On July 22nd and 23rd, 2022 I completed the Cascade Crest 100 in just over 31 hours. Here is the race report Goals Results Enjoy being outside – ACCOMPLISHED Finish the course (even if after the allowed time) – ACCOMPLISHED Officially finish (under the official 34 hour cutoff) – ACCOMPLISHED Finish in under 30 hours – Not Accomplished Top 50% of finishers – Not Accomplished Finish in under 27 hours – Not Accomplished Top 25% of finishers – Not Accomplished Finish in under 24 hours (my bucket list item from last year) – Not Accomplished Strategy Start in that back and go slow for the first half. Start digging in the second half and pass as many people as possible. Finish strong. – ACCOMPLISHED & SUCCESSFUL Tactics Go out slow – back 25% for first 25 miles – ACCOMPLISHED Don’t exceed 140bpm in the first 26 miles – MOSTLY ACCOMPLISHED
Twelve hours into my challenge, I reached the summit of Mailbox peak for the fourth time that day. I stood alone, next to the mailbox installed there as a monument, basking in the golden glow of sunset. Soft white flakes drifted down around me in my peripheral vision. Wait a second. It wasn’t snowing. It was June and far too warm. No, the drifting white flakes were only there for me. I was just getting a bit lightheaded. Maybe I should take it a bit easier for the next lap. On June 20th and 21st, 2022 I competed a 24 Hour footrace up and down Mailbox Peak. I propelled myself up 29,035 ft of elevation and 38 miles. Here is the race report. Goals Results New personal record for elevation covered in 24 hours – (Current Record = ~13k ft) – ACCOMPLISHED Complete a 24 hour footrace on Mailbox Peak
On August 28th, 2021 DNFd the Cascade Crest 100. I dropped out at mile 35 after 9.5 hours and 8k ft of climbing. Here is the race report Goals Results Don’t die – ACCOMPLISHED Enjoy being outside – ACCOMPLISHED Finish the course (even if after the allowed time) Officially finish (under the official 34 hour cutoff) Finish in under 30 hours Top 50% of finishers Finish in under 27 hours Top 25% of finishers Finish in under 24 hours (my bucket list item for this year) Tactics Be in last place at the start – ACCOMPLISHED Don’t exceed 140bpm in the first 26 miles – Failed No mile in the first 50 faster than 8 minute pace – ACCOMPLISHED 5 minutes or less at aid stations and stops – don’t stop moving – ACCOMPLISHED No single mile (and mid-mile stopping) is >30 minutes – ACCOMPLISHED 400 calories an hour for the first 50
This wasn’t the plan. The plan was probably not enough anyways, but now we’re certainly in not enough territory. I’m not really sure how this will go. After a month of lower-than-expected training (injury and illness), I’m just feeling good enough to run again and I’m going to attempt to run the Cascade Crest 100 this weekend. This is one of the harder 100 mile races in the country on account of the vert, amount of single track trail and sheer ruggedness of it. One section of the course is so steep that there is a rope you have to use to navigate up and then back down it. Over the course of 100 miles, run mostly on the Pacific Crest Trail, we’ll cross streams, climb 23k ft and descend about the same. Technically this year the race is 102 miles. They had to adjust the course due to fire
On Saturday June 19th, 2021 I did not finish the Gulch Countdown race, getting disqualified after ~30 miles. Out of 46 runners, I finished 7th overall. This is the race report. Goals I ran this race in 2019 and wanted to beat my result there, where I was DQd on the 12th lap Make it to the 12 lap (26.2 miles) – ACCOMPLISHED Make it to 14th lap ~50k – ACCOMPLISHED Make it to the 16th lap (Previous Race Record) – Not Accomplished Be the last man standing – Not Accomplished Successes What am I proud of from race day? Excellent restraint early – had covered a half marathon before my heart rate went over 140 bpm Had a lot of fun meeting other runners and talking on the trail Failures What areas could I improve for future races? Failed in the exact same way as in 2019, didn’t push
This year my bucket list item is running a 100 mile race. Specifically, I want to finish the Cascade Crest 100 in under 24 hours. If you know anything about me though, you might have guessed that I also have a stretch goal. That stretch goal is to end up on the podium, finishing in the top 3 spots. That will likely require me to finish closer to 18 hours. Either 24 or 18 hours will be quite a feat as this particular race features over 20k ft of elevation gain (running up mountains), which really makes it more like 140 miles of flat-course equivalent. This is probably something I should train hard for. The trouble is, I’m a busy guy. I have 4 kids and a job leading a team at Google, so I don’t have as much time to train for a race like this as I would
“It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong” -Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia “You must put your head into the lion’s mouth if the performance is to be a success” -Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the U.K. during WWII — The full moon hangs overhead. It is 4am and the temperature is dropping into the 30s. I am sitting on the concrete floor of an outhouse on the north side of Mt. Rainier as the fumes of fecal matter, previously left baking in the sun, waft through the air. My feet are pruned, blistered, and bleeding. One of my toenails has started the process of falling off. My legs ache from a day covering 48 miles and 12k ft of elevation – equivalent to taking the stairs up to and down from the top floor of the Empire State Building 12 times in a row between running two marathons. My
This run will be the hardest physical exertion I have ever demanded of my body. To date, the most I’ve ever run in a day is ~27 miles. A marathon + warm up. Tomorrow I will attempt to cover 93 miles on foot. 3x+ my lifetime max. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever even run 93 miles in a single week. Traditional wisdom says you should progress up to a ~100 mile effort. Go from racing a marathon (26.2 miles) to a 50k (~30 mile), then a 50 mile, followed by a 100k (~60 mile) before finally attempting ~100 miles. I’m not much for traditional wisdom. I am doing this run; self supported, solo, overnight, on trails, covering ~25k ft of elevation and in remote wilderness with no cell service. Any one of those things might make an effort like this crazy. Doing all of that for my first
On Saturday January 5th, 2019 I did not finish the Gulch Countdown race, getting disqualified after ~27 miles. This is the race report. Goals I really didn’t have goals for this race, I was just out there to have fun. Part of me wanted to see how far I could run untrained though to see if it was going to be a good idea to attempt to go on a 93 mile run this summer. Make it to 6 laps (13.1 miles) – ACCOMPLISHED Make it to 12 laps (26.2 miles) – ACCOMPLISHED Make it past 50k -Not Accomplished Be the last man standing – Not Accomplished Successes What am I proud of from race day? Somehow ran the farthest I had ever run in a day, despite low training Did a great job implementing my pacing strategy Had a lot of fun meeting other runners and talking on the trail