The Nightmare Races

The Nightmare Races were a series of free running races held in the San Diego area during the 1980s and 1990s. Held on dirt roads and trails, they provided an alternative to the typical pavement races of the day. Not all of the "Nightmares" will be represented here, because the results for some years were lost. There is enough here however, (results, articles, photos, and videos), to give a feel for what went on - and more than most people would want to read anyway. Please forward this to anyone you know who ran a "Nightmare".

Special Thanks
-to Mike Jackson, the official Nightmare camerman and racetime commentator
-to Dale Larabee for his hilarious articles on his Nightmare experiences
-to my partner-in-crime Rick Vandertie for decades of laughs and for continuing the Nightmare races after I was nowhere to be found
-and to all the Nightmare Runners for delighting Rick and me by showing up and having a good time

Race flyer for the first "Nightmare":

The first Nightmare race was held on July 2, 1988. The start/finish was at the corner of Mission Gorge Road and Jackson Drive in San Diego. Rick and I had been running the trails in the area for around 10 years, and decided it would be hilarious to host a "10K" there. We had previously hosted a 10 mile uphill race up Mount Palomar. We were admirers of Wayne Zook's "Black Mountain Race To The Top" and we figured it would be great fun to see how nasty of a course we could devise and then get some suckers to race it with us. Thus was born "Your Worst Nightmare 10K". Most of the course was either straight up or straight down and we made no attempt to measure it, but we suspected it was a tad longer than an actual 10 kilometers. Race day was warm and dry (July in San Diego, right?) and Rick cruised to a win in 75:37. You can see him gloating below in his fancy red racing shorts:

Rick Vandertie, Terry Cooley, Ken McIntyre, and Kevin Heaton after "Your Worst Nightmare 10K" - July 2, 1988

Happy 7th place finisher Dirk Seibold saluting the race director:

"Your Worst Nightmare 10K", July 2, 1988 Results:

More history: Wayne Zook hosted a race up Black Mountain in the Rancho Penasquitos area of San Diego. We loved that race and even took it over when Wayne got tired of it. In 1987 (before the Nightmare races) we hosted a 10 mile uphill race on Nate Harrison Grade Road on the west side of Mount Palomar. It's the longest uphill we could find. I don't have results from that 1987 race, but here's the flyer:

Your Worst Nightmare 10K returns: Encouraged by the overwhelming success (8 runners) of the first race, we made plans for a repeat race in 1989. Having noticed a very short supply of mud in the first race, we scheduled the second one for January in hopes of rain. Feeling a little guilty about the possibility of encouraging someone to enter a race they might not be prepared for, I exaggerated the race distance as 10 miles. The 1989 flyer:

My running log indicates that we ran the race course several times in December and January - preparing for the glory of race day. Unfortunately for us, some "real runners" (including women) showed up this time:

Back to Mount Palomar: We didn't hold a race on Mount Palomar in 1988, but brought it back in 1989:

Results:

Branching out: We hosted the Black Mountain Race To The Top in February 1990. We ran it the way Wayne Zook had done it. In subsequent years, we made it longer and uglier.

A little rain, finally: The third Your Worst Nightmare 10K was scheduled for January 1990 but didn't take place until March 11. It was obviously postponed, but I don't remember why. The flyer:

The results are in here:

Results enlarged:

Photo from 1990 "Your Worst Nightmare 10K":

Back to Mount Palomar: We couldn't get enough of Mount Palomar:

1990 Palomar 10-mile results:

Debut of the El Cap Race: If you've never run or hiked the trail through the El Capitan Open Space Preserve from Highway 67 to the top of the mountain, stop what you're doing and go there immediately. The unique feature of this out-and-back course is that the downhills you barely notice on the way out, serve to make the course seem to be uphill in both directions. We put on the same race here several times, and it was known variously as America's Finest Nightmare Half Marathon, The Chocolate Cream Pie Half Marathon (the winner received a pie), The El Cap Nightmare Half, The Mothers Day Nightmare, and The El Cap Nightmare Race. The results of the first edition:

