My First 100 Miler

by Jason Farr

 I went to Raleigh, NC on April 6, 2013 with the goal of running my first 100 miler in 24 hours. Well, the last part didn’t happen, but I never lost sight of the fact that actually finishing was most important.

The Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run consists of 8 loops; each loop being 12.5 miles with approximately 1,000’ of vertical gain, or 8,000’ over 100 miles. The plan was to run each of the first 4 laps in 2.5 hours and come through 50 miles in 10:30. I went through 50 miles in 10:31, but the first two laps were each around 2:15. Classic rookie mistake; thinking I could “bank” some time by running what felt like such an easy pace early on, only to suffer later!

The course is run on amazingly soft trails through a beautiful state park. Although the course is all “runnable,” it’s definitely not flat. In fact, the “rolling hills” felt like mountains by the last two loops! My nutrition consisted of simple things that I knew I could stomach; mostly Perpetuem, gels, bananas, melons, potatoes, PBJ, and pretzel sticks. As it got later, darker, and colder, I really enjoyed the warm broth and even some some coffee at the Aid Stations.

The weather was great but dramatically different during the day and night. Saturday afternoon temperatures were in the low 70s with what felt like blazing hot sun. I even shed my shirt during the 4th loop! Low 70s don’t seem hot, but in early April, it was by far the warmest day I’ve experienced since before winter. During the night, temps dropped into the mid 30s. Between slowing down and my body’s seeming inability to regulate temperature - or do much of anything after 20 hours of running - I definitely felt the cold.

The first three loops (about 50k) were easy. Although I went out too fast, it never felt hard, and I enjoyed talking with people as we clicked off the early miles. In retrospect, I should have been even more relaxed and worried less about time and pace. Still, what felt so easy early on was faster than the plan I had set for myself. Lesson learned; stick to the plan!

Umstead allows pacers after 50 miles and my wife Lisa joined me for the 5th loop. Since I had started “feeling the miles” during loop 4, her presence was a welcome relief from the emerging aches and pains. But around 57 miles, things started going south. I discovered blisters located in identical places on the inside of each big toe. Lisa ran back to the AS (about 1/4 mile) for band-aids while I drained the blisters using the safety-pins from by bib-number. We carried on, but after that, pretty much everything hurt. I took a little extra time after loop 5 (100k). It was getting dark. My stomach hurt. I had blisters... and more than 50k to go! But after a full change of clothes, a Red Bull and an Alka-Seltzer (miracle drug!), I was ready for the night!

The folks who organize Umstead go out of their way to help people finish 100 miles. For example, volunteer pacers are available for runners who don’t bring their own crews. Although I had Lisa with me for the fifth loop, she (understandably) wanted to sleep a few hours so that she could join me for the last few miles during the early morning hours. I wasn’t sure if I wanted a pacer - particularly a complete stranger - but with fullon darkness and increasing pain, I figured a little company couldn’t hurt. A local runner named Mike Forte joined me through much of the night. He was incredibly patient and encouraging; running when I wanted and walking when needed. We seemed to talk about everything imaginable, which really helped take my mind off the pain and absurdity of running at three o’clock in the morning. Thanks, Mike!

Sometime during the 6th loop, probably around mile 68 or 70, things got really hard. Coming into the 7th - and next to last loop - it was clear that breaking 24 hours wasn’t going to happen. A few thoughts came to mind; one was what my friend (and race volunteer) Charles West told me when I expressed concern about going too fast after lap 2. He said, “you’re not racing, you’re completing.” Pacer Mike echoed that sentiment and reminded me that finishing 100 miles - regardless of time - was still an incredible accomplishment. I realized that I could literally walk the last 30 miles and make the cutoff time of 30 hours. What difference did it make if I was 24:30 or 29:59? I came to finish 100 miles, and I didn’t want to risk that by getting greedy over my finishing time. So I slowed the pace and alternated between 4-5 minutes of easy running and 2-3 minutes of brisk walking. Doing this, I still managed a decent pace, but more importantly, started feeling better!

I headed out for the last loop fully confident that I could finish. With a renewed sense of purpose, I put in my earbuds, got lost in some tunes, and even picked up the pace a little. I met Lisa again after a few miles and her excitement and company was a great boost! She laughed at me as my “running” resembled a drunken stopper, weaving side to side along the trail. She informed me that I was wasting a lot of energy by not going straight. She also made me keep eating as my stomach was in full-on revolt. By that point all I could really digest was broth and coffee from the Aid Station. I did force down one or two gels, but with the finish so close, I mostly just relied on whatever fumes were left in the tank and kept moving forward.

Reflecting on the whole thing, it’s clear that I made a lot of the classic rookie mistakes. Went out too fast. Took too much time through aid stations... especially between each loop. I also had no idea how my body would respond after 14 or 15 hours. Still, I learned a lot of lessons. Some say the golden rules of ultrarunning are “eat before you’re hungry, drink before you’re thirsty, and walk before you’re tired.”  Well, I followed the first two rules really well. But you can’t “bank” time, in a 100 miler. The extra thirty minutes I gained by doing the first two loops fifteen minutes faster than I planned was completely gone well before the 100k mark. It’s also important to maintain forward progress. I lost large chunks of time between each loop. There’s a fine line between taking care of yourself and wasting time. I’m glad I addressed my feet (blister) issues early, but I know that I could have been quicker between each loop and through the Aid Stations.

Even though I had hoped to finish in the dark, experiencing the second sunrise was surreal. With a mile or two to go it was clear that I would actually accomplish my goal. As I ran down the trail toward the steps leading to the finish line, I choked up a little and was overwhelmed with emotion. I forced myself to run up the steep trail leading to the finish line feeling both ecstatic and obliterated at the same time. The clock said 25:47, but that didn’t matter. I had done it! I had run 100 miles!

Running 100 miles became a journey of curiosity and self-discovery. Could I do it? What would it be like after 100k? All I can say is that strange things happen when moving forward on foot for that long. I don’t know why some of us willingly subject ourselves to such ordeals, but whatever our reasons, and whatever it was that happened to my mind and body out there in the middle of the night, I liked it.

.

Eastern Divide 50K

by Marc Griffin

Joe Doherty, Jack Broaddus and I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Christiansburg, it was much cheaper than Mountain Lake, plus Mountain Lake has no air conditioning.  So right there I didn't think I could make it, Canadians don’t do well in heat.  It was a short drive to the start and we arrived in plenty of time to catch the buses.  This is a point to point race, so you park at the finish and they bus you about 30 min to the start.  The start of the race is at a nice rest stop with flush bathrooms and running water.  After socializing for a bit, we were all gathered at the start and waiting on the start gun.


As soon as the race starts you start climbing, nothing too bad but it was a steady climb.  You pass a great waterfall and make your way around to the top of it.  This is where my first detour happened.  I was sitting in around 6^th place and I could see the leaders when the trail was straight. Well, as I came around a corner, the course arrows looked to me to point to the right.  I followed the arrows, which took me down to a river about a quarter mile down.  The race director told us there was no major water crossings so I knew I had taken a wrong turn.  I made my way back up the climb, figured out the right way, and got to the first aid station, where they informed me I was now in 20^th place.  So I picked up the pace, especially on the climbs, and made my way back up to 8^th by the time the next few aid stations rolled around.  Really, most climbs were very runnable and most of the course is either on jeep road or old fire road except for the first 5 miles and the last 7 or 8.

Somewhere around aid station 4 or 5 is where my second detour took place, I was feeling good and just blew right through a set of arrows.  Of course, it wasn’t on a flat section so once I realized I had made another wrong turn I had to climb back up (again) to where I needed to turn.  I fell back to about 12^th place this time and had no one to blame for this one but myself.  I picked off a few runners and was in 10^th place with about 4 miles to go. I started cramping up pretty bad and tried all the tricks I knew to stop the cramping, nothing seemed to work so I slowed and got passed.  I ended up in 12 place which I am happy about since this is my highest place in an ultra of this size.  I know I could have done better if I hadn’t taken the wrong turns and taken better care of myself.  Lessons learned!

All pictures from race website: http://www.easterndivideultra.com/2012.html

Overall, I believe this was a very good event.  The run was fun, had a few good climbs, some trail, some roads (no pavement), and quite a bit of rolling terrain.  It was much harder than it looks on paper, but not all that bad.  The finish line and after party was very nice, it had plenty of hamburgers, hotdogs and cold drinks.  They even arranged our tents so we had some shade and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Hopefully we can get a good CAT group to go down next year!

Here are the race results and here are more photos.

Mount Mitchell Challenge 2012

Mount Mitchell (Elev. 6,684 ft) is the highest peak east of the Mississippi and lies close to the Great Smoky Mountains of which many of them are over 6000ft. Imagine the Blue Ridge Mountains on steroids (including many more peaks). This was the 15th time of the Challenge (40mi) and Black Mountain Marathon (26.2mi). Both events share the same course, the marathon turns around at the Blue Ridge Parkway. About 400 runners signed up for both races that started at the same time (7am) in Downtown Black Mountain. Following two race reports from Christian and Drew.

Christian:
Drew and I were lucky and got picked in the lottery for the challenge. Cristina's parents live close to Black Mountain, so we drove there together a day early to be well rested before the race. The spring-like weather in the area was quite nice and gave us a (false) notion that Mt Mitchell might be a pleasantly warm run. We found out however that a cold front was on it's way. It sounded serious when the race director at packet pickup said that there might be a chance that both (marathon and challenge) could be cut short to a total of 17mi if the weather doesn't cooperate and park rangers don't feel it's safe to approach the summit.

After following the weather reports the night before we were still unsure what we would get up for at 5 am. A Facebook update from the race director mentioned 9F and 70mph winds during the night at an aid station. I don't think that I was ever outside at 70mph winds. What fun! The race seemed very low-key, when we approached the "starting line" that wasn't one. We just grouped with the rest of the 400 runners at the base of Cherry St. The sparse race info we got before mentioned something about race briefing at 6.45am - however there was no "official" in sight until 6.58am. The race director gave a brief "Ok, let's go!" (or something in that fashion) to start the race.

Mount Mitchell Challenge Elevation Profile (from iRunfar.com)

I didn't know much about the course other than we run up a mountain and down a mountain. The first 3-4 mi we were on roads towards the trail head. Drew, Kevin Smith and I kept a quick pace on the road to avoid any bottleneck at the trailhead. My left shin started to hurt like I had a shin splint (I had this on an off a couple of days prior but only on pavement. I thought it's my body telling me that pavement is not made to be run on and I should the heck get back on a trail). The pain eased off once we hit the trail behind Montreat College. The double track trail wasn't congested at all and the climb was gradual but runnable. The more we ran up, the better you could see the sunrise behind the mountains. Very pretty! The temp was chilly but not too bad, no winds due to protection of the hollow we went up.

There were aid stations every 4-6mi so there was plenty of places the refuel - stocked with basics like M&Ms, chips, pretzels, bananas, oranges, Gatorade, water. I was hoping for some potatoes as they seem to sit well and fuel good during races, but no luck. I carried Perpetuum Solids, S-Caps! and a gel or two in my hydration pack (without bladder) which along with bananas at almost every aid station consisted of my race nutrition. Like potatoes, bananas sit well too and provide a good fuel during a race. Probably my second choice. Every once in a while I ate some orange quarters to amp up my hydration.

Cloud-filled hollows – photo by Steve Dixon for the Asheville Citizen-Times

The Toll-road trail widened to an ATV-trail with plenty of rocks, more technical than I imagined but runnable most of the time. My Inov-8 295's were just a little short of cushioning so that my feet started to hurt pretty quickly. Chatting with a few people along the trail, the sun being up now and gorgeous views over the mountain range provided good motivation. I sometimes think of long distance races like a journey where you meet all kinds of people and get to see beautiful sights. It makes the race less a race and more pure enjoyment.

I arrived at the half-way mark (turn-around for the marathoners) on the Blue Ridge Parkway that was closed due to winds and ice which was nice so I didn't have to worry about traffic. So far the pace was good and I thought I didn't walk too much. Now the real climbing was about to start. The first part was a little more flattish, the wind picked up and brought some mean chills. I later heard that the gusts were about 40mph. FUN! Then a steep 1000ft single track climb to the summit slowed me down quite a bit. Some parts were pretty technical and not runnable at all, and some parts had thick ice patches that I tried to circumvent. I followed a guy who did the challenge 3 times and the last year broke his shoulder on this very part of the race. I figured it might be safe to keep close as I was sure he had not forgotten the exact spot to best break your bones. 

