On Saturday 8/23/08, I placed 1st place at the 33rd Mt. Madonna Challenge 12K in Gilroy, CA.


Tasted like 1st place fo sho!

This was my second time to race this event. I went to the race with the following goals:

1. Make it to the start line on time
2. Finish without getting injured
3. Run under 15min from the beginning of the Sprig Lake Trail to the summit (a big dark trunk on the right)
4. Finish under 1 hour


My parents were very helpful and got me to the race on time (only because they wanted to change their CD at Wamu). It was in the 50s at Mt. Madonna with a light mist.


Me coming in


Cool! I’m the first one on the board.


Me and my parents.


From right to left. 2nd place finisher Andrew Taylor (he arrived just minutes before the race started – guess he didn’t need any warm-up), me, and 3rd place finisher Raymond Rodriguez. Amazing thing about Raymond is he registered for both the 6K and 12K race. He placed 1st in the 6K and he lined up for the start for 12K right after he finished his 6K. I also happened to run with him 2 weeks ago on Mt. Madonna. We were both training for the race.


The award ceremony. I received a medal and a $100 gift certificate at Go Run Sports in Morgan Hill.


Look at those sexy legs!


There were horses, too! The one tied to the trailer was a colt of filly. It kept neighing.

I was really lucky to fulfill all my goals and get a first place. The field was half the size from the last year and first place finisher from last year and the year before did not show up this year.

Nevertheless, I had one of the best runs and enjoyed every minute of it. It was cool, dark, and misty on the trail, the way I remember Mt. Madonna Challenge from last year. The condensation from the trees kept the trail moist and the droplets falling on the ground sounded like the trees were cheering the runners. When I got to the Camp Trail, the mist had lifted and I ran down as fast as I could, remembering my girlfriend Judy’s advice to do butt-kicks when running downhill.

I had one of the worst time recovering. I had a lingering headache that lasted for a couple of hours after the run. I thought I was dehydrated, so I kept drinking water, but it wouldn’t go away. I thought may be I’m low on sodium, so when my friend and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant back in San Jose, I filled a small sauce dish with soy sauce and had 2 or 3 shots of those. That seemed to have helped a bit. But, after the meal, I had a really bad stomachache and I took Pepto, but it did not help. When I threw up the entire meal, I felt much better. (Note to self: don’t take straight shots of soy sauce or order #51 at Pho Marina)

Wednesday 3/19/08 8:30am
I took a day off work and visited Mt. Madonna County Park in Gilroy with Judy. This was my third visit to Mt. Madonna this year. It’s like I can’t get enough of it. The trail reveals something different every time I visit there. We ran into lizards crossing our path, a couple of banana slugs, and a dead rat. Judy jumped more than a foot in the air at the sight of the rat. I was really stoked to be out in the woods with my favorite partner and running in my favorite trail in the middle of the week.


Running in the woods with my new backpack from REI.


Lizards going to Mt. Madonna school of lizardry


Judy is pumped!


An elf sighting on the tree stump


But he was gone in a second


Judy tackles the downhill


Me and the banana slug


Banana slug up close


Help! I'm suffering from hypoxia.


View from the top


Another elf sighting


Judy loves downhill


The sweet end