Route: Tam to Diablo (CA)

Location
California, US
Distance
63.89 mi
Vertical Gain
10,804 ft
Description

Starting at Stinson Beach, this route links Mt Tam with Mt Diablo, the two most significant summits for runners in the Bay Area.  Any route may be used, but Von Stroh recommends the following (105km):

Start at sand's edge behind Siren Cafe in Stinson Beach, go up Dipsea Trail to Cardiac, over to Pantoll, then along Matt Davis and Nora to West ... Read more

Leaflet | Map data © Google

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Woot! <3

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I've been discussing this route with David for a while, now that so many folks have tried it (including an unlisted FKT for mixed team heading the opposite direction that I really should submit ?).

Our primary concern is that currently this route allows for *too* much variability. If one so chose, the shortest route between the top of Tam and the top of Diablo is a mere 46 miles of almost entirely road running and only 7k feet of gain. Clearly such a route would be significantly faster (and less interesting) than the attempts so far that have focused on trail connections.

A secondary concern is that currently this route is significantly "uphill" when starting from Stinson Beach and significantly "downhill" when starting from Diablo (~4,500 ft differential). While there is an elevation difference of ~1300ft just linking the summits, this difference becomes more pronounced if one terminus is a summit while the other is not. Therefore, and in keeping with the "straight line course" we have today, we feel a new Eastern terminus should be proposed near the base of the mountain for "point to point" records (summit-to-summit would continue to be the respective doors of the lookouts). The base of Diablo is between 170-250m above Sea Level in most locations, allowing for a location that while still netting "downhill" (~900ft) significantly reduces the advantage of running towards the Sea.

A tertiary motivating factor in adjusting the eastern route terminus has to do with logistics: while parking and access at Stinson Beach is possible 24hrs a day, road access to Diablo's summit or below-summit staging areas is not possible after sunset and before sunrise. This has meant that attempts thus far have had to either (1) descend after summiting Diablo, (2) run overnight so as to arrive at Diablo before Sunset, or (3) had cars locked in to the summit lot (some of which have made it out by calling the park rangers). Bringing the eastern terminus to a point not subject to these access issues simplifies the logistics by expanding the range of start/finish times.

Lastly, as we've discussed how to refine this FKT, we've desired to keep a high level of flexibility in the routing, so long as that flexibility didn't lead to there being ways to extremely shorten the route.

To this end I've come up with the following proposal for 5 waypoints runners must hit in addition to the summits and the eastern/western terminus points. These waypoints were selected to allow for a large amount of variability in route design while still keeping the final routes roughly equitable. In addition to the waypoints, three roads are specifically disallowed.

Note: Not all existing attempts would have hit all of these waypoints (though over half of them did, and all but Damien's hit's them all except for 1). Existing records should stand, none are so fast yet that others won't come along and run faster even on a longer course, though if we adopt this we should note on the attempts what waypoints were missed for future explorers.
 

  • Western Terminus: Stinson Beach on boardwalk by the bathrooms behind the diner.
    • note: Attempts should not make use of Ridgecrest Blvd to Ascend/Descent Tam, below the intersection of Railroad Grade.
  • Western Summit: The Door of the lookout tower on East Peak of Tam
  • Waypoint 1: The Stone gateway to Alvarado Park
    • note: Attempts should not make use of Bear Creek Road except for the short stretch between The Bear Creek Trailhead and Bear Creek Staging.
  • Waypoint 2: The end of Briones Rd in Bear Creek Staging (where it hits Seaborg Trail)
    • note: Attempts should not make use of Springhill Road. This effectively limits this portion of the route to Lafayette Ridge Trail.
  • Waypoint 3: Lafayette Ridge Staging Area
  • Waypoint 4: Contra Costa Canal Trail @ Heather Farm Park
  • Waypoint 5: Top of Ridge Top Trail in Shell Ridge
  • Eastern Summit: Upper Door of Mt. Diablo Lighthouse
  • Eastern Terminus: Three Springs Staging Area

I'll be reaching out to all current record holders for input here, and if there's agreement I'll be submitting upgraded guidance, a new GPX track (though users are still encouraged to design their own route!), and the list of the specific GPS coordinates (waypoints) that must be reached.

 

Locations of these points: