I personally have had run two ultras here in the past. The first was my second ultra; the Lake Youngs Ultra in 2011 and more recently, the Lake Youngs Nuts Run, just a few months prior in February. I told myself I would never return but deep down I knew that if I ever dipped my toes in the 100 mile distance there was an off chance of running Pigtails.
Well wouldn’t you know it, only 2 months after the Lake Youngs Nuts Run I completed my first 100 mile race, the Lumberjack 100. Aside from having a physical and mental breakdown somewhere around mile 70ish, it went spectacularly well. I finished in just under 24 hours and took 4th place, only being beaten by three seasoned 100 milers.
I had heard from other runners that after you make the leap to run your first 100 you will either never do it again or you’ll be hooked. Apparently I fell in to the latter group as I registered for Pigtails which was only a mere 6 weeks after Lumberjack.
Aside from wanting the give the distance another go, knowing I was capable of running a much faster time, there were two other reasons that sealed the deal. The first was that the RD, Van Phan, had opted to forgo the traditional race attire that comes with the entry fee, and instead give everyone who entered robes emblazoned with the Pigtails logo. For those of you who don’t know Van, she is an ultra running machine and can always be spotted before the events rocking her signature pigtails as well as a bath robe to stay warm in the cold morning air. This was the inspiration behind providing said robes to entrants and was a huge selling point not only for myself, but for several other entrants.
The second reason I was keen on entering was Barbara Macklow. Barabara is another well-known ultra runner in the PNW. What makes her so well known is her, how should we put this, advanced age? Barbara is 80 years young and was using Pigtails as her attempt to become the first octogenarian woman to run 100 miles. Now don’t quote me on this but that was the word on the street. If others have accomplished this feat then more power to them. Either way it’s bad-freakin’-ass! Now with the groundwork laid for y’all, let’s get to the nitty-gritty of the race.
My alarm went off just before at 4:45a.m. race morning. Normally being awakened this early would result in outright rage and repetitive striking of the snooze button but today was different story. I quickly tossed my on my running regalia and dawned my robe which I had picked up two days prior. As much as dislike Lake Youngs, I love the fact that it’s only 15 minutes from my front door. Not sleeping in the dirt or the back of a van is a welcome change to my traditional pre-ultra mornings.
It may sound like lunacy to some but I always abstain from breakfast before a long run as I don’t want to risk upsetting my stomach before game time (foreshadowing). During the drive out there though I felt I should nibble on something just to wake myself up so a slowly pecked away at half a Clif Bar while occasionally looking at it with disdain.
I was at the parking-lot/start/finish in no time. It was still before 5:30 and with a 6:00 start time I was in no rush to leave the comfy confines of my car (I‘m a sucker for alliteration). I popped on the dome light as it was still a tad dark and proceeded to read something that I now can’t recall.
After about a quarter-hour I emerged from my sanctuary and the reality of the situation hit me. I was about to run 100 miles around a chain link fence. Really?!
The mood was somber before the start as we all knew we were in for a long day and night (and day for some people). This race/run was different though as the Pigtails Challenge is not only a 100 mile event, but also a 150 and 200 mile event. No, that’s not a typo. The 150 milers had started at 6:00a.m. on the previous morning while the gnarly 200 milers had started a whopping 48 hours earlier on Thursday morning. When you’re nervous about running 100 miles shit like that will put things in perspective real quick.
I said a few hellos to people I knew as well as finally meeting Gavin Woody. Gavin was another runner whom I had many a conversation with via Facebook. Although I had not met him before this morning he was someone I had great respect for, not only for his impressive running resume but also his service to this country. In addition, he was also the president of The Mountaineers. To put it in a nutshell, Gavin is as tough as a coffin nail. I also pegged him to be the favorite as he smoked the 150 distance the previous year. My only hope of beating him would be the fact that he ran a fast 50 miler the previous weekend.
After a few quick words of advice from Van there was a short countdown and we were off. I always go out hot in races and knew I would be doing the same today. The initial lead pack consisted of myself, Gavin, Genia Kacey (now Kacey-McKnight), and one other runner whom I didn’t recognize.
Gavin and I quickly pulled away, which I enjoyed but also gave me pause. We chatted it up in the cool morning air and before we knew it we were in front of a turn-a-round arrow painted in the dirt. This first portion of the race is a 5 mile out and back and yet it seemed too early to have gone 2.5 miles. We shrugged, assumed our talking had made the time pass, and began to turn around to find Genia and mystery runner tell us the turn-around was further. Oops! Well, better to find out now then to run 97.5 miles and get DQ’d. This little pause lit a fire under us and we took off hard, once again establishing our place as top two.
We would soon hit the real turn around and before I knew it we were back at the aid station. I stripped off my wind breaker and tossed on my little UD waist belt filled with Clif shots which would be my primary sustenance for the remainder of the race. Gavin’s transitions were much quicker and this would be a reoccurring theme of the day. It took a few minutes to catch back up to him but never did I over-exert myself. I didn’t know it yet but we would continue to run together, if not very close together, for the next 12 hours or so.
The aid station theme kept repeating itself as the miles ticked off. Gavin would spend maybe twenty to thirty seconds at each stations while I would spend closer to a minute but I would always turn the juice up a bit to catch up with him. Part of this was despite the fact that, in theory, we were competing against each other, we were also working together. Usually I am super quiet during my longer races but I found that at our easy (yet quick for a 100) pace, we were able to hold conversations on many various topics, most of which though focused on our mutual love of mountains and outdoors in general. I can’t help but smile and laugh at that thought. Two mountain junkies running 100 miles around a chain link fence in the middle of Renton.
Despite there being an aid station halfway around each loop, the main aid station was back at the parking lot. Gavin and I would continually run in together often to the surprise of many of the volunteers, crews, and spectators. One thing that stood out was that for the first 3 loops or so, we were being told we were on course record pace held by Tim Stroh. This was both exciting and troublesome. Should I be moving this fast? I feel good. Screw it. ‘Til the wheels fall off, baby!
One aspect that I thought I would dread but that I wound up enjoying was that at the completion of each loop we would reverse the direction we had just previously run. This would not only allow the “scenery” to change a bit but also to size up where everyone else was. I noticed that while we were slowly but surely distancing ourselves from the chase pack we were also beginning to lap some of the slower runners.
Another amazing bonus to the direction reversing was that everyone else got to watch us. They were actually cheering us on! It was so cool. People were commenting on how long we would stay together and who would break away first. Honestly, it made me feel really great. Not in a look-at-me type of way but just something more cleaner and pure. We were all there running this nutty distance together and we were all smiles. It was great.
Just after we passed the halfway aid station on the 3rd lap my stomach started to make some horrible noises. I was hoping I could ward off the inevitable for 4-5 more miles ‘til I got back to the main aid station and the restrooms but it was not to be. I was slightly ahead of Gavin at this point as he had stopped to water the bushes. I knew I wouldn’t make it back to the aid station but I was also faced with the terrible dilemma of knowing that just ahead of me were two solid miles of running through a very residential area. I had no choice as doom was impending. Faced with very few options I tried in vain to hop a short metal fence, tripping and cutting my leg and being forced to handle business between the trail and road in the deepest part of a drainage ditch. I tried to be quick about it as I was a bit exposed and sure enough a car started coming towards me and I freaked out, toppling over which made the whole process less than sanitary. Luckily as I was crawling out of the ditch and back on the trail Gavin came up behind me and was able to advise me on which articles of clothing I may want to swap out at the aid station. Despite what lies people may tell you there is nothing glamorous about 100 mile races.
We finally cruised back in to the aid station together and since I had to change and tidy up this would be my longest transition (around 10 minutes). By the time I was back on the trail Gavin was long gone. Not only did I not want him to get too far ahead but as I stated before, we were in a way working together. I cranked up the pace and after almost a whole loop of ill-advised speed I slowly reeled him back in.
Now I don’t remember the specifics of what happened next but I do remember feeling really good and slowly pulling away from Gavin. This was not a good idea. While I did feel good, I think that I had some residual leg speed from the previous 9 miles of catching up to him and, like a fool, decided to keep pressing.
The next two loops are a bit of a blur as I was now alone with my thoughts. One enjoyable part however was passing other runners either going the same direction or the opposite, who had been eyeing Gavin and me throughout the day. They were now shouting words of encouragement to me and this only served to reinforce my silly belief that I should keep running quickly.
I finished my fifth loop (mile 53) in 8:21 and my sixth loop (mile 62.4) in 10:03. I quickly did the math and realized that I had broken both my 50 mile and 100k P.R.s… in the middle of a 100 mile run! Cool but absolutely not good! I knew I would pay for this before the race was over.
As I exited the main aid station after 62.4 I saw that Gavin was coming in and I knew he would transition quickly. I didn’t try to fight it at this point. Trying to surge ahead and keep him off me would only serve to put myself in a deeper hole. At this point all I could do was keep running my race and let things play out.
As I approached the first biggish hill on the 7th lap I found myself being forced to walk for the first time during the race. My legs simply had no more uphill left in them. Fortunately I’m a hell of a power hiker so I don’t think I lost a ton of time. It was however a bit of a mental blow and before I knew it I could hear footsteps creeping up behind me. I turned to see Gavin and another runner right behind me. It was one of Gavin’s friends whose name now escapes me. I latched on to them for a while and we chatted it up a bit. Gavin made a joke about me leaving him at the alter two laps ago and in my mentally fragile state I actually felt guilty for not sticking it out with him. He was just kidding though and besides, I was fading. I faced the reality of the situation and told the two I had to slow down and I’d see them later. They offered words of encouragement and they slowly pulled away and I was once again on my own.
Despite no longer being able to run the ups I could still shuffle along the flats but my feet were getting pretty tender at this point. I started wondering if wearing road shoes without rock plates for a hundred miles on a hard gravel path was a wise plan. My one saving grace was that in a couple more miles I would pick up my pacer/coach Matt Urbanski.
