Cascade Crest 100 - Pacer

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of running, a blur of activity as I get myself prepared for...

It all started earlier in the year when I was having a quarterly consult with Scott Jurek. As we were reviewing my ultra training plan and race goals for the remainder of the year, Scott suggested that I consider pacing someone at a 1o0-miler to get some experience at running longer distances. Unlike many sports where you have to actually race to get the experience of racing, with ultras you can get race experience without the race pressure just by helping someone else race. Neat idea. In Scott's words 'it's a great way to test the distance, strengthen the mind and develop endurance while helping someone achieve their goal of finishing a race without having the pressure of racing'. The keys would be to select a 100-miler that I could travel to fairly easily, then find someone racing it who needed a pacer at my speed, then set their expectations appropriately that I had never done this before and finally believe in my own ability to help them do it. No problem.

Scott sent me on my way with some good advice and also suggested that I give Krissy Moehl a call to ask about her experiences as a pacer and uber race RD/volunteer (and of course ultra running goddess). Krissy told me that she was planning to volunteer and pace Jenny Uehisa at Cascade Crest 100, so I contacted Charlie Crissman, the RD. Charlie (and his wife Audrey) are great people and were welcoming when I offered to volunteer. Long story short, I got some great advice and decided to volunteer AND pace someone too. I was set.

The first challenge was to find a racer needing a pacer. After some posts on the CCC100 forum I eventually found my racer - Scotty Pope, a firefighter in his mid-30s from the small town of Dallas, GA (northeastern portion of state). It turns out that Scotty's run a few 100-milers before but this one was going to be very special for him in two ways: 1) this race had more vertical (20,470 feet of gain) than probably all of his other completed ultra races combined and, more significantly, 2) Scotty and his fiancee Cathy were getting married the week before the race. Cool huh? The CCC100 was intended to be part of their honeymoon experience! What a great idea. Actually, Cathy must have the patience of Job because training, racing and recovering from a 100-miler is a series of major tasks in themselves, let alone only a week after a wedding! Yowza!

The race HQ was located at the Easton Fire Station. With a full compliment of volunteer firefighters, radio operators and others on hand it felt like a well-oiled machine ready for the 32 hr challenge that lied ahead. After the national anthem was played, the racers lined up ready for the starting gun. Seattle-area ultra notables included Phil Shaw, Sam Thompson, Bill Huggins, and Van Phan. Despite the challenge which lay in front of them, the enthusiasm was palatable. It made me really want to join them on that starting line. Luckily, my logical rational brain took over and convinced my passionate emotional brain to take it down a notch and remember why I was there.

First though I needed to volunteer. Charlie assigned me to work the Cole Butte AS (mile 10.8) and Tacoma Pass AS (mile 23.3). I barely had enough time to help the Lofton's at Cole Butte AS before I was needed at Tacoma Pass. Tacoma Pass is at an early critical juncture in the race. At about a quarter of the way through the race it's a place where the leaders are still jockeying for position and spreading out. It's also the first AS where crew members can assist their racer. The AS was being staffed by Eric and Iliana Sach of The Balanced Athlete in Kent, Don Mukai (well known locally for spreading the Japanese Proverb - “Stumble seven times, get up eight times”) and of course myself. A fun group! As you can imagine, it was super busy. Cars, crew, families, racers and dogs everywhere all jostling for a little space on the narrow and dusty FS road. Not to mention that James Varner was there crewing and pacing for Allison. James decided to spice up the proceedings by dressing as a hula 'girl'. Typical ultra.

The only scare for us came after about half the racers had made their way through the AS. As Eric and I were nonchalantly chatting, one of the racers and then very quickly a few more, came in telling us of someone lying unconscious in the trail and obviously in distress. Apparently, the front runners had stirred up a nest of ground hornets and all those runners who came along afterwards had to dodge the pesky little devils. Some of the runners, like this poor fellow, didn't fair so well and many folks were stung multiple times. Soon enough someone identified the stricken runner's brother amongst the support crews. He joined some able bodied volunteers and they all trundled up the trail to see what could be done for this poor guy. After a quick assessment, Eric wisely made the decision to call Charlie over the radio who in turn summoned an ambulance from Easton. Eric took my jacket and a blanket as he ventured up the trail to assist the others in stabilizing the victim. As they carried him back down to the AS nearly everyone else left out of necessity to help support their particular racer further along the course. It was pretty much just me, Eric, Iliana and a few other stragglers trying to stabilize him as he lay on the ground pale, uncontrollably shaking and basically out of it. Word arrived that the ambulance was lost and couldn't find us in the maze of FS roads so the decision was immediately made to ferry him down to the I-90 interchange where the ambulance would wait. By the time I made it down to I-90, the poor guy was being rehydrated via intravenous drip and feed some anti-histamines. Later I heard that he was doing fine. Perhaps it was dehydration combined with anaphylactic shock? Regardless, it was scary. I thought that the group handled the situation very well. It could've been much worse.

