2011 Pigtails Flat Ass

I had the biggest field this year! Plus the best weather and well received
arm warmers. Prior to the race, the news had reported that we were only second
to another city in the US with the least precipitation for the month of December
and that was Death Valley! This was the 6th year and I will continue this race
through the 10th. Mary Hanna and Bruce Hoff returned this year to complete 6
consecutive years and did it in fine style by running all their races in the 50K
distance. Only 4 more years and a 10 year jacket will be theirs!

As many of you know, I have a busy life outside of running. Sure, I don't
have kids and that helps, but these days, I work 14 hr days. So if I don't get
back to you right away, you know why. Some days I don't even have a chance to
check my e-mail. Other race directors know we spend a lot of time before the
race organizing everything by ourselves then get help only on race day. We are
very grateful to our volunteers who help us make it run smoothly. Please help me
in thanking: Bob Satko, Clare Nance, Ron Torrez, Gwen Scott, Jenny Hanna,
Michelle (can't remember her last name but she was the daughter of one of the
runners), John Pearch, Matt Hagen, and Jerry Thayer. All got arm warmers for
their hard work and giving up a beautiful Saturday to help you have a fun day.
Bob, Clare, and Ron expertly set up and ran the one unmanned aid station without
needing any help from me. I sent Gwen out to make sure all runners turned around
after the first 1/2 mile. She had to turn around twice and go back to make sure
they did, as 3 runners started late. Then she, Michelle, and Jenny helped me at
the finish line. Gwen kept the runners fed, Michelle did an awesome job handing
out medals, and Jenny helped me identify runners coming in as well as hand out
food. John brought me back the unmanned aid station and first turn around
supplies. That was a huge help. Matt brought a propane heater and shelter for
just in case. And Jerry brought extra tables and hauled all the trash and
recycle away.

I started working on the finisher's medals in the summer and have already
ordered supplies for next year's medals. You'll just have to come back to see
what it is. Eric Sach at The Balanced Athlete at the Renton Landing helped me
order the arm warmers. We have briefly discussed next year's apparel.

So here's what went down race day. Chris Brunnquell took off at a speedy clip
and was tackling the marathon distance. I barely made it in time to set up the
unmanned aid station and turn around before he arrived. He continued to increase
the gap between him and the 2nd runner, Kevin Douglas, by the 13.7 mile turn
around. Kevin let him go since he was running the 50K and needed to pace
himself. Kevin was followed not far behind by eventual marathon winner Steve
Geertgens, who ran a fine 2:57:10, a PR and Masters win as well as new Masters
Marathon CR. Brian Lowney came in with a PR and 2nd place in 3:05:04. Eric Sach
rounded out the top three and third Masters in 3:06:04.

Kevin improved dramatically over his 2010 winning 50K time of 4:13:24 to
break the course record by 4 minutes in a time of 3:37:08. He earned $31 for his
efforts. Cliff Richards, more than double Kevin's age, came in only 10 minutes
later in 3:47:38, taking first Masters and also setting a new Masters 50K CR.
Bradley Dutkiewicz came in 2 minutes later in 3:49:38.

The women ran strong as well on this perfect weather day. Angie Mathis, in
only her 2nd marathon, finished first in 3:39:28. Boran Kim started late but
would have given her some challenge had she started on time. Her overall gun
time and official finish was 3:55:00 but she clocked a 3:39:59 marathon. Candice
Burt was the second female finisher in 3:42:43 and Rikki Bogue was 3rd woman,
first Masters in 3:45:56, also good enough for a new Female Masters Marathon
CR.

Mary Hanna came close to breaking the overall 50K record of 4:26 but missed
it by 2 minutes. She did break the Female Masters 50K CR of 4:40 by running
4:28:07. Second female and also Masters ultrarunner was Wendy Wheeler Jacobs,
who like me prefers single track trails and mountain running. She's an
incredible uphill runner but more amazingly, she can really bomb the downhills.
In fact, she is more of a blur on the downhills. She finished in 4:43:33. Ashley
Kuhlmann finished 3rd in 5:03:08.

We had PRs, first timers, and maniac qualifyers at this race. Most amazing of
all was 73-year-old John Bandur finishing the 50K in 6:43:16, his 396th
marathon/ultra. His 400th will be at McDonald Forest 50K in Oregon next May. Max
Welker, also a fixture here in the PNW, ran his 200th marathon/ultra at this
race. Up next is a 24hr run over New Year's. Congratulations to you both and
good luck with your upcoming races!

We had three dogs sharing the trails this year. Emily helped Mary Hanna in
the 50K. Jack ran 50K with Jerry Thayer. Katy helped Dean Kayler take 5th in the
marathon. Heidi Perry did not have a canine buddy but dragged a tire from the
13.7mile turn around to the manned aid station about 8 miles away.

Thanks everyone for bringing wonderful treats for post run recovery. As
usual, Betsy's Thai butternut soup was a hit. Good thing she reserves some for
herself at the finish. Betsy was recovering with her first marathon since
finishing Javelina Jundred in November.

I was able to make some banana chocolate chip bread Friday morning, load up
the car with all the supplies, and attend my office Christmas party in the
evening. After some restless sleep, I enjoyed Saturday watching you all run,
then ran at Tiger in less ideal weather on Sunday. It was a busy weekend! This
was followed on Monday being on call and a 15 hour day. I'm finally getting some
rest this Christmas weekend!

I will be running my 300th marathon/ultra at the Tiger Fat Ass on January 7.
Hard to believe that milestone has finally arrived. I can't think of a better
run to celebrate my 300th than a Fat Ass. I hope to also see many of you at the
Lake Youngs race, now in the hands of my frequent running buddies, the Trail
Nuts. It is on the last Saturday of January. Come join me as well for Bridal
Trails 50K later that afternoon. Finally, Pigtails Challenge is Memorial Weekend
2012. There is a 200 miler as well as a half (100 miler). There is also a
'tweener of 150 milles for those of you who cannot decide. I'm recruiting volunteers and pacers. Let me know if you can do one or both!

Final results are below: (Sorry about the format, it was the only way I could figure out how to get it on the blog)

50K
1/Kevin Douglas/M23/3:37:08/1st Open Male, Open CR, PR
2/Cliff Richards/M50/3:47:38/1st Masters Male, Masters CR
3/Bradley Dutkiewicz/M32/3:49:38/2nd Open Male
4/Ather Haleem/M31/4:05:40/3rd Open Male
5/Mike Schlecht/M41/4:12:37/2nd Masters Male
6/Scott Sebelsky/M50/4:13:31/3rd Masters Male
7/Alex Swenson/M47/4:15:55/
8/Pete Nicholson/M52/4:23:47/
9/Neal Saxe/M44/4:24:34/1st ultra
10/Bruce Hoff/M49/4:25:45/
11/Mary Hanna/F50/4:28:07/1st Masters Female w/dog Emily, Masters CR
12/Michael Johnston/M21/4:33:53/
13/Daniel Kuhlmann/M28/4:34:29/PR
14/Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs/F44/4:43:33/2nd Masters Female
15/Ted Eckert/M44/4:51:04/
16/Matt Hagen/M40/4:51:12/
17/Seth Wolpin/M39/4:53:10/
18/Jerry Thayer/M57/4:54:28/With dog Jack
/Todd McCrory/M44/4:54:28/1st 50K
20/Bill Davenport/M42/4:59:58/
21/Mike Mahanay/M56/5:03:08/
22/Ashley Kuhlmann/F25/5:03:38/1st Open Female
23/Ben Semer/M38/5:06:46/
24/Kimberly Kuhlmann/F33/5:10:10/2nd Open Female
25/Andy Lin/M29/5:11:09/
26/Ben Russell/M33/5:14:55/
27/Kay Allen/F35/5:14:57/3rd Open Female
28/Monte Pelicano Pascual/M51/5:27:35/
29/John Schaphorts/M47/5:27:48/
30/Dan Bowman/M62/5:30:08/
31/Kristoffer Lindstrom/M38/5:30:30/

32/Jules Mann/M49/5:42:24/
33/William Baldyga/M40/5:44:06/
34/Irena Lambrou/F25/5:46:00/
35/Mike Kuhlmann/M51/5:57:54/
36/Becky Hunter/F43/6:17:00/3rd Masters Female, 1st 50K
37/Keli Davenport/F40/6:17:01/
38/Sonora Jordan/M21/6:33:40/
39/Seret Rafferty/F42/6:38:05/1st ultra
40/John Bandur/M73/6:43:16/396th Marathon/Ultra

Female Open CR: Sara Malcom 4:26:00 (2009)

Masters CR: Mary Hanna 4:28:07 (2011)
Male Open CR: Kevin Douglas 3:37:08 (2011)

Masters CR: Cliff Richards 3:47:38 (2011)