Made it to the summit in 9F

We made it, the summit! Breathtaking views! I took a minute to take it all in and looked forward to the downhill to come. It was pretty windy and cold up there, luckily the aid station was in a heated ranger station of sorts. This allowed to defrost my water bottle. I took about 3mins or so to re-fuel, hydrate and defrost. Figuring I could catch up quickly on the down hill. And I did. The immediate steep downhill was a fantastic. Soft pine forrest ground, switchbacks and technical for at least 2mi made it a blast. I just skidded once but could catch myself before falling. Immediately thereafter a mile or so climb up a gravel road. The last climb of the race...

View from the summit of Mt Mitchell

The next section was rather boring, about 4 or 5 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ugh! pavement! I managed about 8-9min pace. My legs started to feel a little tired. The road section seemed forever but after I finally hit the aid station I knew that the rest should be a fun, gradual 12mi downhill. I think I have never before run for so long only downhill so I was unsure if my legs would keep it up. Turned out they did, just my feet felt beat up. I think I might have even bruised the side of my right foot. Pain is temporary I thought. During the last 12 mi I slowed down a little but kept a fairly steady pace. The ice patches on this stretch were mostly melted by now, so I didn't have to pay attention too much.

At the second to last aid station I was unsure what I wanted and asked what these cups with foam on top have in them. They said Beer. BEER?. Yup, beer!. Sweet! I took a cup or two. What better hydration could you get nearly to the end of a race, I thought. Great!

Ok, 5mi to go - can't be that a bad. By now my I could feel what 12mi downhill do to your legs. They hurt (despite beer). I slowed my pace on the final downhill yet again. Then we winded through neighborhoods on mostly pavement again, yuck! Finally arriving at a lake and the finish line. Yes! Finished in 6:24h. Not what I was hoping for (sub 6) but still content. Overall I had no or only little problems with stomach, nutrition or legs. Quite happy with the race.

Post-race food was great though. Beans, Hot Dogs, Chili, Slaw, Hot Tea, Water, Coke, Chips, M&Ms etc. It was a fun race and went without any major hitches. I felt the course markings could have been a little better (more streamers) and a short pre-race briefing would have been nice. Otherwise great race!

Drew:

The Mt. Mitchell Challenge was full of uncertainties for me. I joked with Cristina prior to the race that I was breaking the golden race day rule by trying all kinds of new things on race day: I had bruised the balls of my feet when they went numb on a run over a month earlier, so I was wearing a new kind of shoe, which I had only logged a long run of 16 miles in, I was relying on a paper thin jacket I’d never worn to keep me warm in what promised to be cold conditions, and I was using a fueling strategy I’d used on a few training runs that lasted a couple hours, but nothing beyond that. Coupled with the new gear, I was worried about my feet since they were a bit bruised still, I’d had a lingering pain in my knee for the last week, my training had been a bit erratic leading up to the race, and my legs had felt trashed for the last week and a half. All that added up to not having a ton of confidence that things were going to go well on race day.

In addition to my own doubts about my physical well-being and new gear, I was completely blind on how the course ran, what the trails were like (where they technical or smooth?), and due to uncertain weather predictions, we were unsure until the race started whether we’d be running the full 40 miles or a weather shortened course only 17 miles long (part of me was hoping we’d be running the 17 mile option!). Standing at the starting line, I asked Kevin Smith what color the course markings were-he was in the same boat as me...we’d figure it out on the trail, right?

I guess feeling so ill-prepared and uncertain could have been really stressful and unnerving. For some reason, however, I found this approach really refreshing. I had no expectations for a finishing time, and I told myself that I was just going to go out and run each section as it came to me, not worrying about what was ahead at any point.

The weather at the start of the race was decent, around 28 and windy, but the air at the start line was filled with a palpable sense of trepidation as we wondered what the conditions would be like on the summit. We were told that the previous night the temperature atop Mt. Mitchell was 9 degrees with 50 mph winds!

The race started at the base of Cherry Street in downtown Black Mountain. I liked the low-key vibe of the start-no start line, banner or fanfare-just a bunch of spandex clad runners mulling about waiting for someone to yell ‘Go!’

With a quick briefing from Jay Curwen we learned we were running the full 40 miles, and we were off! The first few miles of the race were paved roads through the towns of Black Mountain and quaint campus of Montreat. Christian, Kevin Smith and I stuck together and we talked about our recent races and what we thought we could expect to find, weather wise, on the summit of Mt. Mitchell.

After 3 or 4 miles the pavement yielded to trail and we started to climb in earnest. The climbing tapered off a bit after a mile or so, and I alternated between running with a 9-time veteran of the Challenge, who filled me in a bit on the course, and a woman from California who wanted to come run the race so she could visit her sister, who lived in Asheville.

The beginning sections of trail were great! We ran under arches of Mountain Laurel, which sheltered us from the wind. The trails were non-technical double track, and I was able to avert my eyes from the trail to take in some views of the gorgeous morning unfolding in the mountains around us.

There was a fairly steady stream of runners stacked up on the trail as both the marathon and Challenge runners started at the same time. The front pack of Challenge and marathon runners had taken off early on the pavement, and I was happy to watch them go!

The weather conditions were great on this stretch, and I was able to unzip my light jacket and feel comfortable. As we progressed up the Toll Road (which is dirt trail) towards the Blue Ridge Parkway, runners started to spread out a bit. I had no idea who was running what race, what kind of place I was in, and was perfectly content to just keep running my race as I had planned to do. The conditions were still great and I was enjoying the stunning panoramas along this entire stretch as we climbed towards the Parkway.

As I neared the Blue Ridge Parkway (and marathon turnaround), the wind started howling down the trail. Strong gusts pummeled us as a harbinger of what we’d be encountering from the Blue Ridge Parkway to the summit.

I hit the Parkway in 1:58, and as the marathon runners turned around, things thinned out a bit. I saw I had closed the gap on the Challenge veteran I had run with earlier in the race a bit-he was about a minute ahead. A quick look back down the Parkway revealed the woman from California about a minute or so back. The race still seemed young, so I was happy to just keep running my race.
We were running into a headwind on the Parkway, which at times was very strong. The hood on my jacket whipped like a flag in the wind and I leaned forward hard and put my head down to keep moving. During one particularly strong gust, the wind suddenly changed direction and I almost fell on my face because I was leaning so far forward! A few miles of being beaten down by the wind on the Parkway, and the course peeled off the pavement to the Buncombe Horse Trail, which provided a bit of respite from the wind.

