Stevens Creek 50K

Santa Cruz Mountains

Sept. 27, 2014

Note: Steve Patt and Stevens Creek Software have decided 12 years was enough, so we've passed management of the race to the Stevens Creek Striders. You'll find details of the 2014 race, which now includes a 20M and 13.1M option, here.

Click here to register for the 2014 race

Race Results for 2013 (including splits)

Pictures by Race Photographer Michael Dhuey: Early Start • Start • Saratoga Gap
Finish-line Pictures by Siming Li
Photos by "Coach Jeff" from Charcoal Flat and 20M Aid


Fabulous video of the entire race by Chihping Fu

Important racer info:

Stevens Creek

Two of the beneficiaries of the more than ten thousand dollars that this race has raised for the
environmental advocacy/protection work of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society over the years.
The Burrowing Owls of Santa Clara County thank you for your contributions.

Why run the Stevens Creek 50K?

  1. You aren't familiar with the trails of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and want to experience a fabulous new set of trails.
  2. You ARE familiar with the trails of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and you know how fabulous they are.
  3. You want a chance to run the prettiest 50K course in the country.
  4. You want to run a 50K course which is "challenging" but still eminently fair (entirely runnable).
  5. You like running 50K's but don't like paying high entry fees.
  6. You like running 50K's but can never bring yourself to get to a race that starts at 6:00 a.m. or some other ungodly hour.
  7. You liked the pictures of Stevens Creek that are elsewhere on this web site and the picture tour of the course here, and want to see more.
  8. You want to help Steve Patt celebrate his birthday, even if his birthday is March 21 when the race used to be held and this celebration will be just a little bit belated.

Race Details

Start/Finish

Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve parking lot on the west side of Skyline Blvd. (Highway 35), 0.9M S/SE of the intersection of Page Mill Rd. and Skyline Blvd. (35), and 5.4M N/NW of the intersection of Rt. 9 and 35.

Driving

From the north/east, it is probably best to use 92 or 84 to reach 35 (Skyline), and then go south until you pass Page Mill Rd. and then go 0.9M further on the right. From the middle of the Peninsula (e.g., Palo Alto), Page Mill or Moody/Page Mill to Skyline, then left 0.9M. From the south, ascend to 35 on Rt. 9 from Saratoga, and then go north 5.4M to the preserve on your left.

Date

Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013

Start Time

9:00 a.m. [Sunrise 6:24 am; Sunset 8:02 pm]. Race briefing will start at 8:45 and the race will go off promptly at 9. Please arrive with suitable time to spare.

EARLY START: If and only if you are expecting a finish in excess of 7 1/2 hours, there is an early start at 8:00 a.m. You will be timed, but you are not eligible for any awards (after all, you're running when it's cooler). We will attempt to have registration available at 7:30; definitely no earlier! There is a 5-minute walk to the start, though, so don't cut it too close.

Distance

50K

Fee

There is a mandatory registration fee for the race (because I can no longer afford to subsidize the race expenses myself). However the race is also, as it has been, a fundraiser for the environmental conservation work of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. When you register you will find a mandatory minimum fee of $25, and different levels of optional additional amounts which will go straight to Audubon (as will anything left from the $25 after expenses).

All contributions of $50 or more to Audubon will be entered in a special drawing for a fabulous museum-mounted bird photo.

Registration

REQUIRED, and likely to sell out (i.e., race day registration is highly unlikely to be available).

Timing

Using PocketTimer Pro for iPhone from Stevens Creek Software (naturally)

Aid

At 10.9, 19.3, and 24.9M (two water bottles or equivalent suggested). Full aid is provided, including water, sports drink, Coke, GU, potato chips, cookies, M&Ms, etc. GU and sports drink courtesy of

Post-Race Food

Yes, including sub sandwiches and other goodies

Volunteers

Most welcome and very much needed! (Please use registration form below as well) Information about various volunteer jobs is found here.

T-Shirt

There is always a special giveaway at this race. The registration form asks for your T-Shirt size "just in case" we decide on a T-shirt, although it hasn't been in quite a few years.

Route

A mix of single-track and fireroad, covered woods and open hillsides. Two crossings of Stevens Creek; quite likely in August neither will involve getting wet. Course drains well and only minor mud will be encountered, probably none unless it has rained hard and recently. The basic route proceeds south (southeast) from the start via Stevens Canyon and up the Table Mountain/Charcoal Flat Trail to Saratoga Gap, then back via Long Ridge Open Space Preserve to the start, then north (northwest) along the Bay Area Ridge Trail through Russian Ridge O.S.P. to Rapley Ranch Road and then back. Climbing is approximately 5450' overall (see profile below) but with only one sustained climb (1100' over 3.6M) and virtually all climbs are "runnable" (i.e., only a few short "very steep" sections). At the same time, however, virtually the entire course is rolling; there are no flat sections of any signficant length.

A detailed map and description with distances is found here.

Watch a movie showing some of the views from the course

Some overall views of the course and the elevation profile:

A picture tour of the course can be found here.

Maps of all these trails are available online.

"Killer" - Sophia Lewis (or perhaps that was "a killer", not sure ;-) )
"Deceivingly challenging" - Whit Rambach
"You should have seen the views yesterday" - Steve Patt

Course Records

Age Group   Male Female
0-29
   Leor Pantilat, 25: 3:58:35 (2009) Julia Blanton, 27: 6:06:12 (2005)
30-39
   Jay Thomson, 31: 4:24:14 (2010) Sarah Slaymaker, 34: 5:03:38 (2005)
40-49
   Jean Pommier, 47: 4:15:40 (2011) Sophia Lewis, 40: 4:45:27 (2003)
50-59
   Joseph McDonald, 50: 5:01:32 (2004) Nancy Morehead, 50: 6:38:52 (2011)
60-69
   Roger Dellor, 61: 5:24:24 (2004) Christina Brownson, 60: 8:15:44 (2010)
70+
   Bill Dodson, 74: 6:49:25 (2009)  
Parking
 Plenty available at Start/Finish (free). When you enter the parking lot, turn LEFT and park in the "Equestrian lot" (i.e., do NOT turn right and park in the main lot which is where one usually parks at this preserve).

Bathrooms

At the start there is a bathroom in the main parking lot (the one to the RIGHT when you enter), so when you arrive in the morning, you may want to go there first, then drive back to the other (lower) parking lot. On the course you pass (within 30 yards) that same bathroom just after the 19M aid/finish line at around mile 20; the only other bathroom is in the Skyline Ridge parking lot which you run through at mile 22 and 29. There are also 31 miles of trails. :-)

Previous Years

Year Results First Male First Female Pictures Reports
2013 Results Jean Pommier Kendra Hershey Pictures by Race Photographer Michael Dhuey: Early Start • Start • Saratoga Gap
Fabulous video of the entire race by Chihping Fu		 Jean Pommier
2012 Results Jean Pommier Kendra Hershey Race photographer Ashok Khosla • Tom Qin Jean Pommier
2011 Results Jean Pommier Pamela Kennedy Race photographer Peter Hargreaves Jean Pommier
2010 Results Jay Thomson Meghan Shaffer Chihping Fu • Yujie Liu • Craig Heinselman  
2009 Results Leor Pantilat Dorothy Golubski Race photographer Ashok Khosla • Craig Heinselman  • Jason Chan • Yujie Liu Leor Pantilat
2008 Results Mark Tanaka Lina McCain   Jean Pommier • Mark Tanaka
2007 Results Jun Funaki Beth Vitalis Race photographer Jim Melton  
2006 Results Lon Freeman Beverley Anderson-Abbs    
2005 Results Zack Grossman Sarah Slaymaker    
2004 Results Kevin SLJ Sawchuk Beverley Anderson-Abbs Official photographer Skyler Lewis •  Photographic wizard D.C. Lundell  
2003 Results Brian Robinson Sophia Lewis Pictures  
2002 Results Fred Brooks Kristina Irvin   Report

Registration is over for 2013! Come back next year!

Click here to see who's registered

The minimum entry fee is $25. We strongly encourage larger amounts; all amounts in excess of $25 are a tax-deductible contribution to the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (SCVAS) to support its work in preserving habitat in our area. We HOPE you can see your way clear to paying $50 (still less than most 50K races in the country), which will include a $25 contribution to SCVAS, but less or more is fine.

Name:

City:

Email:


If you DON'T have an email address, please find a friend who does, because if there are any last-minute changes, this is how you'll be notified. And PLEASE don't worry about spam; there's plenty to go around, but it isn't going to come from here.

Sex:

M F

Age:

(as of Sept. 28, 2013)

T-Shirt Size:

M L XL [Please check one, even though we probably aren't giving out T-shirts this year]

Distance:

50K    50K Early Start*    Volunteer

*For those expecting a finish in excess of 7 1/2 hours. Early start registration is advisory only; you can switch from regular start to early start or vice-versa on race morning

Volunteers Only:

Help is needed on Friday (for course marking), Saturday 7 a.m. (early start to check course marking), Saturday 10 a.m. on (for course sweeping/de-ribboning) or Monday all day (for deribboning), and Saturday 9-4 (or portions thereof) for aid station staffing. Course marking and deribboning are available in a wide variety of distances, ranging from 6 miles to 28 miles, so if you want to staff an early aid station and then run, e.g., 10 miles, that's available too. Food contributions also welcome. More details about various volunteer jobs is found here.

Indicate your preferred task(s) and available times:

Additional $0.02:

Entry Fee:

 $0 [Volunteers ONLY, but feel free to contribute more; all of your contribution goes to SCVAS).
 $25 [required minimum, includes no donation to SCVAS)
 $35 [includes $10 donation to SCVAS]
 $50 [includes $25 donation to SCVAS]* [Recommended amount]
 $75 [includes $50 donation to SCVAS]* **
 $100 [includes $75 donation to SCVAS]* **
 Other (fill in amount at right)

*All contributions of $25 or more to SCVAS also include (if you want it) membership in Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society

**All contributions of $50 or more to SCVAS also include a chance to win a gorgeous framed bird photo

 

Note: your credit card will show a charge to "Stevens Creek Software" (or, more likely, "STVNSCRK") because that's our PayPal account. This money is NOT actually being paid to Stevens Creek Software (although it will go temporarily into that account) but to the race and SCVAS.