Continuing Quest

My race this past weekend was actually chosen to continue two quests; the first is the plan to run "new races in new places" and the second was to continue "following" in the footsteps of Mark Twain. I started following Twain where it all began, in Missouri and documented it in a previous blog. 

I decided to make a weekend of this race so that I could spend some time playing tourist in addition to racing. When I first arrived in Angels Camp I went to the Calaveras County Visitors Center to pick up my bib number. I then spent time taking the historic walking tour and learn more about the town and the area in general. I quickly realized that it was going to be a challenging course due to the hills. 

The chicken ladder was put in place to assist pedestrians in simply walking up and down the steep streets. When Twain stayed in Angels Camp he lived with others in a cabin on Jackass Hill. The cabin has been restored. 

Before leaving Angels Camp to drive to Sonora where I was staying I went to Utica Park where the race would finish and where there was a statue of Twain and a marker identifying where the Utica Mine was located. 

The race itself was a challenging one with a very long steep climb early in the race but I got it done and enjoyed the small town community atmosphere.