CCC 100 - 2008 / Arianna Arrived (8/21/8)

It was a beautiful weekend to be running the CCC 100. Here are the pix from Glenn Tachiyama.

24:53 - 14th overall. And I got rid of last year's DNF boogaboo.

I want to say now because so many people mentioned it- Yes, I know wearing black on attracts the heat. As Pee-wee Herman would say, "I meant to do that!" After being so cold last year, I wanted to get heated up quickly. I still had times where I was chilled, especially in the trees and when the breeze kicked up. I was never hot (psssh) and I was warm all night, so that part of my plan worked beautifully.

I had a decent race. The plan was to go out hard and see if I could crack 23 hours. If I couldn't sustain the pace, I would pull back as soon as I could recognize it; then just settle in, enjoy the scenery and the run. My race start plan was also to tuck in behind 2 time winner Jamie Gifford and let him pull me up through Goat Peak. I knew I could keep up with him at least this far – or at least I’d hoped. Well, first plan failed miserably as Jamie lined up a couple rows back. Instead, I toed the line next to Stan Holman and youngster, previous winner, and now 5 time ‘top’ finisher, 22 year old Phil Shaw. I waited for the count down like I was running a sprint (you know, a marathon or something). “5, 4, 3, 2, 1,…” and I was gone, “0, go!” Who says zero-go? I stopped then started again. I hope I don’t get DQ’d for false starting a 100 miler. How embarrassing.


Starting Line photo by Olga V.

The flat then slight climb to the Goat Peak trail head was as expected. I had warmed up for about a mile, 15 minutes or so before the race to loosen my chronically ailing hamstring. Hamstring’s doing fine, breathing a bit rapid, I settle into step with 5-7 others who trailed eventual 3rd place finisher Keith Knippling. We got to the trail head quick and declined aid from the first A/S (mile 3.5). I’ve never understood this A/S but?

I watched Phil and Stan pull ever so slowly away as I attacked the climb best I could. I felt great; the trail was wet from the previous week’s rain, which was an unexpected treat and which made climbing much easier. Being fond of the uphill doesn’t hurt the psyche either. I really enjoyed this climb and felt increasingly strong as I gained elevation. Pretty soon I was upon the rocks. I knew that Glenn would be around the corner so I didn’t disappoint as I made sure I continued to run this steep section.


Goat Peak photos by Glenn Tachiyama

I sailed through the next section and to the 2nd A/S (mile 10) where old friends Lynn Yarnall and Lary Webster were holding down camp. They were surprised to see me so soon and I was likewise surprised to see Arthur pull in right behind me. I had contemplated skipping this A/S but pre-race told myself that might be a huge mistake. I grabbed salt and my refilled water bottles and was off. Ran the short climb and sailed down the switch backed road toward the next A/S where I would hopefully see Shawn. I could hear loud footfalls and knew Arthur was trying to catch up, or rather get in front of me. He had a ‘to the minute’ race plan and I was happy to see that he didn’t dawdle in the A/S as he sometimes does on less important races.

As we got to the bottom, I knew he would stop and walk and I would cruise on passed him; We’ve been training together off and on for the past few years so I have a sense of his habits and I’m sure he mine. Drove on passed and up the climb with grandma steps (taken from Glenn Tachiyama’s playbook – well, he taught me this anyway). I heard someone behind and thought Arthur was hot on my heals but to my surprise it wasn’t him. It was Bill who was shuffling a bit faster that I. I wished him well and kept my pace.

I was happy to see Chris and Tom at the Blowout Mtn A/S (mile 15) but disappointed that Shawn was not there. I figured she had trouble finding it and hoped that she wasn’t driving all over damnation looking for the A/S. As I left with fresh water and banana slices in hand, Arthur came crusing through.