Up until this point my fueling had been going well. I had been taking a gel at least every 30 minutes, popping a new packet in my glove for at least 10 minutes before it was time to take it to let it heat up a bit. However, once we hit the Parkway, the temperature dropped precipitously. I started to hear ice in my water bottle clank around, and soon my bottle froze solid. I needed water to wash down the gels, so at this point, my fueling came to an unexpected halt.

Those who’ve followed my races know I’ve struggled to find a fueling strategy that works consistently for me, and with each race, I’m learning a bit more about how to keep my energy steady. Leading up to this race, I learned that when I lapse in fueling even a bit, my stomach shuts off. Learning this was a big leap for me! I knew going in to this race I had to eat early and often, as they say. However, as my bottle froze up on the way towards the summit, I realized I could be in for some trouble.

As I was starting to feel a bit low, energy wise, I heard footsteps crunching through the frozen mud/grass behind me. The woman from California had caught back up. Having someone else with me provided a needed boost (after a post-race introduction, I learned the woman I was running with was Rory Bosio). Rory and I chatted and ran the remainder of the Buncombe Horse trail, passing the veteran I’d been chasing all day as he filled his bottle from a stream. The section of trail was fairly flat, but had quite a bit of running water/ice/boggy mud to be carefully navigated. We eventually reach the summit trail, and Rory set the pace as we ran/talked/power hiked up the steep, technical and icy final mile to the summit, which we reached in 3:19. The summit was cold! I looked up the summit weather conditions after the race, which showed the conditions around the time we summited as 10 degrees air temp, -10 windchill, and 40 mph wind gusts!

Reaching the summit (Picture by citizen-times)

After summiting, we stopped off in the heated ranger/aid station. Rory was smart and asked the volunteers to help her out with all that she needed (her hands were so cold she couldn’t move them much). I was ready to get moving again, and stupidly didn’t think to take the time in the heat to take down a gel or two while I had access to water. I left the aid station and told Rory I’d see her in a few minutes, fully expecting her to catch up to me.

The mile and a half section off the summit was steep, very technical, and icy…which made for some fun ‘running.’ It probably would have been smart to slide off the big boulders on my butt during this section, but I ran and jumped off the boulders with some reckless abandon and had fun! By the time this section ended, I felt like I’d been worked over by a jackhammer, and I was happy when it ended. I knew that we had one long climb remaining at this point, which I dreaded. My hip flexors were really tight, and running the climbs was starting to get challenging. Knowing it was the last climb, I put my head down and ran up the mile long climb and smiled as I topped the hill and pulled into the aid station. I took a few swigs of coke, thanked the aid volunteers for braving the cold, and took off for 18 miles of downhill fun!

I maintained a decent pace down the Parkway. I thought it may take people a bit of time to get their downhill legs going after all the uphill, so I wanted to make sure I got moving on the downhills from the onset. I knew there were a few Challenge runners somewhere behind me, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t settle into cruise control on this section.

The return trip on the Toll Road got rough when I started bonking with about 12 miles to go. I managed to stomach half a gel here and there in the early miles on the way down, but I could tell my stomach was too far gone. Bonking is sadly all too familiar territory, so I didn’t feel too mentally anguished over this development (is it troublesome that I’m starting to feel confident with my ability to hang on and grind it out?). I settled into my standard routine of slamming coke in the aid station, holding on for dear life until the next aid station and repeating as necessary until finish.

As I closed in on the aid station around mile 30 or so, the volunteers complimented me on my nice beardcicles (I’m sure they were much more impressive at the summit!) and told me I was running in 4th place for the challenge. I had not had any idea of my position all day, so this was a welcome surprise. With this information, I had a bit more focus for the rest of the race, now determined not to get passed from behind for lack of effort on my part.

I was bonking really hard, but at this point it was all about getting to the finish! I pushed about as hard as I could and didn’t let up until I was half way around Lake Tomahawk and I could see both the finishing chute and that nobody was going to catch me from behind.

I crossed the line in 5:45 for 4th place. I felt a huge sense of satisfaction for having a good race when I was so uncertain about so much coming in to the event. The best part was that all the new stuff I was concerned about worked out great, save for the fueling issues.

Per usual, the CAT support leading up to the race was huge. Christian and Neal pulling me out on weekend mountain runs really helped me get in the early season training I needed to have a great race.

Mt Mitchell Challenge 2012 by Mohammed Idlibi

More info:
History along the Mt Mitchell Route

Citizen-times photos

Holiday Lake 50k++ 2012 - A first Ultra experience

I just wanted to share my experience of my first Ultra and get it into writing before I forget some parts!

I decided to sign up for this event after watching Unbreakable a few months prior. My training went pretty well and finally got to the point where I could complete a trail run without falling. The week before the race, I was becoming more nervous with each pre-race email. The weather report forecasting a chilly 16 degree start had me rethinking my decision to do this race however my family flew in from Colorado so I knew I was starting :)

I was a little less nervous race morning. Maybe it was the 30 degree weather that calmed me down more. The first few miles went great! I met someone from Philly and we started talking about our trail running experience. Well after falling twice while talking I decided I better first stop talking and start focusing on the trail and secondly walk off the pain from a second fall.  After a few minutes I was good to go.  I have to admit that I let out a little scream at the creek (I know trail runners are not supposed to scream at such things) but it was a refreshing break. The rest of the first loop went by pretty fast and before I knew it I was greeting my family at 16 something miles. I grabbed some Powerade, Advil and some quick hugs and I was off. At the first aid station after the turnaround I felt great and starting calculating how fast or slow I could run to beat 5 hours. I see Marc and chat with him for a while until he speeds ahead. I also see Sophie along the way and try to keep her in sight. The next aid station came pretty quick, now one more aid station and then the finish. At mile 27, I did a mini celebration of surpassing the longest distance I have ran to date. Now only 5+ miles to go. No need to stop at the last aid station, I had all I needed on me.  I decided that my one GU was not going to get me to the finish so I took one more...still not feeling that needed energy to make it back so I decided to take one more. Guess I needed to take more nutrition earlier on! Oh well, no more time for carbing up...I was anxious to get to the finish. I get passed by a girl who speeds by and don't even think about trying to catch her. The rest was a blur until I hit the paved road. I knew I was almost there!  I was so glad it was downhill because my left knee was screaming at me to stop running.

