Beezy's 2008 Dana Point Heaven2Hell 5K Invitational

It's called "Beezy's" because it's mine. It was labeled an invitational because participation was by invitation only. It was held in Dana Point, CA, and it contained elements of both Heaven and Hell.

After sleeping off a ten hour day at Disneyland, I woke up on Saturday morning totally stoked for a loop that Morgan told me about by our family's beach house in Dana Point, CA. I have never felt so abnormally great as I felt at the beginning of this run. I had done a half-hour of stretching and probably a goof half-mile of walking to warm up the old shins before I began my run heading south on the Pacific Coast Highway.

After about a quarter-mile on the PCH, I made a right-hand turn into a residential neighborhood in which the houses back up onto a bluff overlooking scenic Dana Point Harbor. It was while running these streets, that I constantly repeated to myself, "Dang J.B. If only you weren't so lazy; if only you worked a little harder...this all could be yours."


I continued running south and beating myself up until I arrived at Heritage Park, which is full of traverses and stairs that lead runners/walkers down the bluff's face to the harbor:

The final switchback:

Upon exiting the park/forest, I began heading north along the edge of Dana Point Harbor. I've done about two miles now and am feeling great. I could go another ten at this point. Easy Lemon Squeezy.

The view to my left:
The view to my right, and the bluff from whence I had descended:

If you don't know what Heaven is like, have never been to Heaven, or don't think you will ever get there, try running at sea level. It's celestial.

...and this concludes the Heaven portion of the Heaven2Hell Invitational.

After this thin slice of heaven came a hefty heaping of Hell known as Devil's Gullet: a short, steep hill that takes all challengers/intruders back up to the top of the bluff pictured above.

Behold, the entrance:
The view from afar:

...and up we go:


...and the views from the top:

Now, to say that I ascended and escaped Devil's Gullet unscathed would be a lie, and by that I mean that about 3/4 of the way up, I had to stop and walk...first time in my life! Turns out that gravity has a greater effect on those objects with more mass. Turns out I have a butt load of mass. Turns out that gravity recognized that and kicked my butt.

After the 10k last week, Janel's dad commented that I didn't even look tired - my face wasn't red and I wasn't even sweaty. This time it was a bit different. My dad's white cotton t-shirt (I had forgotten to pack a dry-fit) was now transparent. My healthy, happy scalp was now a flood irrigation plain. My brain was spinning circles and I was short of breath.

For the next 300 or so yards I had to toggle between walking, jogging and staggering, just until I could get my life back in order. After that, I regained my composure, re-connected with the PCH, and triumphantly headed home, my head held high.

Now, I KNOW that there are some of you out there that ran this weekend.

Matt - you ran 'round the mountain...again.
Mindi and Sam and Matt - You all ran the Susan G. 5K.
Catherine - I know you ran over the weekend.

Sign in and let us know how it went! Consider yourselves called out.

Chasqui J.B. - OUT