Race Report Lumberjack 100 miler

The Lumberjack 100 miler is a wonderfully affordable and low-key run held in Port Gamble on the Olympic peninsula in Washington state. I had trained pretty hard for about 2 1/2 months after being reduced to cross-training due to an injury. I knew that this was a very short build up in training for a long event like this, but I finally wanted my first kick at the can at the 100 mile distance. My plan was to train hard, monitor my body for signs of falling apart and sign up last minute if it didn't. I knew that my friends Sean and Meg were going down to run the race and that our friend Dikesh and Sean's wife Nancy would be there to support them. I also knew that I would have to run eight 20 k loops to successfully complete the 100 mile race. Furthermore the course is historically very muddy and this year was supposedly muddier still. In all honesty though only about 5% of the course was bad with mud pits reaching the middle of my shin, puddles that should be called ponds or just a real slippery sloppy mess. Everything else was very manageable. I didn't know though that Meg's parents -Gary and Afona- would be at the race with their RV and would -along with Dikesh and Nancy- form an absolute rock star crew and a stellar home base for the 3 of us who ran the race. I was expecting to rely on aid stations and my drop bag alone. Coming in after each lap I was cheerfully welcomed by our support crew and subsequently helped with all my nutrition, hydration and gear needs. It was such a wonderful treat since I never had a crew before.

The RV also came in handy on the eve of the race when there was a real proper storm rolling through the "campground" (i.e. the puddle of mud forming the start / finish area). Dikesh and I stayed dry with the others inside the RV and didn't even have to bring out the tent we were planning on using that night. What a mucky mess that would have been. The course for the race has about 450 m of elevation gain for each lap for a total of about 3600 m for the 100 miler. It's a nice rolling course with a mixture of service roads and single track. An incentive of the event is the fact that you will be credited with a 50 mile or 100 k finish if you complete four or five loops of the course even if you were originally registered for the 100 miler. On the flip side this also makes it tougher mentally to embark on another loop rather than drop down in distance I suppose.

Before the race I made a real effort to wrap my head around the mental aspect of running 100 miles on a looped course which is historically not my forte. I went into detail on this in my pre-race post.

I will spare you the play by play of the race. Everything just went off without a hitch. My body held together, I was in very good spirits all day, we didn't have a drop of rain during the entire event, I had a spectacular group of people helping me out on-site and I knew that I had lots of people rooting for me from afar. How can you possibly quit or be unhappy under these kind of circumstances? Exactly. You can't.

Here's a little photographic evidence of my physical decline:

Before the start with the Vancouver delegation
Karl, Meg, Sean and me

Navigating through the mud pit after 40 k / 2 laps.

No sitting down for me ... yet.

Fine. I'll sit. Just a minute though. After 60 k / 3 laps.

Running into Meg and Sean after lap 5/8.
Showing some signs of wear after 100 k.

Fresh as a daisy. After lap 7 / at 140 k.

Walking it in with Afona inquiring about Sean's whereabouts. DONE.

Just to then be "heckled" - I mean congratulated-
by the two veteran Ultrarunners Karl and John.

3 things that worked out really well

1. Gaiters

I seriously don't know why more people aren't wearing them. They keep the debris out of your shoes that would otherwise tenderize your feet and lead to hot spots and blisters. No disadvantages aside from looking dorky, which I can live with.

2. My home brew drink mix

I drank a total of about 3 liters of the mixture during the race and it took care of my electrolyte needs and a good chunk of my caloric needs too.

Here is the recipe:

Equal parts Tart cherry juice, coconut water and water

1 squeeze of lemon plus 1-2 pinches of salt per bottle

3. Motivational notes

I had the idea to ask some of my friends and family to write some motivational or funny notes that I could read in between laps during the event. This strategy worked out really, really well and I was looking forward to reading a couple of them after each lap. If it weren't a looped course I could have put them in my pack and read them along the route. I had told everyone beforehand to send the messages to my wife and she and my daughter made them into some real nice playing card size flash cards. That way I never saw any of the messages before I ran the actual race.

Motivational notes from my daughter Lara

3 random facts

1. There were 2 spots on the course were there was a cacophony of frogs croaking all through the night. One was just after the start of the loop and the other one was in the middle were there wasn't any visible body of water.

2. The drive down from Vancouver -or Bellingham for that matter- going through Whidbey Island and taking the ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend is seriously scenic. I will definitely go back to explore the state parks along the route more.

