TRAILMOMMA ~ Trail Running + Plant-Based Living = the best adventures

April 16, 2025April 16, 2025

GORGE WATERFALLS 100k (Race Report)

In 2024 I decided to change things up in terms of getting my Western States qualifier. I wanted to run somewhere new. Experience a new trail. Have a new adventure. The minute I saw that DAYBREAK Racing’s George Waterfalls 100k (which has been on my bucket list of races) was now a Western States qualifying race, the minute registration opened, I signed up. I’d figure out the details later.

But as the saying goes, “The Devil is in the details.” The details being that this race is over 9 hours from my house and the likelihood of having a crew or support or (heck) just someone to share the driving hours was slim to none. No matter, I am always up for adventure whether it is solo or with friends.

So I packed my car and planned my route knowing that I’d have to stop along the way.

I left on a Wednesday and my first stop was Eugene! I’ve been to Eugene many times, but it is close to 7 hours away and that’s a long drive to do in one day solo.

The minute I landed in my motel in Eugene, I found the closest Laughing Planet which was only a half mile away. Perfect, I could use the walk to loosen up my legs and by then, I was starving so I got my favorite (the first of many times on this trip). 😉

The next morning, I woke up and worked and around noon took the time to go on a run to loosen up the legs and explore a little.

I found a sweet little trail not far from where I was staying that took me to the top of Skinner Butte which overlooks the University of Oregon.

After some more work, I hopped back in the car and headed towards Portland (2 ish hours away) with the intention of stopping at another Laughing Planet to grab some food to go for dinner that night as I feared my final destination of Cascade Locks would have slim pickens for a gluten free vegan. 🙂

By the time I reached my motel in Cascade Locks it was close to 3 pm. My motel was the cutest place ever and the owner greeted me when I arrived excited that I was a runner (she had a lot of runners staying there the next few days).

After settling in and working some more, I ventured over to Gorges Beer Co. for packet pick up and to see Free Trail’s Elite Athlete panel chat.

It was the coolest brewery and fun listening to the elites. It just really helped get me excited about the race and also see and hear from the race director too. They were hosting three difference races all weekend long. Friday would start with the 30k race. Saturday would be the 100k and Sunday would be the 50k.

With my race bib in hand, I headed back to my home away from home in the pouring rain.

Friday was pretty chilly but it was mostly dry. I walked from my motel over to where the race start would be (Cascade Locks Marine Park) and also where the 30k race was happening.

Bridge of the Gods – separates Washington from Oregon

I wandered around the marine park and walked across the Columbia River to Thunder Island reading all the historical signs they had talking about how the Bridge of the Gods got its name and tons of other stuff.

You could camp on Thunder Island for free too and there were some tents set up there. It is also a popular wedding location.

After exploring I headed back to get ready for the 100k the next morning. I was getting excited to really see these trails.

Sleep did not go well for me that night. My brain was wired and it was half in Oregon and half back home in California. When my alarm finally went off at 2:45, I was surprisingly wide awake.

For weeks I had been studying the course since I knew I’d be running without a crew or any support. I knew the course was technical (not my strong suit ever since I broke my fibula in 2023). I was excited though because in comparison to races like Canyons or Quicksilver, the elevation wasn’t so bad. I knew we’d climb and descend about 11,000 feet and elevation wasn’t really a factor here but that doesn’t mean the course would be easy peasy.

We were allowed two drop bags that we’d be able to visit a total of 3 times, but the first time was so soon in the race it wasn’t even really necessary.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take many photos during the race for a variety of reasons. Mostly, I was desperately trying not to fall on my face!

The race started at 5:00 am and headlamps were necessary. They said there was about 400 to 440 runners I think? I settled myself into the pack and listened to the race announcements.

It was cold but I was happy with my gear choices. I wore a jacket over my pack because I knew I’d eventually get hot (I always do no matter the temperature) and then I could take it off while running and store it in the back of my pack.

What I didn’t anticipate was the cold making my nose run and my eyes water terribly! It was during this that I realized I had left my bandana in my car.

The eye watering was making it hard to see in the dark. The first three miles are on pavement though as you run through town. With everyone else’s headlamps too it was pretty easy to see. It is when we dipped onto the single track that it got a lot harder.

I felt amazing though. It’s been forever that I have felt this good at the start of a race. The first six miles it felt like I was cruising along both up and down hill. I was leading some runners and trying to point out the rocks and logs in the way so no one would trip.

That karma didn’t serve me very well as shortly before mile 6, I rolled my left ankle and yelped in pain but I didn’t go down.

I was completely annoyed though as the pain was searing through my leg. I just kept going knowing that first aid-station would be coming up soon and I could reassess. I also had been having some pack issues. My zipper broke on my pack and my hydration bladder was all of a sudden not working.

I stopped briefly to sort all that out and I took two Tylenol to help with the terrible pain in my ankle. Instead of getting down about it, I just kept running hoping the pain would vanish. While running I saw many other runners rolling their ankles too or worse, with gashes on their knees. This course was no joke.

Those orange flags show the trail – it was narrow in spots but oh so beautiful!

One of the not-so-great things about this particular race is that it is an out and back course – twice. You run one way, do a loop and then run back the way you came. We’d run into the elite runners and have to jump to the side to let them pass occasionally on some very narrow sections. It also doesn’t help that everyone is looking down and not up at the runners headed their way. Whenever I was leading I’d try and yell out “runner up!” to alert those behind me. Someone behind me said thank you. 😉

The second aid station (Ainsworth) was a drop bag station but it was only 13 miles into the race and I had all that I needed so I just kept going. With my ankle slowing me down on any technical sections, I knew that I had to save time wherever I could.

I made a deal with myself that if the trail was smooth, like the above photo or paved, that I would run no matter if it was straight up hill. I had zero stability in my ankle when there were any rocks in the way and I was passed constantly on those sections so I took advantage whenever I could on the sections that I could run easily without pain.

One of the best parts about this race is that the fuel sponsor was Neversecond. I am a Neversecond ambassador, and I have been using their gels for over a year now. I was stoked that this race would have the gels I actually use, at each and every aid-station.

I pretty much stuck to my race plan and training plan. I ate a gel every 45 minutes and I don’t think I missed even one. I have never run an ultra this long and not had something else. I did at some point in the race try some random thing from one of my drop bags but I quickly decided it wasn’t worth it. I was having zero and I mean zero stomach issues (another first for me) and I was feeling pretty energized overall. Don’t mess with what’s working is my motto so back to my Berry Neversecond gels it was!

Every once in a while, it would start raining but only for a few minutes and then stop. It also would randomly get cold. So, whenever it rained or got chilly, I’d pull my jacket out of my pouch while running and put it on and then inevitably we’d hit a sunny spot and I would take it back off again.

These trails were open to the public too so in addition to having to dodge any cross traffic with runners, we had to dodge the hikers and tourists. Most were pretty good about letting us pass and cheering us on.

This race did allow poles (while I don’t think they were needed) but only on part of the course. The back half they were not supposed to be allowed but I don’t think they enforced this at all as I saw many runners running with poles the entire time.

I ran with some super nice people from time to time during the race. I was feeling good, despite my ankle and was chatty. Most of the women I ran with also were. The men, not so much.

This is what we ran over, TWICE! My ankle just hated me. 🙂

I normally do not wear headphones when I race trails especially ones with beautiful waterfalls but I did throw my earbuds in my pocket just in case. There are two sections where you run about 3 to 4 miles on a paved road that lines the highway. When we were on our way back on this section, I threw in my earbuds just to drown out the car noise.

Photo by: James Holk, DAYBREAK RACING, Free Trail

The smile never left my face the entire day, not even with the sound of the cars.

As I mentioned, the first half of the race (33 miles or so) you run out, around a loop and then back almost to the start but not quite. Then you run an out and back in a different direction. This is the section of the course I was a little nervous about.

On this section, you run to an aid-station (Cascade Locks) and then you run 10 miles to the next where your second drop back is located (Wyeth AS – mile 48.7). 10 miles is a long way to go without an aid-station so I had to make sure my pack was full of what I needed on this stretch.

While this section wasn’t as technical as the first half, it was not smooth running either. You also had to deal with a lot of cross traffic here first with the elite runners making their way to finish and then when you were on your way back with those who were running behind you. If had to pick a not favorite section, I would say this was it just for that reason. I was already running slow enough because of my ankle but to continuously stop for runners was slowing things down considerably for me.

I finally made my way to Wyeth aid-station. I hit my drop bag, grabbed what I needed and then immediately (like I had been all day) turned around and hiked and ate as I left. I was feeling the pull to the finish.

From that aid-station I knew it was only 10 miles to the last and final aid-station and then a 3 mile section to the finish and I was done.

All day long I had been leap frogging with a guy. We chatted a little bit. He was such a strong runner and was very encouraging every time he caught me and then eventually passed me. I’d catch him at the aid-stations but this last stretch of the race it was like he totally disappeared.

This second half the race was through some pretty dense trees too and while it was still light out, it did not look light out when you were running deep in the forest.

Lucky for me, I had kept my headlamp in my pack the entire day. It is required if you leave one of the aid-stations at a certain time but I was struggling to see at dusk and my friend who I was leap frogging with, stopped to pull out his headlamp too.

When I finally made it back to the Cascade Locks 2 aid-station (mile 58.8) I could smell the finish. At certain points on the second half of the course you could hear the finish line announcing runners. I was ready to be done.

I asked the volunteer if it was “mostly road” for the 3 miles to the finish and she said it was. She was wrong. haha There was still quite a bit of up and down trail first before you hit the pavement and, in my head, I thought pavement came a lot sooner than it did. I also paused a few times not seeing any flags on this portion, but I knew there was nowhere else to go.

Finally I made the sharp right turn onto the pavement. And true to my original word, no matter if it was uphill or down, I ran the entire way to finish. I didn’t stop once.

I was thrilled because I had given myself a window of time to finish in and I knew no matter what, I’d make the cut off for Western States. I do think if I hadn’t rolled my ankle and had to slow so much because of that, I would have finished closer to what I wanted which was in the 14 hour range.

Instead, I crossed the finish line in 15 hours and 56 minutes. Considering what I had going with my foot/ankle, I was pleased.

At the finish we were given a mason jar instead of a medal (yay! thank you!). They had kombucha on tap too so I grabbed some of that, grabbed my race shirt that I did not get earlier and quickly went to my car to Facetime the family.

I was cold and I was sore almost immediately. Luckily, my motel was a half mile away so despite my legs feeling complete thrashed, I was able to make that drive pretty easily.

When I got back to the motel, I had these post race before bed beverages. Electrolyte water and N/A beer with a small amount of THC/CBD because I can never ever sleep post-ultra race. Both are from Go Brewing and both gluten free.

The next day I woke up early and drove 5.5 hours to Medford to yet another motel where I would crash for the night. Driving 5.5 hours after running 62 miles isn’t advised. It kind of hurts. I did stop for lunch in Eugene (yet again) for some Laughing Planet. 🙂

Monday morning in Medford I woke and visited with my friend Sally who lives there before getting on the road again and driving another 5.5 hours home.

Overall, it is a few days later and I am feeling great. My soreness has gone away (except for the calves – those darn rocks and stabilizer muscles). My ankle/foot was pretty bruised and swollen post race. Just a sprain though I think so nothing major but it will be back to the ankle strengthening exercises once again.

If you are still reading this, thank you! I write these for myself to look back on. Someday maybe my kids will read all these race reports. 😉

I do recommend this race as a destination race because the trails and views are so amazing. Also, Cascade Locks is just an adorable place to visit with a lot of history. If you are looking for a fast 100k, this could be it if you are an elite runner but it also might not be if you are not because of all the cross traffic and technical sections.

I would consider this race again someday. The driving and time away from home was a lot but my family survived. The kids are older now. I do think they would absolutely love to visit Cascade Locks. We loved Mt. Hood and that’s not too far from Cascade Locks (about 20 miles).

