On Deck: Angeles Crest 100

After 4.5 years, we're finally toeing the line

I think I’m in disbelief. Still processing the fatigue and joy and struggle and intensity experienced just 6 weeks ago during San Diego 100, I haven’t truly wrapped my head around what awaits me in just 9 days, the Angeles Crest 100.

The Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run, or AC100, one of the 5 original 100 milers in the U.S., is a stunning and iconic race that traverses the San Gabriel Mountains that skirt the northern edge of Los Angeles, from the quaint mountain town of Wrightwood to the L.A. suburb of Altadena. Equally challenging and beautiful, AC100 asks lucky runners to cover 100 miles, climb 19,400 feet, and descend 24,000 feet during a 33-hour journey through the high country of the Angeles National Forest to the front country.

Racers climb in the high country ©AC100

AC100, starting at 5:00 am on August 3, will be my 7^th official ultra and my 4^th 100-miler. I have been looking forward to running AC100 since December 2019, when I first applied to the 2020 event.

And now for a little recent race history … While the race was canceled due to COVID in 2020 and 2021, and road closures from an unseasonably wet winter forced its cancellation in 2023, AC100 was held in 2022 in a modified (and very challenging) out-and-back format. And though I was originally registered for that year, coming fresh off the heels of my first 100 miler in May 2022, I did not run AC100. But I did pace it, and it was an incredible experience.

Pacing Beth on our way to Shortcut Saddle, AC100 2022. Relive her journey here

For 2024, the course returns to its classic point-to-point format, which makes it even more appealing. The chance to retrace the steps of legends who have raced it in years past is an opportunity I can’t pass up.

Yet, if I’m being honest, I’m not feeling 100 percent ready. Though I’ve maintained my fitness form San Diego 100, this training block for AC100 has been remarkably short. So much so that it feels a little like I haven’t truly earned the opportunity to toe the line.

On the other hand, I’ve certainly put in the work this year, tallying, as of this writing, more than 1660 miles running and 189,000 feet of elevation gain. Putting on my glass-is-half-full hat, I’m thinking, this is going to be a neat experiment: Can I leverage all the training from San Diego 100, plus lean on that recent 100-mile effort, and string together a solid race?

I’m betting that I can. And, even if the wheels come off (and when haven’t they?), I know that I have the mental toolkit to chisel my way out of those dark spots. So, while I’m still in disbelief, and I don’t think the paint is dry from SD100, so many people before me have stacked back-to-back races. So, why not give it a go? If anything, the views will be stunning.

The out-and-back course in 2022 didn’t make it to the front country along the edge of Los Angeles, but we did still get some city lights (background)

Sunrise at Islip Saddle, 2022.