I want to run C2C, but I'm mighty slow

[Badger]

After years of thinking about it, I am determined to run C2C this spring. I was going to do it solo, but I'm a little freaked out about getting lost. I'd like to go with another person or persons, but my uphill running is slower than many people's hiking. So I think hikers or slow runners would be just fine - just someone to call SAR for me.

I'm averaging around 5,000 feet vertical running each week, sometimes more, sometimes less. But it's mostly under 5,000 feet elevation. I don't want a pulmonary embolism or cerebral edema at 10k feet.

I want to go after daylight savings starts, and I don't want to run through snow. Any advice or anyone interested?

[zippetydude]

Hi Badger. Sounds like your prep is good, so you'll enjoy the experience. I second your opinion on having company - it's a good idea to go with someone the first time.

I'd recommend that you not worry about running the whole time on this trail, especially the first trip. I'm a runner also, and my first time I hiked probably 3/4 of it. Once you get used to where the runnable parts are, you can go faster and more smoothly, but even then I'd say maybe only 1/2 of it can be efficiently run (the other parts are so steep that you could sort of jog, but hiking it is much faster).

If you've run a marathon, this takes about the same amount of time, even though it's only 1/2 the distance. Are you a marathoner? If so, what sorts of times do you run?

z

[KathyW]

Badger - there will be lots of people heading up in the spring, so you shouldn't have trouble finding company. I still need to make it all the way to the summit, so I'm sure I'll be headed back up again this spring sometime.

I've also been trying to do some trail running but I'm also really slow and I often revert back to walking on the uphill. I doubt that I'd be able to do much running on the C2C trail.

[SoCalTim]

I am also planning my first trip up sometime this spring.

It would be great to get together with a group of some people who have done the hike before.

[RJSUSC]

Badger,

I second zippety's response, your prep is great! What I think you might want to consider is just hiking the whole trail first, as it is a butt kicker, walk, crawl, or run! That should indicate to you if it's a good idea to run the trail w/o worrying about suffering from some major altitude gain. You've been running about 5k vertical feet/week, have you been up at higher altitudes similar to San Jacinto?