2004 Reports
We've got some great race reports. Thanks to all for submitting them they are a great way to remember the race. I'm listing them in the order I get them.
We are open to race reports by anyone who ran. Please send them to Scott Diamond.
Monika's Request for Reports
I am putting a race report together and am soliciting tales from the trails from volunteers and runners as contributions. Having read some race reports of late I'd like to emphasize that the PCT report does not aim for a War and Peace-like volume. Please keep it to 100 words or less, and don't shoot the editor. Dear trail nerds, that calculates to 30 words for each of you; AFLAC being considered a word in this instance. As every year we try to keep people on trail with all sorts of warnings and markings, and every year somebody inevitably wanders off course. At least this year's aimless wanderer had a great sense of humor about it. She said that she would not have met her nice running buddies from Mississippi and Kentucky lest she stayed true course. She also lost a toe nail on the course (or slightly off-course), rather than a couple of weeks later like the rest of us, and she still kept up a terrific attitude. Since we are usually camping out rather than staying in hotels, I could safely dedicate our pre-race warning to "share the trail equitably, pay attention to the rules, and stay on proper course", to our friends in the mega corporations and the government. Loosen up, I am: 1. not American, so you can't call me unpatriotic (although these you could probably have me deported) 2. being facetious, so allow a little parody without getting into political discussionsJ Happy Trails, Monika
Clay's Response
AFLAC....AFLAC,AFLAC,AFLAC. AFLAC! AFLAC? "Quothe the Raven: AFLAC"
Did I mention AAAFFFLLLLAAACCCCC!!!!!!?
Okay, even I can't be so annoying as to write that 100 times...but I
bet Sean would!
The Trail Nerds adopted the ugly, dusty, hot aid station known simply
as Hwy 58 this year. We had great plans to invite Sean's band,
install disco balls and other decorations, and Scott was going to
bring all his medals from the Warm Springs 105.8583 Miler, (there
wasn't enough room in his truck!). Unfortunately life, and a summer
of first 100-milers for us, all got in the way. But we did show up.
And we were richly rewarded.
We got the unique opportunity to interact with every runner, from both
races, twice! It was an education seeing the innumerable ways folks
handle the distances and challenges. The amount of work that goes
into feeding and watering those wonderful fools was also amazing.
Thrice we nearly ran out of water because the weight of the ice blocks
made it seem like there was more water left than actually existed, so
my wife, then Sean, then myself went racing to the campground to fill
the containers. images of thirsty runners burning the tent down in
protest filled my head as I furiously pumped the well for the blessed
elixir. I will never forget to thank an aid station volunteer again!
Overall, we had a blast. Most people had a great sense of humor. The
rest seemed to tolerate our screams of AFLAC!, the honking of Val
BuckmasterÂ’s horn (thanks to his lovely wife for loaning it to us for
most of the day!), and my 2-year old saying "goo' job" to everyone as
he stuffed his face with Clif bars and cut them off on their way to
the Gatorade. We put a sign up on the way out saying 1/2 mile to aid,
then on the return we paced off another half mile in the opposite
direction but labeled it 4 miles to aid, with another sign right after
saying "Just kidding, 1/2 mile to aid"! That one nearly got us our
butts kicked at least 5 times!! Luckily the disgruntled dirt warriors
were too tired to pummel us! haha And Stacy proved to be even weirder
than us as she galloped down the trail spanking herself and yelling
"giddy up".
Kudos to the runners for braving the heat and dust. And thanks to Bob
and Monica for organizing what I can only imagine is a logistical
monstrosity, and pulling it off flawlessly. And a special "WOW!"
Award to that Terminator-like machine who flew through the whole 50K
with nary a possession on his body! How did that guy do that? A
three-digit VO2 MAX must be a fine thing to have!! :-)
See ya all at the Mighty CCC
P.S. Monica, MS Word says that that was 464 words. But divided by 50
miles, that's only 9.27 words per mile.