Deception Pass State Park on the way to the ferry

3. The 100 mile finisher belt buckle is pretty sweet. Not like I care about things like that - or maybe I do.

Hard earned bling

Happy Trails,

Marc

Seven reasons why I will finish my first 100 miler

Well, technically it should be eight reasons with the first one being that I really enjoy running. Since it is to be expected that this pure in the moment joy will be greatly diminished  during the course of a 100 mile footrace, I want to focus on the seven additional reasons that will keep me going when all I really want to do is stop. All but two of my races to date went somewhat smootly. Both of my rougher experiences came at the 50 mile distance. One was due to a combination of mostly heat related factors such as chafing, stomach distress and overall fatigue and tightness. The other time I was just hosting a pity party for myself for no particular reason other than the fact that I didn't feel like running another 1 1/2 loops of the four loop 50 mile course just to prove that I can finish it. Although I did finish all of my races to date, I didn't always deal with adversity too well mentally. One might argue that picking an eight loop 100 mile course (the Lumberjack Endurance run in Port Gamble, Washington on April 8th) was not a smart idea with my dislike for looped courses, but then again ultrarunning is about overcoming adversity right?

So here are the seven reasons why I will finish the race and dare I say have fun doing it:

1. I will remind myself to be in the moment at the first sight of self pity and loathing. "Steady breath, shoulders relaxed, get out out of your head, notice your surroundings, smooth out your stride".

2. Speaking about smooth strides. The closest I ever came to having a mantra is: "Easy, light, smooth, fast" ... I adopted that one from Caballo Blanco of Born to Run fame.
The whole paragraph goes something like this:
“Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”

3. I have been a fan of the sport of ultrarunning for a number of years now. The 100 mile race distance is made out to be this mythical beast of self discovery. I am finally ready to find that out for myself. A quote that very closely corresponds to this idea comes from William James who to the best of my knowledge was not an ultrarunner, but rather a 19th century American philosopher.

"Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

Wouldn't that be something?

4. More self talk. It will go something like this: "If I quit now it's back to the drawing board. It will take a lot of time and dedication to get back to being this close to finishing a 100 miler in the future. I did everything right to get myself to the startline healthy and fit enough to have a realistic chance at finishing the race and supposedly if you're not feeling like heck at one point or another during a 100 mile race, you're not doing it right."

5. I will also remind myself that I owe it to my family to take advantage of this opportunity. They supported me along the way and put up with this crazy hobby of mine. Plus, they granted me the time to come down here and run myself a race. I should honour their generosity by doing my absolute best.

6. I owe it to anyone who is injured and would love to be in my shoes if they could. I have a few running friends who have been sidelined by long injuries. I should honour them too by doing my absolute best.

7. I want that danged 100 mile finisher's belt buckle. Societal pressure is real. I'll likely never mount it on a belt, but that's not the point ... or is it?

Keep an eye out for my next post on this blog "x reasons why I did / didn't finish my first 100 mile foot race".

Actually. I'll finish. I'm strong. I got this. See what I'm doing here?

Here's the actual post: Lumberjack 100 miler race report

Happy Trails,

Marc

Running the Wonderland Trail in 3 days

"The Wonderland Trail is an approximately 93 mile (150 km) hiking trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, United States. The trail goes over many ridges of Mount Rainier for a cumulative 22,000 feet (6,700 m) of elevation gain. The trail was built in 1915. In 1981, it was designated a National Recreation Trail. An estimated 200 to 250 people a year complete the entire trail with several thousand others doing shorter sections of it. The average time taken to complete the entire trip is 10 to 14 days." Source: Wikipedia

This write up is not intended to be a trip report, but rather a collection of useful links and information for anyone planning to tackle the Wonderland Trail in 3 days.

The trail has 3 major trail heads that are car accessible and somewhat evenly spaced. If you are willing and able to finish the adventure in 3 long days you will be able to stay in front country campgrounds and you will not have to apply / compete for back-country campsites. You do however need a national park pass for your party. You will also need a kind soul who is willing to move your vehicle and the camping gear around the mountain as you run. Each day will require approximately 2-3 hours of driving - longer if your timing is off and you get stuck in a lineup upon re-entering the national park.

We decided to do our circumambulation of glorious Mt Rainier in a counter-clockwise fashion although the opposite direction seems to be somewhat more popular. Two main factors influenced this decision. The climbs are steeper and the descents slightly more gradual on average if you choose to go counter-clockwise. Personally I don't mind steep climbs and my knees and ankles appreciate a slightly more gentle grade on the descents. Also, starting from Mowich lake in a counter-clockwise direction makes for a longer and tougher first day followed by 2 slightly shorter and easier days.