Yes! 32.5 on my watch and the finish line steps away. I was done!  Hugs by family and friends made it even more perfect at the finish. I didn't break my 5 hour goal, but that is for next time I guess.

Kendra

Hellgate 2011

My apologies for the lengthy post, but I wanted to include everybody and an additional  perspective (pacer & crew) rather than just a racer's report.

So quickly the scoop: Hellgate is another David Horton race but a special one. It has 66.6mi, 13800ft of elevation gain, a very tough course, unpredictable weather and it starts at 12:01am. Applicants are being deemed eligible by the RD.

Here the reports (in order of finishing times)

Mike Stadnisky’s Race Report:

Hellgate eyes are corneal e’

Run run run run run run run run run

Camping gap just before three,

Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun

Handhelds, synthetic apparel

Br br br br br br br br br

Devil Trail Mr Hyde Forest Road Jekyll,

Fur fur fur fur fur fur fur further

See the blaze and lights below us

Run run run run run run run run run

Foreever section try not to cuss

Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun

Bearwallow burger thing of pleasure,

Br br br br br br br br br

More than 62 by any measure,

Fur fur fur fur fur fur fur further

Shed your headlamp and your glasses,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Runners skinny with no @$$es,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Every CAT finished, now together

Run run run run run run run run run

No such thing as bad weather,

Done done done done done done done done done!

Entering the finish chute

Fo-real Report:   Ultrarunning is a team sport.

…was my conclusion upon finishing Hellgate 100K this weekend.  With preparation provided by the Skinny B runs; mentorship beforehand and first three hours pacing from Sophie; tireless support from Jamie, Drew, and Bob at the Aid Stations; critical pacing from 42.5 mi on from Drew; and finally, the sense of immense accomplishment that every CAT member finished the race. 

Getting down to brass tacks, I ran the first three hours easy with Sophie until I began moving a little quicker from 3a-5a following Camping Gap AS.  I felt pretty good coming into Headforemost AS, and executed a complete top layer and bottle change.  I hit my first real low minutes later, and in the quiet of the climb out of Headforemost came close to quitting – inexplicably, minutes later I blasted through the wall like a wrecking ball (Thank God and caffeine) and blasted into Jennings Creek AS and the race with myself was on.  The cheers from Bob and Drew here seriously lifted my spirits and with them the sun came up.  By Little Cove Mountain I realized that I wasn’t going to hit solid food until Bearwallow (BUMMER) but definitely provided the incentive to RUN. 

I hit Little Cove on or near my seed place (28^th) at this point, and made a pact with myself to be careful on the Devil Trail and keep keep keep keep moving.  I rallied out of that aid station and rocked the next section of the course, and was pure focus coming into 42.5 miles where I knew I could finally get some real solid food (the expression on my face in one of Bob’s photos scares me with the intensity I’ve got).  Horton and I exchanged some banter about the course, and Drew and I headed out of there in a hurry (with hot meat in my hand and and ginger ale in my handheld!).

There are not enough expletives in the English language to describe how I felt about the "forever section," though I used every single one as Drew and I joked, talked, and then shut up power-hiked, running the downhills and flats where I could (I can still move?).  We hiked 3 miles up and ran the 3 miles downhill to the finish line at around 2p, during which I was nauseous from the pain in my ankles.  Luckily, I had nothing to vomit so I just told myself "KEEP RUNNING."  I shed my top layer so Drew and I could both brandish our CAT shirts because it was definitely time to REP MY CITY.

Horty tells Mike he should've run a bit harder to break 14 hours.

I finished in 14:03, 20th overall/2^nd age group, and I was pretty emotional when I finally sat down – tears for each thought as I realized I completed my first 100K at Hellgate, thought about the hours of training with CAT + B’s, overwhelmed with the tremendous support throughout the race, and disoriented since I have found a new place in my head with new limits to push.

 Will I be back next year for it? 

It’s tempting.

Christian:
The last race of the season, a tough 66.6 mi through the mountains around Natural Bridge, VA , basically Hellgate was a trip. I must admit I was a little under-prepared, even though there are many race reports and excellent course descriptions out there I didn't educate myself much before (Sorry Horty, I'll usually do better.). It turns out the race itself is a very VERY good teacher. I enjoyed it a lot, it was painful but very rewarding.

Creek crossing at mile 3 or so

I felt a little off and not quite in the mood for a race but figured it's hanging out with friends in the mountains, so its gotta be fun. I did nurse a knee-injury (?!) from MMTR and inflamed my right foot (the ball, must have hit a rock wrong or something) with RICE and didn't put in much training mileage (20, 20, 30 mi per week) and no real long run. But I managed to get in some strength work and elliptical, which helped a lot I think.

It was kind of interesting as I didn't exactly know where I was during the race and if I had worse terrain ahead of me or not. I started at the end of the pack and a few hours later got my first lesson without realizing it. Of course when you start at midnight you are kind of tired already, so I figured I'll take gels and Perpetuem Solids with caffeine the first couple of hours. I realized that there was chance of crashing but thought it can't be that bad. Well it can be, I crashed after a couple of hours and got super tired.

Sleep-walking to Aid Station 4, mile 21

While walking the climbs I closed my eyes and imagined  how nice a warm bed would be.. - then a white bright light! a flash! A FLASH?? ..of a photographer at 3am in the morning on a steep climb woke me. I thought that's odd and went on, awake.

I kept going and got to chat with a couple of people: two were just talking about DNF's and "..that it's at all not that bad ... and if you don't feel like it just quit..." - that planted an idea in my head that I kept contemplating for the next hour or so but argued that I really wanted that finisher shirt (and don't disappoint myself nor the other CAT's who gave tireless support during the whole adventure), and it would mean I really have to come back next year to finish (which now of course I want to come back in 2012 regardless of the finish).

We had full moon that night which made it possible to run a lot without headlamp and that was amazingly beautiful. Wow! My knee and leg held up the entire race which was great and a good motivation boost. The balls of my feet were starting to hurt with every step. Walking made it feel less irritating, so I did that a lot. Every once in a while I found somebody that I could run with and made it a goal to keep up. Man, some of those downhills are really nice and fast. Love it! A motivation boost.