Since my AS duties were finished I took a quick jaunt into Cle Elum to visit the cabin. After dinner I headed over to the Hyak / Gold Creek AS (mile 52.7) to await Scotty and begin pacing him through the night. As Cathy, Tara and I waited for Scotty she told me that she was proud of his achievement of even making it that far. It was obvious to me that these two were in love. By the time Scotty arrived it was very dark, lightly raining and in the low 50s. Scotty was feeling some of the effects of the altitude but, more importantly, the vertical gain/loss of the first 50 miles which was taking it's toll on his tired legs. After some hot soup, salted boiled potatoes and a handful of oreos, Scotty and I flipped on our headlamps and took off (ok, more like rapidly ambled) down the FS road towards Keechelus Ridge AS at mile 60.5. We passed through Keechelus Ridge just as a stiff breeze began blowing. The rain was pelting us and making the journey a little depressing, but we chatted and I spent the better part of a few hours trying my best to understand his crazy thick Georgia drawl. What the heck was he saying? I wish someone had been with us to record the hilarity of two Americans from opposite sides of the country trying (without much luck) to communicate in a common language. Too funny!

At the Kachess Lake AS at mile 67.9 we refueled. This is where the infamous 'Trail From Hell' that borders Little Kachess Lake begins. Oh boy, oh joy, what fun that was. It was very slow going as we attempted to stay upright in the darkness and not unwittingly drop off of cliff a hundred feet down into the cold lake. Scotty had never seen trail like it before and I could only imagine what he was thinking. After a few miles of a slow jog we basically power walked the rest of the way to the Mineral Creek AS at mile 73.9. We did run some but it was neither consistent nor easy. All the roots and rocks cast huge shadows disproportionate to the size of the object. Very disorienting and mentally fatiguing. We were so glad to be finished with that portion of the course.

As we arrived at Mineral Creek AS, Scotty was at his lowest point so far, having completed about 75% of the race. It wasn't yet dawn so the old Circadian rhythm was stuck in neutral trying to tell our brains and bodies that we should actually be asleep, not plodding along on a cold and misty trail in the Cascades. We were only a few miles out of the AS just as we found ourselves reverting to silence and then magically out of the light mist Cathy and Tara appeared on the trail in the middle of nowhere. It was a great surprise to see them in the dark without any light to guide them. They told us that they had parked their SUV further up on the FS road near Cooper Pass and the Ridge Road AS at mile 78.5. When we hadn't arrived they decided to stay warm (and awake) by walking until they found us staggering along. Despite feeling physically fine and mentally alert I found that the mental energy I needed to expend to help Scotty along was really draining me. But, that's the job of the pacer. No matter what, be there for your racer. It was much tougher than I had expected.

At the Ridge Road AS we got Scotty refueled and pointed him in the right direction. This was going to be my stop. I was feeling very conflicted at this point, leaving Scotty in the dark to climb up the ridge just when he was seemingly at his lowest energy level. But frankly, without having enough base miles under my feet I probably would've become a bigger burden on him for the remaining 21.5 miles as I would've invariably hit my limit in some remote area. This was his race to run. As Scotty disappeared - a lonely figure in the darkness - we drove back to the Fire Station in Easton (Race Central) for some quick shut eye while we anxiously awaited Scotty's arrival.

I slept only a few hours and very fitfully, eventually waking stressed out. We all decided to go to the Silver Creek AS at mile 95.2 to greet him and encourage him along. When he didn't show up my energy level peaked and I decided to head back up the trail towards the French Cabin AS to see if I could find him. Sure enough, at about mile 92 or so there he was shuffling along and mumbling to himself. I forced some energy gels into his weary body and coaxed him down the trail. As his energy improved so did his mood and motivation. Unfortunately, the vertical was taking a heavy toll on his legs. He kept repeating "My legs, they be blow'd up!". It took me a while to understand him and then I started laughing every time he said it. It was like his mantra.