There is nothing about Oregon that ever disappoints. I love running there.

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

Race Details:

Shoes – Topo Athletic Mountain Racers (no blisters and no slippage!)

Fuel – Neversecond Berry gels (occasionally Fruit Punch flavor from the aid-stations).

Water & some Tailwind (mostly in the first half)

Socks – Injinji toe socks (no blisters!)

Watch – Garmin

December 13, 2024December 13, 2024

2024 CIM (California International Marathon)

Tis the season! The California International Marathon (CIM) season that is! Once again I toed the line because it is tradition. I am at the point where I no longer care about my finish time for this race. Maybe some day I will. I fully admit that the farthest I ran in training was 15 miles but I still had fun because this race is one of the most organized and well executed races I run. Like I said, it is tradition. 🙂

The 2024 CIM brought some new changes to the race start. The first of which was the bus shuttle situation. I think I am fan of the previous bus route only because it allowed me to sleep in a little longer and I had way less time waiting at the starting line. Before, I had to leave the house at 5:30 to catch the shuttle and had a little less than an hour of waiting time at the start. With all the uncertainties this year, I left the house at 4:50 and had 90 minutes of hanging out at the start. My friend Michele was gracious enough to offer me a ride and I am glad that I left earlier as I heard that a few of the later buses got lost on the way to the start. Yikes .

Lucky for me this year, my friend John was running the marathon too so I was able to connect with him at the start a little. With 90 minutes to kill, I was able to use the porta potties twice without issue (CIM is known for the bazillion porta potties at the start).

Finally it was time to line up at the starting line with 9,000 others and get this day started. The weather was predicted to be absolutely perfect for a marathon.

CIM starts in waves more or less but you can seat yourself wherever you want at the starting line (with some suggested areas based on finish times).

Once we started running I just settled in. This race starts off notoriously fast because it is a slight downhill and I inevitably get caught up in the speed. This year wasn’t much different but it felt good so I went with it.

Unlike last year I brought my headphones with me which in all my CIM’s I think I have only ever done once before (my second CIM I had a music playlist). I don’t normally like running to music but I will run to a podcast once in a while and I had spent the week saving up podcasts to listen to during this race just in case I needed to tune out.

I’ve run 15 CIMs, 21 marathons and a ton of ultra marathons but this is the first time I can recall having major gear issues during a race. Mind you, I trained wearing everything before so it wasn’t like I was trying something new on race day.

Mile 4 ish I had to stop to pee (that was new for me this year haha). Again, so grateful for all the porta potties on this race course.

Around mile 12, my sports bra started to burn. Like really burn. I knew instantly that I was having some chaffing issues and that come the end of the race, I was gonna be in some pain. I guess I could have stopped at one of the med tents along the way but it just never occurred to me. I also wore a waist belt (something I hate doing). After I crossed the finish line, I realized I had two big bruises on my lower back from the belt and my phone which was in the belt the whole time. Never again.

Mile 14 I had to stop again at the porta potties and then again around mile 21 I think? A new CIM record for me to have to stop so many times. Not ideal.

Mile 23 I was lucky enough to see my friend and coworker Stuart out there. I was just eager to be done so I stopped to chat with him much to his surprise. 🙂

The first half of my CIM was pretty speedy and the second half was a much slower effort. I decided to walk through some of the aid-stations just to soak in the energy and the signs. I high-fived some friends I saw along the course. Those two porta stops just had me lose any desire to keep a faster pace.

But I still ran with a smile the entire time. Ironically I was listening to a Dateline murder podcast in every photo. hahahaha

The finish line has changed at CIM over the years. I sort of miss the days when they had two separate shoots for male and female runners. Now we finish all under one finish arch. I can understand and appreciate the why but it I got stuck behind a group of people finishing hugging and holding hands kind of blocking the way.

Grateful for another CIM under my (non) belt. It truly is one of the most organized races out there and I love riding the bus to the start and meeting new people. I met a group of guys up from southern CA this year. The guy I sat with was doing his first marathon with his buddies. They were all new dads too and were super nice. He asked me how many of these I had done and was shocked when I told him this was my 15th. He asked for any inside tips. 🙂

For the first time since 2019 I had my entire family at the finish line waiting for me. The last few years I’ve had to bus back home alone because one of the kids had a game. It was so nice to have them with me this year especially since I decided it was wise to “sprint” to the finish the last mile or so and was hit with a wave of dizziness once I stopped walking and found them.

They were nice enough to sit with me while I ate something and then they walked me to the car and brought me home. The finish line weather was perfect, I just wanted to get home. One of these years I’ll hang out more at the finish line because it is one giant party. 🙂

Until next year CIM! Maybe I’ll train a little farther next time. 😉 Back to the dirt for me!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

July 29, 2024July 29, 2024

MT HOOD 50k (Race Report)

This race was a bucket list race for me. A few years ago, I saw some photos and I already love running and racing in Oregon, so I decided this was the year and in typical Pam fashion, I made it a family vacation too. 🙂

My family has been going to Oregon for years. We love it but it has been over 3 years since we’ve been back. This year, we planned on making the most out of our Oregon time.

We started in Medford visiting with dear friends who moved there a few years ago. This was an emotional stop as one my friends was in hospice and even though we did not get a chance to physically say goodbye to her, we spent over 2 hours with her partner and our other friend chatting and reminiscing. I like to think that our friend felt we were there and wanted us to remember her in the vibrant full of life state she lived her entire life. I am so happy we made this stop on our trip.

After Medford, we hit up Ashland for a night. Vans rode and we had dinner. We woke early and headed towards Mt. Hood by way of Salem. We’ve never been in Salem and we stopped at a 100% vegan restaurant that was absolutely insane and so delicious with some of the nicest staff ever. When in Salem, please visit Venti’s Cafe.

After lunch we continued on our way making it to our hotel in Government Camp. The hotel was just 20 ish minutes from the race start which was perfect.

The race has multiple distances with the 50 miler on Saturday and the 50k and 25k on Sunday. So race morning I woke up early, got ready and had Vans drive me to the start.

