Elite iRun in Aliso & Wood iCanyons

I ran at the Aliso & Wood Canyons this morning. I was supposed to meet with OCTR group at 7am there, but decided to come a bit earlier and run an extra couple of miles before that: as usually on Saturdays I need to be back at home by 8:30 or otherwise Irina will not make it on time to her Saturday Kung-Fu class.

It was still dark at 6:40 when I started running. Runners and bikers were gathering and stretching at the trailhead, but the trail itself was dead-empty. 5 minutes into it I heard someone approaching me very quickly. I was sure it was one of early bikers, but I was wrong. To my utmost surprise and amazement it was iMichelle! Michelle Barton is the OC running legend who won a lot of ultra races like Lake Hodges 50k, Mt. Disappointment 50K, Wild Wild West 50K and lots others.

She tends to constantly embarrass a lot of other runners who see her only at the finish line well-rested, smiling, usually with a first-place trophy in her hands and her hair looking as if she spent previous 4 hours in a beauty salon, and was not running 50K or 50 miles on steep mountain trails.

Here is a nice recap from one of iMichelle’s races:
http://www.lonepinechamberofcommerce.net/events/CommentsfromMichelleBarton.htm
I can only second the author's opinion that "this girl is from another planet" :)

I ran for about 3 miles next to iMichelle at a pace of around 8 min/mile. After we turned on Mathis Canyon trail and hit the uphill section of it, I started to struggle and had to switch to walking in a while. Michelle probably did not even notice the uphill as she kept her pace constant and had to circle around me – back and forth on the trail – cheering me up.
Unfortunately I had to turn back after mile 4 to return home on time.
I also met Alexa, Wendy and Michelle M on my way back, and shortly after that Sue and Skip.