As we came into Silver Creek AS, Cathy gave him a big hug and plied him with all manner of food. This perked him up mentally but physically he was hurting. I didn't allow him to linger long. I'd been told by Krissy that AS "bonks" are common later in 100-milers and to watch for that. As we pulled him away down the trail I told him that I would get him to the finish line as long as he wanted me to. My goal was to actively encourage him along, taking his mind off of the final 5 miles while making sure that we traveled at a reasonable pace so that he could and would finish. It was working.

Despite having to dodge groups of kids on motorbikes and ATVs, who were sharing the last bit of trail with us (and stirring up the dust), we made it across I-90 and into Easton without complication. The fire station was within sight, except we had to take this odd detour around some businesses to get ourselves up and on railroad grade for the final push into the finish along the tracks. Scotty began pushing and as he approached the finish line his super supportive wife planted a big kiss of congratulations on him. It was very satisfying to see him step across that line. In a way, it was for both us even though it was his race and I was merely a supportive passenger. Yet, I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment through his achievement. Very neat feeling. Now I understand why pacing can be so enjoyable.

Scotty finished the race in 27:07, which is a great time given the immensity of the challenge and the fact that this was his first 100-miler under such strenuous conditions ('welcome to NW ultrarunning!'). Kudos to Scotty and his wife! Of the 93 starters, there were 67 finishers, a respectable 72% finish rate. Jamie Gifford of Seattle, running his 7th CCC100, won the race outright and took 1st place for Men with a time of 20:52. D'arcy Africa from Boulder, CO took 2nd place overall and 1st place for Women with a time of 21:15.

Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon - Bend, OR

I decided to head to Bend this weekend to run the Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon. This is the first in a series of consecutive weekends running a marathon distance on trail in preparation for the The North Face Endurance Challenge 50K in Bellevue in October. What a better way to start then to drive down to lovely Bend, OR and run with 130 other folks, two of which I'm training with for the 50K race: Sean Wetterberg and Kathleen Egan. This was my first time running this race (only it's third year in existence), but it felt like a well-oiled machine. That's how good the organization was.

Plain and simple, Bend rocks! I love it down there but I don't particularly enjoy the long drive. Sean told me that it took him 10 hrs to drive from Lynnwood! Yikes! I suppose I shouldn't complain about my measly 7.5 hr drive then. As soon as I got to Sisters though the drudgery of the drive melted away. I am always awed by the beauty and majesty of the landscape and by the wonderful feeling I get from being in the High Desert country (read my early post from the Peterson Ridge Rumble). The area is just so familiar and inviting to me, I absolutely love it. OK, back to my long drive...as usual, I was able to break that into two pieces by staying with my folks in Milwaukie on Friday night. That also gave me the opportunity to see my friends Vawn and Lou and help them celebrate their tenth anniversary with some martinis at our favorite place, Bartini, which is located in the NW district of Portland. It was fun seeing them.

After a nice Saturday morning brunch with my folks, I headed down to Bend. I had to go to the Footzone in downtown Bend to pick-up my race packet and buy a few things. With the race entry I received a 20% coupon for REI (bonus!) but it had to be used by Sunday (huh?) so I picked-up a new pair of much-needed TNF running shorts. My friend Matt Garcia and his wife Debbie were gracious enough to let me stay with them in their new house. Saturday night was spent making/eating burritos, drinking beer and telling stories around a little portable fire pit in their new backyard. It was a nice mellow night with some good laughter, conducive to getting in bed early and being ready to run the next morning. Alas, the dreaded "I can't sleep so I'll toss and turn all night" hit me. I kept waking up thinking that I had overslept my alarm and that the race had started. Crud. It was a long night.