The race was not super large but it is in an area that has very limited or no cell service so I definitely recommend fully reading the pre race emails . 😉

Vans dropped me off, gave me a kiss good luck and was off headed back to the hotel to squeeze in one last mountain bike ride through the epic trails that surround Mt. Hood.

The race directors had coffee for us and other odds and ends. The bathroom line was not too long and the pre race speech was fun. Lots of runners were doing their first ever ultra distance which was super cool. One of the race directors mentioned “you’re awesome cones!” She joked that the course was so well marked, particularly with these cones that she nicknames the “you’re awesome cones” so that as you run by them, at some point in the race, you will remember that and smile. She was right. 🙂

I will say right now, this was THE most well marked course I have ever run. I have no idea how they placed these cones and ribbons in all the spots that they did, but I never once doubted the course and I often (and I mean every race) have an “oh crap” moment where I need, what I affectionately call an, “oh shit” cone. 🙂

This race does not have extreme elevation which was a nice change compared to some of the more recent races I’ve run lately. The trails were extremely runnable. There were some sections with roots and rocks, but over all, it was smooth sailing.

I was smiling the entire time. However, a day or two before the race, I started coming down with a cough so my breathing was a little off during the race but not enough that I was coughing or hacking during the race at all. Oddly, by Saturday the cough sort of disappeared.

It should be mentioned that you do not actually run ON Mt. Hood or around Mt. Hood (the actual mountain). We did as a family, do some hikes the day before in that area but for this race, you run trails that give you an amazing glimpse of this beautiful mountain.

This little tidbit, is something to keep in mind because while you are trying to get a glimpse of this majestic mountain, you also better watch your footing. hahaha

Once you hit mile 15 or so, the race profile is very much downhill for a long section and I flew. After that however, the temps got a little bit warm (never hot like Sacramento hot) but warm enough that I needed to dunk a bandana and make sure that I was hydrating well.

I kept wishing that a lake would appear! Ironically, one DID appear during final 2 miles of the race. Timothy Lake with Mt. Hood just appeared and while I wanted to stop and dunk myself fully, I knew that was so close to the finish and I had some race goals I wanted to accomplish.

Originally when I signed up for this race, I wanted to place within my age group. I was just feeling like I wanted a decently hard goal for myself and then I could enjoy the rest of my vacation. hahaha The breathing and coughing the day before adding in all the travel days leading up the race, I knew at the start line that goal might be hard to achieve.

I was watching my watch the entire time and I knew that if I didn’t stop and kept moving, that I could finish in sub 6 hours. I’ve never run a sub 6 50k before so that quickly became my goal.

I tried my hardest to keep running and pushing myself. As I crossed the finish line I heard Vans cheering but didn’t see the girls. As it turns out, they didn’t think I’d finish anytime soon so they were in the restroom! hahahhahaha

They more than made up for it with a big sweaty hug.

The post race festivities are fun. They have a BBQ and beer (and vegan options) for runners after the race. The race swag was pretty cool too!

We hung around for a bit after the race but I told the family about Timothy Lake knowing our car was packed (which included paddle boards) to drive to our next Oregon destination.

So we packed ourselves up and drove over to Timothy Lake so I could wade in and clean up my legs and have a mini “ice” bath post race too.

Chilling at the lake before we hit the road again.

This was one of the coolest and most beautiful races I have run. I would definitely do this race again. Besides the fact that it is in Oregon, a state my family loves, the surrounding Mt. Hood area is just full of things to explore. Vans would love to go back and mountain bike all over the place. The kids had a blast too.

Go Beyond Racing puts on a stellar event and I cannot recommend them enough!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

(and I did end up finishing sub 6 hour and 5th place in my age group 🙂 )

Nutrition – NeverSecond gels and C30 drink mix.

Shoes – Topo Athletic Mountain Racer 3s

Socks – Injinji

Watch – Garmin

I want to dedicate this race and this adventure to my friend Estelle Gray who passed away from cancer on July 26, 2024. Estelle aka the Princess was a force in my life. I met her in my 20s (she was in her 50s) and she convinced me to train for a half ironman. She trained with me, she taught me how to ride a bike safely on busy roads, change a flat tire and swim in open water. She was always finding adventure and excitement in life. She was a fighter for the underdogs. She adopted deaf and blind dogs and also became a Special Education teacher later in life and made such a difference to so many. She was also a world record champion. Thank you for all you taught me Estelle! I have no doubts you are still adventuring wherever you are.

April 30, 2024April 30, 2024

2024 CANYONS 100k (Race Report)

I first ran the Canyons 100k in 2017. It was my second ever 100k. You can read that race report here. Back then it was a whole different race in a way. Smaller but still crowded, still tough but way less hoopla and a different starting location and course. It had become a Western States qualifying race in 2016 so the fire was lit for many to run an awesome local race when there were not many local qualifiers in the immediate area.

I ran Canyons 100k again in 2019 (you can read that race report here). That year I came back from the dead but the course was “easier” in the sense that we did not have to deal with Devil’s Thumb, but it was still crowded with sections of two way traffic.

Then in 2023 I decided to run Canyons again. I registered for the race in the spring of 2022 before they partnered with UTMB and then in December of that year I broke my fibula snowboarding. There was no way I was toeing the line but luckily, they let me defer my entry to April of 2024. Then all the UTMB drama happened. I was not about to just hand over my entry fee or waste my chance at qualifying for Western States (again). I planned on running however, this was now a whole new race compared to my previous years.

In preparation for the race, I was surprised by the “lower” 12,295 of gain posted when in prior years, it was around 16,000+. The qualifying time for Western States was also 20 hours which seemed generous to me since 2017 and 2019 the qualifying cut off was 18 hours (with more elevation gain). I think because of all of this, I did not give this race, the respect it fully deserved. Don’t get me wrong, I trained and I ran and I prepared. I just was not nervous come race morning which is not like me. I usually have jitters the entire race week.

RACE START – CHINA WALL

One thing to note about this race is that they alternate the directions (or are supposed to) each year. This year it was starting at China Wall and finishing in Downtown Auburn. Next year, I believe it will start in Downtown Auburn and finish at China Wall. Last year (2023), due to the fires and trail conditions, it started and ended in Downtown Auburn.

The China Wall start, sucks. Plain and simple, it sucks. I woke up at 1:00 am, drank some coffee and got dressed and ready. Shawn picked me up at 2:00 am and we drove to the Auburn Overlook where we had to catch a bus (required – no way around it) that was driving all runners to the China Wall start. Fueling and prepping for this time of day just totally threw me off. Instead of eating my usual oatmeal at home, I ate a bar on the bus.

When us 586 100k runners arrived at China Wall, we were greeted with about 4 porta potties that had an incredibly long line. There were people still in line when the race started.

The race started at 5:00 am, in the dark. It had dumped rain the day before so the fire road we were starting on was wet and muddy and it was just crowded. Very crowded with people trying to jump over puddles, slipping in the mud and trying to just get comfortable.

I immediately noticed that the headlamp that I had charged seemed dim and I was struggling to see the trail/road in front of me. I turned my hat backwards hoping that would help, and it didn’t. Even Shawn mentioned that my headlamp was looking like it was dying.

My watched buzzed when we reached mile 2 and I immediately stepped on something I could not see and rolled my left ankle so hard that I slammed to the ground. My hat and headlamp went flying off me and I had yelled in pain. Not wanting to be trampled, I jumped up as quick as I could. Shawn was near me and asked if I was okay. My ankle was throbbing and I was basically limp running. In my head I just kept telling myself to keep moving. This has happened in a training run and it eventually works itself out. I didn’t want to stop but the pain was pretty terrible. I could not keep up with Shawn and I let him go but tried to keep the back of his head in my sights.

My right knee felt like it was covered in mud, it just felt wet and cold. When we eventually turned and started to climb, I used my right hand to try and wipe the mud off but when I looked at my hand, it was covered in blood. I had apparently banged my right knee too when I fell and blood was just pouring down my shin. I grabbed a tissue and tried to clean my hand off. There really wasn’t anywhere on the trail that I could pull off and stop. It was conga line after conga line the entire first 10 miles. Also, my stomach had finally “woken up” and needed a place to stop but unfortunately, there is no where to duck off the trail easily so I just stuck it out knowing there would be a bathroom at the first aid-station.

DEADWOOD 1 (Mile 10.1)

The minute I arrived to the top of Deadwood two volunteers there declared, “Oh my god, your knee! Are you okay?” That was the first time Shawn even noticed my knee and he looked concerned. I told the volunteers that I was fine and that I just needed the porta potties … which consisted of two and also had an incredibly long line of runners waiting to use them. Frustrated that I was wasting too much time, I ducked off into the woods to take care of business.

When I came back to the aid-station, Shawn insisted that someone clean out my knee. So we stopped and I asked what I thought was a medic to clean out my knee.

Bless his heart, he took forever to find what he needed and to put on his gloves and then declared that he was just going to clean off the dripping part on my shin because he was too afraid to rub the wound as it looked to have finally stopped bleeding (because it had mud in it – when I stopped in the woods a few minutes earlier, my knee hit the ground and was caked in mud).

While I was grateful that I looked a little better, I was not feeling all that great. My left ankle was still pretty darn sore but my right quad was really starting to ache. I wondered if maybe I had hit it on a rock when I fell but more likely, my compensating for the left ankle pain put a lot (and I mean a lot) of stress on my right quad. We were at mile 10 and my right quad felt like it was fried.

We left the aid-station together and headed towards Devil’s Thumb.

Devils Thumb 1 (Mile 12)

Now I have done the Devil’s Thumb Canyons “thing” back in 2017. In 2019, they removed the Devil’s Thumb section because of trail conditions (fire I think). In 2017, I absolutely hated this part. I love Devil’s Thumb. It is a historic part of the Western States trail (with 36 switch backs) but for this race, like in 2017, you had to run down to Swinging Bridge (Mile 13.5) , get your bib marked by a volunteer and immediately turn around and hike back up. The problem with this is that there is two way traffic on a very very narrow trail.

In 2017 it was at least dry, so while frustrating to stop and let runners up, you at least did not have to worry about slipping and sliding. At one point while going down, I slipped so bad that I almost went over the edge of the cliff! The guy behind me was like, “Holy cow! That was close! Are you okay? You almost beat us all down there.”

The runners hiking back up were a mix of good mood cheering for you runners and some that were so angry that they shouldered you hard as you passed causing you to lose balance. Just not fun.

The climb out, I was toast. I had very little energy, my quad was killing me and I had been passed by quite a few runners.

Devils Thumb 2 (Mile 15.1)

When I reached the top of Devil’s Thumb I was greeted by Shawn who had waited for me at the top. I felt awful, like I was slowing him down so much.

At the top of Devil’s Thumb was a water only aid-station but I just needed a breather and as luck would have it, I was greeted by Jack Meyer! It was nice to see such a smiling happy and familiar face.

After a quick stop, Shawn and I started running again. I had never been on the trails they had us running that routed us back to Deadwood, it was very pretty but as luck would have it, my stomach was still off and I had to find yet another place to stop.

Deadwood 2 (Mile 18.3)

As we came into Deadwood 2, I headed to the aid-station to see if there was anything that would turn my energy around. It was too early to start drinking Coke but I was desperate. My stomach was off and I could not eat or drink the fuel I had on me without having to stop.

As we left Deadwood 2 and were about to bomb the nice downhill that I normally love, I overhead the volunteer tell one of the runners coming into the aid-station to be mindful of the cut off time.

Shawn and I ran most of the downhill trails that lead to El Dorado Creek. This is a section that I have loved in the past but my quad and my ankle (not to mention my stomach) were making it difficult to run smoothly. I ran but I am sure I looked pretty funny.

Michigan Bluff (Mile 24.0)

The climb up to Michigan Bluff was as brutal as Devil’s but luckily not as steep. It was also super duper warm out. I was slowing Shawn down.

