I’m breaking this report into four sections:

Info on Baldy Marathons
Pre-Race & Why I Signed-up
My Race Report & Experience
Learning Lessons & Recommendation/Suggestions

I hope you find this report helpful and I hope you find the courage to attempt the Baldy Marathons, 50K, 100K, or 100 miler.

Baldy Marathons

The course is an alpine version of the Barkley Marathons. You can sign-up for the 50K, 100K, or 100 miler distance. Depending on the distance, you will have to navigate through the course differently.

The course consists of five 20 mile loops. Each loop has 10,000 feet of gain. The course is not marked. You get GPS coordinates to help you map out the course on your own. The GPS coordinates are not the punch locations, you have to go out and find that on your own with the very vague directions and pictures the RD provides.

This is a self-supported “race”. The only aid station is your car. You get access to water at Molten Creek and Aaron’s Pad.

In order to provide proof that you navigated through the full loop correctly, you have to pass through five check points (B, A, L, D, & Y) where there are punch makers. The day of the race the RD will provide with a punch card, which is what you would use to show proof that you completed the full loop.

For further race details, visit the Baldy Marathons website.

Pre-Baldy Marathons

In November 2018, I decided that I wanted to attempt the Baldy Marathons 50K, so I signed up for it. I first heard of this race in 2017. I personally thought it was crazy and nothing I could imagine myself doing.

I made my 2019 running challenge to finish the Baldy Marathons 50K. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but I wanted a challenge that would allow me to grow as an ultrarunner. I started my training in December and did a few runs on Iron Mountain since there was still snow on Mt. Baldy. I knew for this race I wasn’t training for endurance or speed, but steep elevation gain.

In April, I was able to explore a section (Emilio’s Ridge) of the course since most of it was still covered with snow. Climbing this 1.5 mile section made me question if I was going to be able to actually achieve this goal. Especially since I almost fell off the mountain. It was my first time navigating in the backcountry, it was my first time going up a very steep incline like that, it was my first time going up/down scree, it was my first time my quads were cramping really bad. My body felt defeated.

I continued to train on the course. On May 18 2019, I gave my first try at the Baldy Marathons 50K. I got stuck in a hail storm on my way to Heaven. I decided to turn around and dropped. I didn’t complete the first loop.

I decided to give Baldy Marathons 50K another chance.

Baldy Marathons 50K - September 15, 2019

Race Report

***For the 50K runners the race starts at 9AM and for the 100K/100M runner race starts at 10AM. From the parking lot to the starting point it’s a ~1.23 mile trek with 1,250ft of gain. For the 100K/100M you can take the ski-lifts, many hike it up. 50K runners risk the chance of missing the pre-race meeting. Race starts on time.***

It's 9am and Aaron Sorensen (RD) tells us to go. Off we all go up Beginner’s Hill and I’m all the way in the back, the last runner of the pack. As soon as I reached Ronny and Lorelei’s Trail I started running down and hiking up to Eric’s Plunge. On top of Eric’s Plunge, some people like going down the scree, I like staying on the ridge. Still not sure which way is better, but I think this is the steepest ascend/descend (depending which way you’re going) from the whole course.

I get to the bottom of Eric’s Plunge and start running towards Satan’s Ridge. I really love Satan’s Ridge, the views are awesome and it’s a fun descent. I get to the bottom (the beginning of Hades). It’s about 11AM I hear someone behind me. I turn around and see Aurélien Sanchez (1st 100 miler runner – 2nd Baldy Marathon Finisher w/ CR under 49 hours). I lost my balance and took my first fall, I even flipped. With my face of embarrassment, I smiled at Aurélien. We said hi to each other and the time I took to take out my phone and take a picture of him he was already this far away (picture below).

11:27am I made it to Punch B and Gus Safar (2nd 100 miler runner – 3rd ever Baldy Marathon Finisher) caught up to me. I tried getting a picture but he was just too damn fast. I have seen Gus many times on Mt. Baldy training, so I already knew how much he had trained for this. He gave me words of encouragement, “if it was easy everyone would do it, just keep going!” I can hear him from a distance singing. I knew he was having fun, just like me!

As I made my way down Hades my only goal was not to break any bones. I fell a few times and had a close call on breaking my arm landing between some rocks. I quickly learned maybe using one trekking pole would help me get through the technical rocks. Still trying to figure out how to best descend Hades. I got to Molten Creek and saw my friend, Jimena Estrada. She took off and I stayed, filtered water and refueled. As I was getting ready to leave, two other runners caught up to me. I took off and one of the runners followed me up to Upper Plateau. I told him he could wait for me or take off, he took off. I put on some pants to reduce the amount of scratches on my legs from the thorns you have to navigate through Doom. As I was putting on my pants, two other runners passed me.

Side note: Doom is going to suck, so my best advice is just either practice finding a good route or embrace the painful bushwhacking. The more you go through this section the more you learn the “least painful” way to get through this section. This time around I got through this section pretty fast compare to other times. If you’re not careful, you can get stuck in this section and it can definitely feel like you are navigating through an endless painful maze.

