08 The Bonus year

It's long and unedited. I bet it will give Barbara a headache.

I’ve been thinking of doing a recap of 08 for a while now but I’ve found writing to be near impossible while not being in a positive mood. But if I don’t do it now it will never be.

08 really was a great year. I call it the bonus year because how could it have topped o7 the Year of HURT, Rock & Ice, Hard Rock! and more. In reality 07 should have been the last year. I did not think that I would make it through 08 and really I didn’t but I’ll tell you about the year that was.

08 started out with the presumption that I would not be able to top 07 and defiantly not be able to afford another year of running even on credit. This didn’t stop me from making plans or running to the end. First up was the Arrowhead 135 mile ultra on February 4th in International falls Minnesota.

I had signed up in o7 but withdrew when I got in to rock and Ice. This was the race I thought I might have a chance at winning. The year before only one person on foot finished. That person was Sarah Lowell an elementary teacher from north Carolina who braved the negative forty temperature to be the loan survivor of the 135 miles of the Arrowhead ultra. I’d raced at temperatures between -30 and -40 for 5 days in Yellowknife the year before so I was not afraid of the cold in fact was looking forward to it. To be the soul survivor. Well that was wiped away when on race day the temperature was above freezing. But before I go that far let me tell you about the person I met on the short flight from Minneapolis to international falls aboard a small prop plane with just a hand full of people on it. In my bag I had the latest copy of trail runner in it which had a story on last years soul survivor Sarah Lowell. When I boarded the plane we were told to sit over the wings since there where so few of us. After taking my seat I looked down the isle and see a familiar face walking towards me. It was Sarah Lowell. And after introducing myself we spent the rest of the short flight talking about the race to the other passengers who stood or sat in disbelief of what we were about to do. From this moment on we became great friends. Back to the race. I was really looking forward to another arctic race in a land nicknamed the Ice box of the lower 48. I wasn’t looking forward to the 135 miles of mostly flat terrain. As stated before on race day it was +35 and I ran in shorts most of the day changing out wet socks often.

Then grinding to a holt on day two when the temperature dropped to - 27 and my shoes froze solid just 20 miles from the finish. After thawing my shoes over my stove and getting some sleep I headed off to finish the race in 2 days 5hr and 30mins taking 5th in the foot division. That race had been the farthest I had ever traveled on foot and the one I’ve experienced the most fatigue in. by the time I got back to the hotel and called home I couldn’t finish a sentence with out forgetting what the last word I had said was.

Just nine days after arrowhead I was actually able to run the Orcas Island 50k. Wasn’t a fast run but it was an incredibly sunny day and running not walking with a 30lb sled behind you was heaven.

Next up was Chuckanut 50k not my most favorite race but it’s in my back yard and was the race that started it all. I had been dumb and the weekend before the race I was on a solo adventure run where I injured my ankle wading down a stream in the dark. I still had an ok race but not my best. It was good to get out and run with the local gang again. Those being the Wednesday night mountain runners.

On April 3rd I caught my hand in a mill with a half inch drill bit in it at work and lacerated the tendon in the back of my hand leading to a never ending physical and emotional headache. Of course I could still run so it wasn’t the end of the world yet.

Now onto to the 4 mountain tour which I unknowing ran with my hand in pieces just to days after the accident. Here’s the description from my blog. The date was planned and there was no backing out at this point even with the gloomy weather report. This would be Morris’s last run for the year as he would be switching to kayaking for the summer. It would also be the longest run for both him and Ferndale Chuck. The idea thought up by Morris a year earlier was to run the four small mountains surrounding I-5 including and in this order Chuckanut, Blanchard, Lookout, Galbraith then back down through lake Padden and back to the start and finish at the Fairhaven vet clinic completing a roughly 40 mile loop. The participants were Morris, Ferndale Chuck, Andrew, Wesley and of course me. It was a long and brutal run but all survived to run again another day.

