Tim Mullican's Staging Area

This race is for a good cause and is run by a loving and generous group of people. The course keeps getting better and better every year it seems, and the food and drink are second to none. It’s become my favorite race.

This was a very well-organized race in a very nice setting. It is marketed as a difficult challenge, but I didn’t really find the course that difficult, despite the physical problem I had. Yes, there were roots, but they were fairly small, so you could step on them and not turn an ankle. There was a little mud, but just in one small area. I didn’t find the single-track portion slippery at all, but I heard some runners say so, but there were a lot of runners that ran in road shoes. Over half of the course is along a wide, paved path along the shoreline. That portion was fairly flat. The first mile or so of the course goes through the woods where there were some hills, but nothing steep or long. I think the main challenge in some years is the August weather. This year we were kind of lucky, with rainy weather through the night, but it was a warm rain and I didn’t get cold despite wearing running shorts and short-sleeved running shirt. Most of the participants set up tents in the tent city, which was the only area that runners could enter that wasn’t on the course. This creates a problem for out-of-town runners who fly in for the race, as it is difficult to obtain camping gear if you fly in. I was planning on using my car for a camp, but we weren’t allowed to leave the course under threat of disqualification. Most fixed-time ultras allow you to go to your car as long as you go back onto the course using the same route that you left. They had a good choice of fluids to drink, although they ran out of Coca Cola for a short time and had plenty of food including pizza, chicken noodle soup, and snack items. They advertised that they would have Hammer gels, but the only flavor they had was chocolate, which is not my favorite when I’m running. All in all it is a good race, but I just wished that my hip hadn’t acted up near the end.

For the first time, the KUS 6/12/24 Hour Run was moved to June 12, 2024 and was held on a rubberized track at the Valley Center Intermediate school. It was a nice track with a track with a thick surface, but it can get hot in June. The Real Feel temperature rose to 98 degrees F by the afternoon with no shade and no clouds. This made for a PW (personal worst) time for my marathon split and for the 50K. You would think it would be a fast course, but I wasn’t prepared for the heat and humidity. Runners that finished at least 50K received a finisher’s award that consisted of a laser-engraved wooden oval laminated to a round piece of metal. We were also given a choice of two different traveler’s cup at check in.