Steve Patt lumbered out of the San Gabriel Mountains in a pair of mud-caked athletic shoes Sunday to accomplish one of the most daunting feats in sports: the completion of a 100-mile trail race.
Yet there were no TV cameras or pompoms to greet him as he crossed the finish line of the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run in Pasadena. Only a smattering of applause from a laid-back crowd, a handshake from a race official and the promise of a commemorative belt buckle awaited him.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday September 22, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Endurance Run -- A photo caption with an article in Monday's California section about the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run misidentified one of the finishers, Bob Adjemian of Hollywood, as Mark Ryan.
Patt's wife, Deborah, accidentally missed his big finish and asked him re-create it so she could shoot some video. He complied. Then the 55-year-old plopped into a camping chair and opened a Pepsi.
"What a stud," Deborah said of her husband, who placed 46th.
For a moment the impossible seemed ordinary, a moment repeated many times Sunday as 63 runners trickled onto a secluded baseball field to finish what many aficionados consider to be one of the most punishing courses in the world of long-distance running.
The race started at 5 a.m. Saturday in the mountain town of Wrightwood. The competitors paid between $180 and $280 to run in the relentless sun and the inky dark, battling muscle cramps, poison oak and even depression.
They scrambled down shale mountainsides and clambered up steep switchbacks, gaining 21,610 cumulative feet that included a climb to the top of Mt. Baden-Powell, the second-highest peak in the San Gabriels.
The physical demands of the race were so great, competitors faced the possibility of severe dehydration and renal failure, as well as threats from predatory animals such as mountain lions and black bears, whose snarling likenesses were included in pre-race information packets.
Organizers said 21 people dropped out, including an experienced female runner who was hospitalized after passing out around mile 50.
"You don't run this for ego," said Patt, a Cupertino resident who has run one other 100-mile race. "You run it because you enjoy running trails -- and you get to run on them for a long time."
The race, in its 18th year, used to conclude outside the Rose Bowl, adding some grandeur to the finale. But organizers had to move the finish line in 1992 to make room for a Guns N' Roses concert.
Since then, crew members, friends and fellow runners have gathered on an anonymous spot near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to cheer on the finishers, tend to their blisters and offer them plates of carbohydrates.
