A couple of months ago I decided that this would be the year to tackle my first mountain 100-miler. I had my eyes set on the Karwendel Challenge in the Austrian and Bavarian Alps which would have also been a good opportunity to visit family and friends back home in Germany. However the race organizers ran into some bureaucratic red tape for their inaugural event and had to postpone the race to next year.

When I heard the bad news, I was considering Tahoe Rim or Leadville as alternatives but unfortunately both races had already closed registration. In hindsight I should rather say fortunately they were closed because I hadn’t heard of Cascade Crest until Robert Heynen mentioned at a club meeting that he had signed up for this race. When I did some research I really liked what I read and the pictures from Glenn Tachiyama sold me on this race. Besides, it fit nicely in my calendar with no conflicting private and business obligations, and the 100 runner limit was not reached yet. So I signed up right away.

With regard to my fitness, lately my running was reduced to 10-15 miles per week and a couple of races (Maze, San Diego Marathon, Belt, and Capt’n Carl’s) showed me that I was in no shape for a 100-miler, let alone a mountain 100-miler. There was clearly a need for improvement and since the beginning of July I was trying to get back on track with my running: 4-5 one-hour runs per week, and on the weekends 1-2 longer runs (2-3 hours) in the heat of the day. By mid of August I had lost some weight and gained enough endurance that I felt I had a shot at finishing a 100-miler (or so I thought …?)

By that time I also started to getting hyped up and was really looking forward to this race; I even created a motivational wallpaper for my PC from pictures at the CC100 website.

It was also good to hear that I was in this together with other HCTR and NTTR club members: Robert Heynen, Erik (Moogy) Moortgat, Shawn Fagan, Shawn Bostad, Lynn Ballard and Letha Cruthirds.

Then in the week before the race I heard that Robert had decided not to run after his doc strongly advised him so. What a bummer!!! I am sure that Robert made the right decision but I can image how much of a disappointment this must have been for him.

Of course the good news was that nevertheless Robert and Diana decided to go to the race and crew/pace for their friends.

Pick-up of race packages was on Saturday morning before the run which allowed for Friday travel. When I arrived at the airport I met Robert and Diana who where booked on the same flight. Unfortunately our flight was delayed and we were to miss our connecting flight in Denver. With later flights all overbooked we had difficulties to get alternative flights to Seattle. I think Robert and Diana got a connection via Dallas, and I made it via Phoenix with another delay there. To cut a long story short: instead of 3pm I landed in Seattle after midnight and finally arrived at my motel in Issaquah at 1am. So it was a short night because I still had to pack my drop bags and it was another hour drive from the motel to Easton where the race started. Race headquarters was the Easton fire station and I have to say that the support from the fire chief and his crew was just one more reason to make this race so memorable.

I arrived in Easton in time to check in, drop off my drop bags, say hello to my fellow HCTR/NTTR runners and attend the race briefing which started at 8:30am. The new race director Charlie Crissman was giving the briefing and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks again to Charlie and all the volunteers who did an outstanding job getting us runners through this race. Then it was the typical routine with standing in line at the portapotties, getting ready with your gear and attending the national anthem ceremony.

This was also the first time I used a new gadget, a waterproof wrist camera: nothing fancy, only 2 megapixel, no flash, but very practical and the reason why I actually took some picture during the race.

I was so busy getting ready for the start that I almost missed it, and as result I was the last one getting out of the “barn”.

Actually starting from the back of the pack is not such a bad thing; it kept me from going out too fast which used to be my biggest mistake in my earlier ultras.

The first section of the run was a nice 3000 feet climb up to Goat Peek where I started to pass a couple of runners. Halfway to the first aid station I met Lynn Ballard and took a couple of pictures. The weather was perfect, dry and not too warm; but that would change later in the day.

The first aid station came faster than I expected and we even had trail runner “royalty” greeting us there: Krissy Moehl, who had just set a new female runner record at Hard Rock this year, was among the volunteers who cheered for us runners.

After our first major climb we were rewarded by a nice view of the Cascades range. Somewhere north of the trail to Goat Peak and Cole Butte was also the site of a 400 acre forest fire which had started 3 weeks earlier after a helicopter crash but fortunately had been contained after a week. I remember that I had a good laugh when I read in the National Forest fire incident report that the terrain difficulty was classified as “extreme”.

After Cole Butte came a 1500 feet downhill section and then another climb up to Blowout Mountain. The vistas were great and I thoroughly enjoyed the run and the scenery. I felt good and despite the climbs my legs did not feel too tired.

Somewhere in between I briefly hooked up with Lynn and Moogy where I took a few pictures while running before they passed me for good.

At Blowout Mountain we connected with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). From there to Tacoma Pass was another major downhill stretch.

The PCT was easy to run and not difficult to follow; you only had to pay attention when you crossed forest roads. However there was some major distraction for me in form of bushes full of huckleberries. I probably spend 15 minutes or more just feeding on those delicious berries with their fruity, citric taste; the last time I had eaten huckleberries was in the Bavarian forests thirty years ago. By the way this is another reason why I like trail running so much: it really engages you with all your senses if you take your time.

From Tacoma Pass to Snowshoe Butte and then Stampede Pass came more climbs and more downhills and more beautiful scenery. I met some PCT hikers and a few other folks who were harvesting berries and mushrooms along the trail.

I was still feeling good and holding up pretty well and I was pretty confident that I could finish the race.

When I arrived at Stampede Pass I was greeted by Diana and Robert and this was the first time in my three years of ultra running that I experienced the luxury of having crew support. I just sat down in a folding chair and they filled up my bottles, brought me food, searched for my drop bag, got rid of the trash and in between gave me an update on how the rest of the club members were doing. To summarize it: I felt rotten spoiled.

Stampede Pass was at mile 34 which meant I had already one third of the distance and half of the 21000 feet climbing behind me. I changed shirts because it was getting cooler now and it also started to drizzle. I made sure that I got my flashlights ready and then I left the aid station with the best wishes from Diana and Robert.

I would now stay on the PCT for another 14 miles before the course would continue on other trails. The footing on the PCT was good; however in some sections the trail was overgrown at knee height so sometimes I could not see the ground in front of me. This made me feel a bit uneasy on the downhill sections because I have a tendency to twist my ankles if I don’t pay attention.

The weather was downright nasty now; sometimes raining, sometimes drizzling and the cold wind blowing in my face. Anyway I made it to Meadow Mountain in one piece and right before the darkness set in. I also witnessed Hans (Hans-Dieter Weisshaar) running with an umbrella through the woods which was quite hilarious.

From Meadow Mountain there was some more climbing and then a long downhill section before I arrived at the Olallie Meadows aid station.

After Olallie Meadows I left the PCT and continued until I came to the infamous ropes section. This is a short section where the trail is so steep that a couple of ropes are sometimes the only thing that keeps you from sliding down the “trail” until you hit a tree or some other obstacle. Well, I managed to slip and hit my face on a tree stump even though I was still hanging on to the rope. At the bottom of this section I bent my glasses back into their original form and while I continued on the John Wayne trail I tried to stop the bleeding of my nose.

After a mile I came to the old railroad tunnel. Inside the 2-mile long tunnel there was a lot of moist air and in many spots the water was dripping from the ceiling. On the tunnel walls there were still the old reflectors which after half a mile or so got me kind of hypnotized because of the reflections from my headlamp; this gave a whole new meaning to the term “tunnel vision”. Finally I exited the tunnel and after another mile I entered the aid station in Hyak the only other town on our loop from and to Easton.

Again, Diana and Robert took very well care of me. I refueled and changed into a long-sleeve thermo shirt. It was 1am and things still looked good: I was 53 miles into the race and 2 hours ahead of the cut-off time. I left Hyak on a flat 2-mile section before the next climb up to the Keechelus Ridge aid station.

It was on this section that I noticed something very disturbing. After several hours of wet and cold weather my asthma was finally starting to kick in. Normally I don’t have a big issue with asthma; but occasionally when I exercise and when it is humid, especially when it is cold, I might run into problems as I did now. Anyway it slowed me down on my climb up to Keechelus Ridge but my breathing was improving on the downhill section to the Kachess Lake aid station. I arrived at the aid station, still 2 hours ahead of cut-off.

At mile 68 with two thirds of the climbing done you would think that you have covered the hardest part of the race. But not so at CC100! Once I got out Kachess Lake aid station the fun really started. What followed was a trail along Kachess Lake which is aptly named “trail from hell”.

It is a 5-mile section where even elite runners will need 90 minutes or so to cover the distance. The trail runs along Lake Kachess on a steep slope with the ridge on the left hand side and the lake on the right, about 50 to 200 feet above lake level with short but steep climbs and drops and after every 30 to fifty yards you have to jump or crawl over or under fallen trees. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful trail; but now into the third part of the race it was definitely kicking my butt!

After crossing Mineral Creek which was less dramatic than I expected I was more than happy to get to the next aid station. At mile 73 this was my last station with a drop bag and I got ready for the final stretch of the race.

After leaving the aid station I was on my way huffin’ and puffin’ seven miles up a dirt road to Ridge Road and then Non Name Ridge. On Ridge Road I met Robert for the last time before the finish (Diana was on the trail pacing Moogy). After No Name Ridge aid station I was happy to leave the dirt road and be back on single track for the next fifteen or so miles.

The trail from No Name Ridge to Thorpe Mountain and French Cabin was indeed the most beautiful stretch of the race. There are a couple of steep climbs which are named Cardiac Needles. Well, with my asthma being really bad now, they felt more like defibrillator jolts to me. I had to breathe twice as fast as I would normally do under the same circumstances and even then I did not get enough oxygen. I was only at 5000 feet elevation, but I felt like being at the top of Pikes Peak. I had to stop several times to catch my breath and other runners were passing me on the climbs. Sometimes on the downhills I was able to catch up with them but then I would loose them again on the next uphill section. It was really frustrating!

On the climb up to Thorpe Mountain, Glenn Tachiyama, the race photographer took a shot of me where I look like death warmed up – and believe me I actually look better on this picture than I felt. Glenn later wrote me a nice email, saying that he too has occasional bouts with asthma and he wished he had his inhalator with him when he saw me on Thorpe Mountain. The last climbs had slowed me down so much that I was running out of time. I had major doubts whether I would be able to make the final cut-off.

After Thorpe Mountain it was mostly downhill, with a final climb right after the French Cabin aid station. I was starting to recover somewhat on the downhills, however I could not afford to slow down if wanted to keep my slim chance of finishing under 32 hours.

My quads were hurting and I was feeling the consequences of insufficient hill training before the race. The good thing was that with my quads screaming I hardly felt the blisters on my heels anymore. I am not a good downhill runner but now I was blasting downhill and expecting to see Silver Creek, the last aid station, any minute. Finally, 10 minutes to 5pm, I arrived at the aid station. I stopped for just a second to make sure they got my number and to ask which direction to continue.

And then I was on what seemed to be the longest and never-ending stretch of the race although it was only 5 miles of mostly flat dirt roads and pavement. I felt like I was running out of steam and my legs were hurting like hell, but I did not want to give up until someone would tell me, sorry buddy, you gave your best but it was not enough.

I entered Easton and 20 minutes before 6pm I saw the fire station in the distance and Robert running towards me to cheer me up and accompany on my last part of the run. I asked Robert at least twice how far it was to the finish because I was afraid there might be a final one-mile loop or something before the finish line. When Robert assured me that it was straight to the finish from here (parallel to the rail road tracks) I felt like being on Cloud Nine. And to give it just one more dramatic twist, I heard the horn of an approaching train. I thought forget about the rail road crossing and jumped over the tracks in order not be cut off from the finish line. And then, with 15 minutes to spare, I crossed the finish line.

Charlie Crissman presented me with my belt buckle and another great surprise: a hand-printed and numbered linoleum print from Leah Jurek, the wife of trail runner legend Scott Jurek (Leah and Scott are strong supporters and sponsors of CC 100).

Finally being able to sit down I felt completely wasted, but also extremely elated at the same time. I didn’t dare to take off my shoes and put my feet in a bucket of cold water, because I was afraid I wouldn’t get them on again.

Oh, on a final note: I was soooo tired after the race that I did not hear my alarm clock the next morning. So I missed my flight on Monday and had to fly back to Austin a day later.

To sum it all up:

Did I have fun? You bet!

Would I recommend this race? Absolutely!

And that’s all I have to say for today …