When my alarm went off at 4:30 am I awoke from a fog, looked out the window into the darkness at the clear skies and thought to myself, "this is going to be a beautiful day of running and I am glad to be here". I was feeling re-energized and after a light breakfast of yogurt and a bagel I drove to the Middle School to catch the 6:00 am shuttle bus to the race start in Shevlin Park. For those who've been to Bend you know that it is usually fairly chilly in the morning, even in the middle of summer. Today was no different. I think it was just 50F and as we all hopped around trying to stay warm for another hour (race start was 7:00 am) I found Sean and Kathleen. Sean and I had agreed to run the race together since we run at a similar pace and neither of us wanted to go out too fast and then blow-up. Also, we've both been battling some niggling ankle injuries and didn't want to make those worse. As we chatted with some nice gals from Boulder, CO this lanky guy came wandering by wearing an outfit that wouldn't have been out of place in a bad 70's disco lounge. It was hideous. He was basically flammable, wearing polyester pants, an enormous belt buckle and some goofy Willy Nelson t-shirt along with a scrappy leather jacket and some brown platform shoes. And, to top it all off, he was jamming to Elvis on his iPod while dancing all around. What a sight. I'll come back to him a little later...

Sean with his girlfriend after the race.

Finally the starting gun went off and we trundled down a 1/2 mile pavement to the start of the trail. As our legs loosened up we started to warm-up. We soon realized that it was going to be another dry and warm day after all. Also, the first 12 miles of the race is a slow gradual climb along forest service roads to the radio tower so you warm-up quickly as soon as the sun peeks out. What a great way to thin-out the herd, er, I mean pack. Somehow, we ended up basically dead in the middle of everyone...for pretty much the entire race.

The run starts off with a nice smooth and twisty single-track trail (after the pavement) and then after two bridge crossings emerges on a wider trail that eventually turns into a forest service road that just climbs up into the hills. After a few miles of running on the lower trail one of the gals from Boulder, Marcy Servita, caught up with us and asked if she could run with us since our pace was good for her. Even though it's a 12 mile climb, there is only 2,500 ft of total elevation gain on the course which is so gradual that there is only two points where I can remember having a significant climb (and even those weren't tough). On the second climb at about mile 11 - the much longer and steeper of the two - Sean, Marcy and I decided to run it eventually passing a bunch of people on our way up. It was a good call. As we passed one gal who was walking up the hill we got into a conversation with her and learned that her name was Linda Barton and that she was from Everett and that her and her friend had just come from running the Crater Lake Marathon the day before. Yowza! She decided that she'd rather talk and run with us then not talk and walk up that hill alone. Our party of three became four.

At the top of the course, around mile 12 or so, there is a well-placed aid station at the point where you begin the 12 mile descent on one leg of the Mrazek Trail which is a twisty and dusty single-track trail that's used by trail runners, hikers and Mt. bikers. For so much use it was in fairly good shape. Very few rocks or roots to contend with. We all agreed that this was the best part of the race. It felt almost effortless running through the first part of this section as we let gravity pull us along. The RD had done a good job marking the course so we weren't worried at all about taking a wrong turn and getting lost. In fact, the RD was smart about it and had located the aid stations at the intersection points where you could easily take a wrong turn. Smart!

Linda started to push the pace a little and after a few miles left us in her wake. We were back down to three. Also, Marcy was experiencing some stomach cramping and other GI issues so we slowed the pace down and stopped a few times for potty breaks. After some more stops at aid stations, Marcy seemed to get her hydration issues in order and was able to pick the pace back up. I think that we lost about 25 minutes or so in total with all the various stops that we made along the way. Regardless, Sean and I were happy to do it for her. To me, trail running is all about the experience and not necessarily always about your finishing time. By helping Marcy achieve her goal, we felt closer to achieving ours.

As we came down the trail near mile 21 or so, we began encountering a lot of day hikers and some Mt. bikers making their way back up the trail. Sean, Marcy and I got spread out a little due to the groups we had to pass. Thankfully it didn't get too clogged, just a little annoying more than anything. The further we ran, the more non-runners began appearing on the trail. There was only one point where I got frustrated. There's a longish section of large boulders on some short descending switchbacks that need to be carefully navigated as they're covered in a sandy soil and have some drop-offs. I generally have good foot work and body placement and my 30 years of playing soccer help me move through sections like this fairly easily, but when you have groups of overweight, slow-moving retirees blocking your way as they inch down in awkward positions, well, things can almost get dangerous. I literally had to stop a few times to wait for them to move to the side of the trail (which thankfully they did - slowly - without me even asking) so that I could pass safely without causing them any concern. I looked at it like a challenge and considered them trail obstacles, just like the other features of the trail that needed to be passed and overcome.

