News update

As some of you know, there are road closures along the Tough Enough route: E. Camino Cielo is officially closed from Painted Cave to Gibraltar; Gibraltar closed from the junction with El Cielto. 

The roads are officially closed, but of course as race director, I can't make recommendations regarding how you interpret that or what roads you follow to support your runners; as an event, and representing the SBAA, we don't assume responsibility for your choices. (The usability of the roads might be judged by the continued use by the residents; my concern is for the safety of the runners.) However, so that we don't unduly stress our insurance, I'm moving the handoffs to points that could be reached without driving on a closed road. 

Here are the revised handoff points, which override those below (to which we hope to return next year),

Leg 1 remains unchanged.

Leg 2 terminates at the junction of Gibraltar and El Cielto. 5.1 miles

Leg 3 starts at Gibraltar/El Cielto, and hands off at the top of Gibraltar, the junction with E. Camino Cielo. 6.2 miles. Please note that it is possible to reach this without driving on a closed road, i.e, by driving over San Marcos Pass, turning onto Paradise Road, and following that all the way around, through all its name changes, past the camping areas, and eventually up to the Gibraltar/E. Camino Cielo junction. 

Leg 4 starts at the junction, ends at the Painted Cave Road junction. 9 miles. 

Leg 4a (newly added!) covers E Camino Cielo from Painted Cave to 154. 2 miles. Some, or even most, of you may wish to join legs 4 and 4a into a single leg. Your team's choice. Remember, though, that leg 4 will be pretty quad-battering, so that extra two miles may count.

Legs 5 and onward remain unchanged.

Overview & Entries

Entries closed as of midnight 31 Jan.

Are You Tough Enough is a 65-mile run and relay. It starts at Toro Canyon Park in Carpinteria, goes up via Gibraltar to Camino Cielo, which it follows to Refugio Canyon. It then descends into the Santa Ynez valley and ends at Nojoqui Falls park. It's a beautiful course.

The men's individual course record is Teage O'Conner's, at 9:23:19 (2008). The women's individual is Pam Smith's 12:37:36 (1990). Men's team is 6:20:53: Robert Hollister, Mike Smith, Don Faith, Randy Twing, and Tom Phillips, 1989. The women's record is 8:11:46, 2007, by Team Q-Angle: Melissa Goode, Amy Tracewell, Cheryl Hess, Martha Blackwell, and Annie Toth. Mixed is The Young and the Restless, 2008: Sara Cohen, Melissa Cohen, Scott McConville, Loren Bland, and Gene Deering, 7:56:05.

Date: 11 April 2009
Start: 7:00 am. Individuals start at 4:00 am, so as to fiish roughly with the teams; start for individuals can be negotiated according to who's running and consensus among soloists.

Download the entry form then fill it out and send it in. To check who's entered, hop to the bottom of the page. Only 75 people. First come, first entered.

Aid stations and drop bags
These are for individual ultra runners only, not teams. Teams are responsible for their own aid. Ultra runners are allowed one car and one mountain bike. It's fine if the mountain bike acts as a 'mule'--that will not be considered unfair advantage. (It's encouraged, particularly on hot days.)

General rules
1. Each team member runs two legs. Back-to-back legs may be run.
2. Only two cars per team are allowed on the course. Ultra runners are allowed one car and one mountain bike. Relays are also allowed a mountain bike, but be advised that W. Camino Cielo is a real ride--around 2500' of climb, and technical both up to Broadcast Peak and down the other side. To date, no-one has asked about horses.
3. The course isn't marked. Teamwork-time to keep on course.
4. Obey all traffic laws. The course is open to traffic.
5. Except for #4, don't worry too much about needed variations to the rules--if someone needs to get home to take the kids and that requires a third car, or if someone wants to run three legs--not a problem. The general rule is, if it makes it more fun, it's allowed.

Number 4 is the nonly non-negotiable rule. You may be in a hurry and/or you may be really tired. Please be careful! Let's keep it safe. It just ruins it for everybody if you get run over. Please be thoughtful.

Shuttle rules
The W. Camino Cielo dirt is kind of technical. Not a big deal, but if you're going to drive, lots of ground clearance a must. (If it's raining, 4WD or a winch or both might be good). The RD wouldn't do it in a passenger car. We will provide a shuttle into the handoff point. Shuttles will leave every half hour starting at 10:30 a.m. from the intersection of Camino Cielo and Refugio Road. Please get your runner there in plenty of time. If you miss the shuttle, you miss your handoff. Take 101 to Refugio Road. Allow about 20 minutes to get up Refugio from Highway 101. Get your runner there at least 45 minutes before he/she has to run. This will give us enough time to shuttle them in and enough time for them to warm up before running.