On April 20th I made my first appearance in the local Bellingham herald for being the crazy Ultra runner I am. You can read it HERE Thanks guys

Then came the Hyson Hijinks 100 mile attempt. I learned that thinking I can run a 100 on a whim after a full week of work and no sleep and being under prepared is a bad idea. I made it 66miles and called it good. Being a club fat ass fun run I had no problem bailing out. I let the Birthday boy Chad Hyson finish his own run.

5/10/08 Time for the newly relocated North face endurance challenge 50 mile here in Bellingham. Where again I got to run with the local boys. Catching Andrew in the last 10 miles and using his pacer Morris to finish in my fastest fifty mile time just under 10hrs. Not that impressive but for this course it was good enough for me.

At the very end of May I headed down to Mt Shasta to see my good friend Tina Ure and take part in the second annual Three peaks adventure run. A run dreamed up buy Tina and attempted in 07 where we just missed out on the last summit by half a mile. When freezing weather and route finding problems forced us to skip the summit and head for the car. This year we were prepared for the task at hand. Carrying no less then three GPS’s to lead the way. Again the weather turned out to be spectacular! And threatening all at the same time. The summit of Shasta in the morning went off without a hitch. Despite my crippled hand, still in a brace from the surgery to repair my lacerated tendon. Mostly clear sky’s and mild temperatures. One of those days it just feels good to be alive. Things weren’t looking good though as we made our way to our second summit on Back butte the rock pile that overlooks I-5. There was a storm rolling in and you could see sheets of rain falling on the part of the route we would be traversing during the night. We were even a little leery of standing on the summit of Black butte with the sound on thunder just off in the distance. Amazingly by the time we got to Tina’s house (the second aid station) the storm had passed. Which was a great relief since this next section had doomed us the year before. My favorite part of the three peaks run is the au grotten potatos with strips of Bacon waiting at Tina’s house. We stormed out into the night vowing to summit Mt Eddie. Like well oiled machines we raced up Mt Eddie’s abandoned trails checking and Marking GPS waypoints with precision like we were in the army. The last push to the top didn’t come with out a fight now about 4am. The calm approach didn’t prepare us for the 40mph sustained winds and single digit temperatures greeting us on the top of bald mountain. Me of course in shorts. Success! 3 peaks, 52 miles, 27hrs and over 16,000ft of elevation gain. I really hope I can make it down for the Third annual run.

This is where things get even grander. Back at Arrowhead Sarah Lowell had mentioned that she had applied for the Badwater 135 mile ultra in death valley. She didn’t have a crew at that time so I said if she got in I’d come down and crew for her. Well she got in so now I was going to bad water to Crew! Something I thought I’d never in a million years even go want to watch. Since it’s a road run. Of course I had also Told Tina Ure I’d go run this little race at 9,000ft in Montana called the Devil’s back bone the same week since neither one of us got into Hard rock that year. And instead of canceling on either one I just did both. On Friday I left a 1am and headed east in my truck. My friend Cedar had kindly offered to tag along from Postfalls Idaho and help with some of the driving. Funny thing happened on the way the mandatory pre race meeting. Some 15hrs into the epic drive to Bosemen Montana when crossing the Continental divide I neglected to account for the time difference. So now an hour behind schedule instead of an hour ahead we put the metal to the pedal and made it to the meeting fifteen minutes late after the nonstop 17hr drive. So morning of the race comes the next day. We’re camped just six miles from the start. I wake up and look at my watch. Holy Crap! I’m late. I had slept through all three alarms. I jumped up grabbed my gear reread the directions to the start and jumped on the Motorbike with shorts on and no gloves. Speed a light speed up the graveled road while my hands and legs went numb trying to remember the directions I had just read. Being so shook up from waking up late I took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of know where as the start time passed as I looked at the time on my bikes display. Tina had thankfully started with out me even though we had planed to run it together. I didn’t miss out to much and was able to meet her at the 25 mile point and continue running with her for the last 25. I’d have to say this is the closest to Hardrock you can get in a 50 mile race. It was just Beautiful running in open meadows and ridge tops in the rocky mountains.