By the time of daylight I felt much better and the excitement of the race carried me. I was hoping to catch up to Sophie and even Mike which gave me goals to work for. I got passed by a guy (Gary) that I believed had a fun time blasting downhills at night and decided that I wouldn't loose him out of my sight. Then some kind of switch turned: "Accept the pain and stop suffering" became my mantra for the remainder of the race. In other words, don't think about the pain - just run. We kept a steady pace and ran as much as we could, even the Devil trail. I felt elevated by passing people and hearing from the CAT-Crew that I made up time. I heard that I was just 5min behind Sophie and so Gary and I decided to put it up a notch and a little while later passed her.Gary pulled me quite a bit and I am not sure if I had run that much in the end. In fact I stopped running in the forever section and let him go. The rest of the race I ran-walked and gave all I had on the last downhill to the finish. I was surprised to see my final time and just finishing 30mins after Mike. I was relieved to make it to the finish. A 100k was a new distance for me so finishing it was emotional and made me hungry for more. 

It was amazing to have Jamie (my wife) at every aid station for crewing and moral support as well as Bob and Drew who did a flawless job in getting me quickly through. Often times you just think about when you hit the next aid station rather than what you want to get at an aid station. Those guys always knew what I wanted and when I wanted. Perfect!

Lessons learned:
- Avoid caffeine overdose at beginning of a race
- Accept the pain and stop suffering
- Having friends at aid stations crewing you is crucial!
- Make little goals and work for it. 


Sophie: http://shiningsultra.blogspot.com/2011/12/time-falls-away-at-hellgate-100k.html
 

Marc:

Receiving my 5th time Hellgate finisher award and Beast award.  To the left is Clark Zealand and to the right is the legend Dr. David Horton, each direct 3 races in the Beast Series.

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all CAT members, especially Drew, Mike, Joey, Christian, Nick, Bob, Sophie and the husbands and wives of these great individuals.

Without all of you guys and the rest of the CAT group I don’t think I would have finished The Beast Series this year. 

CAT in general has made training so much easier, more enjoyable and the miles seem to fly by on the long runs.  The support from this group is amazing in such a short period of time!

I am excited for the new year, new trails and some hard training.  I have new goals for this year, but most of all I can’t wait to get back on the trails with all of you and have fun!!!!!

As for Hellgate, things went so so.  I was making pretty good time through aid station 5 then I slowed quite a bit.  Nothing really horrible just felt tired and run down.  I had been sick for the two weeks prior which may have had something to do with it but I was hoping to run faster.  The goal was sub 15 hours, and once I knew that was out of reach I just slowed down and enjoyed the day.  Still managed to get in right at 16 hours though.  The weather was perfect, I would say in the 20’s when we started at Midnight and maybe 45 during the day.  Rivers were full and flowing with all the rain we got.  All and all a pretty mild Hellgate, as far as Hellgate standards go.  Don’t get me wrong, cold or hot, snow or rain, the course is still one of the toughest around!

Jenny:

http://jendenichols.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-first-100k-hellgate-2011.html

Bob (Crew report):

Drew and I went out to Hellgate to crew, and Drew would pace Mike in from mile 42.  I had a foot procedure done the day before and I wasn't even certain about making it out there, so I didn't want to commit to any specific crewing duties and then not show.  We decided to skip the first part of the race to get some sleep, and Drew picked me up at some ungodly hour so we could be at Jennings Creek just after 6am.  The race started at 12:01am.

The first trick of crewing is to finding the aid stations.  They are often deep in the woods on back roads, even forest service roads.  They had directions for crew to follow the whole race, but we weren't coming from the previous aid station.  I found each of them on Google Maps before the race and drew myself a map and a turn sheet for all of them.  I would not rely on GPS as sometimes roads aren't even marked.  As long as you're on the right road, you'll see other cars and the lights from the aid station if it's still dark.  We had an estimated time for our first runner to appear, and estimated times for each section.  We also had the bib number for each of our runners, so we could check to see if they had already been through, or in case they dropped.

So we settled in for the wait.  Always dress for warmth because you will be waiting there for awhile.  A chair is a good thing too, especially if it's a drop bag station where you runner might need to sit down to change socks.  Christian's wife Jamie showed up, as she had been following him all race, so there was someone else to pass the time with.

Mike came in not long after we got there, looking very strong.  This was the "breakfast" aid station so we made sure he knew what was available and where, and refilled his water, and got him back on the course as quickly as possible.  Same with Sophie, who was running watch-free, and her first words were "I don't want to know the time!"  Christian came in next, looking a bit more tired, so we kept him in the aid station a bit longer trying to push food (fuel) on him.  Next was Jenny, who had JJ crewing for her, so I just gave her a few words of encouragement and stayed on the side to see if there was anything I could help with.  Then Marc ambled in.  I think he had been sick during the week and wasn't full strength, so he was just going for a finish and not too worried about time. 

The 5 of them were within 45 minutes of each other, so it was great that we got to see them all, and all were in good to great shape.  We moved on to the next aid station, Little Cove Mountain.  This was a narrow road that we had to turn around on, so Drew parked further down the road to make sure we could get out easily.  Mike was again first in our group, a bit worn from the climb.  We reminded him that this was the last section he'd have to do alone.  Sophie looked as strong as ever, and Christian seemed to perk up a bit now that the sun was up.  We got their headlamps since they wouldn't need them anymore.  We started walking to the car since Drew had to make certain to be at the next aid station to pace Mike, and as we got there we saw both Jenny and Marc cresting the hill, holding steady.

Bearwallow Gap was a drop bag aid station, so we found their bags so we wouldn't waste time on a search when they came in.  Both Mike and Sophie wanted burgers from the aid station grill, so about 15 minutes before they were due in we had them get them ready.  We started recognizing other runners and the order they were coming in, which helped us know when ours were due, if all was going well.  Mike was fired up as he came in, and he and Drew took off.  Runners took just a bit more time at this one to make sure they got what they needed from their bags and made any clothing changes as it was getting a bit warmer, but not much.  Still, I was impressed at the focus as they got in and out efficiently.  Nobody was dragging in, so our job was to expedite them through.

Off to Bobblets Gap.  The field was spreading out, so we had to hurry.  They were checking in runners at each aid station, and as we got there I saw Mike had already been through.  I was sad about this for a minute until I realized it was A Good Thing as it meant he was zipping along, moving up from 28th to 23rd.  Besides, he had Drew with him to help out, and they knew we might not make it in time.  I was glad we made it in time for Sophie though, as I had another bottle that she was counting on.  Christian was starting to close the gap and looked solid.  Jenny was struggling a bit but another friend called her husband as she came in so she got a pick up talking to him.  JJ offered to pace her in, and she took it.  Marc came in next, no worse than before.