4th annual Your Worst Nightmare 10K

We started giving out t-shirts at the 1990 race. For the first several years, you had to finish in the top 30 to get a Nightmare t-shirt with a screaming face on it like one of those below:

1991 Results:

1991 Mount Palomar race: Eventually, the spin-off races all became "Nightmare" races. For that matter, "Your Worst Nightmare 10K" eventually came to be called simply "The Nightmare".
The flyer for the 1991 Palomar Nightmare:

Before the start of the 1991 Palomar Mountain Nightmare race

Eric Lehtonen on the way up Mt. Palomar

1991 El Cap Nightmare (we called it a "half-marathon - we had no idea how long it was)

1991 El Cap Nightmare results

The 1992 Nightmare

1992 "Your Worst Nightmare 10K" results:

1993 Your Worst Nightmare 10K - We usually marked race courses very early in the morning on race day. On this particular morning we had to make some last-minute course changes so nobody would drown. What you see in the video and photos are SAFE river crossings. It marked the beginning of a variety of Your Worst Nightmare 10K courses, so don't try to compare finish times from year to year.

Before the start of the 1993 "Your Worst Nightmare 10K"

Ken McIntyre, Dixie Madsen, Dale Larabee

The bridge at race time

Steve being swept away

Steve back on his feet

Terry leads a group across the river

Terry Beckhelm, Steve Levon, and Steve Fick at a different crossing

I still had some hair in 1993

1993 RACE VIDEO: http://tinyurl.com/49bmggm

The 1993 El Cap Nightmare race - We named it the Chocolate Cream Pie Half Marathon in 1993 (I like pie). The winner received a chocolate cream pie.

Comparing injuries. Note the runner at left eating pie.

Dale Larabee - barely bleeding when he finished

Regulation #1 - falling leads to bleeding

Your Worst Nightmare 10K - 1994:

1994 El Cap Nightmare race - In 1994, the race fell on Mothers Day:

1995 Your Worst Nightmare 10K:

? -

1995 El Cap Nightmare race:

mini-Nightmare Races

In an attempt to increase participation in the Nightmare Races, we organized some shorter trail races and called them "mini-Nightmare" races. They were semi-tame the first year, but we found some awesome running terrain for the 1996 races. Here's the first year (1995) races:

Before the start of the October 1995 mini-Nightmare race (click on any photo to enlarge)

Rick marking the course for the November 1995 mini-Nightmare

Before the start of the November 1995 mini-Nightmare (click on any photo to enlarge)

Mike Thorp finishing the November 1995 mini-Nightmare

1996 Nightmare Races:

(CLICK ON ENTRY FORM TO ENLARGE)

September 1996 mini-Nightmare race results:

October 1996 mini-Nightmare race video: http://tinyurl.com/4ptjlcm

October 1996 mini-Nightmare race results:

November 1996 mini-Nightmare video: http://tinyurl.com/4zeb2b8

(no results found for this race)

December 1996

December 1996 mini-Nightmare race video part 1: http://tinyurl.com/4vwg863

December 1996 mini-Nightmare race video part 2: http://tinyurl.com/4kf45c8

1997 Nightmare Races:

(CLICK ON ENTRY FORM TO ENLARGE)

The '97 Nightmare shirt

The '97 Nightmare video part 1: http://tinyurl.com/488rpxs
The '97 Nightmare video part 2: http://tinyurl.com/4katdea
The '97 Nightmare video part 3: http://tinyurl.com/4d855zf

The 1997 Black Mountain Nightmare:

The 1997 El Cap Nightmare:

November 1997 mini-Nightmare videos:

Part 1: http://tinyurl.com/66eaqcz

Part 2: http://tinyurl.com/5wgfmyy

There were more Nightmare races, but my involvement ended for a variety of reasons. I've posted everything that I have, and I hope that everyone who appears in the results, photos, and videos above will get a chance to see this site - please spread the word. Finally, I'd like to leave you with the following: