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TRAIN ON THE BULLDOG RACE COURSE
Saturday, August 4 

Join your fellow Bulldoggers for training  on the Bulldog race course. Please note: This is not an official event;  it is just an opportunity to train on the  race course with other, experienced Bulldog  runners, who know the course. 

ONE LOOP: 16.5 miles (from the car) 

MEET UP TIME: Please arrive early, shoes  tied, bottles full, ready to meet up and  start running at 7:00AM. 

RUN START TIME: 7:00AM. Please note that  this is an unstructured run on the Bulldog  race course. People just meet up at 7:00AM  and form groups to run with. I do not  recommend starting earlier than 7AM;  you all need to get your heat training on! 

LOCATION: Meet on the corner of Las  Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway;  this is outside of MCSP. 

DIRECTIONS: ~Exit the 101 at Las Virgenes Rd. ~Go south. ~Park at the corner of Las Virgenes  and Mulholland Dr. ~Parking is free on the corner. ~Note: Can also be reached from PCH. 

MILEAGE: 16.5 very hilly miles 

OKAY, it happens every year! On July 21, some Bozo attempted to  run the race course with no water,  no hat, etc.Several runners had to  assist this person from Corral Canyon  all the way back to the finish. Same  thing happened on a training run in  2011 only that Bozo ended up getting  an ambulance ride to the hospital!

DO  NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS RUN WITHOUT  BEING FULLY PREPARED PER THE  INFORMATION BELOW! 

And as long as I’m venting... If you  invite a friend to come and run this  course, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR  FRIEND. Please stay with your friend  and do not abandon them on the  course. YES, THAT MEANS YOU!  ARROWS: BIG THANKS to Keith Gayhart who volunteered to  mark arrows on  the July 21 training run. Is there   someone who would like to mark arrows  for August 4?  50K QUALIFIER **If you would like to run the 50K  but you dont  meet the qualifying  requirements, please email Nancy  <bulldogultra@yahoo.com> to use  the August 4  training run as your  qualifier. Note: You must email  Nancy "before"the training run,  not "after". 

WATER/TOILETS: WATER ON THIS TRAINING RUN IS NOT  GUARANTEED. YOU MUST CARRY ENOUGH  FLUIDS, CALORIES AND ELECTROLYTES  TO SUSTAIN YOU THROUGH 16 VERY  HILLY MILES! RECOMMEND 30oz per  hour; MINIMUM!Below are the most  recent posts re: water faucets  inside the park:  Serena Scott Thomas:  When you come up to the parking  lot after the creek, instead of  going left towards the trail that  leads to the Salvation Army Camp  before Spur trail, walk straight  across the parking lot to the  bushy area in the middle. Its just  a few feet. Theres an upright  water fountain right there.   John Magnussen: Here are the 3 water and 1 bathroom  spots that I know about after you  come down from Corral Canyon and  arrive at Tapia. The first bathroom  is closed, but if you continue across  the stream you will come to a parking  lot where there is a working faucet  in the center of the lot. Then, if you  continue on course, exactly .5 mile  from the closed single bathroom, on  the right side of the course and about  50 yards from the trail, there is a  picnic ground with open bathrooms and  running water. Finally, once you cross  the little mean Chihuahua (Spur Trail)  back into Malibu Creek Park, there is  a faucet right where the trail meets  the parking lot and paved road. These  were all open and working on 7/21. 

SUPPORT: THESE TRAINING RUNS ARE  UNSUPPORTED. Please print and carry  the course directions for navigating  the route. THERE WILL BE LITTLE TO  NO COURSE MARKINGS; YOU ARE RUNNING  AT YOUR OWN RISK! Suggest forming  groups for safety and print and  carry the course directions.  

CREEK CROSSING: Please note; there  is a creek crossing between Tapia  Park west and Tapia Park east. Please use the creek; DO NOT RUN  ON LAS VIRGENES ROAD. 

BY ATTENDING THESE RUNS, YOU AGREE:
~That you are running at your own  risk.
~That you are trained for and prepared  to run 16.5 very hilly miles.
~That you will carry enough fluid,  calories and electrolytes to sustain  you through the entire run.
~That you will run unsupported; finding  your own way around the course, following  the printed directions.
~That you are fully prepared to run in  the heat.
~That you may encounter poison oak.
~That you may encounter rattlesnakes  and/or other wildlife.
~That you will wear hats, visors, bandanas,  sleeves, and sun block.
~That you will not wear headphones while  running on the course.
~That you will not litter the course.
~That you will not hold Trail Run Events  LLC or its agents or officers responsible  for injury or death to yourself resulting  from your training run.
~That you assume responsibility and expense  for your own rescue and removal from the  course should it be required. This includes,  but is not limited to air evacuation. 