The last aid station was way around a mountain and we knew we couldn't see everyone, and didn't want to miss the finish, so we skipped it.

The Hellgate finish line was odd.  There was a roped chute, a chalk line, and a clock, and absolutely no one there.  Everyone was inside the building 10 yards beyond, even the time keepers.  When someone came in, Horton would pop out and greet them.  We set up chairs outside and sat and watched and rang the cowbell for each runner.  I felt bad for one guy when Horton missed him, and he just stood there, and asked us if anyone was taking times, or what the deal was.  It's nice that everyone else stays warm inside, but the finish is a let down when you are used to people cheering you in.

We figured Mike had an outside shot at 14 hours, and he breezed in at 14:02.  We expected Sophie next, but recognized the guy Christian came into Bobblets with, and he said the two of them blasted the next section.  Sure enough, Christian was next.  He got stronger as the race went on.  Sophie was not too far behind, very happy with a big PR.  Runners had been trickling in every 2-5 minutes, then there was a huge gap of around 30-45 minutes.  Finally a couple more came in, then Marc.  We asked where he had passed Jenny, and he said "Huh?"  Uh-oh.  Another spectator said she saw Jenny at the last aid station so we knew she hadn't dropped.  After a few more anxious minutes, she came in, all smiles.  She had missed a turn and probably 15-20 minutes where Marc and a couple others passed her, but figured it out and got back on course.

All in all, a fun day.  It's a nice perspective to watch the race.  It's interesting to see how runners are doing at various points, and it's just amazing to see them sometimes getting stronger as they get deeper into a race.  I was really impressed that nobody seemed to get too low out there.  It may have been different at points between the aid stations, and that's a view that pacing can give you.  It's really not that hard of work to crew, you just need to be prepared, and immediately switch from down time to full speed to get your runner through.  And no runner wants to hear how cold or tired you are or any problems you had getting there, so you really have to keep in mind it's all about them.  CREW stands for Crabby Runner, Endless Waiting, but we were fortunate not to have any cranky runners that day.


Andrew (Crew & Pacer report):

Crew report:

My alarm went off at 3:07 a.m. and shortly thereafter, I was parked at the Dripping Rock pull off on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The full moon illuminated a dusting of freshly fallen snow on exposed rock, and cast silhouettes from scraggy trees which faded into the dark of the forest.

I stood outside of my car, feeling the cold, and looked at the AT crossing the parkway. It was a beautiful night. A wave of jealousy came over me as I thought of my friends and 100+ other runners currently traversing the Hellgate 100k course.

I was snapped out of my day dream by a headlamp appearing through the trees, weaving up and down, flittering in and out as its wearer passed behind trees. Bob made his way down to the parkway, his shoulders hoisting bags full of food, blankets, and extra clothing. We piled in the car and the headlights of the car parted the early morning darkness as we made our way towards Jennings River Road.

We had planned on beginning to crew for our fellow CATs at aid station 5, Jennings Creek, at mile 30 (Horton mile 27). Our intentions seemed reasonable when we first calculated the estimated time of arrival for the CAT frontrunners. However, Hellgate maven Sophie informed us our estimated times were too late and that we would need to arrive at least 50 minutes earlier if we wanted to catch our runners. Having already made the decision to start crewing at aid station 5, we rolled back our alarm clocks to begin our morning 50 minutes earlier.  Therein lies an important lesson- if Sophie has a recommendation or opinion counter to your own regarding anything ultra related…she’s probably right! No more than 10 minutes after we arrived, our first CAT runner came descending off the mountain into Jennings Creek aid station.

I’d recently read that CREW was an acronym for Crabby Runner Endless Waiting. With its 12:01 a.m. start time, wet course and long stretches between aid stations, I figured today of all days, this acronym would prove accurate. However, Jennings Creek set the tone for the remaining aid stations I would be present at- mentally and physically strong runners, focused on the task at hand and eager to continue on with their races.

I won’t get overly verbose in the specifics of my day; instead, I want to quickly dispel the CREW acronym I was expecting to encounter:

Crabby Runner-First, plain and simple, no crabby CATs were encountered. I attribute this to well trained/prepared runners. The training specificity of opportunities available to CATs helped create familiarity with conditions they were going to encounter on the course. Joining up with the group to tackle training runs with endless climbs and descents on the Priest and Three Ridges as well as running through the dark on the rocky leaf-strewn trails of OHill prepared runners for what they were going to encounter during Hellgate. Further, utilizing the knowledge of Hellgate veterans Sophie and Marc, everyone knew what to expect going into the event.

Endless Waiting- If I had crewed at this event last year, the waiting may have been noticeable. However, through CAT, I have had the opportunity to meet many other runners in the Charlottesville area, as well as a huge network of runners throughout Virginia by participating in VHTRC events. When I go to events now, running or crewing, I am amazed at the number of runners I know by name. Instead of waiting on a lone runner to make it to the aid station, I am constantly checking on the needs of other runners I know as they come through the aid station. If anything, we struggled with not having enough time at each aid station!

If you haven’t crewed, you’re missing out on an integral slice of the ultra pie. Many of us rely heavily on our crews during a race. It’s good to turn the tables and see what your crew experiences while you’re out there running. As runners, we often have the same approach to our crew as we do to utilities like water or electricity- they’re simply there when we want them to be!  Of course there are behind the scenes logistics! See Bob’s take for more info on that.

Pacer report:

I joined up with Mike as he came through Bearwallow aid station, mile 46 (Horton mile 42.5).

Some of the highlights of our 20 miles together:

Along the beautiful traverse from Bearwallow to Bobblets Gap, we reached consensus about how great the course was and how funny it was that people let Horton play mind games with them.  We also disagreed about the benefit of answering certain calls of nature during a race (It's totally worth it!).

The first climb of the Forever section needs a hug after the verbal lashing Mike gave it (but it totally deserved it).

Somewhere in the forever section-

Mike: Audible Grunt

Me: Is that a grunt of pain or satisfaction?

Mike: (long reflective pause) I don’t know

On the last climb of the race leaving Day Creek aid station, French runner Olivier passes us in a serious power hike. I prod Mike to keep him in our sights so we can catch him on the descent. Mike’s response, “Dude’s got UTMB thighs, I’m cool letting him go!”

