NOBLE Canyon 50K

2008 Noble Rat Race Report:

The Second Annual Noble Canyon 50K was characterized by hotter than normal temps which presented all participants with extra difficult conditions throughout the day.  Of the 136 starters, we had 125 finishers for a 92% finishing rate......rather phenomenal considering the heat.   The high number of finishers was strongly influenced by an extremely adept, experienced , and conscientious cadre of aid station volunteers who helped, prodded and encouraged everyone onward to the finish line.  Each aid station went through about 120 lbs of ice.

Leading the men and women were two very experienced and tough competitors.  Eric "Jester" Clifton defended his overall title from last year and Jennifer Henderson bested a strong women's field.  Eric was challenged over the last ten miles by a hard charging Fabrice Hardel who caught him a couple of times but couldn't stay with Eric over some of the last few climbs.  Fabrice made it an exciting race and gave it his all finishing just behind Eric for second place overall and first in the men's 30-39 division. 

Third place went to a young newcomer to the sport, 24 year old Mike Towel, who learned the importance of carrying a water bottle.  He started out "hands free" and realized shortly after the sun rose, that he needed to carry water....fortunately, an aid station volunteer was able to accommodate him.  His performance was especially impressive considering he had just finished thru-hiking the PCT three weeks early.  He actually got to run on a five mile PCT section he had traversed 3 months earlier....this time he covered it a tad faster !

Forty nine year old Jennifer Henderson is no rookie when it comes to ultras and she used all her experience and grit to win the women's overall title.  She looked terrific all day and made it look easy....which it was not !  Second place woman was Nicole Conrad who won the Women's 30-39 Division.  And local San Diego Bad Rat, Renee Roberts came in third for the women and superbly represented the Bad Rats along with Keith Kirby.

Other age group winners were:  Men's 40-49 t0 Noble veteran Iso Yucra-Rivera, Men's 60+ to Paul Akiyama, Women's 20-29 to Lora Liu, Women's 50-59 to Jeri Ginsburg, and Women's 60+ to Rat Race veteran Judy Richwine.

In addition the the stellar efforts of the volunteers, it is again important to thank our incredible hosts at the Pine Valley Bible Camp.  Their management, staff, facilities, pre and post race food, and enthusiasm to support this event are huge factors in the success of this race.  We could never pull it off without their support.....we are now expecting and hoping that one of their staff will run the event next year and we hear that is a distinct possibility.... we hope so.

Official results are now posted at the above link.

I want to close the report by again thanking our volunteers.  They give up a great deal of personal time to help each and every runner.  I feel privileged to know and call them all friends.   On behalf of them, I extend our congratulations to all participants and we hope to see many of you back for RAT RACE III, tentatively scheduled for September 26,2009.

Pictures:

We expect to add more pictures from volunteers and participants.  If anyone has a link to race pictures you'd like to share, please email me the link and I will add it below.  My apologies for not getting a picture of everyone "kissing the Rat".

NEW: Stacy Moore took pictures of virtually every runner passing Penny Pines devoting nearly 4 hours of her time......THANKS STACY !

Stacy's Pictures at Penny Pines

General Info | Course Description | Registration | 2007 Results | Course Map/Elev | Photo Gallery| 2008 Entrants