I got to the top of Impending Doom, took off my pants, and with a big smile on my face I ran all the way down, but as I was running, I started to feel a possible blister. I stopped, sat on a rock and took a look at my foot. I put a blister bandage and it didn’t bother me anymore. Got to the beginning of the climb to Emilio’s Ridge. I started to sing and made my way to Punch A. I’m 75% up the ridge I hear someone coming. I turn around and see it’s Mike Edwards. So happy to see him because he made the remaining of the forever climb go by faster. We got to the top of Emilio’s Way and ran to Aaron’s pad got there around 3:25pm. The first 10 miles took me almost 6 hours and 30 minutes. I know, I’m slow, but for me this run wasn’t about how fast I can do it, it was about committing to completing a goal I set for myself.

Aaron told me Jimena wasn’t that far from me so I took off and ran down the Ski-Chute. Half way down I felt a cramp creeping in on my left inner thigh/quad area. I ran out of water on Emilio’s so most likely the cramp was due to dehydration and muscle fatigue. I slowed down and focused on taking deep breaths so that helped.

It was around 3:40pm and I got to my car. Only 20 more miles to go. I took an hour, longer time than expected at the car. Left my car, got punch L and up I go. I forgot how steep Ginny Crawl was. You’re pretty much taking three steps up and one step down. I was struggling with keeping myself up. I get to the top and two hikers saw me and said, “Is there a trail down there?” I told them it was part of the Baldy Marathons course and I kept running. They totally gave me that “you are crazy look”.

Alright, it’s about 5pm and I’m about to start the Big Climb. This was my least favorite part. It took me two hours to get to Candyland, but I just kept reminding myself to keep moving. One step at a time. I was happy that the sun was going down. I can’t imagine doing this section mid-day. Way too hot! As I was getting closer to punch D, I hear someone, it was Jami. We find punch D and she takes off. The higher I was getting the harder it felt. I started to listen to motivational talks and just kept saying out load positive affirmations. I was moving and I was starting to hear people. At a distance I could see Jimena, Mike, and other runners. Everyone was pushing through. I got to Candyland and the sun was starting to set. Not sure if it was the sunset or the positivity I was feeding my mind, but I felt amazing! I was very grateful and happy to be here. It was a group of eight of us climbing up to Heaven. Mid way up to Heaven I turned around and saw the big beautiful full moon. I wish my camera could have captured its beauty.

Mike and I got to Heaven and noticed a lot of people there. We decided to keep going to Joel’s Gap and take a refueling break there. I started to run down and caught up to Jami. It’s about 8:30pm and I was super pumped to get Punch Y. Jami, Mike, and I took a short break here. Waiting for the other runners to get here. As soon as they came, we all started to make our way up back to Heaven. It was starting to get cold. On my way up, above 9K feet high, I started to struggle again.

When I got to Heaven there was a big group camping at the summit for the night. They were awesome! They were cheering me on, and I fed off their energy. It was time to put on some music and run down to Aaron’s pad, but I couldn’t get too excited. The battery on my handheld was dying. It kept turning off. Then I realized I was just better off running with the moon light than trying to keep turning on my light, but this slowed me down. At one point I did have to change the battery of my lamp. I eventually got to Aaron’s Pad and completed my first lap. I felt awesome! I was looking forward to moving forward. I was either going solo or maybe someone would join me. Mike said he would go with me, off we went back to Emilio’s Way.

Eleven more miles to go. We were both feeling great. We got to the top of Emilo’s Way. We started to run down and soon realized we were not on the right ridge. I had to keep pulling my GPS out. It was hard to tell which way the correct way was. We both agreed that descending more was only going to make things sketchier, so we decided to go perpendicular towards the ridge on the east side. We easily got lost for an hour, navigating through trees and trying not to fall. We finally made it back to the trail (Sorry Mike for getting us lost and thank you for trusting me in getting us back on track). The lesson learned here. It’s better to slow down and ensure you’re going the right way, then moving fast and getting lost.

We started to run down and made it to Punch A. Soon after we run into Andrew and Richard going up almost half way their second lap. We cheered each other on, they gave us some guidance on navigating through Hades (which helped, thank you guys!). I soon noticed my watch was dead and after this I struggled with keeping track of time and consuming calories.

We ran to the bottom. We were both happy to make it out Emilio’s alive! Mike and I were feeling great. Now we had to make our way up to the top of Impending Doom. We got here around 2:45am. Mike and I teamed up to navigate through Doom, which helped. Areas where we questioned which way to go, he would go one way and I would go the other way. We were able to get down without a problem. Where we struggled was getting across to Upper Plateau, but we made it.