Climbing and descending the final section I pushed Mike pretty hard. He dug deep and stayed by my side, eager to close out the race.

Mike made my job easy. He never needed me to spur him on or reminders to take an s-cap or a sip of ginger ale. I got him to take some extra calories in a few times, but that was about it. For a debut 100k, Mike was really strong, running almost all of the climbs up to the Forever section and hitting the descents hard despite his ankle having taken a beating earlier in the race.

I had an absolute blast pacing. I hope to be back next year and cover the beginning 46 miles, plus the last 20!

Drew

This Saturday: UROC at Wintergreen

The inaugural TrailRunner Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100K will be held this Saturday, September 24th, at Wintergreen Resort.  The race, directed by Charlottesville Running Company owners Gill and Francesca, has as its goal the creation of  "the championship event for the sport of ultra distance running."  To this end, the inaugural race features an impressive collection of elite ultra runners including Geoff Roes, Anita Ortiz, Devon Crosby-Jones, Ian Sharman, Michael Wardian, Anne Riddle Lundblad, and David Mackey. These top-names will compete against other elite and citizen racers, including local fast talents like Ragan Petrie and Eric Grossman, for prizes totaling $10,000.

Race-day promises to be an exciting one for spectators, as over half of the course will be held on roads in and around Wintergreen and on the neighboring Blue Ridge Parkway, and the race will be covered live by iRunFar.com's Bryon Powell, with commentary help from local ultra running great, Andy Jones-Wilkins.  Friday evening features a "Meet the Elites" panel from 7-8 pm at Wintergreen's Discovery Ridge, preceded by an Expo and TrailRunner interviews with some of the top racers. To top things off, Wintergreen is also hosting its annual Oktoberfest which features food, oompah bands, and a beer tent!

Most importantly, CAT runners Bob Clouston, Nick Hamblet, and Chris Engle will be running the UROC sister event, the Uber Rock 50K!  So come out to Wintergreen Friday and Saturday to see and greet the elites, drink some beer, and cheer on our CAT runners!

Cascade Crest 100

I’ve opted not to provide a blow-by-blow race report, but I’ll share a couple of thoughts and some photos that you may find of interest.

Me and Wes (who paced miles 47-68 and 96-finish) on race morning (Saturday, August 27). Wes ran/walked with me from about midnight to about 6 am. My second pacer Geoff (miles 68-finish) is shown on following pictures.

My training may have been somewhat unconventional for a 100-mile race. Basically, I alternated easy and hard weeks, and the easy weeks were really easy (often 10-20 miles, sometimes less depending on what was going on with life otherwise). I primarily needed the easy weeks to allow for reasonable time for family and work. But I think the frequent easy weeks were helpful for several other reasons. They allowed adequate physical recovery: I certainly did not overtrain, and I did not have significant injury issues during the buildup. Also, I was psychologically ready to tackle the hard/long week when it rolled around. This kept things from getting old and helped preserve general enthusiasm. I basically started training for the race in October/November, increased the hard week mileage no more than about 5% every 2 weeks, and slowly built up to a peak of 75 miles in one week. In the 8 weeks leading up to my peak mileage, my weekly mileages were 24, 62, 6, 64, 12, 70, 3, 75 (then started a taper: 51, 30, 23, 5). This training plan is probably not good for optimal performance, but it was certainly enough to get me to the finish uninjured and feeling well.

The scenery at Cascade Crest was unbelievable. The above two photos are at Thorp Mountain, approximately mile 84. (Note Mount Rainier in background.) My friend Geoff was my pacer from mile 68 to finish. He got me through two tough sections, the “Trail from Hell” (~68-73) and the “Cardiac Needles” (~80-88). The two photos above were taken by Glenn Tachiyama, the official race photographer (photos purchased from him).

I took the advice of Sophie et al to heart by making completion my only specific goal. So a really conservative pace was the name of the game from the start. I had no idea what to expect after mile 50 or 60, so I wanted to preserve my legs as much as I could over the first 50 miles. I started the race toward the back and stayed there. I attached myself to a grizzled veteran (attempting his 6th Cascade Crest) for 20+ miles; this was really helpful as it kept me from unwittingly pushing the pace early on. I did lots of walking from the beginning. If it looked remotely like an uphill that took more than 5 seconds to crest, I walked it. I only ran if it was flat or downhill, but I sometimes walked some during these sections as well. I slowed myself down a number of times. I only pushed a bit a couple of times in the last 40 miles when I thought I might possibly be putting myself close to cutoffs. Overall, I finished tired but feeing pretty well—better than I felt at the end of my two 50 milers and my hard-effort marathons.

Photo taken by my brother at about mile 47 (left).

Beautiful, but I found running/walking throughout 

the night (about 9.5 hours total) to be mentally challenging.

I had two notable bad patches, although they were relatively mild as far as bad patches go. One started at about mile 37—shortly after dusk—when I turned my right ankle pretty bad (something’s not right with my right ankle). I then decided that, as long as it was dark, I would walk the single track to avoid another turn of the right ankle (which I worried could jeopardize a finish). So I was walking much of the next 3-4 hours alone in the dark, and this was tough for morale. I also started to develop stomach cramps at about mile 45, and this persisted until about mile 60. Not sure what this was about, because I wasn’t pushing the pace at all. My second tough patch was through the “Cardiac Needles,” an 8-mile segment (miles 80-88) marked by 5 relatively short but significant climbs/descents. This was the most physically demanding section for me.

The crew at the finish: Geoff, me, Wes, and my brother Steve. Final time was 31:20 (40 minutes under cutoff).

Gary Knipling and Wes joking around at finish. Many thanks to Gary for being so encouraging.

Overall, the trip was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. Completing a 100 mile race in a beautiful area was a big part of it. But perhaps the best thing about the trip overall was being with the guys (Steve, Wes, Geoff). We made the race an occasion for a “boys night out” of sorts.

Me and brother/crew member Steve on the Pacific Crest Trail (Thurs, August 25)

Me and buddy/pacer/crew member Wes on Pacific Crest Trail (Thurs, August 25)

VHTRC had a big showing at Cascade Crest 2011 (2 additional VHTRC runners were present but aren’t shown in this picture).

At some point (it will take some time), I’m hoping to put together a lot more of the photos (and videos) we got while out there.