A Couple Days in Mammoth

The arrival of King’s runners for the ninth time in Mammoth Lakes was greeted by magnificent weather, blue skies, and kids eager to get going, gently treading upon the trails and byways often traversed by some of America’s top distance runners who make this place their home base for most of the year. (Two of them, Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor are out of town this week, they’re off to some foreign town called Beijing…)

The drive north was beautifully boring and uneventful, just what we hoped for. After unpacking, we hit the road for our traditional first-day run, the Mammoth Rock trail. It starts with a couple of miles along Old Mammoth Road that steadily climbs in elevation, turning to a steep ascent in the last meters that, coupled to high elevation, reminds the lungs and legs that we’re not in Riverside.

From there, we leave the road and enter a beautiful trail that overlooks the town of Mammoth and the distant White Mountains in the east. It’s generally downhill, which makes for a fun run full of big views while dodging big trees and big rocks. One feels big of spirit upon the trail’s end.

This morning’s run took us out to the “Inyo Craters” area, a short drive from Mammoth Lakes. The newly christened running watches required of this year’s crew, told the runners to turn around after 30 minutes down a dirt road that meandered through the woods. Despite a generally uphill return, some of our top boys made it back in 28 minutes, an indication of, among other things, their fitness, a characteristic immediately noticed and commented upon by a coaching member of Chino Hills High School who accompanied us on the Mammoth Rock trail yesterday. Surely, a nice compliment for August 10!