Next is my favorite section of the course; the 8 mile climb, flat section, and descent into Tacoma Pass. I relished this section of the run, the views of Ms Rainier smiling upon us, and the last downhill section into the A/S. Through the flat section, I could hear Arthur behind me and soon Sam Thompson would pass us both. On the down hill, and as I was climbing over one of the many blow downs, Arthur and another runner passed by me. I usually fly down this section but was holding back today knowing I get over zealous here. I was unable to contain myself much and picked up the pace, passing Sam and heading into the Tacoma Pass A/S (mile 23) right behind Arthur.

The next section is ok; just a little climb and some pretty runable terrain. I swapped places with Arthur and Sam a few times and soon Jamie Gifford entered the fold. I ran with Jamie and Sam into the Stampede Pass A/S (miles 33).

Stampede Pass photos by Glenn Tachiyama

It was great to see my crew again and of course Shawn, who would be crewing and pacing Arthur. Steve was very eager and attentive. He had studied the “guide to crewing and pacing *tc” and was on top of everything. I stole a kiss from Shawn; and Steve was relieved that she was there to take on that duty. I changed my fuel belt to one that held more GU’s (or whatever I wanted), put a sandwich in my pocket, wrapped my headlamp around my fuel belt, took my water bottles, then decided to take my jacket for the next section. I wouldn’t see my crew until Hyak (20 miles later) and didn’t want to chance getting cold. I turned to look for Shawn who was now focused on crewing Arthur. I waved and took off.

I ate half of my sandwich as I climbed out of the A/S and walked for a short while.

Arthur soon caught up and I offered him the other half of my sandwich; he gladly took it but I don’t think he was impressed with my choice of croissant over regular bread. I chose croissants because they keep well in the pocket for miles (I learned that one from Kendall Kreft). I moved on and eventually Gwen Scott was in my wake. She and I ran together for a few pleasant miles. She was the first woman and doing quite well in her 100 mile debut. Having just finished only a few minutes behind Shawn and me at White River, I wasn’t surprised to see her catch me at this point. I often wondered when Suzanna Bon and Monica Ochs would show up.Was it my imagination or did I see Stan Holman back at the last A/S? That can’t be good news.

I finally took a much needed pit stop where Gwen would pull ahead beingI lead by Sam. I was expecting to see Arthur soon and did not too long after getting back on the trail. By this time, I was beginning to wear mentally. In all other respects, I felt fine but just was not into pushing the pace that takes so much focus and concentration. Arthur and Stan passed by and I trotted along.

So, I was able to hold on to my mental drive for about 40 miles. After that point, still feeling physically fine, I got into a lonely funk. This is normal for me on this part of the course. Still, I was hoping to overcome my mental low and continue to push the pace. I ran for a while with Stan Holman, who eventually did break 23 hours despite fighting some foot problems. It was a joy to run with Stan and share the trail with him for a little while. Soon, I was going too slowly for him and he politely pulled away. The next person to pass me was the eventual female winner Suzanna Bon.

I came into the Olallie Meadow A/S (mile 47) and was happy to see Glenn and Allison there. Scott and Leslie were there too of course and Leslie grabbed my bottles to fill with water. I sat in a chair next to Glenn and he asked how I was doing. I shook my head and said, "Not good." When he asked what was up, all I could think to do was point at my head. He reminded me that I always get low during that section and said that I was doing well and would get over it. At that I jumped up, grabbed my water bottles from Les and was out of there. His words motivated me and my attitude was duly adjusted. I actually enjoyed running the next section – I usually don’t. I think someone put in some smaller foot bridges and cleared the trail out some. Also, it's usually dark and today the sun was still out. Weird!

