race was granted a special waiver to use this trail, which had been closed due to the recent Vista Fire.
The course has 15 aid stations when counting both the start and the finish, and through the first two aid stations over 14 miles there were only a few minutes separating the lead runners except for our lead female runner, Megan Eckert, who was also running solo. Runners are registered as either “crewed” or “solo”—solo runners are supported by aid stations, but they have no crew.
Between the second aid station, Vincent Gap (13.8 miles), and the third station, Islip Saddle (25.6 miles), Rene Dorantes, Clark Messman, Michael Eastburn and Jeffery Stern all arrived within 6 minutes of each other. Megan Eckert arrived unchallenged in fourth from this 12-mile stretch over Mt. Baden-Powell and Throop Peak.
Yumi Vielpeau from France runs in the solo division. Photo Jeff Sewell
At Chilao, runners that are crewed can have their pacers start to join them. Solo runners must run the entire course while only using the aid stations as their support. In the 95-degree heat and direct sun, Michael Eastburn, Rene Dorantes and Clark Messman arrived with only 17 minutes of total separation. Megan Eckert arrived one hour behind the leader, but she was dominating the women’s field by over 50 minutes.
When going from Chilao to Shortcut aid station (51.3 miles) the course is unfortunately now void of the once magnificent big pines due to the fires over the last 15 years. At Shortcut Saddle, runners arrive worn from the day’s work. However, they now have a very long and difficult descent and climb through Red Box Canyon. Newcomb Saddle aid station is 12.2 miles away at 63.5 miles.
At Newcomb Saddle aid station (63.5 miles), everyone showed signs of the day’s heat and journey. Newcomb Saddle aid station is inaccessible to crews and is a remote aid station nearly 9 miles deep into the San Gabriel Mountains from the Red Box aid station (74.2 miles). Most runners arrived and were able to continue, but 16 runners or pacers needed removal by vehicles by the Newcomb Saddle crew.
The last major climb of the race occurs after leaving Red Box. The Kenyon Devore Trail climbs over 2,000 feet in 3.5 miles to the Mt. Wilson Observatory at 5,667 feet. At Mt. Wilson, Michael Eastburn, Clark Messman and Rene Dorantes continued to have about a half-hour separation each. Megan arrived 2.5 hours behind the men’s leader, but she was still dominating the women’s race.
From Mt. Wilson aid station, the course descends overall to the finish, but getting there requires running fire roads, technical single track, stream crossings and more climbing. When leaving Sam Merrill aid station (89.2 miles), there is a mix of running terrain which includes all of the same: dirt roads, technical single track, small water crossings and a short, paved street section which takes the runners 4.7 miles to the Loma Alta Park Finish (100.5 miles) in Altadena, California.
Leading all runners into the 2024 AC 100 finish was Michael Eastburn in 18:49:59. In second place was Clark Messman with a time of 19:11:18. They were followed by Rene Dorantes at 19:54:49. All three men raced each other into the night. Tyler Burke was the first men’s solo runner at 21:58:50. Megan Eckert was the first female runner and ran solo at 22:02:52. Sarah McMahon was the second female finisher at 26:25:55. Yumi Vielpeau, from France, was the second female solo runner at 27:49:13.
Andy Kumeda on his way to his 16th consecutive finish. Photo: Jeff Sewel
Michael Eastburn and Megan Eckert both won the AC100 Bronze Ram Trophies for first male and female runners, and Tyler Burke and Yumi Vielpeau won the Bronze Cougar Trophies for lead solo male and solo female runners. Eric Earnshaw, Joel Frost Tift, Paul Sinclair and Chad Bruce all received Second Sunrise belt buckles for finishing between 24-25 hours. All runners who finish the AC100 in under 24-hours receive the AC100 sterling silver belt buckle. Sub 24-hour solo runners receive the AC100 sterling silver solo belt buckle. All runners also received an engraved plaque with their name and finish time.
A special congratulations goes out to Andy Kumeda who finished his 16th consecutive AC100 in 20th place at 26:09:06.