Marathon
1/Steve Geertgens/M43/2:57:10/1st Masters Male, Masters CR, PR
2/Brian Lowney/M40/3:05:04/2nd Masters Male, PR
3/Eric Sach/M43/3:06:04/3rd Masters Male
4/Chris Brunnquell/M22/3:12:47/1st Open Male
5/Dean Kayler/M48/3:26:27/With dog Katie
6/Rich Hieb/M38/3:27:29/2nd Open Male
7/Robert Bondurant/M39/3:27:53/3rd Open Male
8/Peter Stackpole/M43/3:28:50/
9/Samuel Scoby/M31/3:31:52/
10/Pedro Infante/M50/3:35:22/
11/Terry Sentinella/M47/3:37:22/
12/Tim Mathis/M31/3:39:28/
/Angie Mathis/F31/3:39:28/1st Open Female
14/Brian Pendleton/M57/3:41:10/
15/Candice Burt/F30/3:42:43/2nd Open Female
16/Cormac Burke/M50/3:45:45/
/Marc Frommer/M59/3:45:45/
18/Rikki Bogue/F48/3:45:56/1st Masters Female, Masters CR
19/May Cheng/F46/3:49:48/2nd Masters Female
20/BJ Farish/M38/3:54:28/
21/Boram Kim/F25/3:55:00/3rd Open Female
22/Heidi Hubler/F37/3:56:16/
/Steve Ellis/M44/3:56:16/
24/Steven Yee/M52/3:57:17/
/Diana Robinson/F45/3:57:17/3rd Masters Female
26/Roger Chou/M41/3:57:27/
27/Jodi Brautaset/F36/3:57:39/
/Steve Duncan/M43/3:57:39/
29/Chris Marabetta/M34/3:58:04/
30/Benjamin Chan/M41/4:04:30/
31/Eric Glass/M34/4:05:25/
32/Andy Fritz/M45/4:05:27/
33/Tracy Brown/F50/4:08:06/PR
34/Genia Kacey/F36/4:09:37/
/Joleen Rodgers/F35/4:09:37/
36/Phillip Kriss/M52/4:09:41/
37/Terri Gray/F43/4:10:46/
38/Roger Adams/M62/4:11:51/
39/Lorinda Hagstrom/F41/4:19:08/
/Patti Krebsbach/F49/4:19:08/
41/Suzanne Nester/F45/4:20:17/
42/Kris Damiano/M36/4:21:05/
43/William Scott/M50/4:21:45/
/Dan Whitaker/M50/4:21:45/
45/Stephanie Astell/F48/4:25:45/
/Teresa Hanson-Redrup/F49/4:25:45/
47/Ron Frederick/M44/4:27:12/
/Jayne Simmons/M49/4:27:12/
49/Susan Cheng-Looi/F51/4:29:50/
50/Lisa Wood/F38/4:31:32/
51/Mark Looi/M51/4:34:13/
52/Steve White/M58/4:34:39/
53/Luisa Lopez/F41/4:36:39/
54/Gary Marr/M60/4:37:04/
/David Stout/M57/4:37:04/
56/WILDMAN Willet/M57/4:39:17/
57/Lisa Eagle/F31/4:40:17/
58/Sam Simone/M59/4:41:10/
59/Vivian Doorn/F45/4:42:32/
60/Hideko Opperman/F43/4:44:02/
61/Whitney Waller/F45/4:46:19/
/Georgeta Gruescu/M39/4:46:19/
63/Jill Hudson/F49/4:51:12/
/Marilou Russell/F50/4:51:12/
65/Linda Walter/F60/4:51:38/
66/Lisa Reid/F46/5:01:05/
/Angie Smith/F34/5:01:05/
68/Leanne Norseth/F45/5:06:44/
69/Brian Cox/M51/5:07:39/
/Angie Tinsley/F38/5:07:39/
71/Betsy Rogers/F48/5:09:14/
72/Robert Stretz/M43/5:10:36/
73/Max Welker/M69/5:18:12/200th Marathon/Ultra
74/Christine Yamada/F51/5:20:36/
75/Cody Hill/M38/5:25:50/
/Nicole Hill/F40/5:25:50/
77/Sarah Lynch/F33/5:29:17/
/Megan Smith/F32/5:29:17/
79/Takao Suzuki/M46/5:32:07/
80/Stan Nakashima/M60/5:45:13/
/Rick Haase/M66/5:45:13/
82/Deborah Evdemon/F43/5:55:49/
83/Marie Zornes/F48/5:55:50/
84/Raymond Shaw/M53/5:58:00/
85/Heidi Perry/F40/6:00:08/
86/Morrie Bills/F43/6:00:28/
87/Jane Herzog/F48/6:18:42/
/Cyndie Merten/F55/6:18:42/
89/Ric Hart/M64/7:04:50/

Female Open CR: Annie Theissen 3:14:10 (2007)

Female Masters CR: Rikki Bogue 3:45:56 (2011)
Male Open CR: Chuck Engle 2:37: 54 (2006)

Male Masters CR: Steve Geertgens 2:57:10 (2011)

DOUBLE WA?

I’ve done some crazy things. Like running 150 miles in the middle of Illinois with no sleep in over 47 hours. Or doing over 51 marathons/ultras per year for three years straight. But my latest quest had me seeing double. I wanted to finish Cascade Crest Classic 100 and Plain 100 in the same year. Only thing was, they were only two weeks apart. There have been 8 runners who have done the double, 6 guys and now two women, including myself. The year Liz McGoff did it was three weeks apart. The closest that I have done back to back 100s were 3 weeks apart. I knew I could finish CCC, as long as no major problems arose. I was going for my 5th finish, so I knew how to pace myself. But Plain scared me. I had trained on about 80 miles of it, and it was hard. What’s more, it was more like 107 unmarked miles with no aid stations and one drop location past halfway.

CCC/Plain doubler tc

My year of running up until these was limited to only races and training miles on the weekends when I was not on call. I had little or no exercise during the week due my long work days and nights. I knew my times were getting slower, but I felt my endurance was still solid. I had two good 100 milers earlier in the year with Badger Mountain and Lumberjack. I suffered through a warm San Diego 100, just making the cut offs. It had been a long time since my asthma affected my running so much. After recovering from San Diego, I needed to get back into training for Cascade and joined fellow Trail Nuts Pat Ackley and Tracey Nguyen on a Plain training run. I had no intention whatsoever to run Plain, but by the end of the run, Pat and Tracey had me nearly signed up. The trail was spectacular. I just fell in love with it. Thus started my CCC/Plain quest.

Pat-the dork who started it all

Plain consists of two large loops with Deep Creek campground in between. Our first training run did not go smoothly. After running the first 2-3 miles of the second loop, we took a wrong turn. We ended up on a 2 mile loop but did not realize that we were running in circles until ¾ through the 2nd time where I had déjà vu. I said to Pat, “We’ve been here before.” We placed some sticks down that spelled Van and found it on our 3rd time, confirming our mistake. After wasting additional time down more wrong trails, we finally found where we made the incorrect turn and got on the appropriate trail. If we had listened to Tracey, we wouldn’t have wasted all that time. We didn’t cover as many miles of the course as we would have liked but still had a nice day on the trails, except for being eaten alive by mosquitoes. There must have been a recent hatching.

The second Plain run came after I returned from crewing and pacing friend Jess Mullen at Badwater 135. She did great! But I was eager to get back on the trails. We tried again to cover more of the second loop of the Plain course (with Eric Barnes) but got turned around by snow.

Jess at Badwater

A week after that, I ran the Trail from Hell section up to No Name Ridge on the Cascade course. This was a mistake. After the two hard Plain training runs, I suffered through this and had a dismal personal worse at White River the following weekend. No matter, it was my seventh WR and I was okay with a long day. It was just so beautiful that day!

After a very busy call weekend on the first weekend of August, I joined Pat and Tracey two days later on Tuesday for our last Plain training run. We woke at 2am to drive to the trailhead and started running at 6am. We wanted to cover the first loop that started and ended at Maverick Saddle. This was to be 43 miles. It started out well. We were moving well and made all the correct turns. We practiced eating, drinking, carrying all our food, and getting water from the streams. The second half of the loop killed us. The climb up Tyee Ridge was long and hot. The run down to Mad River was overgrown and technical. It took us 16 hours exactly to finish the loop and I was back in my own bed 24hrs later at 2am. I had to be back to work at 6am.

I rested the next 2 weekends before Cascade. I was pumped for my 5th! But it was going to be a hot one. I started out slow and took it nice and easy up Goat Peak after the initial 3.8 miles. I have heard of other runners ruining their race on this climb. I think there were only a few runners behind me. My slower pace for the heat felt comfortable, but by Tacoma Pass at mile 23, I was already 24 minutes behind last year’s schedule. Still, I didn’t want to push it. I maintained the same effort. I saw Ken at Stampede at mile 34. It was nice to see him. I was now almost an hour behind schedule. In addition to the heat, there were a lot of blow downs that slowed everyone. It was like an obstacle course. We expect that with the Trail from Hell but not in the first half of the race. Darkness came sooner this year in the race for me. I reached Ollalie at 12hr22min. I was not worried. I was having a nice run. I picked up my garden gloves from Ken and headed for the rope section. I learned this from Scott McCoubrey. He said to grab the rope and run down facing forward, not backwards. Just grab and go. So I did. What a trip! Yippee! I hit the John Wayne tunnel feeling good and passed several runners before Hyak. There, Ken helped me switch to my hydration pack. I was using a waist pack with a bottle and one hand held up until that point. Next year, I will keep the waist pack.

Ken, my husband and biggest fan

Here, Dean Kayler, my pacer, joined me. He was great. Just the right amount of talking and encouraging. He filled me in on the latest news. Like Eric and Iliana Sach expecting their first baby soon. It took me over 1 ½ hours longer to finish the second half compared to last year. There was no moon, so the stars really came out. The Trail from Hell took the usual amount of time but this year for me, it seemed like it passed by without feeling endless. Ken had some pizza and butternut squash soup waiting for us on the road to No Name Ridge aid station. I got into the car so that I wouldn’t get cold while exchanging my food. My asthma hit after mile 70 on the climbs, especially on the Cardiac Needles. For the first time in any race, I could actually hear myself wheezing, when before, it was just labored breathing. Still, I was able to pass more runners than passed me (at Hyak, I was in 76th place and I finished 62nd). That’s always a plus! Seeing Glenn Tachiyama on Thorpe Mountain signified we were getting closer to the finish line. The view was breathtaking with Mount Rainer in the distance. Sunday was a scorcher. But I had to get going. Ken was waiting for me, and I had to work the next day. Dean had mentioned to me that when we got to mile 95 at Silver Creek, he might want to nap in Ken’s car while I finished. I didn’t blame him. At times I was moving so slow on those Needles that it was hard for him to stay awake I’m sure. As soon as we arrived, I dropped my pack (finally!), grabbed my hand held and a few GUs, and took off. I didn’t even give Dean any time to change his mind. I tripped pouring water on my head and nearly ruptured my Achilles! I ran for a while but looked back constantly, not wanting another girl to pass me on that last stretch. I passed a guy and his pacer. When I didn’t see any girl behind me, I let myself relax and walked on and off. I figured I needed to save as much energy as I could for Plain. With about half a mile to go, I looked back one last time and saw a girl barreling down the road. I had just taken a GU and turned on the afterburners! I really didn’t want to sprint this last section but was glad I had enough in me to get going. At least I looked strong finishing. Charlie was manning the microphone at the finish like he does every year and announced that I was arriving at the finish, “A Northwest institution,” as he put it. Thrilled, I crossed in 28:28:41, 11th woman and 62nd overall of 140 starters. Charlie handed me my 5-yr silver buckle. Yes! Five down, 5 to go. I am aiming to be the first woman to finish 10 Cascades. Each year seems harder and harder. But with Ken as my crew and pacers like Dean, I know I have a few more in me.