I was making "ok" time, jogging steadily down to the rope section. I met up with RD Charlie who was headed the other way, talking on the phone. Said, "hey," and was off. I made my way down with my head lamp as it was starting to get dark. There were a couple of people at the bottom to greet runners and point us towards the tunnel. As I entered the tunnel, I could hear someone behind me already. Joe Lee caught up and ran a short while with me. He told me he was moving on and would see me at the Hyak A/S. The run through the tunnel was pleasant. It was cool, actually a bit dank, and felt good on me. Coming out of the tunnel, it was now all the way dark. I continued to move at a steady pace - I didn't want to walk in the tunnel or on the road. I made it to Hyak (mile 53) where Steve (my crew and pacer) was waiting with all my goods (food, gel, change of shoes if I needed, etc). He guided me to a chair and started shoving things my way. Tom Reilly was there and was soon massaging my calves and chattering a lot, which kept me entertained. I started to say, “Oh, you don’t have to do that …” about the massage but the words wouldn’t come out - it felt soooo good. I finally had to say, “OK, I have to get up or I won’t get out of here.” I started to shiver so Tom and Steve helped me untangle the jacket I had tied around my waist. I put it on and was out of there.

Leaving Hyak, it was very dark. I didn’t think much of it and just started jogging to warm up. It took about a half mile before I started to feel warm and continued to run. I wanted to run the whole section to at least where we started to climb up the forest service road. After a while, I saw a runner looking down a side road. He asked if this was the turn. I told him that we didn’t turn but kept going straight onto the FS road. Next I saw Joe Lee coming back towards me …. “Are you going the right way?” A funny question if you think about it. I assured him I was and he turned to run with me. Then I realized the problem. There were no glow sticks out. What were they thinking not putting glow sticks at least every so often to give assurance to those who’d not run this course before. Well, not the race’s fault; read on. I think Joe was a bit uneasy going in this direction and I gave up trying to convince him we were headed in the right direction. Soon we got to the FS road and he felt much better. But still no glow sticks. A truck went by and some kids stuck there heads out and yelled something at us. We found a partial red ribbon on the road and finally figured out that someone (probably those kids) had taken the glow sticks down. After a while, we found ourselves going a bit downhill. Just as I was about to say, “This doesn’t seem right,” a gaggle of headlights (about a dozen) were heading straight for us. I just stopped in my tracks. “Turn around,” I heard someone say. “Turn around. This is the wrong way,” I heard another proclaim. “What?” “Someone moved the glow sticks. We went down, down, down until we could see I-90.” By this time I could see that it was Alison Hanks doing the talking. She was pacing Suzanna and they were in serious ‘get back on course’ mode. It was weird being there with all of those runners and their pacers. I’m usually on this road alone. Soon that would be the case again as everyone was intent on getting back on track with their race and seemed to be in a hurry. I stayed with Joe for a while until he got to a pace that felt too much like work – that is, more than I wanted to do at the time.

I made it to the aid station and was a bit surprised that no other runner was there. I guess no one was hanging out there. Got some tomato soup (the bomb!) and left myself to head down the road. The next road section, albeit pretty much down hill, seemed to take forever. I got near the bottom where it flattened out and started to walk. I was staggering and couldn’t stay awake so I had to run every once in a while to get my heart pumping. Finally, I saw a couple of headlamps coming my way and figured it was someone looking for their runner. The said, “aid station is just around the corner.” “Thanks!” I said. “Is that tc,” they asked. “Yep.” It was Karen Wiggens. Glad to hear from a friendly voice. And soon I’d be at the aid station where I would see my daughter Danielle and my pacer Steve. Danielle was working the aid station with Kendall Kreft and his daughter Kelsey.

I left the A/S with my pacer and a half a grill cheese sandwich. The trail-from-hell leg went way slower than I would have like. Nothing special happened here but Steve and I did pause to view my log fall location. We crossed the water instead this year – the first time I’ve done that in this race.

Mineral Creek A/S (mile 73) was hoppin’. Terry Sentinella was there with his disco ball, disco music and friends with afros. They did a good job with the aid station. Everyone was up beat which lifted my spirits. Steve and I left though we would have loved to have stayed a while for the party.