Course description (distances are vague approximations)
Leg one - Starts at junction of Toro Canyon Park road and 192. Follow 192 (East Valley Road) to San Ysidro Road. Turn right (uphill). Turn left on Mountain Drive and run to the handoff at Cold Springs Trail, just past where the stream crosses the road. All uphill, mostly modest, a litle sharper at the end. (6.3 miles)

Leg two Continue on Mountain Drive, a rolling windy road, to Gibraltar. Take sharp right up Gibraltar for three miles to wide turn in road that has a line of six boulders and "No Shooting" signs on the right. Handoff. Mostly mild uphill on Mountain, then sharp uphill on Gibraltar. (7 miles)

Leg three - Continue up Gibraltar to the intersection (not marked) of Camino Cielo and Gibraltar. Bear left up Camino Cielo to La Cumbre Peak turnoff. Handoff at "Off Road Motor Vehicle Travel Prohibited" sign. Entirely uphill, maybe 1800 feet of climb. (5.4 miles)

Leg four - Camino Cielo to 154. When you reach Highway 154, stop. Wave across the highway to your team member. Ultra runners cross with caution. A few modest uphills, but overall a long downhill--about 1800 feet of drop in this leg. (9 miles)

Leg five - You are standing on the frontage road in front of a yellow sign with a black arrow pointing left downhill to another sign that says "Kinevan Road." Follow both arrows. Kinevan takes an abrupt right down on a very narrow (and pretty) road. After one mile you hit Camino Cielo again. Go sharp right and follow road to start of dirt road at the Gun Club. Handoff. Very pretty section, mixing sheltered downhill and exposed-stone uphill. (4.7 miles)

Leg six - Dirt road. Run past the second hill of towers to where road forks sharply right (~150 degrees). Fork goes back toward tower. It should be clear that this is the highest point, and there are a lot of towers. You'll have started running slightly downhill and will be able to see a lot of downhill ahead. The runner we shuttled will be waiting there. Wait for shuttle out to pick-up area. If you're not sure, or don't see anybody, keep going until you do. We probably haven't fogotten you. Steep drop in first mile, then mild but relentless uphill. Total climb is around 2200'. (~9 miles)

Leg seven - Continue along dirt then paved road, down to the intersection of Refugio Road and Camino Cielo Road. Handoff. Long downhill, mostly dirt. (~7 miles)

Leg eight - Go right on Refugio down hill (watch your footing) on narrow road. Handoff is at bridge over Santa Ynez River. Sharp downhill (~4M?), then rolling. (10 kilometers)

Leg nine - Take Refugio over bridge to Highway 246. Go left and stay on left hand side of road, run against traffic. Turn left at Alisal Road (there's stop light). Go though downtown Solvang area. Continue on Alisal over bridge past golf course and Alisal Ranch. Past Alisal ranch, not to it. It's a ways out of town. Handoff directly acros from the entrance to Alisal Ranch--you should see lots of corrals, horses, etc. Mild downhill, and level. (6.9 miles)

Leg ten - Last leg. Alisal Road to Nojoqui Falls park entrance. Gentle uphill, then roughly a mile and half of not-as-gentle uphill, then finish on the more-or-less flat. (3.6 miles)

General notice: Do NOT allow your teammates to give you both leg 4 and leg 7. It's not good if the toes of your shoes are already bloody before starting leg 7.

Current entries
Ultra:
Paul Williams (injured)
Kenny Ardouin
Scott Young
Robert Gilcrest
Patty Bryant
Mark Warren
Jennifer Paludi
Sandra Sanger
Jeff Vinion
Casey Hare
Matt Bertolet

Relay:
Fugawi (Scott Devore, contact)
AAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! (Brian Zant, contact) (Sadly, had to withdraw)
We Know a Shortcut (Zach Komon, contact)
The Team Starring Brian and Four Other People (B. Dutter, contact)
The Ricky Ho Project (Contact requested anonymity)
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, reprise (Michelle Greer, contact)
Peregrinating Pedagogists (Maggie Mason, contact)
Rusty's Snowblowers and Mike's Swans (Tamara Berndt, contact)
Team Elite Rehab (Geoff Gray, contact)
Simone and her Pixie-Like Sidekicks (not their real name; Simone Kleinschmidt, contact)
The Old Farts (Ed Wehan, contact)
NeoSoles (Jake Sanders, contact)
Thrash Polka (Michael Larkin, contact)
Tuff Enuff Like HR Pufnstuff (Karen Boss, contact)
Tuff Muff-ins (Dre-a McLar-ty, contact)
Trail Burning Babes (Liz Groom, contact)
Runs for Beer (Jadd Martinez, contact)
Spoke and Mirrors (Jim Johnson, contact)
Reynolds, Rockets, and Speed, LLC ("a professional badinage corporation," Dave Saunders, contact)
Beauty and the Beasts (Dan Shimizu, contact)
We Don't Give A Rat's Ass (Bob Peltcher aka Happy Snappe, contact)
We're Big but We're Slow (Art Tracewell, contact)
Will Run for Burritos (Jayna Jones, contact)
Midnight Billy Goats (Steve Miley, contact)
LED Heads (Dawn Kooi-Maho, contact)
Tuff Chargin' Teachers (Roland Lewin, contact)
Slow and Steady (Dan Choi, contact)
Team ELITER (Allie Peairs, contact) (second team from Elite Rehab) (not "second team," jsut the second to register)
Direct Relief International (Kristin Brown, liaison)
The Argintineans (Gustave Dobes)
Beer Nuts (Monte Cool)
Cottage Handshkes (Kyle Gillis)