Trail Run - Mt. Baldy - Run To The Top 2011

9/5/2011 -Mt. Baldy - Run To The Top 2011.

 From the website:
Approximately 8 mile run with a 4000 foot elevation gain. Beginning at 6,000 ft. elevation. The first mile is paved roadway followed by 5 miles of steep narrow dirt roadway. The next mile, a narrow "catwalk" trail hugs the mountain side: the final mile, the steepest, is above the timber line. The finish line is atop beautiful Mt. San Antonio (Mt Baldy) at 10,064 feet. Walk back down from the summit to the  Mt. Baldy Ski Lift Notch Restaurant. Fruit and water are provided every 2 miles, including the top. A free ride back down to the parking area is provided to all competitors by Mt Baldy Ski Lifts Inc.

NOTE: 2011 Run To The Top was stopped due to severe weather conditions at the summit which included among others, according to official rescue team reps, temperatures in the low 30's and t-storms. 
BUT, I ran it again on my own on 7/4/2012 and posted my review here,  hope you will find it helpful!

Below is a review of the run up to the point at which most of the runners were stopped after almost 4 miles and more than 1,500 ft elevation gain.

Distance & Elevation: Should have been 8 miles and 4,000 ft elevation gain. We were stopped after almost 4 miles and I ran back down. My distance for the day was 7.47 miles with about 1,900 ft elevation gain over 3.75 miles.

Course:From Mt. Baldy Road parking lot all the way up to the top of Mt San Antonio. The part I ran which is about half of the course was on a paved road for the first 3/4 of a mile and then on wide fire-road.

Crowd: Good spirit, some first timers as well as people who celebrate labor day with this run on a yearly basis. I overheard a participant who started the tradition 17 years ago!

The easy part: If you are lucky it will be cold but not too cold

The challenging part: There are 4,000 challenging parts in the race- a foot each!
Price: $55 in advance $65 on race day

Pacers: No

Timing: Gun only

Qualifying: None

Official website: Mt. Baldy - Run To The Top!

My 2 cents: The race starts with a downhill part for about 1/3 of a mile, run it fast you will gain some time and you will have 7.7 miles to recover if you are concerned about starting with a sprint. From that point onwards it will get more difficult.

As always, thanks for reading and don't hesitate to email with any questions!
Thanks
runnersreviews.blogspot.com/

The Fire-road up the mountain

No more running!

Waiting for further instructions....

Views from about 7,000ft down to the starting point

Completed Marathons Map



View Marathons Map in a larger map

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