Toro Park

I drove down to Toro Park outside of Salinas for the Early Bird Invitational. Left the house and 7 am and arrived down there before 8:30. Not a bad drive. Luckily ran into Becki who showed me the way in. Could not find my team but that is because they were still in line waiting to pay the toll at the Ranger's gate while I walked past them because I parked on a side road outside the entrance.

This isn't the first time I have been to the park. I used to go there in the late 1970's to run the long uphills to Toro Peak. Really different days. When I showed up mid week back then the place would be damn near empty. Also I was a good deal younger and stronger. Today it resembled that Indian Village I wrote about. Different teams (tribes) camped all over the place.

The races were disappointing. Hard to see as a spectator unless you charged all over the place. And of course spectators and runners were charging back and forth to follow the competition. I finally planted myself in a decent spot which gave a good view of the race with about 400-500 yards to go.

I actually had more fun talking to some of the parents and other coaches. Didn't see Jake too much but we get a chance to talk a bit.

After the last race I jumped in my car and headed home. Lunch consisted of some "health" bars and Gatorade.

This is the upper meadows and trails of the regional park. This is where I would prefer to be. It seems to go up forever.




Down below where the action is. This from 2009 but it looked the same this year.
Hoka Hey!