Just before getting back to the main aid station I saw Ras and Kathy and told them that I was feeling pretty haggard but Ras said that Matt was just around the corner waiting for me. I pulled into the aid station to see Matt and his wife Julie anxiously waiting for me. Since Julie had a 50 miler coming up in two weeks she decided to run with us for at least for a while to get in a long training run. I was more than happy to have her along. I quickly refilled my fuel belt with more food, filled up my bottle, and we were out in a hurry.
We started running and quickly began chatting about all the events of my day that had led up to this point. It was nice to have company as it briefly took my mind off the pain in my feet. Unfortunately this distraction didn’t last long and I reached a point where the pain became unbearable and I had to walk for a while. This was not good as we were on flat ground. After several minutes I would feel good enough to run again and we would get to it. Sadly this theme would repeat itself for the majority of next 3 loops.
The first lap with them went by rather uneventfully but took considerably longer than any of my other laps up until that point. At this point I was really glad to have them along as I realized that it would have been much slower if they hadn’t been there. Matt was doing his best to encourage me to run and I began feeling guilty as I just couldn’t keep it together for more than a couple minutes. They were both very understanding though and realized I had put my body through the ringer to make it this far in such a short amount of time.
Knowing that I was now moving quite slowly, Matt made sure to have me save time at the aid station by discussing exactly what we would do when we pulled itto each one. This proved to be a great tactic as there was no dilly dallying when we got to each one. Sadly, I realized I had slowed down even more by this point. I don’t know if my walking breaks had become longer or my running had slowed down even further. Probably a combination of the two in all honesty. We completed the 9th loop in about two hours and twenty-five minutes. Yikes! One lap to go. I was in the home stretch.
As we left the main aid station for the final time we made sure to check the time so we could later compare it the time we passed whomever was in third place. While we were pretty sure we had second place locked up we didn’t want to take any chances. In addition to wanting to maintain second we also knew we could still bring it in under 19 hours if we hustled a bit. Despite my now severe foot pain, Matt came up with an idea to set his watch to beep every 30 seconds. We would run for thirty and then walk for thirty. The three of us hoped that if we kept this up we should come in under 19.
After about 45-50 minutes in to the loop we passed Nick Paterno who was in third place. I now knew that barring disaster, second place was locked up as he had to still complete his 9th lap and then head out for his tenth.
Optimism was now growing but the race for a sub 19 was still at hand. The 30 on/ 30 off system was working great and we were slowly but surely getting the miles down. As we made a brief stop at the midway aid station we saw Genia Kacey. She looked tired but determined and I knew she had been pushing it all day. She had first place locked up. This was awesome as she had taken 3rd at Badger and 2nd at Lumberjack. She was definitely trending in the right direction.
With about 4 miles to go I began to get nervous about not making it in under 19. I bit the bullet and ran as hard as I could for as long as I could. It felt like I was flying but in reality I was probably moving around an eight minute pace. I think I made it a whole mile before pain and fatigue caught up with me. While doing that really hurt, it gave me the cushion I needed to ensure making it on time, provided we kept up with the 30/30 plan. Relief washed over me and I cracked a huge smile. Sure, the race wasn’t quite over but I knew I could at least let my guard down.
With about a 3rd to a quarter mile to go I could smell the barn and began to run… fast. I rounded the last little corner at hit the stretch to finish line to the sound of cheers and saw my parents and dog waiting for me. I blew through the finish line for a new PR of 18:51. My second 100 miler ever and only six weeks after I had run my first. It felt great! I was instantly congratulated by Eric Sach who had been working tirelessly for days. I then looked over and noticed Gavin sitting in a lawn chair, sporting his robe and beanie to keep warm. He got up to congratulate me as well and I was really happy to see him as we had shared so many miles together. Matt and Julie came up right behind me and we hugged and I thanked them profusely for coming out and spending the better part of the last six hours with me. A young woman came up and handed me my buckle and apologized for Van who wasn’t able to present it to me as she was passed out for a quick nap. I certainly understood as she had been running herself ragged for days on end. Eric took a picture of Gavin and me under the Pigtails banner and then we all relaxed and began recounting the day we had just endured.
Matt, Julie and my parents were all tired as it was past their bedtimes so they left shortly after that. I stayed for a few for minutes to grub on some food and thank the volunteers. Van by this point was back up and I thanked her as well for all her hard work and she not only congratulated me but gave me a sweet Pigtails fleece headband that I know will come in handy this winter.
As much as I wanted to hang out, I knew my post-race energy would fade at any minute so I had to hit the road. I said my goodbyes and thanks one last time then hobbled over to the car only to realize I had left the dome light on that morning and my battery was dead! The running gods smiled though and Van was quick to give me a jump and I was on my way. I realized I was indeed tired and was thankful that home was less than fifteen minutes away.
Once home I showered, made dinner and began watching TV. It was only then that it dawned on me what an incredible day I just had. Here I was back in my home, the same home that I had left that morning, and in between I had run a 100 miles! This would certainly be a day to remember.