Previous CCC pacers Mary, Cliff, and this year Dean (far right)

Five down, 5 to go!

Getting my 5 year buckle from RD Charlie Crissman

After finishing, I was given a bucket to soak my feet. For some reason, this year, my feet ached terribly after soaking them in the cold water. I had noticed that at the first creek crossing after French Cabin. I avoided getting my feet wet after that if at all possible. Ken drove Dean to his car at Hyak and picked me up a burger at Mountain High Burgers. I freshened up as well as I could and watched other runners come in. I couldn’t stay until the end since I had to be at work by 6am the next day. I had blisters on the top of my foot where the tongue dug in on both sides. Other than that, my feet were great.

500miles at CCC

The next day, I felt okay at work other than being tired. Of course my legs swelled terribly by the end of the day, standing while assisting in surgery. I knew I just had to get through it and looked forward to my Tuesday off. My blisters were pretty sensitive and caused me to walk funny. People thought I was trashed from my 100, but I didn’t feel that bad. I had to do some housecleaning on Tuesday and this actually kept me loose. By Wednesday, I felt pretty normal. Unfortunately, I was on call the following weekend (Labor Day). Normally, we are on call Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But since this was a holiday weekend, I was also on call Monday. Friday, I was at work until 12:30am, 18 ½ hrs from when I started. Then rounds Saturday morning, a surgical case Saturday afternoon, and then I was called in at 11:30pm for an open tibia/fibula fracture surgery until 3:30am. Back to the hospital to do rounds Sunday and Monday morning but thankfully no more cases. My pager was going off constantly with calls from the floors. Needless to say, I did not get to rest from Cascade. I managed to pack my supplies for Plain and did have Tuesday off to make up for the long weekend. I worked Wednesday and Thursday and had Friday off to attend the mandatory meeting for Plain. By now, my blisters had healed. I had not run since Cascade, so I was not sure how my legs were feeling. I just trusted my body would do what I asked it to.

I spent Thursday night frantically getting last minute things ready. Sleep was okay but not as good as it should be two nights before race day. More frantic last minute packing Friday morning. Pat was nice enough to pick me up at my place and we drove to Tracey’s house. We took her big Toyota Sequoia. I had packed a bunch of food, most of which I didn’t eat of course. On our ride over, we again debated whose idea was this anyway. Pat said it was all Tracey’s idea, but we all knew the truth. It was their fault I got sucked in. Tracey had a dedicated song for Pat, something she was planning on singing as the miles accumulated, titled, “She F’ing Hates Me!” You know the song.

Our first order of business was to drive to the dirt road section after Alder Ridge. We got a good idea of how long that road section was and also where to re-enter the trail. We had enough time to go to the Plain Hardware store to pick up our finisher’s hooded sweatshirt. Actually, it says “PLAIN Hardware, Est. 1997.” Plain is in big letters and the hardware is smaller. The race does not have a shirt. Interestingly, Plain 100 started in 1997. Pat and I got one, but Tracey could not find a size or color she liked. I got the idea from Scott Tomchick when I saw him wearing it handing over one of the ropes used for the rope section on Cascade. I knew I had to get one.

We arrived at the Lake Wenatchee Recreation Center (LWRC) 10 minutes before the mandatory briefing began. Chris Ralph greeted me warmly and handed me my Plain coffee cup and handkerchief. I donated $10 for a Plain 100 patch. I chatted with a few other runners before settling down. First, Search and Rescue spoke. The magic word for the weekend was “happy”. At each checkpoint (6 total), we were instructed to give them our number and the word happy. I suppose it’s a way to get you turned around if you are having a rough stretch. I know several times I had to force myself to say it. There were 25 starters and 19 volunteers/Search and Rescue. It felt good to know that they were out there. They also let us know that we could drop trash with them, which was a nice thing, in their efforts to keep trash off the trails. Then Tom Ripley spoke. This guy has lungs! He went over the course directions with a large map and had to correct himself a couple times! It was nice to know that I could visualize all the turns we had practiced on our training runs. There was just that one section that we had never run. He talked about locations to get water. No snow left on the course. Water crossings were a non-issue. Cut-offs. Course rules. We had to carry all our supplies at all times. No dropping our packs at out and back sections. Then Chris Ralph spoke briefly. She asked me to raise my hand. She said that I did not want to finish Plain without a Buckle. Not true! I would have run Plain even without a buckle but thought it would be a nice reward and something to work towards. So I spoke to Eric Barnes, who had access to materials. He created a very nice granite buckle with laser etching in big letters, PLAIN 100+ and an elevation profile of the course. I had to remind Chris that runners had to purchase it. Eric was able to make them for $40. It was also available to past finishers.

RD Chris Ralph

The meeting was followed by a great spaghetti feed served by the “Hotties.” There was soup, salad, bread, meatballs, and dessert. Something for everyone. I spoke with Tim Stroh, who has started 11 Plains and has finished 5, the most of any runner. He said that this was going to be the hottest Plain ever with temps predicted to be mid to high 90s. I met Bogie Dumitrescu from Colorado, who said we had an advantage being able to train on the course. True. Adam Lint talked about his Wonderland trail adventure a couple weeks ago. Michelle Maislen was running with her adventure running partner Deb McInally, who was taking on Plain as her first 100. Michelle, however, was still running a bit of a fever that she had been dealing with the week leading up to Plain. Alex Swenson and I chatted a bit. I spent the most time talking to Betsy Kalmeyer from Leadville, CO. I looked her up on Ultra Signup and it showed she has finished Leadville several times but more impressive-Hardrock something like 12 times. I remember reading about her in TrailRunner Magazine and she mentioned she was a Physician Assistant, just like me. I wanted to meet her and we chatted about our jobs.

RD Tom Ripley (left)

Trace, Pat, and me pre-race

We finally decided to head to our hotel. Most runners were camping at the LWRC (they had the choice of camping in their tent or trailer outside or could sleep in the meeting lodge). Sounds like sleeping outside was better since people were up late talking and the breakfast crew was going to start getting things ready at 2am. I had told Pat and Tracey that I wanted a hotel room. I’ve camped plenty of times before a 100 miler (been there, done that). It also got us away from other runners and allowed us to relax some. We stayed at the Leavenworth HoJo. Trace and I shared a bed and Pat had one for himself. We spent about an hour getting our gear laid out and food made. I took a quick shower. I called Ken and said I would see him Sunday. We were in bed by 9:30. Sleep was a little restless for me. Trace and Pat said they slept well. The darn fridge kept making noises. It didn’t seem to bother them. We were up at 2:30am and got to the lodge for the breakfast at 3:45. I sat in the car eating my sushi for breakfast. Didn’t want to gross anyone out but it has worked well for me. Don’t worry, it was all cooked meat and I had kept it refrigerated.

Everyone headed to the start 15 minutes away at Deep Creek Campground, also the drop bag location and finish. It was cool, but not cold. Arm warmers did the trick. No jacket was needed. We all checked in one more time. Next thing you know, we were off! The run started out with a mostly downhill dirt road run to the Thousand Lakes Lodge off of the main drag of Chiwawa Loop Road. We were instructed to run to the steps of the lodge and turn around. The out and back to Deep Creek was 3.4 miles. We let everyone else take off and let the dust settle. I started with a bandana on my face, but it was hard to breathe that way too. I took it off when we couldn’t see the runners ahead anymore. There were only 2 runners behind us on that section. Running down caused my pack to bounce too much. Going back up was much more comfortable and my pack settled into its position. We decided that we didn’t need to carry a bunch of water since we’d be stopping at most of the streams. That helped keep the weight down. I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell Trace and Pat that early on that it felt like I just picked up where I left off at CCC. My legs were feeling kind of heavy. Not much spring. It was going to be a long journey…

After going through Deep Creek, we headed up the road, initially nice packed gravel/dirt road for 3 miles to Deer Camp Campground (6.4mi). I had my tunes on and was singing to Pat. I’m sure he really appreciated that and wondered if I was going to keep that up for another 100 miles. The temp was really quite comfortable. I had a plan of eating real food alternating with a GU every half hour. It worked pretty well for about 70 miles, then I was mostly taking in GU. I took a Protein Power Bite (chocolate or peanut butter) when I didn’t want a GU. My solid food included Trader Joe’s chocolate croissant and homemade pumpkin or banana bread. I made turkey sandwiches, but they got so squished, they looked too unappetizing to eat. I brushed my teeth every 6-8 hours and used my inhaler about the same interval. When we got to Deer Camp, we took a hard left and headed up a primitive dirt road for another three miles. We arrived at Maverick Saddle (9.4mi) in 2:16 after starting. Winner Adam Lint got there in 1:32. There were only 3 runners behind us. Pat or Trace had a shoe malfunction and all but one runner (Scott Tomchick) passed us before the first water stop. About a mile in, we dipped our water bottles into the Mad River and treated it with our SteriPens (Pat and I both had one). We did just a little bit of bushwhacking to get to the river and as we were climbing out, Scott strolled by and said there was a better spot up ahead. He was already very sickingly chipper. What a great guy! In another half mile, we turned left uphill onto the Hi Yu trail (11.0mi). Please keep in mind that these mileages I post are off the Green Trails Map. I feel they are pretty accurate. Hi Yu went up for a bit. Scott passed us here. The views were already in site and spectacular. There was some down, flat, up again, and down to Lost Lake trail (14.5mi). There were some good runnable sections here. Of course, we walked any hill that in a shorter race could have been run, but we knew better. Not far from the next trail intersection at Billy Creek (17mi), we filled up one water bottle. It was starting to get warm. There is a ranger station there, and someday on one of our training runs there, I would like to take the very short detour there and take a peek.

We loaded up at another water stop about a mile before the next turn on North Tommy trail (20mi) because there would be no water for about 8 miles and we would be running some exposed areas. Right on N. Tommy Trail and more up another 1.2 miles until you reach a spur to the left that goes up to Klone Peak. Prior to that, we ran into RDs Chris Ralph and Tom Ripley. They were looking for Ryan Conway, who was going to drop because of a hip thing. I noticed him before the start. He was shirtless, had on a Nathan vest, had taped all his toes in some kind of black tape, and wore lightweight shoes. He had finished Plain twice before, coming in 2nd last year after Justin Angle (22:21) in a fine time of 26:44. Chris and Tom asked if we had seen him. We said no. They asked us to send him their way if we saw him, as they were heading down to Maverick Saddle. They thought he might have gone the other direction after Klone Peak instead of heading back. Wow, a drop already. Sounds like he had been dealing with the problem before Plain and I wondered if he should have started. A few dirt bikers were coming down as we were heading up before the spur. The half mile out and back didn’t feel so bad. Footing near the top is not so good, but it doesn’t last long. We saw 5 people heading down as we were going up. One of them was Ryan. We didn’t quite understand why we saw him. Did he head up to Klone Peak again? At any rate, we told him to head down to Maverick the way we came in. Apparently, he went off trail to get water and that was when Chris and Ralph must have passed him because it took them a long time to connect up with him when it should not have been such an ordeal. So big new rule, stay on the trail, even it is the wrong trail, so that search and rescue can find you.

