By Tac Sugiyama
The hills are alive with the fresh green grass, and the ground is nice and soft thanks to just enough rainfall and a lot of digging by wild boars.
In setting the courses this year, I tried to make it fast, limiting the climb as much as possible, while making the route choices interesting and challenging enough.
There is a remote Start for everybody — about 1 km and 80 m climb from the assembly area. Please allow 15–20 minutes to get to the Start. The Finish will be by the assembly area.
The map has not been updated since 2022, and there are some tracks that are not so clear on the ground, or animal trails not shown on the map. Also, please note that some rootstocks have decayed, or are much smaller, while there are some new root stocks.
Even though it should not come into play if you choose a reasonable route, Mount Hamilton Road and a little path leading to Snell Barn are out of bounds, and marked as such with the standard purple X's on the map.
There is only one water control for the Silver, Brown, Green, Red, and Blue courses, at a relatively early stage of each course. Other than that, there are a number of water fountains, mainly in the camping area, marked by the usual blue star on the map.
There is a Silver course available that shortcuts a portion of the Brown course. The map and control descriptions are the same for both courses. The control descriptions on the map (but not on the separate clue sheet) include the instructions to skip a certain control for the Silver course. You can decide which course to run when you register or during the course. If you decide to change your course after you register, please make sure to notify the official at the download station so that your result will be reflected correctly for the course.
The weather forecast is good, with the highest temperature of the year predicted. Enjoy a good day of running on the beautiful hills!