Michael's Report
BEAT FEET TO BARLOW! This year an intrepid gang of volunteers: Sandy Lundberg who has run the 50k here twice before, Michael Sweney, who limped in one time for the 50 miler, and Phyllis Goto, non-runner, but volunteer extraordinaire, took up the responsibility and honor of crewing the Barlow Aid Station. And a wonderful day it was! We brought two cars worth of extra goodies and water and wound up using a lot of it! Michael who had committed the aid station instructions to memory, still wound up forgetting to mark the Palmeteer trail intersection: Sandy kept reminding him: "you better mark that trail" and he kept responding "I'll wait till all the outbound runners have passed." It wasn't until John Ticer and Ty Draney had zipped through the station inbound, that Michael's defective memory chip sparked and he grabbed a bag of flour and headed up (as in contour lines) to the intersection. Not even his redoubtable fresh legs and blistering 12minute pace could overtake the frontrunners! "Lotsa luck, fellers!" Another guy named Turk passed him too, but at least he blurted out, "stay to the right!" Got the trail marked eventually and back to the aid station. So much for panic and hysteria. Crewing the A.S. was fun AND satisfying. Michael, who suffers from chronic guilt syndrome (CGS), finally felt he was doing something to pay back the race for the incredible experience it had given him a year ago. Sandy, a multiple PCT veteran and Cle Elum Ridge 50k runner, thought volunteering would be nice while her toe injury healed and provided the needed experience and composure that made running the A.S. a breeze. Phyllis was in charge of time sheets, Michael and Sandy were the general purpose staff. We fixed feet, did an on-site shoe repair for one runner, gave cold-sponge-to-the-back-of-the-neck treatments, and filled innumerable waterbottles with Gatorade, Water, and "Half and Half". We had special delicacies at our aid station, such as Swedish Meatballs, crushed-ice-on-demand, the infamous gummy-amoeba and Oreos that had the filling melted out by the sun! We couldn't have done it without the kind help of other volunteers who came up and helped us for the first five hours! Memory fails their names, but they were truely angels. Thank you so much (you know who you are!)! We had bought at least 5 library books up to the station to read, envisioning hours of idyllic peace between waves of runners! Not a sentence got read! Phyllis did get a period after 1:00 pm where she could sit and play her little drum! Originally Michael was going to bring his infamous harmonica, and we would play the runners some drum and harmonica tunes, but that plan fell through since we couldn't manage the music and the clipboards and waterbottles simultaneously. Maybe next time!! You guys don't know what you missed! Lessons learned: (1)YOU CAN'T BRING ENOUGH WATER AND GATORADE! (2) NEXT TIME BRING A DRUM OF E-CAPS! (3) SOME RUNNERS LIKE WARM WATER! (4) KEEP MELTABLE THINGS OUT OF THE SUN! (5) LEAVE THE LIBRARY BOOKS AT HOME. (6) MARK THAT $*@! PALMETEER TRAIL JUNCTION EARLY! A wonderful time we had and it was really satisfying to be out there helping the runners. We finished up the day by breaking down the station, heading to the finish line and running out to pace in Wendy Beard, who ran the 50km again for the second year in a row! We carried water out to her, but shared it with so many runners coming in that there wasn't much left by the time we reached her! A warm day on the mountain but a wonderful experience too (as always).
Greg Everyly's Race Report
[Editor note - I thought it was hard to top Craig Thornley's experience spotting a cougar last year but this race report may top it]
I was doing great, running like a champ, my first Ultra, following my well scripted plan laid out by Sean Meissner and Gene Trahern, then all hell broke loose at the last aide station, I accidently put red gatorade in my handheld with blue straps and blue gatorade in my hand held with red straps.....I was in my self-exiled suffering, lementing my huge mental error with my color coordination, when suddenly, WWHHAAAA!!!!!!!!, horse was wailing out, I saw a women get bucked off by her horse on the foot bridge with only 5 miles to the finish, the poor lady hit hard on the wooden bridge, but was ok. "Frostie" the horse, (no, not the Snowman-- though I could have used him about now), with fear and a whole lotta' whoop-ass took off in a cloud of dust toward the start/finish..I says...to the damsel in distress..."I'LL GET HER!"..she looked me ..like "EM....yeah...right..."...Frostie was doing sub-4 pace down the trail having difficulty closing on Ticer...and I was doing 8 min pace..'em, uh. ok....8 min pace slower than the horse and Ticer, I figured to myself.."self, hell, my lawnmower has 17.5 horsepower (and a cup holder)...what's one Frostie?"...anyway..a mile down the trail some kid had a hold of Frostie, I said to myself.."good thing, I am getting tired of running 8 min pace."..em'..slower than the horse, this kid looked like he knew what he was doing with Frostie too...he said with a perfect 4-H accent.."Is this you'all Haworse?" (well, I looked I got bucked off and trappled, but I did that on my own, no, no, I paid money to do it too)..I told him the lady was about a mile behind me and she was walking...(oh wait that was my ego speaking), she was actually about 1/4 mile behind me and probably closing. Anyway, horses aside, I plodded with grace of Clydedale, my first ever finish in an Ultra...in the future, I'll stick to my riding lawnmower and pay more attention to the color of the Gatoraide... Cougarbait Sisters, Oregon
View From the Front
I have the distinct honor of reporting that I actually arrived at each aid station ahead of John Ticer on the 50 mile race. Of course, I was crewing for him and driving his car like a maniac all around the course, so I'm not sure it really counts. During the visits to each aid station, I got to meet some dedicated people who love the sport of Ultramarathoning. What a great community of people! In addition, I had the pleasure of meeting one of those real special people that put up with the training life of a runner and still remain gracious and poised. Val Buckmaster's wife is a real blessing. I got to throw the stick for one of their dogs as well. Val, of course, was one of the lead runners, so I ran into her several times during the race. Even though John was competing with her husband, it still felt like family. It is real strange to strand by and wait for someone like John at each aid station and listen to all the comments from fellow runners when it became clear that he was going for a record. Yet none of the stories can compare with the ones that our family has on him. But that's for another time and place to discuss. But the funniest one I heard was from a few young ladies who were running the 50K and had stopped at the Frog Lake aid station and gotten an update on the leader. One proudly mentioned that she knew John, but that he was...like..you know..40 or something. I wanted to tell her that he was scaring the heck out of 50 years old (which will arrive in 27 months, 7 days, and 6 hours). I never thought I would see the day that my older brother had groupies! The little man at the FS58 aid station stole my heart though. As I was waiting for John and throwing the stick for Buckmaster's dog, he just cruised right over, looked in the cup that I holding, helped himself to a handful of pretzels, and told me, "Goo job!". Nothing like being appreciated. Bottomline, it was a great race, well organized, and staffed with some of the best people you could hope to meet up with in the middle of the wilderness. Funny how that happens. Always Amazed, Joe Ticer (John Ticer's baby brother)
Andrew Brown's First Ultra
What a race! Being my first ultra, I was tentative as to exactly what I was getting myself into. But, once on the course, inhaling the dust, feeling the trail beneath my feet it quickly lost the feeling of a race and became a great day to run through the woods. The camaraderie on the trail was striking. People were supportive, courteous and smiling! What a concept after running four-plus hours. Every aid station was stocked with goodies and drinks beyond my expectations and the volunteers who graciously attended to the runners were wonderfully supportive, though I must admit when I saw the sign "4 miles to next aid", I thought I was toast, luckily the next sign came quick enough before my brain totally shut down my body. Bottom-line: I am hooked. This race exceded my expectations in terms of organization, the wonderful people on the trail and at the aid stations. I am eagerly awaiting next year's race! Thanks for making my first ultra a wonderful experience. Also, I must thank again whoever picked me up about a mile out when I tripped getting out of the way of John Ticer as he came flying by me. Ticer is an animal!!! And an inspiration. Thanks for everything, Andrew Brown
Larry Axmaker's Report
[As Monika noted when she forwarded the e-mail, here is somebody who stuck tothe word count :-)]
We didn't decide to run for sure until Saturday morning, but we were camping at Timothy Lake anyway so why not. Not counting lack of training and lack of speed, we had a pretty good time. The aid stations were great - those manning (or womaning) them had a lot more energy than we did. Dust, rocks, roots, more dust, heat, and horse muffins made it all interesting and then there was the all-day father-son bonding. It doesn't get any better than that. Larry Axmaker Stacey (Ax) Axmaker
Sarah's Many Firsts
If it weren’t for the nasty scab covering my right kneecap and the matching black-and-blue second toes on my feet, I could easily believe that my race experience on Saturday was really just a dream. In fact, my five-day, long-awaited introduction to the Portland area was perfect in nearly every way (except for my arrival, which involved a ridiculously delayed flight and temporarily lost luggage). But I digress... This race was a breakthrough for me in many ways-- first 50-miler, first west coast race, first time starting at the front of the pack, first time setting a course record - even if I had struggled just to finish I would have returned to CT raving all the same to everyone who would listen about the breathtaking scenery, fantastic trails and warm, supportive runners and volunteers. For all but maybe ten miles of the race I was lucky enough to run with local runners whose company was invaluable for pacing and carrying me through low points and enjoyable for friendly conversation (and, in the sand and towards the end, mutual commiseration). And for anyone who heard me discounting the roughness of the first section compared with more technical New England trails, my words came back to haunt me on the return trip when one of those seemingly innocuous roots sent me flying to the ground... Sarah Almodovar
Dale Fuller's First Ultra
Mt. Hood PCT 50/50 Race Report by Dale Fuller What a great choice for my 1st ultra. The organization was great, the support at the aid stations was super and the volunteers & runners were all very friendly. Since I am mostly a 5km runner( I quit serious marathoning in 1983) and my longest training run was 12 miles, my plan was to run 6 min & walk 4 min. My buddy Bill Leahy ran the first 6 miles with me. The plan worked well except for difficulty passing and being passed repeatedly by the same runners. Yes I was the guy in yellow you were leap frogging with. . I¹ve used a similar plan in a couple of recent marathons. It works better on the roads where people are free to pass. I held up well until cramps set in at Little Crater. The plan went out the window the last 6 miles. Now the plan is jog until I cramp, walk for a while. hopefully not more than a minute, then jog again. I was hopping to average 10-minute miles, actually achieved an overall average of 10:30 and only slipped to 11:30¹s the last 6 miles. All in all it was a very good experience. I loved running the trails. The race organization was super and everyone was very friendly. Dale Fuller Pasco, Wa.
50K Report from Floren
I greatly appreciated the exceptional attitude/support from runners/volunteers! This was my second 50K, but first-ever course record (nice surprise!). I meandered off course twice but take full responsibility, since both occasions were on the way back--I should have been paying better attention on the way out!! (I’m really not dumb...that’s just my cover.) Many thanks to Phil Orlowski for pointing me in the right direction (as he kicked my butt from the trail/road junction to the finish) after I had already passed him twice...he was very encouraging each time. And another big 'thank you’ goes out to Monika for sharing her German diaper cream (better than Vaseline!). This was a WONDERFUL experience...I may attempt my first 50-mile next year. Floren Ansley