With the race over, cedar drove the 9hr stretch back to his house in Idaho.
Where I grabbed a few hours of sleep before heading to spokan to catch a flight to Las Vegas! for the big event, Badwater! Here I was in Vegas where it’s was a 100 degrees outside and just the day before I was stuffing my water bottle with snow. I grabbed my rental car and headed off for Death valley. After a few more hours of driving I pulled in just as the race meeting had ended as planned. Who do I see walking across the parking lot? My friend Sarah Lowell the Ice princess here to take on the hottest toughest ultra out there. Over the next two days a small group of us take turns keeping the the Ice princess alive and moving in the melting 122 degree heat. Her persistence and ours pay off as together we reach the Mt Whitney Portals just after day break on the third day in 45hrs and 34mins. Good enough for the coveted Badwater buckle. This really was the highlight of my year. I’m even considering running it myself one day just to see what I’m made of. It would hands down be the hardest thing I can think of doing. Especially since I hate, hate roads!

Pumped up from the epic journey and not feeling like I had ran much I bummed a ticket off my Kelowna friend Shanan for the White river 50 mile. This race turned out to be an ominous foretelling of things to come. Since ¾ of the way thought the race I hit a wall. A new wall. One of fatigue of the mind and body. Neither I had really felt during any race past. It took all I had to make it to the finish. What was going on, it’s just 50 miles?

Now it was my turn to really put some miles on. This was the plan. Run Stormy 100 rest two weeks run Cascade Crest 100 rest three weeks run the infamous Plain 100+ Now that’s a good time. I had good intentions at Stormy to run my first 100 mile under 24hrs. I knew the course and it was to be the least technically difficult race I had ever ran. Not easy, just easier then all the rest, in theory that is. The Main flaw in this idea was my mind. For the first time ever I had a mental melt down. I blame it on the fact that the course is two fifty mile loops and I just didn’t want to run it again. After the first loop I lost all motivation. I knew there was more two it and even saw it then. I think I was just running myself into the ground hoping something would take me away from the life I had stuck myself in. People kept pushing me on but at mile 85 I stopped for good. I had had enough. I was locked up physically and emotionally. I just did not care about finishing anymore. Could I have made it to the finish under the cut off? Yes. Did I care anymore? no. This was something I never saw coming. I run because it’s an escape. At this moment it no longer was and the demons that keep me from succeeding in the real world found me mine and did there job.

So I rested for two weeks. Kept positive and geared up for Cascade Crest 100. I love this race and this was going to be my third year running it. Wow! three years in a row. Still seems unbelievable. Will my demons come back to beat me down? I didn’t know. Race day came and I was in good spirits. I was doing what I loved and was surrounded by all my friends. What more can you ask for. The first 40 miles rolled along just as they had the prier years. Running on the Pacific Crest Trail is always a blast. But as darkness fell the body started to become week. I felt a deep imbalance in my core and in my legs. And uneasy feeling that went strait to the bone. What was going on I’m only 40 miles into this thing. I thought I had eaten enough? I wasn’t going to give up this early. I Pushed on and stuffed my face with perogies at the next aid station which seemed to help. Now at mile 55 and right at midnight I reach the dreaded logging road climb. I found myself wanting to fall asleep. This is strange too, since most of the time I don’t feel tired until 4am. I looked for my caffeine pills but in my stupor couldn’t find them. Thankfully My good friend Gilles came along and shared his reserves with me. Which made the difference and kept me going until day break. I was losing time. I kept moving and looking at my watch. Thinking I was here last year at the same time but last year was much worst having two sprained ankles. Thankfully the last half of the course is the most beautiful and this kept my mind from wandering. I think I finished the race only an hour before the cut off. I was still happy to finish and not end up in an ambulance like the year before. I didn’t come away unscathed though. I had gotten bad blisters on my toes and the back of both feet.