We reached Klone peak (1/2 mile from the turn) and read the message at the top, which we were expected to recite at the finish. “Chickamin Chick says drink your Ovaltine.” Either that or we had to tell them what the color of the rock up there was. Green. Pat did some more shoe maintenance as Trace and I headed down. I had a chance to eat waiting for him to catch up. We had seen Mauricio Puerto on the climb up Klone Peak and would not see him again until the finish. He finished 40+ minutes ahead of us. After climbing Klone Peak we got back on the N. Tommy trail, now 22+mi. The next stretch was long before we got to Forest Service road 5605, or 7 miles. Most of it is downhill but exposed and seems to take forever. There were some rolling sections that did require some walking. We ran through areas that had been scorched by forest fires. We passed a fading Rob Lahoe, who said he was going to drop at the next checkpoint. He was not drinking enough. This was his 2nd Plain attempt. We felt bad for him. We finally reached water about a mile before the road and filled up. It was pretty hot then and we doused ourselves. Crazy, though. We dried up pretty quick. Pat had to work again on his shoes. This would be his nemesis the entire race: dirt in the shoes that would ball up and cause pressure points.

Refreshed with water, we ran to the next check point at the road. I arrived first, “Number 21. And I’m HAPPY, he’s sneezy, and she’s sleepy.” They knew we were in good spirits. This was about 29.3 miles and we arrived there in 8:53 (Adam 5:37). A short section of dirt road was followed by over three miles of asphalt. When we did this during training, we had to walk some of it. But we were able to run it all on race day. It was pretty hot at this point. There is a sharp right turn down on road #112 to a cul-de-sac where two trail heads start. The correct trail is on the left, Middle Tommy trail, which is harder to see coming from the direction of the road, and then there is Hunter’s trail to the right, but straight ahead coming in the cul-de sac from the road. It has been taken by a few runners in the past. (Michelle Maislen and Deb McInally first missed the sharp turn on #112 and ran down the road until they hit a one lane bridge. Uh oh. They turned around and made it back to the cul-de-sac but then took Hunter’s trail. Wrong trail. All in all, they lost 1hr40min.) Once again on dusty trails, we headed towards the Entiat River. Before crossing the bridge, there is a trail that heads right towards Fox Creek (mile 34) and the climb up Tyee Ridge. I started to notice my first muscle twitching here, but we stopped to fill up on water and my muscles were able to relax. Because there would be no water for 15 miles, it is suggested that you leave with 100-120oz. Quite a load to carry on the hardest climb of the race during the hottest time of day. I peed at the base and had a chocolate croissant, feeling pretty good. We passed one runner on this climb. But the relentless up with 87 switchbacks (I counted them on our training run), started to take its toll on me. It was too tiring for me to keep drinking and taking salt and by the time we reached the top (mile 39.5) about 2hr45 minutes later, my muscles were screaming. The eccentric muscle contractions on the down put me on the edge of cramping. I walked in a circle trying to shake them out. I told Tracey to head down ahead of me, but she wouldn’t leave. “Go tell Pat I’m cramping. It’ll just take me a little longer to get there.” I was able to briskly walk down and ran a few steps but could not break stride like I wanted on this downhill. I arrived at the next intersection not too long after Trace. I was forced to power walk and pushed myself to gulp as much fluids as I could and replenish my salt. There was still climbing ahead of us, so we were hiking anyway, but when we hit some downs, all I could do was shuffle along. Pat and Tracey were patient with me, and 3hrs after my last pee, I was able to go again. I was starting to feel better.

When we hit Billy Creek Trail at mile 43, I was able to run the down hills again, and there was enough in this section that I felt we were making up some time. It was getting dark by now. I saw a pair of eyes ahead of me and the deer jolted down the trail, sending dust clouds in its wake. We arrived at the next checkpoint (mile 45) at a road crossing at 15hr26min (Adam 9:50). Pat had to fix his shoes again. I had another bathroom break. We ran along for a while with some short hikes up and finally reached the section that everyone was dreading. Most of us were covering this part in the dark. The part of the race, before reaching the Mad River Trail, is very overgrown with rough footing hiding underneath. It just slows you down a lot and chews up time. For some reason, I didn’t think it was as bad as when we did it during training, but maybe because I knew what to expect. We finally reached a creek crossing and refilled. About this time, Deb McInally, who had been running with Michelle Maislen, caught up to us. Michelle was sick the week leading up to the race. She had a fever the night before the start. Still, she started but had to drop, not feeling well. We must have passed them when they got off trail. Now it was only Deb and her impressive comeback on her first 100 miler gained respect from us. She moved on while Tracey and I had a bathroom break. When we caught up with Pat, it was clear he had done some thinking. He said to me, “We need to get going if we want to make it back to Deep Creek with some cushion for the second loop.” He had been doing some math and figured we would get there at about 21hrs, only an hour ahead of the cutoff. As soon as he said the word, I took off. Now running all the downs and even some of the ups, I pulled them along that unending stretch to Mad River. We passed Wendall Doman, I believe, then Scott Tomchick on this stretch. Scott’s quads were shot, not having completely recovered from Hardrock. He was walking but amazingly still in good spirits. He was going to get back to Deep Creek and call it a day and was content with that. I asked him how long it took him last year to get from Deep Creek to Chickaman tie (the last cut-off about mile 78) and he said 7hrs. That was good to know. He wished us well.

After crossing Mad River, I saw a light ahead of us getting waved around like it was someone trying to figure out where to go. It was Deb. I showed her the way we knew. Apparently, there is a trail that you can bushwhack back up to Maverick Saddle, or take the right up a short section to the road. We chatted until we got there and I showed her what direction to head as I waited for Pat and Tracey. Even though we had covered this at night on the training run, Tracey called out my name in the dark from below and asked, “Which way?” Okay, so we were probably tired on the training run and now on race day, so I can see how it can be disorienting. Fortunately, Scott was able to catch up to them and directed them towards me.

We hiked back up the saddle to another checkpoint, now about 52+ miles in 18hr43min (Adam 12:09). We were all pretty spent by then. I was looking forward to some downhill and also not, if you know what I mean. Six miles of down, the first 3 on rough road, and another 3 that included some ups that we didn’t remember. I was feeling pretty good and felt I was flying but in reality was probably only doing 10min miles. Pat and Tracey followed me down. About a mile from the Saddle, I saw two people ahead walking. It was Ben Blessing and Lorie Alexander covered in their night gear. Ben said that overgrown section was the worse he had ever seen it. This was his 4th attempt to finish Plain. Lorie said that it trashed her. She is always the first to admit that she doesn’t do well with technical downhill. I wished them well but they ended up dropping at Deep Creek.

We hit Deer Camp and the smoother road section. At this point, we decided to run 5 minutes and walk 1. Easy hills were a challenge now. I started to notice how quiet Pat was getting. I think his mind was in a funk from this point forward. We caught up with Deb and ran the last mile with her into Deep Creek (58+ mi). We arrived at 20hrs (Adam 13:10), an hour ahead of our predicted time of 21. Karen and George Wiggins had driven their camper up and were out helping runners get through this transition. We accepted soup from them but none of us wanted a grilled cheese sandwich. George filled my hydration pack with 32oz of Gatorade and I filled my water bottles with water. I packed more GU, banana and pumpkin bread, and more chocolate croissants. I drank my soup and changed my socks and shoes. I was planning on putting on my Hokas for the rest of the run, but my feet had swelled too much and they were too tight. So I went with thinner socks but a fresh pair of the same shoes I had been wearing, Vasque Mindbenders. It still felt great to have clean feet and they worked out just fine. Only a small blister on the side of my right heel in the last 5 miles. The tight mesh on the shoe combined with my Inov-8 gaiters did not allow dirt in. Looking ahead, I commented to Pat and Tracey that I expected it would take us 15 more hours to complete the race. (By the way, I was almost dead on. We left Deep Creek about 20:15 and finished 35:10. Do I know our pace or what?) Tracey sounded shocked to hear this.

Deep Creek is where most people drop. You just have to get in and get out. Don’t get too comfortable. Karen said most of the runners before us were taking 30 minutes at this checkpoint. I think we took 15 minutes and Deb took even less, something like 10. We headed up Lower Chiwawa Trail knowing it was going to be a long time before we would see Deep Creek again. There is a lot of downhill running on the first 2 miles of this trail, which we knew would mean a lot of up at the end. This second loop is like a lollipop. Seven miles out, then a big loop, and finally that same 7 miles back. I was pressing along just as Pat had instructed me earlier, but I kept losing them. I ran into Deb coming towards me. She had hit a road and was not sure which way to go. I told her that there was a sign for the trail to the right of the road. She told me later she ended up finding it and thanked me for the help. Tracey and Pat caught up. I feared doubt had started to creep into Tracey’s head when I mentioned the 15hrs. She started to say she probably should turn back but Pat would not have anything to do with it. After about three miles, I found myself waiting for them to catch up again and Tracey finally said that she was not able to eat enough to keep her energy up and her tendonitis was bothering her. Pat tried to get her to continue but said that we needed to get going or we were going to keep losing more time. She said she didn’t want to jeopardize our chances of finishing and urged us to continue on without her. Reluctantly, we left her to run back on her own. Pat and I took off. We wore ourselves out trying to put in some good miles as quickly as possible. I finally said to Pat that we’d better pace ourselves. It was very hard to run over the dirt bike loop-de-loops. I kept coming down hard on the lows and running into the highs. I learned that having a handheld light would have been better to see the shadows on the trail. But it was in the bottom of my pack and one hand was already holding a bottle. I wanted one hand free to eat food. So I wasted a lot of energy tripping around. Pat continued to be very quiet, which is unusual for him. I don’t know if it was because we didn’t have Tracey anymore or if the miles were getting to him. I kept pushing ahead of him as best I as could.

