Bigfoot 100k – 2017

My first 100k…  Having never ran anything more than a 50k, I really had no idea what to expect or how my body would handle it.  I went with my typical strategy of being under-trained and overweight, which has served me well in the past.  Full deets can be found below.

Race information

• What? BigFoot 100k
• When? July 22, 2017
• How far? 68ish Miles w/ 14k’ of gain
• Where? Mount Saint Helens (Near Cougar, WA)
• Website: http://www.bigfoot200.com/bigfoot-100k.html
• Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/1097958205

Goals

Splits

Training

You can check out my full training leading up to the race by clicking here. I never really got to where I wanted to be, I was hoping to peak out around 70 miles a week with close to 10k’ of gain.  Due to injuries, lack of time and laziness I ended up falling pretty short of that.

Not to worry though! I am used to being under trained, so I wasn’t stressed.  I felt like if I could just keep moving and downing calories (basically avoid catastrophic injuries and stuff my face) , I would eventually finish. The cutoff was 28.5 hours after all, or a 25min/mile pace

Pre-race

First thing’s first, the whole area is beautiful.  Everything surrounding Mount Saint Helens really is one of a kind and is worth seeing at least once in your life.  If you are not familiar with the mountain, or should I say volcano, it erupted in 1980.   The landscape is now largely treeless around the mountain, leaving you very exposed.  There are pumice and boulder fields and all kinds of unique and challenging obstacles that make this a very special place.  Oh, and did I mention it can get really hot?

Now as for the actual race… I was lucky enough to have some of my closest friends join me for the weekend to help crew for me (plus 2 of them were going to pace me).  The evening before the race, we all shared a cabin about 20 minutes away from the race start which was at marble mountain sno-park.

The little “resort” was actually pretty nice and had a decent restaurant, which most of the runners dined at the night before the race.  I had a turkey sandwich and a lemonade for dinner. My buddies and I chilled around a campfire outside the cabin for a couple hours snacking and shooting the breeze before I packed up all my gear and got it ready for the following morning.

Race

I woke up at 5:45, quickly got my gear on and tried my best to down some calories (some icky ProBar) and began hydrating.  I knew it was going to get pretty hot (at least mid-upper 90s), so I was a little worried about stomach issues creeping up on me later in the day.  I was planning on relying mostly on Tailwind and some Fruit Leathers for my nutrition.  I also tried my best to use the bathroom to clear out the pipes before heading into the woods for 20+hours. The last thing I want to deal with during an endurance race is having to use the bathroom…

At 6:20 or so my girlfriend and I headed down to marble mountain sno-park which was the location for the start of the race.  We anxiously waited around with the 60 or so other race participants until 7:00 finally came and I was off!  Going in, my motto for the race was basically turtle mode; slow and steady.

Start to Oasis Aid: 14.4 miles with +3894 gain and -2153 loss

I had looked at the elevation profile for the race and knew this section was going to be one of the tougher parts of the race.  Pair that with the fact that there was a good stretch of boulder fields, I knew I was going to have to take it easy to not brake my ankles.

The morning ended up being gorgeous and the temps were perfect.  I felt awesome all the way to the first aid station.  I drank maybe half my tailwind (first mistake of the day) and didn’t eat anything so I was already a bit behind on my nutrition, something I knew I had to take more seriously moving forward.  I think I rolled into the aid station right around 15mins/mile which made me very happy.

Oasis Aid, mile 14.4: 15.1 to next aid (S. Coldwater), +2368 gain and -4750 to next aid

I didn’t want to linger at this aid station as it was crowded and there wasn’t much in the way of food.  I refilled my bladder with tailwind, applied a ton of sunscreen and starting munching on a fruit leather as I rolled out.  The next chunk of miles were some of the worst of the day for me. I really started to feel the heat.  The sunscreen wore off pretty quick and I could feel (and smell) my skin burning (mistake number 2).

At mile 18 or so there was a small dirty little creek which was the last water crossing for 10 miles, so it was time to stock up! I took the opportunity to refill my bladder (1.5L) and my water bottle (1L).  On a side note, I used a Sawyer Mini water filter which worked perfectly.  Anyhow, back to the story, thank God I refilled everything. I ran out of water about a quarter mile away from the next aid.  I felt pretty shitty when I rolled into South Coldwater and peed some blood for the first time that day.

South Coldwater Aid mile 29.5: 8 miles to next aid (Johnston Ridge), +2405, -613 to next aid

Feeling like I had been in an oven for a few hours I decided it would be best to spend some extra time at this aid station and get myself feeling normal.  I had a feeling I was starting to get heat exhaustion.  Unfortunately, this aid station didn’t really have cold beverages which was a major buzz kill.

I stayed for about 15 minutes sitting in the shade drinking water and eating oranges.  When I was feeling somewhat normal I had all my stuff refilled and got more sunscreen on me.  I left the aid station with a bit of a second wind (think my pace was close to 16min/mile when I left).

I was super excited to get to the next aid and see my crew and pick up my first pacer.  That excitement lasted all of a mile (which was the only paved part of the course) before I felt like I was back in the oven.  It felt like it was all uphill (probably because it was) and there was almost no shade.  I had to keep finding shrubs and ducking behind them just to get my heart rate down.  Those 8 miles were probably the hardest part of the race for me, one of my running buddies said it was 95 degrees while we were trudging up to Johnston Ridge.

I think my overall pace dropped by 2+min/mile during this stretch.  I was nauseous and lightheaded but eventually slugged my way through it.  Luckily, I was able to keep my fluids and fruit leathers down.

Johnston Ridge Aid mile 37.5: 18.5 miles to next aid (Blue Lake), +2796, -3841 to next aid

I knew I wanted to spend a decent chunk of time at this aid (15-30mins) so that I could chat with my buds and get ready for the 2nd half of the race (bring my night stuff).  Luckily my crew had everything set up perfectly.  Chairs were ready with ice cold drinks/snacks, it was everything I could have asked for.  After chilling there for about 20 minutes I felt like I had done a complete 180, both mentally and physically.  I was feeling fresh and motivated to power on through.

Thanks to the heat, I knew my time goals were out the window, so I didn’t feel any pressure to speed up.  I figured I just needed to keep stuffing calories into my face and I’d be done in 10 or so hours.

I left with my first pacer (my longtime girlfriend and running partner, Courtney) around 5:30pm.  That meant it was starting to cool off a little and we would be hitting some shade and water soon so I was pretty amped.  We ran most of the next 3 miles and really were having a blast until we came to our first big river crossing.

I was able to hop across it without much issue but Courtney had some problems.  She took 20 minutes to get across which ended up making me pretty stiff and threw off my running vibe, so it was mostly hiking after that.

We got to witness a spectacular sunset while running through some fields of wildflowers, a memory I will cherish forever.  The night came and we had some more difficult river crossings which we eventually just trudged through.  We also had some rope climbs and descents that were a little sketchy, but fun none the less. Nutrition was on point thanks to Courtney for reminding me to eat/drink.

All in all, those 18 miles were the funnest and most rewarding of the race.  It was gorgeous and I had some great company.

Blue Lake Aid mile 56: 12 miles to Finish, +2614 ft gain, -3172ft loss to finish

We rolled into the Blue Lake Aid around 1:00am and I was feeling pretty good.  I swapped out 1 of my shoes and socks (both feet were pretty beat up and blistered) and ate a bunch of quesadillas that the volunteers had made.  I chugged a Rockstar, packed away a 5 hour energy shot, and rolled out with my second pacer and long time hiking pal, Jimmy.

I was pretty tired, even after downing the 5 hour, but there’s something special about hiking/running through the night.  The section was beautiful and challenging.  Boulder fields at night when you are 50+ miles into a race are pretty intimidating… and confusing.

We maintained a good power hiking pace and got to witness a majestic sunrise behind Adams.  I was stiff and my feet were really starting to throb right as we started to go down the last 2 mile downhill.

We hiked/ran and eventually I saw the finish with all my friends (very patiently) awaiting my arrival.  I ran through, collected my medal, bought some swag for me and my crew and then waddled my way to the truck so I could lay down and catch some Zs.

Finish line: mile 68, total elevation gain +14,077 gain and -14,529 loss

Post-race

I finished… and I was pretty God damn happy.  I was also pretty out of it since I had been awake for close to 25 hours and hadn’t eaten or drank enough.  Even with that, I was so stoked to have finished it didn’t matter, I was on an emotional high for the next couple days.

Now I gotta find a good 100 miler for next year…