In the summer of 2001, my family and I relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area of California from Arizona. During my first few months there, I was like a kid in a candy store exploring all the amazing trails of the East Bay and meeting many of the luminaries of the sport from those days. In October of that year, I ran the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Mile that took place in the East Bay Hills and at the time was directed by
Ann Trason and
Carl Andersen. Hanging around after the race, I felt like I was in the midst of a who’s who of Bay Area ultrarunning.