Near mile 23 or so things began to level out, things widened a bit and there was more than enough room for everyone to share the trail. We quickly came back onto the twisty single-track that we had run at the beginning of the race, leading us back across the covered bridge, through groves of Ponderosa Pine trees, and eventually to the finish line where we were greeted by a bunch of cheering folks. As in any long-distance race, that finish line seemed like it was taking forever to appear until we actually reached it. I swear that this race was longer than 26.2 miles (my Suunto T6 watch displayed it as a little over 27 miles).

As soon as I crossed the finish line I grabbed my drop-bag and headed to the fast-moving stream which was adjacent to the finish area. Sitting in the frigidly cold water wasn't easy to but it felt so good on my sore muscles. After a 10 minute soak I walked over to the staging area and started to eat some of the food that was provided. I was bummed though. They had two kegs of beer from Cascade Lakes Brewing Company and it was already gone! What gives? Apparently the 360 folks who ran the half-marathon distance (and their friends and family) had descended on the beer like vultures. The poor marathoners were left bereft of beer! I was fairly bummed out about this and decided to go back into the water and soak my troubles away. Another 15 minutes in the cold water (this time with Sean keeping me company) was all I could handle. I had lost most of the feeling in my feet and even though it was 80F and sunny, I was getting really cold!

Me soaking in the cold stream next to the finish line.

Back to the guy I mentioned at the beginning of this post who looked like a disco reject working in a scuzzy Chinese lounge. It turns out that his name is Paul Saladino and I'll tell you what, looks can be deceiving! I ran into him while I was waiting to catch the shuttle bus back to my car. He was wearing that same outfit but he looked like he had just run a marathon. We started talking and I eventually learned that this was Paul's first marathon and that he'd actually won it in a blistering time of 3:05:11. Man, he was fast! Paul and I decided to go get lunch together and share our race experiences. We went to Longboard Louies to get their monster honkin' burritos. It turns out that Paul is a 30-year old Virginian who just moved to Bend in July to be a P.A. in the Cardio Lab at St Charles Medical Center. While he's waiting to pass his Oregon Medical Boards, he's been working some odd jobs here and there and running a lot. He told me that this was his first attempt at a marathon. Wow! I'd say that he's off to a good start.



I asked him about his experience and here's what he had to say:

The race itself went just about as well as it could have. I was definitely nervous about all of the logistics; what to eat, when to eat it, how much to drink before and during the race but I guess it all worked out. There were plenty of aid stations, well spaced and most of them had people at them too! So I can't blame my nearly destroyed legs on not refueling properly. I had done a few runs up to 20 miles but I don't think I had run down hill that aggressively ever before. That must have been what did me in because by the time I got to mile 22 or so my legs felt like bombs had gone off within them. The last two miles, its all really just a blur of emotion, pain, and exhaustion. I had no idea where the guys behind me were so I was just trying to run as fast as possible which for the last two miles felt like 15 min pace. I do remember starting to talk to a reporter from the Bend Bulletin after I finished and swerving a little as I tried to find some water. When I went to the river to sit and cool off I fell in because my legs were too weak to lower me slowly into the water. For me the coolest part of the course was the steepish, long hill leading up to the radio towers. That's were I felt my race come alive and first started to think I might have a chance of winning. I had figured that if I got to the turn around with a good lead it would difficult to make up big time on the down hill. Until my legs blew up that it is. After that all bets were off.

What would a trail race in Bend be without a couple of locals running. Sean Meissner (RD for Peterson Ridge Rumble) placed second overall with a time of 3:11:54 and Kami Semick placed third overall and was the first woman across the finish line with a time of 3:13:58. They both ran a good race. I also saw some other Seattle-area runners like Van "Pigtails" Phan who ran a 3:55:06, Kathleen Egan who ran a 4:21:35 and Jessica Mullen who ran a 4:33:55. While neither Sean nor I ran particularly fast (4:52:45 and 4:54:32 respectively), we finished middle of the pack and felt good about our performances given the circumstances. Neither of us got reinjured and we were able to use the race as a long training run under race conditions. Our goals of going slow, building our base endurance and avoiding injury seem to have paid-off.

Overall, this was a great race experience. I plan to run this race again run next year.