We took our first break at Molten Creek. It’s 3:30am and I’m starting to get sleepy and tired. It’s been almost 19 hours since we started this race. I drank some Red Bull, but I kept forgetting to eat calories, I was also getting lazy to get food from my pack. Mike and I decided to put our headphones on. We tried our best to navigate through Hell and Hades. There were many times where we questioned if we were going the right way. It was so dark and everything looked so different. Mentally it was hard because although I felt like I was going the right way, I did question if we were on the correct path. We eventually found Punch B. I felt bad because I knew I was slowing Mike down by a lot. It was starting to get cold. I kept telling him that it was ok to leave me, but he didn’t leave me. We noticed the sun coming out as we were getting closer to the end of Hades.

Around 7am we got to Satan’s Ridge. My feet were hurting and I was tired. I could see Eric’s Plunge at a distance. Winds started to pick up and it was getting cold. 7:30am and I’m below Eric’s Plunge. This climb is my least favorite. This section is the one section where I feel that if I’m not careful, I can easily fall off the mountain. It was mentally and physically hard. Mentally, knowing that one small mistake can cause me my life or some broken bones. Physically, I had to use my legs and feet to push me through this section, but just standing up, my feet hurt so much.

Half way through Eric’s Plunge I told myself to suck up the pain and just move. Moving slow was just creating more suffering. I eventually get to the top of Eric’s Plunge and tears just coming rushing out of my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I just did. I felt so free. I was very proud of myself. I put my trekking poles away and started running down to Aaron’s Pad. I get there and Aaron gives me the directions to Punch W and off I go. I struggled finding the last punch. I see Mike coming up and he gives me some guidance. I eventually find it and I was just happy that soon I would be sleeping. I walk back to Aaron’s Pad and turn in my punch card to the RD, 25 hours and 24 minutes later.

Although I didn’t get an official finish, due to not meeting the cut-off, under 20 hours, I’m very proud of this accomplishment. I’ve done many challenging things, but this by far is the hardest thing I’ve done up to date. I wasn’t going for time, I was going for experience and I’ve very happy that I did not give-up on myself.

This is just the beginning. I plan to be back in May to complete more loops. The training continues…

Thank you, Aaron Sorensen, for believing in me and creating the space for individuals to push their limits. Thank you for being out there day & night for multiple days. This has been an incredible experience. I have grown so much as a runner through this training season, all thanks to the Baldy Marathons.

Post-Race Review

Lessons Learned:

Carry extra batteries in addition to the extra batteries. This slowed me down on the descent from Heaven to Aaron’s Pad. My handheld light died and my headlamp was on very low battery, very grateful for the moon light. I didn’t want to use my backup just yet because I knew I was going to need it to get through the night.
Take less time at the car. I spent an hour here eating, changing, and getting ready for the remaining 20 miles. Next time I will try to do a quicker transition.
Charge watch or practice running & eating without a watch. I depend a lot on my watch when it comes to nutrition. I look at the time and ensure I’m eating at least 100 calories every 30-60 minutes. After my watch died, I noticed I wasn’t eating as much. I was letting too much time pass by without consuming any calories and that caught up to me the final 6 miles.

Recommendations/Suggestions (This is based on my personal experience and what I found helpful):

Commit to a distance and believe that you’re going to complete it. If deep down inside, you know you’re not going to complete the distance that you signed up for then it’s going to be hard to keep pushing. Doing two laps (40 miles) does not count as a 50K (31 miles), it’s a different course.
Prior to race tell yourself that you are going to keep going unless conditions are too dangerous, you literally can’t move anymore, &/or the RD stops you. Going in without giving yourself the option to quit will help you mentally. Temptation is going to be everywhere especially after getting to the top of doom and having the option to go up quitter’s road and the second big temptation is going to after completing the first lap. Many runners stop after the first lap. The course is designed to easily quit.
Be ready to run solo. Even if you plan to run with someone else, things might not go according to plan. This is a tough course and I think if anyone wants to be successful in completing any distance, they should be mentally ready to run solo either day or night.
TRAIN. Many people underestimate the 50K distance. There’s a reason for the 20-hour cut-off. I recommend training A LOT of vert gain and time on your feet. My first ever BM training run was going up only Emilio’s Ridge. My quads were cramping so bad at the top. On my training runs I was averaging between 7K – 13K of gain on one run.
Take it all one section at a time. You will pass Aaron’s Pad every 10 miles so just focus on getting there. Do not think about the course and everything you have left to do. Your mind will try to protect you and convince you to stop.
Trekking poles will help you and your legs will thank you.
If you are local or if you can, train on the course. Train on going up and down very steep technical and scree type of terrain. The first time I did the first 6 miles it took me 10+ hours to complete. Knowing the locations of the punches not only will it help move faster, but it will also mentally help knowing what’s ahead. It’s so easy to go the wrong way which it’s just going to suck even more. The punches are not easy to find especially punch A. The RD is very helpful in guiding you to the punches if you go out on your own and put in the work. He will answer any questions you have.
Eat a lot and keep moving.
My last recommendation would be to have a strong why. You are pretty much alone 90% of the time, there are no aid stations (besides your car), and you don’t really see people unless there’s another runner with a similar pace and both are willing to stick together. Just know it’s going to suck, but not impossible you just have to really want it and work hard for it.

BALDY MARATHONS 50K - Race Report