Ay (james) Ahlemann Runs Mount Wilson Trail Race

By Author: Jennifer Winslet
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Jay Ahlemann ran the Mount Wilson Trail Race in Sierra Madre, California, two times.The first time was in 2003 when he was 58 years of age. He ran it a second time in 2004 at the age of 59. The Mount Wilson Trail Race is the second oldest race in the United States. It was first held in 1908 when runners raced to Mount Wilson, rested 1/2 hour, then raced back down. The race was held sporadically from the first year until the late 1940's and early 1950's, when it was abandoned completely. In autumn of 1965 it was revived and has grown over the years to its present format.Organized by a volunteer committee and sponsored by the City of Sierra Madre, the current race is 8.6 miles in length.The exact course has changed by erosion, fires, and earthquakes. For this reason no official record isrecognized. Since the revival in the 1960's, today's course isconsidered the most difficult.

The 8.6 mile race starts on pavement, uphill, to a dirt path no more than three feet wide.It features an elevation gain of over 2,100 feet to the turnaround point at Orchard Camp which is approximately 4.3 miles from the start of ...
... the race. Most of the race takes place on the Mount Wilson Trail, where some sections have vertical drop-offs of several hundred feet. Water is provided by the Boy and Cub Scout Troops in two locations. Registration is limited to no more than 300 runners.

Pastor Jay Ahlemann decided to train for and run the Mount Wilson Trail Race when he lived in Sierra Madre and was the Senior Pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, California. The race is always run on the Saturday morning of Memorial Day week-end. A large number of people from the congregation of his church were present to watch him start and finish the race in 2003 at the age of 58. He finished the race as one of the older runners in the race in 2:30:31 in 257th place. In 2004, Pastor Ahlemann's daughter, Ashley Manwaring, ran the race with him. This was her very first attempt to run such a race and she finished with a time of 2:26:57 in 274th place. Jay Ahlemann came in with a time of 2:41:28 in 283rd place. He had
just returned from a missions trip to Bulgaria, had been sick with an asthma flare-up, had slept very little the night before, and was unsure if he would even be able to run the race. He was pleased to simply run and finish the race and to especially have this experience of running with his daughter, Ashley.