Malibu Creek Trail Run

Compared to the disastrous race at Santa Monica the weekend prior, last weekend’s Malibu Creek race was an absolute joy to run. Well, as joyful as it can be at the crack of down on Saturday morning. There's a certain satisfaction derived from finishing a race before most people even wake up.

There were actually two types of races that day: 14-mile or 4-mile, and both have a little bit of Hollywood history. The 14-mile trail takes runners through old, bombed-out jeeps and trucks from the outdoor set of M*A*S*H. The 4-mile race climbs up a single-track trail that descends into Cage Creek Trail, where the cage scene from 1968’s Planet of the Apes was filmed.

Old M*A*S*H set

Photo courtesy of www.malibucreekdocents.com

Scene from Planet of the Apes, 1968

Photo courtesy of www.movieprop.com

I ran the 4-mile race with Rene and May. It was a challenging course with a steep hill in the middle, but fun at the same time because the course went downhill (as in descent, not as in "got much worse") after that. There were no snafus with the course, unlike last time, and the scenery was breathtaking.

I was more prepared this time around and brought a change of clothes and a warm vest with me to wear after the race. They served orange and watermelon slices (soooo good!), croissants, donuts (courtesy of Krispy Kreme), and scrambled eggs. I know that doesn’t sound very healthy but it tasted so yummy after running a race like that.

We stuck around and watched the end of the 14-mile race, where the first place finisher came in at 1 hour, 39 minutes. That’s an average of 7 minutes a mile despite a gigantic 3-mile incline in the middle. I averaged about 9 minutes a mile in my race but my incline wasn’t nearly as tough – I think I ran about a mile uphill with the rest divided between flat and downhill surfaces. Overall, I enjoyed this race very much, and will probably be running it next year.

More pictures here.