Athletes of the Collective: Tim Toben

Tim Toben

In the (belated) spirit of Father’s Day, for this week’s Athletes of the Collective entry, I am highlighting my dad’s later-in-life ultramarathoning campaign.

Tim started trail running at the age of 57. 6 years later, he has completed 3 100-milers (having gotten 2nd in his age group at Western States), 1 50-miler, and a half-dozen 50ks. The first athlete that I supported through macrocycles of training and racing, my story of becoming a coach is fused with his story of learning to run ultra distances. We like to joke that, “the tree doesn’t fall far from the apple.” 

Because of our relation, it is easier to homogenize my father’s efforts with my own than it is to do so with other athletes of mine. But that is a mistake: Tim is a distinctly impressive masters ultramarathoner with numerous age group wins and a personal, nuanced relationship with trails, nature, and testing his limits. 

But Tim would agree that, back in 2016, he was not the healthiest guy on the block.

He didn’t smoke a lot, but he did enjoy some tobacco in the evenings. He didn’t drink every day, but he did have a penchant for Woodford Reserve. Not really thinking about his diet or activity level, he was moving towards his 60s in typical fashion. He may have had passing thoughts of wellbeing but he lacked an inspired reason to sacrifice aspects of his lifestyle in service of health. Trail running became that inspired reason.

My father’s lifestyle gradually changed. In the first year, he built a base of fitness, running 4-5-6 times a week, logging 30-40-50 miles a week. He lost some weight, stopped smoking, and was drinking less. It wasn’t some elusive and magical shift. It was an educational process. Each time he hit the trails, he received a lesson in what works and what doesn’t work in terms of feeling good on the run. He started making small choices at home that resulted in feeling better on the trails. Over time, he became discerning in his choices of gear, nutrition, recovery, and mindset. He now has a fully realized way of operating as a trailrunner, wholly separate from my own.  While he prefers to go off of a plan that I design, if he had to, he absolutely could coach himself. 

About a month ago, he finished the Miwok 100k in a little over 14 hours, smiling the whole way. It was a marvel to witness. I found myself saying to him afterwards, “I think you’ve got this thing figured out. That was your best race ever, hands down.” He agreed. In that moment, he was schooling me on what it looks like to be in charge of, and charged up by, our own capacities. Congratulations daddy-o!

What follows is Tim’s Miwok 100k race report!

It’s been six years since my son Nathan convinced me to start running again, at the age of 57. Under his tutelage, I climbed the hill from 10K to half marathon to marathon to 50K to 50-miler and had even completed three 100-mile ultras, coming in 2nd place in my age group at the Western States Endurance Run. But perhaps Father Time was beginning to put the brakes on.

My attempt at a 4th 100-miler last fall fell short, when I experienced some neuromuscular misfiring at mile 68 and had to withdraw from the race. I took off six weeks to recover. In mid-January, just as I was starting my first training block of 2022, I fractured the first metatarsal in my right foot. A week later, I tested positive for Covid. Self-doubt crept in. Was it time to hang up my Hokas…?

Tim & Megan at the last crew-accessible aid station

My wife (Megan) says that Covid was a blessing in disguise. It kept me off my broken foot for the balance of January and the first two weeks of February. But I need trail running. It’s the only practice that serves my need for nature, solitude, and physical exercise. My mental health after runs is always better, regardless of the weather conditions.

Looming in the not-distant-enough future was the Miwok 100K, a “challenging 62-mile trail race with 11,800’ feet of climb,” along the Pacific Coast, slated for May 7, 2022. I’d signed up in 2020, but it had been postponed two years, due to the pandemic. I felt that if I couldn’t complete a 50K by March, there was no way I’d complete a 100K in May. So I got on ultrasignup.com and found a mid-March ultra, the Terrapin Mountain 50K. I knew I had a decent six year base and just needed to move, so I trained for and completed the race.

Having checked that milestone off my list, I was ready for real training, so I asked Nathan to build me a plan. I had seven weeks to get ready for Miwok. To my surprise and delight, the plan didn’t push me to run 60,70,80-mile weeks. Instead it was a varied program of mostly aerobic training that mixed in easy runs, hill training, fartleks, strides, strength training, and recovery. No single run exceeded 18 miles and no week exceeded 50 miles.

The race began in the dark at 5am in Stinson Beach, CA. Nathan was the crew chief. Megan and Carina (Nathan’s partner) assisted. Over 400 runners started, temp in the low 50s, headlamps on. Within 200 yards of the start, the first hill began, a 2.8 mile climb east, up 1500 feet. We raced the sun to the hilltop and met it on the ridge. Then a long downhill, before another climb. This would be the nature of the course. The first “crew accessible” aid station was at mile 13, Tennessee Valley. I was 25-minutes ahead of my A-goal and feeling great. My crew was jubilant and further lifted my spirits.

The next section crested the ridge overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Morning light reflected off the skyscrapers of San Francisco, in the distance. The trail looped down and up, revealing the rolling hills and valleys of Marin County. I felt strong but worried that I might fade, late in the race. I returned to Tennessee Valley, at 26 miles, having climbed about 4000 feet, with a total elapsed time of 4:55.

The next 5.3 miles were some of the most beautiful of the entire race. At mile 30.3, my crew greeted me with hugs, high-fives, a gear change, food, and first aid. I had just spent five miles running high above the crashing seas and craggy rocks of the Pacific Coast. My legs still felt
strong and my mood was euphoric.

I hated to leave the Muir Beach Aid Station, because I knew I wouldn’t see my coach and crew until the Randall Aid Station at mile 49.5, and my biggest climb was up next, a five miler. Nathan urged me not to push. I’d “banked” some time and could relax, if I needed to. He also told me that the Redwood Forests were ahead - another exquisitely beautiful feature of this trail. It was as lovely as he’d described. I had some cramping in my left hamstring, but managed it with salt sticks. It was 4PM, when I got to my crew, still 25 minutes ahead of my most optimistic goal.

Sixty-two miles is long run, but to my delight, I didn’t fade and collapse. Instead, I was able to accelerate and actually pass about 20 runners in the final three miles. I finished 133rd/352 finishers and was second in my age group. The low mileage, varied aerobic plan prescribed to me by Nathan worked like a charm! I came through the finish line to a crowd of cheers, led by Nathan, Meg, and Carina.

So I do get to hang up these Hokas, but I get to buy a new pair and continue the adventure! Retirement will just have to wait. Thanks to my coach and crew and the Endurance Collective!