Diablo 50K Race Report

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by Allen Lucas

At the end of last summer, the San Francisco Bay Area watched as a large part of Mt Diablo State Park went up in flames. Several trail races had to be postponed and a lot of the area will be in recovery mode for years to come. The Brazen Racing 50K course was not directly affected by the fires however, evidence wasn’t too hard to spot from its trails.

Still, it is spring now, and after a record dry winter (which actually helped calm erosion fears) we have had a few nice showers, which has led to a plethora of wildflowers and lots of wildly green hills.

The Brazen 50K course is a tough, often exposed point-to-point course that contains over 7,000 feet of climbing and an elevation chart with very few flat stretches. The course contains a mix of fire roads and single-track trails, and, in a normal year, requires the crossing of many streams. This year’s dry winter eliminated most of the stream crossings, but the hills were still there, and still plenty fierce.

One thing that wasn’t fierce was the weather; for the first time in years the race enjoyed reasonable temperatures, which likely led directly to an astounding 95% finisher rate (compared to the 80% average) and both the men’s and women’s course records being crushed.

In 2013, Ian Sharman set the men’s record at 4:15, and it was assumed that record would hang around for a while. But this year Brett Rivers, who finished less than a minute behind Ian the year before, won in a time of 4:06.

On the women’s side, Katie Murphy set the record at 5:22 last year, and shattered it with an astonishing 5:01 finish this year, good for sixth overall.

Over the course of five years, this race has grown from 61 finishers to 157 this year, becoming a popular early season race that many use as a final tune-up for the Miwok 100K.

This event is a major fundraiser for Save Mt Diablo, a group that works tirelessly to acquire and preserve as much land as possible in the Mt Diablo area. This year brought out a record number of participants in the 50k and shorter distance races. Many were there to support the Save Mt Diablo efforts, but most wanted to challenge themselves on the great trails with their relentless hills and stunning views.

And, once finished, eat barbecue. Lots of barbecue.