We reached road 62 at mile 65, the start of the big loop. Although there was some flat and downhill here, we were looking at many climbs. As we approached 24hrs, we were looking forward to the sun coming up in an hour. Just about then, I was struggling to stay awake, something I had never experienced before in a 100 miler. I guess I could blame it on Cascade, work, and the heat. I think I was sleep walking for about 5 minutes. The constant climbing was hypnotizing. The sun came out and we were thrilled to take off our headlamps. Finally, we reached a change in the terrain. It was rolling for the next 3-4 miles with several crossings with water. Of course this took way longer than we remembered on the training run. We turned right up the Pond Camp Trail for 2 miles of more up. It took us 7 hrs to reach the Chickamin Tie check point (same time it took Scott Tomchick last year) from Deep Creek, and 27hrs total, one hr ahead of cutoff (Adam 18:30). Our split was pretty good compared to others. Chris and Tom, along with a couple of other S & R volunteers, were there to greet us. They told us that Deb was only 10 minutes ahead and Eric 20. They also said that what we just did up until that point was the “real Plain.” What lay ahead was much easier. Just 4 miles of nice trail up, then a run in the meadows, then the climb to Alder Ridge, then down the other side to the last 7 miles we already knew. All I can say is that it was still very hard!

Pat and I hiked up, stopping occasionally to fill water or dump out dirt from his shoes. This was really frustrating him. It didn’t take long for enough dirt to accumulate in his shoe before he had to do it again. Still we moved up the trail well enough that we were able to complete that climb in less than 1 1/2hrs. At one point, I let out a “whoop!” and heard Eric above us say, “Hey, Van.” But when we rounded the corner, he was gone. There were these boulder field crossings that were very hot from the heat retained in the rocks. We were now entering territory that we had never seen before because we were turned around by snow on the training runs. We finally came to a new intersection for us. We followed the directions and started climbing again. I was a little wary because Chris and Tom had talked about running in a meadow on this section. I was not expecting more climbing so thought we made a wrong turn. But we rechecked the map and didn’t see any other trail to get on. We did encounter some meadows, so thought we were probably okay. But in my Plain brain state, I kept thinking I had seen that turn before, or that rock, or that funky looking tree. I said to Pat, “I’m having déjà vu. Are we running in circles? He placed a marker on the ground. I had us both freaked out. In about another 5 minutes, Eric was running towards us! “#@%!” He said he wasn’t sure if he was on the right trail either and turned around. We looked at the map again and decided we would just keep moving in the direction Pat and I were going. Fortunately in about 1.5 miles, we reached an intersection and confirmed we were where we needed to be. But we hadn’t run into any water for a long time and Pat and Eric were dry. I let Pat have some of my water. In about half a mile, we came to a creek. It wasn’t a very fast flowing creek. But Pat said, “Oh screw it.” He was tired of treating his water and was so thirsty. I still treated mine. Many runners just scoop and go and never have any problems. I wasn’t going to take my chances.

We headed to Alder Ridge trail but didn’t realize it was further away. So we again questioned if we were still on the right trail. This feeling of uncertainty sapped our energy. We kept moving in the direction that we thought we should be in and ran into some dirt bikers. They pointed us in the direction of Alder Ridge trail, saying it was 1.5 miles away. We were pleasantly surprised to find it in half a mile. It took us about 40 minutes to climb up to the top of the ridge. The heat was stifling. The run down the ridge was on the sun exposed side and there was little water on this trail. Plus, we were passed by a couple groups of bikers. The clouds of dust and fumes made this part of the run even more unpleasant. I could see how on a random day, this run would be enjoyable, but not after 89 miles. After all, it was mostly downhill. The concrete pads that the bikers laid down on the trail at steep switchbacks were starting to hurt our tender feet. About ¾ ways down this 5 mile stretch, we did encounter some water and tried to cool ourselves. Pat fixed his feet and we made our way down to the road. We were now 95 miles through with Plain. We saw Deb ahead trying to figure out which way to go. Eric directed her in the correct direction. This part he knew. She joined us then. I led our new group in from this point on because they were all kind enough to avoid aggravating my asthma. About a mile on this trail before we hit another road. Now, Pat and I knew where we were. This is the part we drove to Friday. Eric said that it was just a mile before we got back on the trail on our way to finishing the loop. Pat and I knew better. We had just driven this and it was much farther than that. In fact, it was a little over 2 miles. Now this seems mild but not at this point in the race. We employed the run 5 walk 1 rule, but I was having a difficult time with even this ratio. Finally, we got to the trail and had about a mile to the final check point. We stopped at the creek there to cool down again. Our time here was 33:23 (Adam 24:15).

Two and a half hours to finish 7 miles. No problem, right? With 3 runners following in my footsteps, I got us to the finish in 1:47. Only the top 3 finishers, Adam, Tim, and Joe ran faster. About halfway home, we stopped one last time at a creek. Our screams of ecstasy when we poured water on ourselves were almost orgasmic. We spent a good 5 minutes there. Just about then, my heel blister was really starting to hurt. But so what? We were going to finish Plain! The last two miles, there were a series of short but steep ups. All I can say is that I wouldn’t have expected less from this course. After the last climb, there is ¼ mile down. I thanked Eric and Deb for joining us and Pat for sticking with me. We let out hoots and hollers to let the finish line crowd know that we were coming. Cheers came from below. As I came out of the trailhead, I stopped and gave Pat my hand, he gave his to Deb, and she gave hers to Eric. We finished hand in hand. The only thing that was missing was Tracey. But she was there all smiles to give us a finisher’s hug, so proud of us. Hugs all around but into chairs as soon as possible. It was nice to finally sit. I said, “Take this pack off me!” Chris helped me out of it and I told her to just throw it on the ground. Ah! Freedom!

Me and Pat post Plain-thumbs up!

Unfortunately, Ken arrived 5 minutes after we finished. He had to take a detour because they closed Hwy 2 for an accident. He fed me and forced me to drink. I gladly handed over $40 to Michelle, Eric’s wife, for my Plain buckle. Pat was in a daze for about 15 minutes but soon came around. I’m not sure if he even remembered the last 15 hours. We took off our shoes finally. My feet looked fabulous! The blister on my heel was tiny but it jabbed me like a knife. I changed into a fresh shirt and Pat and I donned our new sweatshirts. Everyone at the finish was so helpful. Tracey took care of Pat. She said she tried to sleep in her car when she got back to Deep Creek but it smelled too bad in there. She only got about an hour.

Plain Veterans

I made a new friend, Deb. Mauricio Puerto had finished 43 minutes ahead (34:37) and was still there when we came in. It was his second Plain finish and a PR by 29 minutes. Betsy Kalmeyer finished her first Plain a minute ahead of him but was already gone. Christi Masi won the women’s race in 31:55. There were 9 women who started and 4 who finished. Of the 16 men who started, Adam Lint finished first in 25:44 of the 7 who finished. Tim Stroh came in second in 27:25, his 6th Plain. It was neither a PR nor PW. His PR is 26:59. Joe Lee finished for the second time in 29:31. In 2007, he finished in 31:52. Miles Olrich ran the entire time with Christi and also finished his first Plain. This was Christi’s first Plain as well. It might have even been her first 100. Our split (Pat and I) from Deep Creek to the end was very respectable (15:10 compared to the fastest where Adam ran 12:34).

Finally, I had to go. It would have been nice to stay longer and celebrate. But I had to work the next day. We loaded everything into Ken’s car and headed to the LWRC to claim my Plain finisher’s rock. Although I couldn’t smell myself or my gear, Ken said the smell in the car was unbearable. He said it smelled like sweaty socks. Even though I had forgotten my deodorant, I don’t think it would have made a difference. He had to drive most of the ride home with the window down and his head halfway out. I went into the LWRC to pick up my rock. I gave it to Ken and said I would meet him outside since I had to use the bathroom. Apparently, Tracey and Pat had pulled in while I was in the bathroom. I came out and got into the car. Ken said, “What are you doing? That’s not our car!” I didn’t realize that I was getting into Tracey’s car. Ken said I must have Plain brain. Come on, give me a break! Both their vehicles are gray SUVs, and I had spent the weekend in Tracey’s car. He thought I forgot something in her car and was just getting it out. But when he realized I was going to close the door, he stopped me.

Plain Schwag!

We stopped for Mexican food on the way home. I made it to bed by 7:30 to 8pm after a thorough shower. I managed to get some sleep. Most times, even if I’m exhausted from my effort, adrenaline keeps me awake. I was up at 5am and at work by 6:15. After patient rounds, I was in surgery until almost 5pm. I wore compression socks, but my calves and feet ballooned by the end of the day and really ached. My calves were so tight. My doctor said I was probably experiencing a mild form of compartment syndrome. Fortunately, I had Tuesday off. My breathing after Cascade was much worse than Plain, and Plain was by far the dustier course. I think because there were fewer runners kicking up the dust, this made a huge difference. Plus, running in front was key for me. I can’t thank Pat enough for letting me do this.

I was signed up for Cle Elum 50K the following weekend but decided to be smart and volunteered instead. Although nothing hurt, my energy level was not quite restored to take on a challenging 50K. It was fun seeing runners come through at mile 7 and I had a fun crew to work with.

Two weeks after Plain, I did run the Middle Fork 50K put on by Eric Bone’s NW Trail Runs. This was an extremely fun course, but the heat and humidity and my stupid desire to not have a pathetic finishing time resulted in me redlining it for all but the first 5 miles. I over hydrated when it was still cool and didn’t hydrate enough when it was hot. I ran most of the race on the verge of cramping. I couldn’t seem to catch up fast enough on my drinking and salt and still pushed myself. Gwen Scott, who I carpooled with me, finished first in 5:14 and I sprinted as fast as I could in the last 6.6 miles to finish just under 6 hours (5:59:54). Gwen was surprised to see me sprinting to the finish line just after finishing Plain. Waddling fast was more like it. As soon as I finished, I just needed to keep walking to prevent the inevitable cramps from happening. Gwen brought me chips, soup, and chocolate milk. The milk took the ache out of my legs but the cramps were still looming. More salt tabs and gentle walking. When I thought things had calmed down enough, I sat to take off my shoes. My inner thigh cramped when I did this and it jolted me up. I had to keep it stretched. Once I had it calmed down, I walked around a little more. Finally, things seemed good enough for the drive home. I didn’t cramp again, but my muscles were not happy with me. They wanted to know why I had to push it so hard.

