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Bear vs. AC

If there’s anyone who actually still reads my blog, that person must be very bored of reading about the Bear 100.  But there’s one more post I want to write: How does the Bear 100 compare to AC100?  And, is one race harder than the other?

I thought about this topic a lot during the weeks leading up to the race, during the race itself and have thought  about it more since the race.

First off, they are both great races.  Each is run by a race director who seems dedicated to the race’s success.  Anyone looking for a challenging mountain 100 would be psyched to do either of these races.  The courses are tough, but fair.  The volunteer support at both races is fantastic.  From talking to my crew at both races, it sounds like each race is generally accessible for crew members.

Interestingly, my finishing time at The Bear was just about two minutes faster than my time at AC.  I’d say I was in comparable shape going into both races, though I felt more generally “prepared” (knowledgeable about the course, specific training for the race) before AC.  I did get lost at AC (between Mt. Hillyer and Chilao Flats) for 20-25 minutes.

But when it comes to the question of actually comparing the races against each other, I guess my “conclusion” would just be that they’re different.  The main differences I noticed:

• Weather:  You are almost guaranteed that AC will be hotter than The Bear.  And you can bet that The Bear will have more temperature variation than AC, and the nighttime temperatures will be significantly colder.  In 2010, it never got obscenely hot at AC (the race was in late August that year instead of the current late July/early August race), but being out there for the race this summer, I could see how much the mid-day heat got to runners.  At The Bear, night fell right about the time I was getting ready to spend 10-12 hours between 7,000 and 9,000 feet.  Elevation plus cold temps plus darkness made for a challenging night.  Although I did fine through the cold night, I saw first hand how the cold could punish a runner.  

• Elevation Gain:  The races are listed as having about 22,000 feet of elevation gain.  AC’s total descent is a couple thousand feet more than The Bear   But The Bear feels like it has more climbing.  It feels like there’s one substantial climb after another and most of the time you’re climbing above 7,000 feet.    

• Technical Course:  The Bear is definitely more technical than AC.  I felt this the most on the descents.  About 1/3 of the Bear course is dirt roads and Jeep trails and those are easy running.  But the other 2/3 is trails and most of those are rock-strewn, uneven and rutted.  For me, trying to descend those with any consistent rhythm or speed was pretty much out of the question.  The final descent might be the worst of this.  It was punishing at mile 93.  

• Scenery:  This doesn’t make a difference in the race itself, but The Bear is more scenic.  The colors of the leaves and trees on the course are amazing and you really don’t get anything like that at AC.  

If I had to say, I would probably say that The Bear is more difficult.  Especially if you don’t live/train at elevation.  But that doesn’t make one of them better than the other!  I’d recommend going out and doing  both of them and then let me know what you think!