Our itinerary:
One Day before the start of the adventure:
We drove to Mowich lake from Vancouver B.C. with a short stop for some grocery shopping along the way. Upon our arrival we went for a short hike. The road to Mowich lake is gravel for the final 24 km. There are some sizable potholes, but you will not require an all wheel drive vehicle. Just take it slow and you'll get there eventually. We were lucky enough to be traveling in a camper van and we just slept in the van in the parking lot. I am not sure whether or not this is technically permitted, but it seems to be fairly common for people to spend the night in their vehicle. The camping spots at Mowich lake are non-reservable and are allocated on a  first come first served basis. I would have felt bad if we had pitched a tent and taken a spot from a hiking party that had no other option, but to tent.

Nice day for a run. Crossing the South Mowich River.

Day 1: Mowich lake to Longmire (Cougar lake campground)
53.8 km 2726 m of elevation gain according to Strava
Cougar Lake campground is right along the Wonderland trail a couple of kilometers past Longmire.

Tahoma Creek Suspension Bridge.
Watch for missing boards (unlike me).

Indian Henry's Hunting Ground.

Day 2: Longmire to Fryingpan Creek Trailhead
44.2 km 2379 m of elevation gain according to Strava
When following the Wonderland trail you reach the Fryingpan Creek trailhead after the long descent from Panhandle gap. This is the highpoint of the Wonderland Trail. Make sure to check snow conditions and consider crampons.

One of the Reflection Lakes.

From Fryingpan Creek the trail parallels White River road for about 3.7 km before one reaches the White River campground. This campground is non-reservable however and we therefore decided to stay at the Silver Springs Campground just outside the National Park. It is about a 15 min drive from the Fryingpan Creek trailhead. We had to make a reservation for 2 nights since our stay was on an August weekend. Upon our arrival at the campground a custodian also informed us that he was about to give our spot away to another camping party since we had not informed them of our late arrival (the reservation was from Fri to Sun and we arrived around 6 pm on Saturday).

Snow remnants around Panhandle Gap.

Glorious views upon reaching Summerland.

Day 3: Fryingpan Creek to Mowich Lake
approximately 44 km 2850 m of elevation gain according to Strava
The Strava file is missing the first 3.5 - 4 km of the day (from Fryingpan Creek to White River due to a user error aka me forgetting to start the recording).

Spray Park. So worth it.

We opted for the Spray Park alternative route on our last day back to our starting point. This adds a fair bit of climbing to your day, but gives you a chance to experience another glorious stretch of alpine scenery. Due to the high elevation, snow also lingers here until later on in the summer. This was also the busiest stretch of trail since we came through there on an early Sunday afternoon in mid August when a lot of day hikers are out and about. Overall traffic along the trail was not an issue at all. Everybody we met was happy and respectful and it never felt too crowded overall.

We drove back home almost immediately after finishing the run. I was very grateful however that I was not the designated driver, since I was very knackered after running just under 30 hours in 3 days.

Singletrack paradise. Spray Park.

Water availability along the trail
Water along the trail is relatively frequent. Most back-country camps have a water source nearby. I carried two water bottles and a small filter with water treatment pills serving as an emergency backup. If there is an extended dry period / drought things might look different though. The longest stretch without water was the climb out of Box Canyon (where there is an actual water fountain by the road) to Indian Bar campground (12.2 km).

Reaching Indian Bar ... and Water.

Useful links and additional information
The Wonderland Trail is relatively easy to follow. Mostly there are signposts at any intersections or campgrounds. The only place where I got slightly tangled up was while crossing through the White River Campground. It's essentially a straight shot and the trail starts gaining elevation and disappears into the forest  after you pass to the right of a wooden patrol cabin. You will still want to carry a map to help you get your bearings when you are second guessing which way to go. I personally carried this National Geographics map and my friend used some of the more detailed maps taken from the Hiking the Wonderland Trail book by Tami Asars, which is also an excellent and complete resource if you are interested in embarking on this adventure. It contains a wealth of information and maps even though all the trail descriptions are for travel in a clockwise direction. A third option could be to use these printable topographical PDF maps (full disclosure: I have yet to test these personally).

Here is a link to a trip report with stunning photography to get you psyched about visiting Mt Rainier.

National Park Service info on Mt Rainier and the Wonderland Trail. Closer to your departure date you will also want to make sure to monitor both the weather forecast, road closures and trail conditions to find out about washed out bridges, lingering snow and other problems.

More lodging options aside from the car campgrounds and the 2 lodges within the park.

Here is a nifty custom Wonderland itinerary planner that let's you choose a starting and end point and the number of days you are planning to be traveling.

Happy Trails,

Marc