Two weeks later after Plain, as I am writing this, I still feel the glow from finishing. I believe the harder the struggle, the more meaningful the finish. I know I will be back to Plain and I hope she will let me tame her again. Thanks Chris and Tom for providing the ride!

2011 Plain 100 Finishers

25:44 Adam Lint M 28 WA
27:25 Tim Stroh M 49 WA
29:31 Joe Lee M 50 OR
31:55 Christi Masi F 50 WA
31:55 Miles Ohlrich M 42 WA
34:26 Betsy Kalmeyer F 50 CO
34:27 Mauricio Puerto M 38 CA
35:10 Deb McInally F 30 WA
35:10 Van Phan F 40 WA
35:10 Patrick Ackley M 41 WA
35:10 Eric Barnes M 55 WA

Plain Quotes

"DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOT PERMANENT"
“Well, at least I finished Hardrock this year.”
“Running down to the Entiat River felt like running into a hair dryer.”
“The Signal Peak climb is possibly the hardest single climb in ultra running that nobody knows about.”
“I could have built a big log cabin from all the blowdowns that were across the trail.”
“Some of the trail is going back to nature. A nice wildfire to burn out some of the brush in the trail would be helpful.”
“You don’t just roll out of bed one day and decide to do Plain.”
“Search and Rescue did a great job this year. They can’t help you unless you’re dying, but they smiled, laughed and waved all the same.”
“Learn to love your own company because you’re not going find much out there.”
“It was so hot that it completely melted the chocolate on my Snickers bars and I had to drink them for nourishment.”
“If you drop at some of the checkpoints you will suffer more pain in the vehicle ride than if you just continue on.”
“I typically leave my map and GPS at home. However, I usually find several lost runners out there carrying them.”
“The water’s pretty clean, except for that one mud puddle that I drank out of….”
“There’s plenty of wildlife on the course, some of it not even human.”
“Yes, next year I’ll try something different. Running barefoot on a belt sander in a sauna
for 20 hours comes to mind.”
“Plain brain is getting into the wrong car after finishing.”
“Plain brain is not knowing what day of the week it is.”
“Plain brain is saying that you won't do that again and a week later strategizing for the next year.”
“I don't know why Plain100 is so hard”
"You can do anything that's time limited, even child birth concludes with a prize!
along with the baby or in this case finish, additional rewards; a shower & rest!"
"THAT'S JUST STUPID!"
1. Nothing is promised to you except a damn tough course.
2. There are no nurseries on the trail.
3. This is a no WHINE zone.
4. Independence exerted here.
5. This is a DO-IT-YOURSELF race.
6. The exultation of Plain is knowing that you have competed in one of the toughest, unsupported 100’s in the U.S.
7. Run it! Tuck it in! Shut up! Get moving! This is PLAIN.!!!!!!!!!!!!

For a race with no aid, Christi and I had one of the best aid station experiences in any trail race.
We relaxed in camp chairs at Deep Creek while the volunteers knocked the dust out of our shoes and then gave us each a foot bath while we were waiting for our soup and grilled cheese sandwiches to be ready. They even held my toes apart for me while I wrapped new layers of tape onto my dust-streaked toes in preparation for the second loop. That was the best aid
station I've ever been at, even though I was promised "no aid".

Lake Youngs 2011

Me and tp!

Sara Malcom gets too close to the propane heater!

Prior to race day, I sent out an e-mail to all entrants that this would be the last time I was going to direct this race but keep my December run. Thanks to all who said that they will miss me at the helm. I am planning on picking a successor who will keep the run low key and grassroots-miminal aid, minimal costs, minimal whining. I will make this decision soon (hopefully in the next month). Whoever takes over will have roughly 10 months to grow pigtails.

Just a few glitches as usual before race day. The night before the race, I was driving home on Petrovitsky, the main drag around the lake, when I was turned around by firefighters, who had their truck blocking the road. I had noticed that two stoplights were out as well as the homes along a 3 mile stretch. I didn't know what was going on but had to take a long detour, which added 30 minutes to my commute home and shortened the time I needed to do last minute stuff for the race. I later found out that due to all the rain that we had been getting and quite a bit that Friday before the race, the ground was very soft and trees fell on some power lines and into the road. After making a couple chocolate chip pumpkin bread loaves for post race (which were a big hit), Ken and I headed out to the part of the road that was closed (it had re-opened), and scoped out the trail in that area in the dark. The trail was clear, but the ground was quite soft and wet, making me think that slower times were to be expected for the race.

We awoke the next morning, after a fitful sleep, at least for me, and headed to the start/finish area by 5:30am. I expected a handful of early startes at 6:30 with a regular start at 7:30. Ken and I were able to set up in dry conditions, something I have not done in many years since putting on this race. In fact, we almost did not need our headlamps since there was decent moonlight. I sent off the early starters in the dark and continued checking runners in. I said on my website that there would be no day of race sign up, but there are always a half a dozen and I just can't turn them away. Sara Malcom came to help with check in and stayed until her friend finished the 50K. She was a huge help, just like last year. Pablo Cabrera helped out after running one loop. And Delores Sentinella helped out until her hubby Terry finished as well. I could not have been able to record the loops splits or finishing times without their help, especially when runners came through in packs. They kept the aid station food re-stocked while I handed out cups of soup. My husband got all the donated food organized in boxes and delivered them to the food bank that morning. I also was able to give them a check for $400. That's $800 from my two races. Thanks for your generosity, especially this time of the year, which is the hardest for those in need!

We really lucked out with the weather! It didn't rain all day and the sun even peeked through. This is the best weather I've had for both of my races ever. It might have contributed to all the PRs and a few course records, despite my comment that I expected low times. Or was it my comment that motivated people to prove me wrong? I pointed out Cormac Burke, who was celebrating his 50th birthday with a 50K. Jill Hudson was also celebrating her birthday, but kept this to herself until the end.

At the end of the first loop, it looked like a tight race between Michael Lynes (50K course record holder) and John Collins (2 loop course record holder). They came in at the same time at 1:04. John headed out immediately while Michael made a pit stop. A minute later, 15-year-old 2 looper Brennan Wallin arrived. He didn't stay long. The first 3 women through were Kathleen Egan, Mary Hanna, and Kelly French. Kathleen and Mary were in the 50K race and Kelly was in it for 2 loops. Mary had her dog Emily, too. SuperMasters runners Scott Serpa (54) and Ronda Boyd (50) came in first for the 1 loopers in times of 1:12:20 and 1:23:08, respectively. In fact, Masters Runners dominated most of the top spots for all distances. No course records in that distance.

Once again, John and Michael arrived first at the end of the second loop, Michael a minute ahead with a time of 2:10. That pit stop at the end of the first loop added a couple minutes, so his splits were pretty identical. They were on record pace. Brennan Wallin finished first in the 2 loop race with a time of 2:20:19, an improvement of 12 minutes from his last year time. This kid has a future. Kelly French set a new female masters record with her time of 2:45:38. Way to go!

The one and two loopers were enjoying post race soup (chicken noodle or butternut squash) when Michael completed his 3rd loop in 3:13. That was a 1:03 third loop! His fastest loop! There was no question now that he was going to break the course record, but by how much? His previous record was 3:32:13. He came sprinting in at 3:28:27! Don't you just hate those speedsters? Except he's so nice, it's hard to do. Once again, he donated back the course record prize money of $31 to the food bank. John arrived in a very respectable 2nd place and a new open CR of 3:42:35. First woman was Kathleen Egan, who never relinquished her lead from the start. She finished 4:25:55, just over 7 minutes off the course record. Mary Hanna and her dog Emily took first female masters (Mary, not Emily) in 4:39:29, a PR for her and only 10 minutes off the masters CR. Kathleen "chicked" all but 5 male runners and Emily "bitched" two other male dogs. The 50K runners won a beanie from my December race, which has been a coveted item. It was nice seeing a good number of people wearing them on race day.

It was also nice to see some great veteran ultrarunners out there. Jim Kerby, who finished in 4:10:54, 4th overall, showed that he still has some speed, despite having to back off from his previous elite years because of knee issues. He said that he has run this loop in 58 minutes. Michael also commented that he had run the loop minus the out and back in 55 minutes. Wrap your head around those times. My course record holder for one loop is 1:02. Other notables that I felt privileged to have come to my race were Mark Hartinger, Glenn Tachiyama, Scott Krell, Tim Stroh, Bill Greaves, Dave Dutton, Jamshid Khajavi, Steve Peterson, John Bandur, and Kendall Kreft. These guys were running ultras well before it became fashionable. Sorry, guys, don't mean to date you or if I missed anyone. You know who you are.

Here are some special performances in addition to the course records:

There were many PRs in the 50K! Congrats to Jenny Appel, Julia Conway, Jennie Eyring, Andy Fritz, Reed Glesne, Susan Glesne, Matt Hagen, Mary Hanna, Ron Horton, Ashley Kuhlmann, Daniel Kuhlmann, Micheal Lynes, Leslie Miller, Kristin Ohm-Pedersen, Susie Ro, Bob Satko (despite rolling ankle at mile 11 and PRing by 30 minutes), Terry Sentinella, Steve Walters, and Cheryl Carrier. There might have been more but these are the runners who informed me.

First 50kers were Mark Casey, Steve White, Eric Wildt, and Darol Tuttle.

Daniel Kuhlmann reached Three Stars Gold Level in the Marathon Maniacs.

Many finished the 2 loops for a hard earned half marathon credit. I had quite a few people say that three loops were good enough but I made them all go back out and finish the out and back to get credit for the 50K. No credit for 3 loops.

Everyone returned back safe. It was still clear when I left. I was able to clean out my car at home before it got dark and rested up for a nice jaunt at Tiger Mt. the next day with Eric Barnes and Steve Stoyles. We also had a beautiful day scampering around for 3:30+ hours.

I've been going non-stop since the race with home renovations, medical conference, and work, making long 16 hour days. I'll be able to relax when the home stuff is done and focus on running again. I had better if I want to actually enjoy the busy running schedule I have planned for the year with hopefully 30 ultras, including about five 100 milers. By the way, several of you asked what I meant by my comment of having run farther than any of you. If you've run 150 miles in one go, then I stand corrected.