RUNNING DIRECTIONS - PLEASE PRINT AND  CARRY ON THE RUN:

Here is a link to a nifty Pocket Mod guide  of the Bulldog race course. Easy to print  and fold to carry on the run. Thanks to  Michael Royer for making this.  http://www.michaelroyer.org/wp-content/ uploads/2011/07/Bulldog-25K-50K-Course- Preview-Directions-PocketMod-Booklet.pdf  And another link showing how to cut/fold  the pocket mod. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAb31rIeGZo 

BULLDOG 25K TRAINING RUN – 16.5 MILES --  APPROXIMATE -- RUNNING DIRECTIONS 
~Park your vehicle on the northwest corner  of Mulholland Drive and Las Virgenes.  Optional parking is on the southwest corner;  use crosswalk at signal to cross.
~Walk west on Las Virgenes Road approx.  1/8 mile to the entrance of MCSP.
~Turn RIGHT into MCSP and proceed through  the guard kiosk.
~Follow the paved road to the end of the  parking lot on your left –- mile 0.4. ~The start of the Bulldog Race is here  at the driveway at the end of the parking   lot.
~Follow the paved road to the fire gate at  the entrance to Craggs Road (across from  the day use parking lot). Toilets are  located in the parking lot on the left.
~Turn RIGHT onto Craggs Road –- mile 0.7. ~Follow Craggs Road to the junction  –- mile 1.5  and continue RIGHT to the top of the hill  overlooking Century Reservoir –- mile 2.0.
~Continue down hill. Continue straight to  the river(bridge) –- mile 2.6.
~Cross the river using the bridge and bear  RIGHT. Take the narrow trail through the dry creek that opens back up onto  Craggs Road –- mile 3.1. ~Coming out of the dry creek, stay on the  main trail, past the MASH site, to the  bottom of Bulldog Motorway -- mile 3.4. 
~ Turn LEFT on Bulldog Motorway, go up hill.
~At the junction of Bulldog Lateral  (approx. mile 4.4) bear LEFT, and continue  up hill.
~Follow Bulldog Motorway to the top of  Castro Crest –- mile 7.1.
~Turn LEFT at the top of Bulldog Motorway  and proceed down to Corral Canyon –-  mile 7.9  ~ Go through the locked fire gate, down to  the parking lot.
~Leave Corral Canyon via Backbone Trail  (aka Mesa Peak Motorway) to the southwest  (to the left of the fire road straight  in front of you). This trail goes up and  over some very big rock formations. It  soon opens up onto an unmaintained fire  road (Mesa Peak Motorway).
~Continue along Mesa Peak Motorway  (bear LEFT at Puerco Canyon fire road)  all the way into Tapia Park -- mile 13.9 
~NOTE: Do not go right on Puerco Canyon  fire road.
~NOTE: About 1-mile before Tapia, you  will leave thefire road and go straight  on a single track trail. If you miss  the trail, you will end up at a fence to the DWP Water Plant. In that case,  turn around and go a short distance to  the single track trail which will be  on your LEFT side.
~Follow this trail into Tapia, bearing  LEFT downto the Tapia toilet (locked  at this time).
~From the Tapia toilet, follow the trail  LEFT; the trail immediately turns RIGHT  and heads down to the paved service road.  Cross the road and take the trail by the  chain link fence down to the creek.
~Cross the creek (do not run on Las Virgenes  Road) and follow the trail up to the Tapia  picnic area; follow the trail left along  the parking lot and through the fire gate  -– mile 14.2.
~Continue on the dirt fire road to Spur  Trail -- mile 14.5. 
~Cross over the paved driveway to pick up  Spur Trail.
~Follow Spur Trail up and over the mountain  and down the other side into Malibu Creek  State Park –- mile 15.5.
~Leave Spur Trail by running through the  dirt parking lot and turn RIGHT and proceed  along gravel road.
~Turn LEFT at the pavement (mile 15.9)  and proceed to the locked fire gate at  the river crossing (Craggs Road) -– mile  16.1.
~Continue on pavement past the Craggs Road  fire gate to the ranger kiosk at park  entrance –- mile 16.4.
~Turn left on Las Virgenes Road to corner  of Mulholland Highway -- mile 16.5. 

Happy trails, NSD