Marys Peak 50M
Under the enormous canopy of the protected ancient pine forest as I ran long winding switchbacks and rose into the clouds, I stopped to take a quick photograph and in that moment heard a distant bird call, barely discernible over the shattering noise of my own heartbeat between my ears. The ground was soft with dirt under a blanket of brown pine needles whose aroma filled the cool damp air that I was gasping to inhale.
I took my photo and enjoyed the foggy scene from a movie and continued on my way.
If you had told me 10 years ago that I'd be running a coastal mountain in Oregon (and summiting it twice) in the middle of a 50 mile race, I wouldn't have believed it.
Hell, if you had told me 4 years ago as I trained for my half marathon, I still would have had serious doubts.
And yet here I am, doing what I never thought I could.
So how'd it go? Sitting on a plane headed home, let me digest this.
6 months ago I was reading the monthly ATRA newsletter and saw a link to enter for a free race entry, so I submitted, and won.
There is no shortage of great mountain races from Colorado to Washington, and this was a smaller event I had never heard of, so I was intrigued. I had my 2 "A" races for the year, and this one fit into the schedule well enough, so game on. We like the smaller local races, they're often where we get to meet local runners and enjoy the passion of the run in lieu of the race namesake.
What did we know.
- Well, Marys Peak is the tallest coastal mountain in Oregon, somewhere around 4500' high.
- The race would have you climb, and run the summit twice, to collect over 9500' of gain.
- It's described as a tough 50.
- There are a few relatively aggressive cut offs (you need to maintain almost 14:30 pace or 4.25 mph through mile 38)
- And carry your calories.
Not a whole lot of details on other aspects perhaps, but more than enough to make a game plan.
Fast forward, I've been consistently blowing my expectations out of the water as my training and experience builds, so let's get to the race.
I'm out of PTO at work, so it was a whirlwind trip. Flew out late Thursday night, ate and prepared on Friday, raced Saturday, and flying back Sunday morning (sleep be damned).
Due to an environmental impact and that we were running through a federal/state park, we couldn't start super early, which is fine, I'm not a morning person, so the start was at a “reasonable” hour.
 |
| Pre race game face :) |
630 am, Blodgett School, a tiny group of people gathered to get a final pep talk under a cloudy and cool sky. I was bib 29 (transferred up from the 50k so I was the last bib), I think 22 people toed the line for the 50 miler.
We all took off down a country road, a few miles starting with some down hill sections and then various rolling road before the climb began, we stayed on this sort of gravel logging road through around mile 7, where we finally ducked onto pure single track. With the low number of runners (and unfortunately many being ill prepared for this beast) by this point in the morning we were pretty well spaced and fully running alone. The rolling dirt path took me through majestic old forests and lush green foliage. How I have forgotten that the Midwest winters kill everything annually, so we don't get this sort of environment. We ran this trail for about a mile and a half, it varied greatly, but the overall trend was up and up and up. This led me to the first stop at the first aid station. My wife and I had a game plan for carrying food and being self sufficient, which was a good thing as the aid stations had only a few select items. We're talking:
- Tailwind and water.
- PBJ sandwiches and bananas.
- Trail mix and oreos and chips.
- And some big old muffins & granola bars.
I'm super happy I've got my nutrition figured out, and also happy my wife/crew chief keeps me in line, so I carried what is now my pretty standard list:
- Gels (500 cal)
- Chews (350 cal)
- Sport Beans (100 cal)
- PB tortilla wrap (270 cal)
- Home brewed combination trail mix (450 cal)
- Plus my own hydration mix as needed (Nuun)
 |
| Here's part of what I carry but not even all of it! |
Besides what I carried, she was there to refill me as I came through that primary aid station 3 times. So each aid station I'd drink and refill my bottle with tailwind, and grab a piece of a banana and sandwich, and then a few Oreo's to go, but I definitely relied on my supplements to fuel my day.
As I left aid station 1 my wife informed me that I was in 5th, which is usually an indication that I'm going out too hot, but it just felt so good and the mountains were invigorating. But now, I was headed to the top of the mountain, so off we go. Up up up, a gain of 2200’, I left the lush low forest I had been in and transitioned to the older forest full of tall trees that blocked out almost all of the sunlight, leaving the forest floor to be barren and open, allowing me to see horizontally as far as the mist would let me as I eventually ran into the cloud layer. As I rose I began to see sunlight burning through the trees, which eventually thinned and as I approached the upper reaches of the forest the temps began to rise.
The climb is relentless, it just keeps on coming. It wasn't the most brutal switchbacks I've done, the North Cascades get that award still, but for a run, it was just never ending. Plenty of little plateaus that would invite you to run for a moment, but just up ahead, is another climb. One good part, the trail was in great shape. No mud, and while there were roots and rocks, a lot of these trails were smooth and soft under foot.
 |
| The view from above the clouds, the pacific is out there somewhere. |
The summit finally came into view as you had to run a few smaller trail loops to get the total mileage, and once that was done you had a short dirt road down to aid 2. I was feeling great so pushed that downhill just a bit and stopped in for snacks and to shed my long sleeve shirt that I had started out with. Took my snacks and headed down for a long out and back to aid 1 via a different route, and made it all of 50' back to the trail before neglecting to get my feet back under me, so down I went onto my left knee. It didn't really hurt, actually my right knee stability muscles hurt (IT band area), but my left knee made contact with some rocks and started to bleed, but, it clotted before the blood got to my sock, and by my logic, that's good enough to keep going :)
The road back down the mountain to the turnaround point was long and winding and basically all downhill, so I tried to move well, but was already dreading the return climb. Not having not seen another runner for many hours, this was my chance to see who was ahead of me and gauge their distances (as well as seeing who was behind me once I headed back up). Yep, sure enough, 4 bodies in front of me, all running that hill back up, phew. Now 23 miles in, I get to the aid station and I am still feeling good, so I restocked and prepared to head out when another runner came in, quickly restocked, and left with me. Over the next few miles headed back up that incline gravel road, she continued to pull away from me a little bit at a time, but consistently she was able to attack that hill. I have no qualms with her passing me, she rocked it and deserved it! (and was friendly to chat for a moment we were parallel)
So back to the summit for the second pass, the climb continues, and by now we're getting closer to the max of my training, 6,000' cumulative gain is about my highest training weekend, so not a surprise that I was feeling gassed, but, I continued to push. The knees were sore from the fall, and my quads were feeling the elevation, but I could climb. But on the steep downhills, my right knee was a little vocal, so I didn't push it excessively, if I maintained this pace and didn't explode, I was still on track to blow my goal out of the water.
The 2nd trip to the summit was hard, but less loops to do up there so it was quicker, and down to the 4th aid. Same story, refilled my goodies, grabbed some cookies for the road, and headed back down to the main aid station again (basically now backtracking on the original path). Back through the forest, through the soft dirt and old growth. My legs were getting tired more and more, and the impact landing on the steep descents was irritating my knee, so I wasn't surprised to get passed by someone. One more runner caught up to me right as we approached the next aid. Another great dude, we ended up leap frogging a bit over the next many miles, usually just at the aid stations, but he was slowly pulling away by a few moments each time.
Back down the single track, and then into a new area, a private forest (aka a tree farm). By now the sun is present and high overhead, temps are still nice and in the low 70's, but in the sun feeling much warmer.
The general trend is now downhill to the finish line, but a few more respectable climbs.
The trail was often on access roads, and often the trail was 8" wide single track, it varied as quickly as you could imagine.
I made it until around mile 40 before busting out the trekking poles, by now I knew they'd help me as I was fatiguing and posture was less than perfect. I continued to see my running buddy until the end, again, great person and he was killing those hills so I'm happy to see him in front!
The final miles were rough, I started passing people that were DNF'd from the 50 mile, some were 50k runners, but we were all in the final stages and back on the road.
I pushed, I tried.
In the first half of the race, I was on track for a sub 10 hour race (mind you I initially thought sub 12 would be great), but as I faded, I watched my time slip just a little bit, and I got honest with myself. Sub 10 was probably not realistic or safe, but 1030 was a solid goal and it helped me to reevaluate and adjust my expectations.
Back to this road. I knew it was some down hill and I knew there was one final climb of a few hundred feet and a curve in the road so you couldn't really see the finish line, so I pushed, kept an eye on my watch, and knew I would be close. Push push push, around the corner and I see my wife in the road and I know the finish is there.
I felt drained and sore but did my best to push the last hill and through the finish.
Sure as heck, 10:29:41 is my official time, my watch gave me 9878' of gain.
I mean, I'm beyond proud, super pumped with how I did all things considered. (My previous and only other 50 mile race was 11:15 with “only” 5600’ of gain)
I apparently passed a fellow 50 miler, so I ended up finishing 6th overall and 2nd in age group. Sounds unimpressive based on the low number of runners, but, I fully believe this was a hard race with tight times.
The guy who passed me in the middle and I saw frequently? Finished only 90 seconds ahead of me, I’d like to think I could have pulled that out of my hat, but really felt like I was towards the top of my envelope. Great job to him for his first 50M!
Matter of fact, great job to everyone out there, whether you finished or not, that was a serious course.
A substantial number of people DNF'd or (mandatory) dropped to the 50k distance due to cutoffs (they’d get a finishers cup but be listed as DNF). For the 50 mile, they gave out 29 bib numbers and 11 people finished.
I felt good overall, but wish I had a little more gas in the legs to push those down hills.
There was more rock road than I was planning for, so the shoes I chose to wear weren't the most padded, but my feet did great, zero issues and no maintenance required (especially nifty since I have a blister on my ankle from a wild parsnip burn I got a week prior)
Inov-8 Trailtalon 235's with gaiters and my DarnTough socks
I didn't have to dip into my hydration powders since I drank probably close to 6L of tailwind.
Food wise, I think I got around 2500 calories on board during the run, so that was pretty solid.
Oh, and I did finally take a few doses of salt pills, once at mile 26 and another at 40. I was definitely sweating, a lot by that point (and mile 40 was a water only stop)
I finished off by sitting on the grass for a bit and cheering on the finishers, had a full size burrito and a soda sitting there and had no real desire to eat for quite a bit but I eventually did, and then we headed to a local Nectar/mead brewery to get my free drink and more importantly, get my crew chief a real meal.
Capped it off with a nice PNW IPA (and a bunch of water) and a shower and off to bed it was.
My wound on the knee cleaned up pretty good and my body is feeling alright, but we'll see if I fall out of bed tomorrow morning. I'm sitting in the magical exit row seat with no seat in front of me so I have like 4 feet to stretch out my legs with my nifty compression sleeves to combat the post race swelling.
I'm still processing the details and I'm looking forward to a few weeks off to recover and repair and doing other things that are enjoyable, but this was eye opening in regards to what 10k of elevation feels like and what would it feel like to do double (or more) on some of these awe inspiring 100 milers that I've been dreaming about.
My thoughts on all the DNFs, I get it, the race director has limited resources (aid station workers are giving their days) and it was plainly spelled out on the race website. I don't have a problem with that. It's just a bummer that so many people went out there unprepared for that race and those cut off times and then were upset when they didn't make a cutoff. I mean, I know I'm an excessive planner and a pepper and not everyone is, but you have to be aware of your abilities if you're taking on a mountain ultra. Right?
Anyways.
The race was free for me but we still spent a few bucks traveling and living out there for a few days, but this was a worthwhile adventure by far.
The race was a blast, it's what I prefer, a quiet mountain and an opportunity to challenge myself and see what I can do.
The mountain and scenery was phenomenal, we lived in Seattle for a year but this is the most time I've spent in Oregon and it did not disappoint (Portland is fun but we're not city folk)
Just about everyone there was super friendly and an expansion of the trail running community, even locals were excited to ask about the race and give encouragement and congratulations, both on the mountain and later at the restaurant.
I would recommend this for anyone looking for a fun race on a great mountain, and the ocean is less than an hour away so double win!
Here’s the link to my Garmin in case you want to check out the day: Garmin.com Marys Peak
Flickr photo album will go here when I get to it: _______________
And for the obsessive planners, here was my split chart for aid stations, paces, and cut off's:
Comments
Post a Comment