Michigan Bluff was the first crew accessible location but I had told Vans that I didn’t need him there because it would just be easier for him to meet me at Foresthill which was the next aid-station.

I do kind of regret that now, had he been there, I could have fueled up on the stuff he had with him which would have helped a ton.

While Shawn was getting help from Courtney and Cody, I just sat down and wiped my face with an ice cold cloth that Courtney had given me (omg, amazing).

I needed a restroom yet again but they said they didn’t think the aid-station had any which I thought was odd because when I had checked that morning, I knew every aid-station had them (or most did).

Finally, someone who overheard me came over to tell me there were restrooms on the other side of the aid-station. I was kicking myself for wasting time and not going to see for myself because when I found them, there was of course, a line.

I heard my name and I got a nice wave and a “Hi Pam!” from Christine who was working the aid-station. I wanted to go back and say hello but the dang line at the porta potties was going to take a while.

More time wasted then I wanted and Shawn waited for me but informed me that we needed to motor so as not to get too close to the Foresthill cutoff. I didn’t think we were that close but watching the clock was the last thing on my mind.

The descent down into Volcano Canyon I knew would be brutal but I also know that we had an opportunity to get wet and cool off and that truly felt amazing in that heat. I wish I had tucked some ice in my sports bra back at Michigan Bluff but I had waves of being hot and being cold at various times so it wasn’t on my brain to do that.

The climb out Bath Road was its usual brutal self but on pavement I could at least power hike with purpose and not have my quad feel so weak.

In my head, I just wanted to get to the next aid-station and see Vans and also know that I was almost half way done with the race.

Foresthill (Mile 30.0)

Upon entering Foresthill, we immediately saw Vans with his phone. I didn’t think to text him to hook up with Courtney wherever she was situated. I thought they may have prearranged that. I was wrong.

I saw the Peanut. She was waving me over but we had to enter the aid-station and exit from two different points and where they were situated would have had me back tracking so I called over the fence/barricade for them to find Courtney down the road who had a nice shady spot.

I was SO happy to see Vans and the Peanut and to have my fuel that I told them to bring. I wanted to eat something, anything, other than what I had on me at that point.

I immediately had a Pellegrino Limonata which was a last minute toss in my cart at the grocery store purchase but man oh man, did that stuff hit the spot. One can has 110 calories to it and about 31 grams of carbs and is carbonated. It was SO refreshing in the heat! I also took a Tums too in order to settle my stomach but when I went to chew it, my tooth just screamed in pain. Ugh, what else could possible go wrong?!

Shawn ducked down the road to use the bathroom so I had to go and find him and finish this thing. 30 hellish miles down.

This next section was pretty fun but also pretty hot. There was no Cal 1 aid-station this year as was in years past which is a bummer. Would have been nice.

It was 8.2 miles to the next aid-station but it was about here, that we noticed the mileage was really starting not to match up with what was on our watches.

Eventually you do dip into shaded trails and a nice smooth single track.

Cal 2 (Mile 38.2)

This aid-station had a lot going on. There were a LOT of people sitting and looking not so great. The mosquitos were vicious. I was literally attacked the minute I stepped under the aid-station tent. Three bites right on my face in seconds! It was crazy.

I quickly ducked out after grabbing some food. A volunteer kept wanting to stick ice down my shirt or in my hat but I kept saying no thank you. I was actually quite cold at that aid-station.

Shawn and I left Cal 2 and the carnage that was there. We knew that at the next aid-station we’d see Courtney and Vans again but it was almost 10 miles away.

Vans and Peanut enjoying the views between aid-stations

The trails from Cal 2 to Drivers I know pretty well from previous Canyons races and from running Ruck-a-Chuck 50k a few times. There is one or two steep climbs here. Again, I had to stop and duck off the trail. Shawn waited. Darn stomach.

We did run into a runner who told us that it was called “4 minute hill” because the elites at Western States can run it in 4 minutes … yet the lady behind him said she calls it “7 minute hill” because it takes her 7 minutes.

I think it took me 10 minutes.

The fire road leading toward Driver’s Flat is a mental one for me. I always think it is shorter than it is. It DID however, have a park restroom vs a porta potty which was a gift from heaven and thus, I stopped yet again. Pretty sure anything I fueled with was immediately removed.

Drivers Flat (Mile 47.5)

This aid-station was not where I pictured it in my head. Like previous Canyons, I thought it was down by the water but that’s called Rucky Chucky (or was in past races). Shawn told me that the actual aid-station was at the top of huge hill and was the Driver’s Flat staging area where Ruck-a-Chuck 50k used to start and finish. I remembered that climb, it was not fun, it never seemed to end.

When we finally reached the top, seeing everyone there was a site for sore eyes. I was thrilled to see Vans and the Peanut again but also sad as this was the last crew stop before the finish. I was however a little excited as I had never been on the trails that led us to the next aid-station before so I was excited for the unknown.

Again, I drank another Limonata which gave me a rush of carbs, calories and sugar! I used the massage gun on my quad which hurt like hell and I ate my sandwich that I made as another last minute “why not” the day before. This was a lot of food, probably more food than I have had all day!

My girl lugging all my gear out of Driver’s Flat

The Foresthill Divide trails and the trails surrounding Driver’s Flat were absolutely gorgeous. The sun was slowly setting too so that really made everything look so pretty. I would really like to run out there again and explore more it was that pretty.

What wasn’t pretty was the runner puking on the side of the trail. Poor guy. We encouraged him along and eventually came back to life and caught up to us and we chatted for a bit. He was from Squamish.

It quickly got dark and luckily I had tossed my lame headlamp from the start at Foresthill and replaced with two mini lights that I use for emergencies. I totally did not plan lighting well for this race at all which is hilarious because having just run Rio 100 in November, that race is almost entirely in the dark and I had it dialed in.

I pulled out one of my mini lights hoping to save the other one as I knew this one would not last until the finish. Spoiler, it didn’t.

The next aid-station was Mammoth Bar which is an area I know well but had never actually been to the spot where the aid-station was located. The other sucky news was it was almost 8 miles away but we were ready to get this done.

