Post by: flyguide on July 18, 2011, 05:17:04 PM
As I was coming down the back side of the first climb which is essentially a dive bomb down about 2000' I couldn’t believe it when I heard footsteps behind me! How could this guy be keeping up? I was flying down that trail leaping over deadfall and everything! It wasn't even the same guy that trailed me most of the way up. Anyway, this was going to be a tight race I could tell. We ran neck 'n neck to the first checkpoint at about 8 miles and by that point I was already feeling a weak spot on my foot under the right arch but it was too late to do anything about it. I would have to run through it and it got pretty ugly. The picture doesn't do it justice at all (It hurt worse than it looks). That shot was taken the next day after the aid car cleaned it up post race.
Anyway, I took off out of the first checkpoint at 8 mile with an ok lead but that damn guy kept catching up to me. He was hot on my heels and I asked him if he had ever done that race before and he said "no" - a few minutes later I let him pass because I knew this climb well, it is about 2200' in elevation gain and is a true a mankiller near the top. I figured he would wear down in the top end and I would overtake him then. He passed me and I just kept a decent pace feeling very strong. I was on a killer pace and nearly caught up to him at the half way point after climbing a mountain with at least 50 false summits... each time I thought I was at the top... nope, "come on!" the top has to be up here somewhere! I came into the halfway point/turnaround 4 minutes back and made the first of my fatal errors. I didn't eat hardly anything at the checkpoint. I only ate a half of a banana because I felt so strong and wanted to catch back up to the bad guy.
I caught him at the point of descent to head back down the hill ( we ran along a ridgeline at 6,000' for about 2 miles it was spectacular - elk tracks everywhere ). The bad guy missed the turnoff because of all the snow the trail was hard to see and our tracks were nearly invisible because of the crust. We both ended up missing it and we found it at the same time together and the race was on! We ran like banshees down the mountain with me barely in the lead. It was a tight competition and at this point the other runners were still coming up the hill and cheering us on. It is rare to run that hard so close together in these races. It was a crazy descent, very fast and pretty dangerous. The other guy fell down hard and cut himself up pretty bad but hardly missed a beat. He could have been seriously injured, it was in talus rock on a very steep hill. He was a tough competitor. The next debacle was that I got a bunch of highly concentrated Powerade all over myself and while in the lead I stopped to splash it off in a creek (it was sticky and driving me crazy), instead of a 10 second splash I fell in the damn creek and soaked my shoes, feet, and socks completely wet! What a dork. I kept running with water and bubbles shooting out of my sneakers. It was really disheartening, the second of my fatal errors. I pursued him with a vengeance and wet feet for another mile when all of a sudden he came running up from behind me! He had taken another wrong turn, bad luck, we were both trying to give each other the race. A comedy of errors. I can't stay out of the creek and he couldn't stay on the trail.
I came rumbling down into the final checkpoint at 24 miles but was feeling pretty tired, but confident I would leave him behind on the final climb, another 2,000' ascent. I do Manastash ridge for a training run outside of Ellensburg a lot and steep hills and big climbs tend to be my forte. Not today though. My final and fatal error was not eating nearly enough sugar, gel, or anything for that matter. My wife was yelling at me telling me to eat at the final checkpoint but I was trying to go lightweight and fast I didn't eat or take anything with me for the last climb. I had to watch 1st place disappear up the hill in a shuffle hardly faster than my walk. It was a nightmare. There was nothing I could do, I totally bonked and got really nauseous and lightheaded all the way up and nearly walked the entire hill which I expected to run. I finally crested the top in rough shape and trotted down the back side towards the finish line which was a 1900' drop that sounds easy but after 27-28 miles at that point just keeping moving is pretty tough. I caught up with my sister on top who was still finishing her 25k and having her there to shout at me sure helped keep me going. I rumbled down the hill to take 2nd place 13 minutes behind the 'bad guy' whom was a great competitor and a hell of a cool guy.