Results can be found on https://databarevents.com/tails50k.asp

See you in December!

Pigtails

5TH ANNUAL PIGTAILS RUN

RD Pigtails and Hubby Ken

Cedar River Trail Marathon and 50K
December 18, 2010
Ravensdale, WA

The 5th annual race was a great success despite ominous weather forecasts for strong winds and 70% chance of some type of precipitation. I had 137 runners entering up until the day before the race and 103 showed up. The weather was blustery at times, the sun even came out briefly, and the snow/rain/hail/sleet held off until about 5 hours into the event. Everyone returned safe and my stress level dropped a notch. I had decided to offer beanies to race participants and they were a big hit. Seemed appropriate to give something that helped keep runners warm. Nice alternative to a T-shirt I was told.

Matt Hagen 40th B-day doing I don't know what and Terri Thomas

Each year, it gets harder and harder to put on my two races. For one thing, they are only a month apart. Updating race info is a drag. Seems like a simple thing to do, but I really don't spend that much time on the computer, and when I do, I consider it a waste of precious time that I could be doing something else. I changed jobs halfway through the year and my schedule became more hectic. I got a job closer to home but the patient load is heavier and my days (which went from 4 to 5 days a week) are longer. So trying to keep up my race and training schedule while putting on 2 races in the winter has been very challenging. Seeing people come to my race, I have to to say, is rewarding. I hope to be able to offer them for 10 years before handing them off to someone else.

Candice Burt and Genia Kacey (2nd and 1st females in 50K)

There were some glitches before race day, including one involving my beanies. I really liked the pig on the front but thought I had also asked for them to embroider "Pigtails Run 2010" on the back. Somewhere along the line, this was miscommunicated. I had considered just leaving it alone and accepting it but really wanted to have my logo. Unfortunately, I received my beanies a week before the race and did not have time to send them back to be fixed. My friend Mary Hanna contacted her friend for me in Maple Valley who did embroidery. She could not take on the job but did give me three places that might. I called them all the Monday of race week between my surgical cases and chose the least expensive one. They were all very busy with holiday orders but agreed to fit me in. My husband Ken was able to drop the beanies off while I was at work. They said they could have them done by Friday but actually finished them Wednesday and he picked them up for me while I was at work again. That was very helpful! I was pleased with they way they turned out and glad I decided to have it done despite the extra cost.

Christel Elliott 1st female marathon

The other thing that was challenging were my medals. I have had to come up with a different design each year for my homemade medals and it is getting harder. This year, I was able to find pink poker chips and thought it would be easy to make them in a short period of time. The first part was kinda easy. I just had to find a stamp on-line of a pig that was small enough to fit on the poker chip. That was a little challenging but I did find a cute flying pig that just barely fit. I got some permanent ink and wrote on the back "Pigtails 2010." The next part was harder than I thought it would be. I needed to drill a hole for a string. Ken did the first one to find the appropriate drill bit to use. Turned out it was not plastice all the way through. There was metal in the middle to give weight to the chips. So a 30 minute job to drill 130 holes in what I thought were plastic chips all the way through turned into 2-3 hours of drilling the holes and cleaning the metal shavings off. Ken did set a jig to make it easier to drill the whole in the same spot for each medal. Finally, I tied the strings on, at times with a headlamp since our power went out twice in the last 2 weeks. Brought back memories of my first year making medals under candlelight when a severe windstorm left us without power for 4-5 days.

Trailhead at Landsburg of beautiful Cedar River Trail

The last thing that made this race stressful was the high wind watch that was issued for the Cascade Foothills, which includes this race, where 30-40mph winds with gusts up to 65mph were expected to peak Friday night into Saturday morning. I sent out a frantic e-mail asking runners what they think I should do. Most runners wanted the race to happen since my reschedule dates were not appealing and they had other plans for the rest of the weekend. I decided to proceed with the race and hope for the best. I had taken Friday off to prepare for the race. Unfortunately, my office party was to start in the afternoon. I still had so much to do! I finished making medals, loaded the car, returned e-mails (sorry to those whose messages went to my junk mail), marked the first turn around, and marked the aid stations.

Great volunteers Bret Bellevue and Sharon Hendricks

I got to the office party over 2 hours late but arrived in time to still eat and socialize. After getting home, I did some last minute loading of the car. I went to bed at a decent hour but the winds picked up and were howling all night, sending large branches crashing down on our house, truck, and property. No damage was noted on our buildings but Ken's Ford truck got a dent on the top of the cab. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep, worrying about possible damage and also about race day. Our power went out overnight and I did not get to send out one final message that my race was still on.

Bill Barmore and Rikki Bogue

We awoke at 4am. Ken made some coffee on the camp stove and we had oatmeal for breakfast. We headed out but had to stop 3 times to get out of our cars and pick up large branches in our driveway and the short gravel road that got us out to the main paved road. Then we just weaved back and forth avoiding branches without having to get out again. About half a mile from the start, a large tree spanned the road and there was no getting around it without breaking branches off the end so that we could squeeze by on the side. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were amazed to see that two of my wonderful volunteers had already arrived and pretty much set up. Jerry arrived at 4:30am and had set up his two tents. He had brought his camper, which served as a dry and very warm area for any cold bodies. It also acted as a buffer for the wind as well, which was still gusting strong enough that we grabbed onto the poles to keep it from shaking so much. Jerry had already pounded in some stakes to keep them from blowing away. Between Jerry and Bret, the tables were all set up, propane heaters were running, and propane lamps lit up the dark parking lot, making it look like a city. Ken and I were very impressed!

Always cheerful volunteer Jess Mullen (and amazing Cross-Fit coach!)

The rest of my volunteers arrived and after unloading my stuff, we ran out of things to do. So Jess Mullen, Gwen Scott, Sharon Hendricks, and I went to make sure the cone that I had left the day before at the turnaround on the powerline trail was still there. We picked up branches off the trail on our way. The cone and my flour line were still there. Gwen placed a bunch of big branches across the road as one last assurance that runners would not run past this point. When we got back, runners were just arriving. We checked runners in and handed out beanies. It was nice to have extra hands there to give out race bibs, receive food donations, and check off runners. Before I knew it, it was 10 til 8am. Anthony, who works for King County Parks arrived to check in on us. He had spent the previous day clearing the trail for the race (before the windstorm hit). Now there was another big mess. So he took off 10 minutes before the runners in attempts to clear the trail again. He did a great job according the runners. Trees that they had to hurdle or go around on the way out were cleared for the trip back. Thanks Anthony!

Jill Hudson and Linda Walter

We walked over to the power line trail and I gave my race briefing with my squeaky voice. I told them that it was 1/2 a mile on this trail before turning around and going back to the main trail for the rest of the race. Unfortunately, Paul Huynh didn't register this. He took off like a gazelle and ran past the cone, flour line, and around the branches over the road according to reports from other runners. He was apparently too far gone for anyone to call him back or chase after him. When the runners ran past the start, one of them told me that someone kept going and my stress meter went up. WHAT?! How can that be? If he was moving that fast, it would be hard to catch him now. More than 10 minutes had gone by. Gwen, who is very speedy herself, had running shoes on. She stripped off her down coat and went after him. But he was already long gone. We were hoping that he would turn around at some point and Gwen could run back with him. John Pearch, who is a phenomenal biker now (had been a phenomenal runner until his knee pulled him out of the elite level), was able to get his bike gear on quickly, now gave chase after both Paul and Gwen. Dave Murray and I got in my beamer and drove to the two spots where the power line trail crossed paths with residential roads. We got to the first intersection and saw Gwen heading back to the start alone and John continuing on. We kept driving to the next intersection and saw John coming towards us. Just about the same time, we saw Paul running towards us as well. He appeared to know where he was headed and we surmised that he had run into someone walking out on the powerline trail who told him how to get back on the Cedar River Trail. He didn't seem to want to stop to talk and kept going but took the wrong road. We all yelled out STOP! Dave and I ran back to the car and directed him to the hidden trail that leads back onto the Cedar River Trail. I am so glad that Dave was with me because I didn't know exactly where that was. A few of the lead runners had just gone by when we deposited Paul back onto the correct course. That was a crazy start! In actuality, the trail that Paul ran was hilly compared to the flat Cedar River trail and according to Dave, who runs this trail with his cross country kids, Paul had run at least an extra 1.5 miles before getting back on the Cedar River Trail. If he had won the race, I would have had a dilemma on my hands about who to name the winner since he went off course. I'm glad I didn't have to go there.

Robert Lopez #52 for the year

Dave and I continued on to the main aid station and put up signs. Bret and Sharon were just receiving the front runners. Paul had caught and passed all the runners and kept moving along. He did not carry a water bottle or any food that we could see. They had a nice set up at this aid station. The tent had two walls. I brought the drop bags. Sharon apparently had spent quite a bit of time clearing the trail where a big tree had fallen on the trail heading up towards Lake Wilderness where the 50K runners were going to do their final out and back. Bret and Sharon were doing a fine job so Dave and I moved along. We next set up the unmanned aid station at about 11 and 16 miles. We carried two 5 gallon jugs in and set them on crates. The water was nearly all gone so that tells me I need more next time. Of course, next time, there will probably be more than enough. That's how things go. I also left a bag of Snickers and Pay Day for anyone feeling particuarly hungry or bonked. Next we marked the turnaround with a cone, flour, and a sign that said "Pigtails Run." (Apparently, there was another race/run going on and there was a turnaround that was 12.9 miles for our race that some people took. For my race, you would have had to follow the trail under a road just before the turnaround).

Cliff Richards, Tony Myrie, Emily, and Mary Hanna

Dave and I knew that Paul would be coming so as we were driving on HWY 169, we kept an eye out for him. When we saw him, John was riding along. He said he was there to make sure he saw the turnaround. We told John what to look for. Finally, we marked the 50k turnaround. We stopped by Starbucks to get some coffee and sandwiches and headed back to the finish. Jess, Gwen, Ray, and Bryan retreated to Jerry's camper and told me that it was a luxury to have that there. While cozying up inside, they could hear the wind howling outside. I'm glad they had a place to get out of the wind other than their cars. We had our coffee and lunch and started getting the soups and apple cider warmed up for the runners coming. Gwen had made vegan butternut squash soup and it was delicious! The weather continued to be ideal runner's weather. But I guess there was a decent headwind after the turnaround.

A bunch of happy runners

Finally, we saw a runner approaching and I knew right away it was Eric Sach, owner of The Balanced Athlete at the Renton Landing (nice plug). He had brought Clif Shot gels for the aid station. Thanks Eric! He looked totally unphased after running faster than his goal with a finishing time of 3:14:17. He was also first masters. Next in was Paul, who ran a speedy 3:20:10 for a 19-year-old! This kid has potential. Third male was Pedro Infante in 3:23:24. First woman was Christel Elliott in 3:49:10, her 1st win! She was followed by Sara Malcom in second with a time of 3:59:37. Sara had won the 50K last year. Third female was Heidi Perry in at 4:05:20. First female masters was Jill Langis in 4:25:00. In the 50K, Kevin Douglas and Hunter Maclean tied for first with a time of 4:13:24. Third overall and first male masters was Terry Sentinella, RD for the Skagit Valley Marathon, in 4:17:41. Genia Kacey took first for women in 4:28:32. She missed the course record of 4:26:00 by just over 2 minutes. Second female was Candice Burt with 4:39:41 and Ashley Kuhlmann was third in 5:03:05. First female masters was Mary Hanna in 5:08:05.

Terry Sentinella first masters 50k and 3rd overall

Ken went and got pizza for post race and the soups were very popular as well. Warm apple cider was consumed rapidly. Note to self-need more of that next year. The rain finally came which prompted tired legs to run for cover. Many hung around and socialized before leaving. That was nice. Jess and Gwen were lifesavers and recorded finisher's times and I kept the kitchen going. Ray handed out medals because I kept forgetting to. Thanks Ray! Bryan made the trek over to the main aid station and helped Bret until it closed down after the last runner came through for the last time. Bret had been there all day. They cleaned up and came back to the finish and continued to help there. Nearly all my volunteers stayed until just before the end. A few runners remained and Jerry and Bret stuck around until the last runner came through. Mary Hanna had gone home and showered but returned to help and see Bob Dolphin finish. She drove me out to the last 2 mile mark to make sure he had come through. We didn't see him coming so figured he was already on his way to the finish. We served him hot soup and cider at the end. His muscles were cramping but he was happy. To me, he was the toughest runner out there all day. I can't imagine running like he does at the age of 60 let alone 81! We finished packing everything into the cars. I finally said goodbye to everyone and breathed a big sigh of relief that it was over. But it doesn't end after the last runner comes through. I had to drive to the unmanned aid station and clear that as well as the turn around points. Not much to clean up but time consuming to drive to those locations. Mary was kind enough to pick up the cone and sign at the 50K turnaround since it is very near to where she lives. I took care of the rest. Came home and had to clean up the car and unload everything. Jerry had taken all the trash so I didn't have to deal with that. (He is a very handy guy to have!) I spent a lot of time cleaning the water and Gatorade jugs and washing pots with dried out soup. I dropped off the food donations during work the following week and wrote them a check for the amount that was donated on-line and on race day. They were again very appreciative since this time of year is sometimes lean for them. I was able to donate $400 in addition to the food. This was double the amount of the Lake Youngs race this year. You guys rock!

Tony Myrie and Val Beyer (all the way from St. Louis!)

Thanks again for coming out to play! Below are the final results. I can still make corrections if needed.

Ray Shaw, my medals man

50K

1. Kevin Douglas, 22 .............................................................4:13:24

1. Hunter Maclean, 28 .........................................................4:13:24

3. Terry Sentinella, 46 .........................................................4:17:41

4. Bruce Hoff, 48 ..................................................................4:22:53

5. Mike Schlecht, 40 .............................................................4:26:17

6. Genia Kacey, 35 .............................................................4:28:32

7. Steve Duncan, 42 ..............................................................4:33:09

8. Jeff Rankin, 37 ..................................................................4:34:35

9. Pete Nicholson, 51 .............................................................4:35:32

10. Candice Burt, 29 ..........................................................4:39:41

11. Matt Glew, 31 ...................................................................4:42:03

12. Jae-Byung Jung, 40 .........................................................4:48:27

13. Robert Bondurant, 38 ......................................................4:50:58

14. Ron Horton, 42 ................................................................4:52:44, PR

15. Ted Eckert, 43 ..................................................................4:53:45

16. Jerry Thayer, 56 ..............................................................4:55:40, PR

17. Cliff Richards, 49 .............................................................4:56:11

18. Ashley Kuhlmann, 24 .................................................5:03:05, PR

19. Tony Covarrubias, 50 .......................................................5:07:59

20. Mary Hanna, 49 ............................................................5:08:05

21. Dean Kayler, 47 ...............................................................5:08:40

22. Andy Lin, 28 .....................................................................5:10:40

23. Trev Dakan, 41 .................................................................5:10:59, 1st 50K

24. Mike Mahanay, 55 ............................................................5:12:14

24. Guy Yogi, 56 .....................................................................5:12:14

26. Anders Martinson, 51 ........................................................5:18:36, 1st 50K, MMQ

27. Lorie Alexander, 51 .....................................................5:23:02

28. Kimberly Kuhlmann, 32 ............................................5:24:32

29. Everett Billingslea, 49 ......................................................5:25:16

30. Andy Fritz, 44 ..................................................................5:25:25

31. Daniel Kuhlmann, 27 ........................................................5:31:00

32. Betsy Rogers, 47 .............................................................5:32:31

33. Mona Lisa Huerta, 35 ...................................................5:34:13

34. Vivian Doorn, 44 ...........................................................5:39:06

35. Susie Ro, 39 ....................................................................5:39:22

36. Lenny Strobl, 45 ...............................................................5:46:27, PR

37. James Orbistondo, 39 ......................................................5:50:30

38. Jill Hudson, 48 .............................................................5:57:49

39. Joseph Kennedy, 41 ..........................................................6:12:34

40. Steve Janny, 24 ................................................................6:34:20

40. Ashley Wiren, 28 ..........................................................6:34:20



Marathon

1. Eric Sach, 42 ........................................................................3:14:17

2. Paul Huynh, 19 ....................................................................3:20:10

3. Pedro Infante, 49 ................................................................3:23:24

4. Rich Hieb, 37 .......................................................................3:33:26

5. Ray Ensign, 30 .....................................................................3:34:30

6. Steve Walters, 30 .................................................................3:47:21

7. Christel Elliott, 32 ...........................................................3:49:10

8. Brian Pendelton, 56 .............................................................3:59:13

9. Sara Malcom, 27 ..............................................................3:59:37

10. Mark Stadum, 50 ..............................................................4:04:10

11. Heidi Perry, 39 ...............................................................4:05:20

12. Nicole Niemann-Carr, 35 ............................................4:05:40

13. Julie Conway, 25 ...........................................................4:07:20

14. Ben Semer, 37 ...................................................................4:10:26

15. Ronald Frederick, 43 .........................................................4:10:54

16. Erin Stone, 27 .................................................................4:12:36

17. Steven Yee, 51 .....................................................................4:12:40

18. Dan Whitaker, 49 ...............................................................4:16:37

19. Mark Looi, 50 .....................................................................4:22:45

20. Jill Langis, 45 ..................................................................4:25:00, MMQ

21. BJ Farish, 37 .......................................................................4:27:06

22. Stephanie Astell, 47 .......................................................4:27:34

22. Teresa Hanson-Redrup, 48 .........................................4:27:34

24. Lisa Wood, 37 ..................................................................4:28:59

25. Robert Lopez, 44 ................................................................4:29:50

26. Denise Lynn Turk, 42 ...................................................4:30:52, MMQ

27. Bill Barmore, 50 ..................................................................4:31:38

27. Rikki Bogue, 47 ................................................................4:31:38

29. Deb O'Connell, 47 ...........................................................4:35:14

30. Linda Walter, 59 .............................................................4:43:50

31. Matt Hagen, 40 ...................................................................4:48:13, B-day

31. Marilou Russell, 49 ........................................................4:48:13

31. Terri Thomas, 49 ............................................................4:48:13, 1st 26.2

34. Emily Weiler, 37 ..............................................................4:48:35

35. Sandra Sendelbach-Hasse, 43 ....................................4:49:52

36. Josh Owen, 32 .....................................................................4:54:06

36. Carla Owen, 28 .................................................................4:54:06

38. Ron Beyersdorf, 40 ..............................................................4:57:00

38. Kristin Anderson, 39 ......................................................4:57:00

40. Karen Wiggins, 51 ...........................................................4:59:08

41. Nichole Hill, 39 .................................................................5:01:35, MMQ

42. Gary Otheim, 68 ..................................................................5:05:10

42. Steve White, 57 ....................................................................5:05:10

44. Susan Sansing, 44 ...........................................................5:06:00

44. Debbie Wilson, 49 ...........................................................5:06:00

46. Barry Hopkins, 57 ...............................................................5:09:57

47. Patti Krebsbach, 48 .......................................................5:15:12

47. Takao Suzuki, 45 .................................................................5:15:12

49. Monte Pascual, 50 ...............................................................5:15:24

49. Robert Stretz, 42 .................................................................5:15:24

51. Mike Kuhlmann, 60 .............................................................6:00:40

52. Rick Haase, 65 .....................................................................6:12:39

52. Stanley Nakashima, 59 ........................................................6:12:39

54. Jane Herzog, 47 ................................................................6:16:49

54. Rich Menzel, 67 ....................................................................6:16:49

56. Jim Boyd, 68 .........................................................................6:43:20

57. Bob Dolphin, 81 ....................................................................7:37:29

MMQ=Marathon Maniac Qualifier.

Other special accomplishments:

This was Robert Lopez's 52nd Marathon or longer race of the year for 10 stars, the third time he has achieved 10 star status!

This was Bob Dolphin's 478th Marathon or longer race.

This was Andy Fritz's 220th race of any distance and the first time he has received a beanie. Come to think of it, I've done 270+ marathon or over races and have never gotten a beanie!

We had racers from these clubs: Marathon Maniacs, Skagit Runners, PSNS Fast Attacks, Seattle Running Club, Pat's Trail Nuts, Raise the Bar, Highline Community College, Eastside Runners, KBA Racing, and The Balanced Athlete.

Mary Hanna and Bruce Hoff are the only runners to have completed all 5 Cedar River Runs. I'm hoping that they continue every year for 10 years to receive a 10 year jacket!