Mammoth Bar (Mile 55.5)

This aid-station was happening. Lights and super energized volunteers. Kids yelling in the dark. It was definitely a welcome stop. So were the porta potties that they had (I believe this was like stop #6 for me now, I lost track). I believe it was here that we were encouraged to have some veggie broth. I tried to nibble on whatever I could find and sipped the broth but it wasn’t helping my stomach much.

We overheard a volunteer saying that this race was actually 64 miles, not a typical 100k at 62.1 (great to hear) and that we had a “700 foot climb out of the aid-station.”

I don’t know what that guy was smoking but to us, that climb was like 7,000 feet. We almost got lost leaving the aid-station trying to find the climb. One runner went off course and we tried to call him back as we saw the sign at the very last minute. For the most part, the race was incredibly well marked with signs for wrong way and and signs for critical turns. This was the only spot I would say they could have done better. The runners who went off course were not happy but at least they figured it out quick enough.

I run in this area a lot but I have not been on these particular trails. That 700 foot climb was hands on knees, bent over steep. Both of us felt like puking at various times it was that steep. Then we started seeing the puke of other runners who I guess felt the same way we did.

Finally we made it to the Short Cut Trail which I am familiar with which leads us to the Confluence Trail which again, I am familiar with but was semi dreading running in the dark. It has some rocks and stuff that can easily trip any runner let alone running it at night in the dark (after switching out yet again my head lights).

Confluence (59.1)

This aid-station was a joy to get to because we knew it was the last one before the finish. We had 4 miles to finish this thing. While we had missed our goal of wanting to finish in the day light (Shawn’s goal), we were totally fine time wise to get our Western States qualifier which was good because neither one of us was running much at this point.

Shawn was being plagued by something in his feet and ankles and was awful quiet. I apologize for slowing him down but he said he’s not sure where he’d be if he had kept running so fast based on how he was feeling now.

This was definitely an odd moment because 99% of the time, when one of us is down, the other is on a high and we can encourage and motivate each other enough to run walk run walk. For the first time in I think forever, we were both on a semi negative wave. Neither one of us was ever contemplating quitting but we both agreed this race will not be in our near future again. 🙂

Of course once we neared No Hands Bridge, the course had us routed around the bridge bordering highway 49 instead of just simply running over the bridge. That would have been a lot easier on the legs but I guess logistically there was less highway patrol needed the way we went. I will give kudos to the highway patrol out there. They had it dialed in for us runners to safely cross the highway twice.

To Downtown Auburn (Finish – Mile 64)

From No Hands to Robie Point is familiar terrain for almost every local runner. It can be easy or it can be a huge pain in the butt. After 60 something miles, it was a pain but I felt like since we ran Rattlesnake Dick 50k in March, the trails had been smoothed out and were flat. Even the quagmire spot had been smoothed out despite 100 mile racers, 100k racers, 50k and 25k racers all traipsing through it. It was pretty easy to get across mud wise.

When we reached the top of Robie Point, we only had pavement to go. In my head I was happy for the pavement, less rocks to trip over and stuff but dang, pavement hurts.

We power hiked and talked the entire time. Our spirits were lifting because we were finishing this thing.

The closer we got to downtown, the more we tried to run and then realized we were not as close as we thought. Then finally, we saw the cones and the turn and we ran.

Shawn wanted to sprint, I told him “I don’t think I have it in me to sprint,” but then I tried to sneak attack by him at the very end but he caught me. We finished!!!! 18 hours and 26 minutes. Longest Canyons ever for us.

While the race boasted “only” 12,295 feet of climbing it had 16,381 feet of descending which completely blew out my legs. It was the downhills and the inability to run them because of my ankle, my quad and my stomach, a trifecta of problems that plagued me the whole entire race.

So happy we finished. I am happy that we both persevered through all the adversity thrown our way (or really just my adversity haha).

As I was telling my coach post race, this was my 29th ultra distance race and 28 of them have been pretty awesome. Of course I had issues in other races (stomach, falls, aches and pains) but in all those other races, I was able to turn it around and run. This was the first and only race I can honestly say, was a struggle from start to finish but in finishing, I have found new strength. I’ve been “lucky” through the years and this time, lady luck was no where to be found. I had to do it on my own. I am proud of that (though I much prefer not having to go through it again). 🙂

To top things off, having Vans and the Peanut as my crew, was great. This was their very first time every doing something like this and it was a race that I was struggling in. That had to be hard to watch I am sure. They brought me back to life and knowing I would see them really kept me going a lot of the time.

I am so grateful to them for spending their entire day running around Foresthill seeing broken down beat up runners and saving me time and time again.

We got our Western States qualifier so mission accomplished there but I will be working on figuring out what made my stomach so unhappy the entire race.

I was on antibiotics weeks ago for a spider bite so maybe that messed up my gut flora so terribly that I did not recover? Maybe it was something that I ate in the days leading up to race? Or maybe my level of electrolytes going into the race? Perhaps it is part of perimenopause because honestly, no one knows enough about it to pin point some of things us women go through when we are dealing with it. I will figure it out.

Enjoying a bit of a break for now though. Thanks for reading this monstrosity of a race report. 🙂

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

Shoes: TopoAthletic Ultraventure 3

Pack: Camelbak

Shorts/Shirt: Oiselle

Socks: Injinji

Fuel: PELLIGRINO LIMONATA!!!!!!

April 3, 2024April 3, 2024

RATTLESNAKE DICK 50k (Race Report)

“Do you want to do this 50k I found in late March?” That’s what my running partner Shawn texted me one day shortly after the FOURmidable 50k. “Sure! We can treat it as a training run. Practice fueling and run it nice and steady,” I replied. Famous last words!

I had not heard of the Rattlesnake Dick 50k before but I’ll be honest, the name and logo intrigued me. It sounded perfect actually. A smaller size race on local trails with perfectly placed aid-stations. What I wasn’t expecting, was the weather change.

Weeks before the race we had some stellar warm and sunny weather. I am warm weather girl and love me some heat. This race, didn’t have any of that.

I grabbed a ride with Shawn and Courtney to the start with the plan that the family would come and get me at the finish after some house projects were completed.

The other bonus of this race is the location. The Cool Fire Station is a great place to have a race. We arrived with some time to spare and then lined up with everyone else to start this thing. The 50k and the 25k both started together.

The rain was falling as we started which made me second guess myself in what to wear. At the last minute I threw on my windbreaker knowing full well that I would probably ditch that pretty quickly. I am one of those runners that runs hot all the time. Every other part of my life I am almost always cold but not when running. I knew better than to start with a jacket but it folds up small enough to stuff in my pack.

It was muddy from the starting line. Huge pockets of mud and puddles of water made the start slower than normal with many trying to hop over some of the mud puddles.

Rollercoaster was a bit of a conga line because it was so slippery. Shawn took off and while I wasn’t quite ready to jump into that pace, I appreciated the effort to get around some runners and have a little bit more real estate to run to avoid slipping and falling into anyone. We had started the race at the back of the pack so we had a lot of passing to do.

Once we reached the No Hands Bridge (mile 3.1) aid-station I needed to remove my jacket and pack it away. The rain was still falling slightly but I was hot.

Making our way towards ADO we chatted and ran. We came across some fencing for the new goats that are there to help with fire safety.

It was hilarious because as us runners approached, all 100+ goats stopped and looked up at us like we were the crazy ones to be out there in the rain.

The race takes you around the lower trails of the Auburn Dam Overlook parking lot to the next aid-station at Portland Ave (mile 7.7). This was another full aid-station with happy volunteers and a timing mat. We stopped briefly to refill.

The course takes you down the paved road a little bit before you veer left onto some trails that will take you down to Cardiac Bypass and the river.

Sun came out for a while and it got humid!

Before you get to the river you have a quick water only aid-station at Oregon Bar (mile 10.2). We were still stocked from the previous aid-station so we bypassed that and made our way to the single track that parallels the river.

These are some of my favorite trails to run on. Rolling beautiful trails that didn’t have nearly as much mud as some of the other sections. The oak was pretty prevalent but that’s a given on these trails.

Shawn and I moved into a steady pace reminiscing about this same section during our Rio 100 race last November.

As we were running, we started seeing some of the lead 50k men making their way back from the half way point/turn around. After some time, Shawn said, “I haven’t seen a female yet. You might be winning!” That’s always a joke between us when we’re running a race and don’t see anyone else. I laughed but he was serious.

As we neared the aid-station, we did see the female lead runner (looking so strong) making her way back to the finish. Not long after that was the second place female and as I entered the aid-station/turn around (Rattlesnake Bar, Mile 16.2), the third female was just leaving.

Shawn looked at me and he immediately turned into David Goggins before my eyes. Unfortunately, I waited until this aid-station to use the restroom. There are not many spots on that single track section ( at least for females) to handle a quick pit stop so I waited and then had to run to the far side of the aid-station where the bathrooms were AND try and replenish my bottles.

I also got to see some friends out there cheering and volunteering. Shawn kept yelling at me to hurry up. He was ready to chase down some female runners with me.

We left the aid-station and motored our way back the way we came. We came upon the third place female pretty quickly. She seemed like she was in good spirits and enjoying herself out there.

When we finally got off the river trail and were making our way back up towards Cardiac Bypass, we came upon the second place female. Shawn gave me a look. We were on a steep uphill and I wasn’t sure I had anything in me right then. I can’t speak for the other runner, but to me, she also looked like the hill was taking more out of her than she wanted. I felt her pain.

We passed each other, cheered each other on and I kept just following Shawn up the hill. He was really motoring and I just kept focusing on one foot in front of the other and running on any flat sections we came across.

We reached the Portland Ave aid-station (mile 24.7) and I knew with the timing mat, that Vans would be tracking me. I glanced at my phone, and he apparently had tracked me when I reached Rattlesnake and had texted me that I wasn’t far behind 3rd and to RUN!

The one thing about this race is that it is an out and back on the same trails. Which is great because you don’t have to worry about getting lost and a bonus because you get to see other runners and friends. However, it also means when the weather is bad, the trails are doubly muddy from having traffic going in both directions.

At some point, “just a training run” went out the window and I really wanted to try and make the podium. First place I knew was so far ahead and running incredibly strong so I told myself to just keep moving, no matter what and see what happens.

When we returned to No Hands aid-station (mile 29.3) we barely stopped. We knew that the final miles were up hill and were very wet, muddy and slippery. We grabbed some fuel and started climbing.

My legs were tired but they still had enough in them to run some of the hilly sections and then power hike the rest to recover. The mud was bad but not that terrible. It was easier to navigate since it was just the two of us on the trails.

I think in all my years running, I have only ever once before run UP Rollercoaster. I am almost always run down it (because it is so fun). Running up is actually a pretty steady climb and a solid workout.

When we finally reached Cool and were making our way towards the finish, Shawn’s energy was electric. I think he was happy to be done but also happy that he helped me score a spot on the podium.

We crossed the finish line all smiles and all those at the finish line were cheering a ton for us as we crossed. Such a great vibe at this race and such awesome volunteers.

The whole family was there at the finish. I guess they had been exploring the trails and all the mud too.

My girls were totally grossed out by my legs and the mud which is nothing compared to what they looked like before I went through some stream crossings to clean them. haha

Overall a super fun race. The mud and weather made it that much more fun I think. We saw some friendly faces out there and it was fun to cheer each other on as we passed each other on the trails. This race had great volunteers and a very runnable course.

Bonus is that finishing at the Cool Fire Station means you can hose yourself off post run. Win win!

The training run plan didn’t go exactly as I thought it would but it was really great to see that I had some speed in the middle of the race. I wanted to finish feeling strong and I did.

Grateful to this guy for cheering me on and driving me home.

Definitely a race for anyone thinking about doing an ultra distance and not quite sure where to start or for those training for something as it definitely allows for opening up in some sections and pushing yourself.

Many thanks to volunteers and to the race director too! Thanks for a great race!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

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