I can't wait to race him again. I learned a ton about blood sugar managment in this race. I gave this one away. They gave me a blue ribbon metal for the 30+ division which is kind of cool. I really enjoy the people at these races and I am learning a lot about running in rough terrain. I have a 50 miler on my radar for next year and might do a race in the north cascades in August that tops out at 8,000' that sounds like it is half mountain climbing and half trail running. Even with as tender and sore as I am right now it is a pretty damn satisfying feeling after having run 32 miles in over several mountains in 5 hours, 30 minutes.
Run hard, train hard, laugh hard... and hunt harder.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 18, 2011, 05:40:06 PM
Post by: kalamasasquatch on July 18, 2011, 05:46:20 PM
Post by: bucklucky on July 18, 2011, 05:47:45 PM
Post by: BENCHLEG on July 18, 2011, 09:58:10 PM
Post by: SemperFidelis97 on July 18, 2011, 10:09:09 PM
Post by: PacificNWhunter on July 18, 2011, 10:13:01 PM
Post by: Bob33 on July 18, 2011, 11:05:06 PM
Post by: Caseyd on July 18, 2011, 11:57:31 PM
I have a buddy who runs ultras and I can't even imagine running for that distance/length.
Post by: briancorneal on July 19, 2011, 12:28:39 AM
Post by: rtspring on July 19, 2011, 12:42:49 AM
Not for me, I got better things to do :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: dreamingbig on July 19, 2011, 06:23:59 AM
Post by: flyguide on July 19, 2011, 07:06:34 AM
That looks like a ton of fun. I'm planning on running a 100 miler next year. Where do you find these runs?
Just search for any permutation of "ultramarathon in washington state", most events have 16 mile courses that a are a great first goal to start with. It is a great way to train. If I get a formal race on the calendar it keeps me hopping out of bed in the morning trying to get prepared.
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on July 19, 2011, 07:06:54 AM
Post by: PlateauNDN on July 19, 2011, 08:51:52 AM
I dont imagine any backcountry hunting will be a problem this year now I got to ask you do you just run the elk down exhaust them then put them out of their misery :tup: I did a couple 30 mile humps in the Corps, that was pretty tough cant believe you ran that.
:yike: :yeah: I thought those were bad but, what you just described! Damn brother you're a stud for sure! I'm also curious about whether you just run the elk down or not? :chuckle: :tup:
Post by: Matt on July 19, 2011, 02:36:55 PM
Post by: CedarPants on July 19, 2011, 02:41:36 PM
Post by: KopperBuck on July 19, 2011, 02:50:29 PM
Post by: briancorneal on July 19, 2011, 02:55:38 PM
Dude that is amazing, nicely done!!!! We should get an annual Hunt-WA run started .....
Count me in!
Post by: asl20bball on July 19, 2011, 03:10:39 PM
Killer run man. Way to go! I know evergreentrailruns.com has a lot of great eco runs in the seattle area. We should get a group to do one next spring/early summer.
Post by: MuleySniper on July 19, 2011, 03:22:42 PM
MS
Post by: wamuledeer on July 19, 2011, 03:24:28 PM
Post by: akirkland on July 19, 2011, 04:11:12 PM
Post by: Bronson on July 20, 2011, 11:28:18 AM
-Allen
Post by: CedarPants on July 20, 2011, 11:31:08 AM
That is an amazing feat, congrats. I did the Warrior Dash this weekend and thought that was tough until I read your race. Awesome.
I was there as well, what a heck of a good time!
About the Hunt-WA run ... do you all think we could get something like that going? I'd be all over getting the planning stages together if you all thought we'd get the backing/following ...
Post by: wsucowboy on July 20, 2011, 01:55:42 PM
Youre the man!:yeah: And here I was feeling good about my 5 mile run this morning
Post by: wints13 on July 20, 2011, 02:02:41 PM
Post by: CedarPants on July 20, 2011, 02:05:02 PM
Maybe we can get a self sponsored hunt wa team at certain races. the warrior dash would of been a fun one
The Dirty Dash is in Spokane next month if anyone is interested? Just over 6 miles
Post by: jackmaster on July 20, 2011, 02:17:00 PM
Post by: pianoman9701 on July 20, 2011, 02:20:06 PM
Post by: CJ-5 on July 20, 2011, 05:32:01 PM