I rest for now three weeks and get ready for Plain 100 touted as one of the toughest 100s out there. Good reason as there is no aid for the first 60 miles and there are no course markings. Before I get into the ugly let me say this was just incredibly beautiful run. Set in the cascades in the high open wild meadows with the full color of fall on every leaf. You gathered water from the cold clear brooks that flowed along the trail and eat what you had in your pack. It was the most peaceful run I’ve ever been on. Now to the ugly. Some 50 miles into the run and still a long way to my drop bag I began to be aware of the time. What’s going on with the time? I feel like I’ve been moving good and have no funky problems but the time just keeps slipping away. I make it to the my drop bag where the last of the volunteers help me make some soup and tell me I’m the last to go on. Everyone else has dropped. With just one hour before the cut off I head out into the dark alone.

I struggle with sleep again but with the clock ticking and one more cut off to make I push on. Checking the map trying to figure out how hard to push and where I am. Buy this time my blisters are killing me. My old blister from Cascade are reblistering and I’ve just about cut off a whole layer of skin on my little toes. But I push on. Time just keeps going by and I’m close to missing the last check point. In fact I’m now just minutes away and I don’t know how far I have to run. I know It’s less the two miles. How that sounds so easy. Well it was two miles up hill after running 75. I ran as hard as I could I wasn’t going to miss the cut off by minutes. Less then 10 minutes now. Where are they? 9-8-7 I pop out on a road and there’s the race director. I made it with 7 minutes to spare. I’m so out of breath I can hardly talk. He asks if I want to continue. Of course I reply. I’m so pumped. I’m going to do it. There’s No stopping me now! The sun comes up and I run my heart out knowing I have to make it off the mountain and leave two hours to make it the nine miles back to the finish. The first problem arrives as chaffing. It gets so bad I stop and cut out the liner in my shorts hoping that will help. The dust was just starting to take a real toll on my body. My blisters had been killing me from mile fifty on but I was able to push the pain aside I thought I had beaten pain. Again the time flew by and the dust was getting worse as I dropped the 3,000ft to the valley floor. I come out on a logging road section that’s two miles long and down hill. For some reason this sets off a chain reaction in my shoes that forces dust under my toes. Within just a few minutes blisters start to form under my big toes. What I’ve never got blisters there. And they hurt Oh do they hurt. I’m pretty much in tears at this point fighting back the pain. I make it to the last junction at the bottom of the hill the volunteers cheer me on. I don’t stop. I have two hours to run 9 miles on top of the 100 miles I just ran. Yes it’s more then a 100 miles. My feet are killing me they feel like there in a meat grinder. I have plenty of strength left and will but just a mile down the trail the blisters on my big toes pop. I try running through the pain but it is to over whelming. I have no extra time. I have no extra time. Finally the pain becomes to much. The pain of the last fifty and the new cause me to uncontrollably shake. I give in. six miles from the finish with just one hour to get there. Walking hurt no less. Not even shuffling. once I stopped a tidal wave of pain and emotion rolled over me like a freight train. After sitting along side of the trail for almost an hour I stood up and started to make my way down the trail. Thankfully not to far down the trail I came out onto a road wear some kind strangers gave me a ride to the finish where a few had been waiting for me to finish. They said that everyone was calling me rocky and hoping to see me finish just before the cut off. So it wasn’t to be. The last race of the year. The big one. And I had fought so hard. Now I’ll have to go back and take what I have earned.

By the end of the month things at work and in the real world were also hitting the fan. I quit my job and went jobless for the rest of 08. Managed to get in a couple of adventure runs. tried to run a 100 miles on Vancouver's seawall but stopped at 25. Somehow pulled off my club fat ass run in a foot of snow.

What’s left. Oh and I met this girl named Barbara. You know, I think I’ll end my year there for now. I’ll just say that she’s a great new friend that I hope have for many more years. I also just realized that I started my blog this year. It was one hell of a year. In the end, I’m really thankful to have had some great friends to enjoy It with, many who were not mentioned above.