UPPER LAKE — Nineteen members of the Upper Lake High School cross country team combined to set a new record Friday during the fourth annual Relay to the Coast and Running Camp.
Not even an unexpected road closure on the Cougars” planned route could deter them. The relay from Ukiah to the Mendocino County coast opened early Friday morning from Low Gap Park in Ukiah, however, Low Gap Road was closed to all traffic three miles from the starting line.
Not to be deterred, team members stopped the clock and drove to Orr Springs Road, restarted the relay and continued on to the coast. While the Orr Springs route to the coast is steeper and a mile or so longer than the Low Gap Road route, the team arrived on the coast near Big River, some 45 miles from the starting line, in 5 hours, 30 minutes and 36 seconds, knocking 32 minutes off of last year”s record time.
Once at the coast the team set up camp at Caspar Beach Campground, enjoyed a great meal and then listened to the first of four guest speakers, All-American cross country runner and coach of the College of the Redwoods cross county team Reed Elmore, who spoke on being consistent as a runner and told stories about his progression through the ranks from junior high school runner to college All-American at Humboldt State.
The team was up early Saturday and ran an out and back to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.
“The views were outstanding,” Upper Lake coach John Woods said.
Elmore and Humboldt State cross country runner Jonathan O”Connell led the team in a warm down at the run”s conclusion.
Next came a great camp breakfast and then it was back to the beach for competitive sand art. Later that afternoon the Cougars did an easy eight-mile run up the canyon to a waterfall in Russian Gulch Park.
O”Connell was the Saturday night speaker and he talked about never quitting. A recent survivor of Hodgkins disease, he is back training and has very high goals. His talk was very inspirational, according to Woods.
Sunday morning brought a long-stretching and yoga session on the beach followed by more good food and then a great treat of having marathon runner and registered dietician Sharon Stewart talk to the team about making wise choices for pre-race meals. She also demonstrated the amount of sugar in many of the energy drinks that are now on the shelves.
Following Stewart”s talk, the team completed T-shirt art and design activity before traveling to the Pygmy Forest Trail where runners ran five to seven miles depending on their conditioning. After the run the team relaxed for a few hours at the new Fort Bragg community pool.
The guest speaker for Sunday night was Cougar coach Woods. He spoke about his running career and how to use the tools you are given to reach your maximum potential.
The team struck camp on Monday morning and traveled to Fort Bragg, where the Cougars did an hour run on the Ten Mile Road before traveling back to Upper Lake.
“The kids were really awesome and put together some pretty good mileage and had some of the best food ever,” said Woods, who thanked his guest speakers as well as the team”s drivers, chefs and helpers, including John and Vicky Rodriguez, Alice Woods and Ramona Plata.