The climb up to No Name was slow going but not because I was tired but because I wasn’t really paying much attention. I was on auto pilot and Steve and I were having a nice conversation. Every once in a while I realized, “Hey, I can run this.” We passed a couple of runners on the way up and one caught us back right before the aid station. The sun had just come up and we could tell already that the day was going to be a beautiful one (see Glenn’s photos of the sunrise
– about an hour or so before I got there). I stopped at the No Name A/S (mile 80) only long enough to get water and then I was out of there. I was looking forward to doing some climbing.

The next section is flat, then down, just something you have to get through in my opinion; nothing really challenging. I was focused on getting to the cardiac needles. Once there, I climbed with renew vigor. I held myself back a bit knowing that we still had Thorpe to climb and then the next set of needles following Thorpe. Once to the top, I was over and off with a purpose. We got to Thorpe (miles 84), dropped my bottles, and started the climb. I could see Sharon (Thorpe A/S chief) close to where Glenn was nestled amongst some rock near the top of the climb. As I climbed, I looked forward to seeing Glenn, getting a hug, and heading back down.


Thorpe Mt photos by Glenn Tachiyama

On the way down, I saw Chris Askew on the ascent followed by the guy who had passed me right before No Name. We exchanged pleasantries and then we were gone.

Prepared for the last set of needles, I reminded Steve that we had 3 significant climbs. I’m not sure why but most people forget about the final climbs after Thorpe. Maybe because Thorpe is right there in your face and the others sneak up on you. Anyway, I counted them off out loud for Steve as we climbed each. I pushed hard up each knowing these were the last climbs and because I had plenty of energy (not having pushed myself all night. See my splits from Meadow Mt to Mineral Creek – dismal at best). Up and over the last climb I moved smoothly down the connector trail then down the switch back section. I could see the aid station from the top and I focused on keeping a steady pace. My knees were aching and the down hill was not nearly as pleasant as the up.

At the French Cabin A/S (mile 88), I was in and out again. Stopped only to get water and talked with Tim Stroh as my bottles were being filled. Steve may have been a bit disappointed that we didn’t stay longer to eat some bacon and eggs that they were cookin’ up … but what can I say, I was on a mission to finish at that point.

The climb to the saddle was easy as expected – up and through the saddle and then down hill the rest of the way baby! We cruised at a good pace through the meadows and in the flat areas. Picked it up a bit on the down hills where possible. Steve and I started out trying to keep our feet dry for a while then finally had to take the plunge at one crossing. Once again in my experience of stream crossing, not sure why I was trying to avoid the water, it felt really good on my feet.

My right knee was a bit sore but not sore enough to be of concern. I conintued on and we were soon in and through the avalanche area; then even quicker it seemed into the Silver Creek A/S (mile 95+). Much to Steve’s chagrin I didn’t stop at the aid station but ran right through it…gotta keep the momentum up. Chris Askew was just heading out as I came in. He had passed me a couple miles before and I wanted to encourage him to stay out ahead of me. I hollered, “Don’t let me pass you on the road Chris,” to which he responded with his legs.

Chris pulled away as I stopped to wipe the sweat from my brow and catch my breath a bit. Steve and I talked through the next few miles to the finish as we ran at a steady pace. I picked it up a bit and had a strong finish.


Finish photo by King Arthur

Thanks to Charlie, Audry, and the whole team of people who make this race a success. I asked Charlie when they were going to have the lottery for the 2009 event...there's not really a lottery yet but I can see that happening in the future. This has got to be the best 100 miler around if not in the entire US.

I spent Monday and Tuesday on vacation, working in the yard and on the roof (cleaning gutters). It was a good and relaxing way to recover from the race. On Wednesday, I headed to Colorado Springs to visit the second grand child Arianna.

Pix of Logan and Arianna


Back to Washington with a couple more days to recover before going back to work. A week later and it doesn't even feel like I've run a 100 miler. Good thing because Plain is coming up in less than two weeks.

*tc