Category: 100-mile

I again ran Kodiak 100 which is in the San Bernardino Mountains at Big Bear Lake, California.  I ran the 100 last year and enjoyed it enough to return.  This is an easier mountain 100 and has about the same difficulty for me as Tahoe Rim 100.  But make no mistakes, there are a couple very tough sections of this race involving some long, difficult climbs.  The finishing rate is only about 65% which is pretty low, but typical for newer races that attract newer ultrarunners.

The course makes a complete loop around Big Bear Lake but you rarely see the lake because generally you run up in mountains over the ridge away from the lake.  The course involves about 17,500 feet of climbing.  What keeps its difficulty down are many miles of dirt roads and a few miles of pavement.  There are also plenty of miles of fun single track, most up on the Skyline trail.  I believe the course is a bit long.  My GPS measured the course at 102.6 miles. This year they reversed the course direction from last year, clockwise, presenting a nice inviting change.  I couldn’t use my counter-clockwise split times from last year. It would be a new experience.  I believe I enjoyed the clockwise direction of this year a bit more.

After being away for five years, I returned to run the spectacular course of Tahoe Rim 100.  I’ve finished this race five times, earning my 500-mile belt and was drawn back to again experience it for the sixth time.  Much of the race runs on the amazing Tahoe Rim Trail above the northeast end of the beautiful lake. In years past when I ran it the field was small, but now it has grown up to include about 230 starters.   I classify the course as an easier mountain 100.  It does run at higher altitude, between 7,000-9,000 feet.  All but two of the climbs are very runnable.  The course climbs about 17,000 feet along the way and consists of two 50-mile loops.

I’ve had pretty good races here in the past, usually finishing around 26 hours in the top 20.  But with advanced age and difficulty with altitude races recently, my expectations were low and I really just wanted to enjoy the course again and finish.

I returned to the Seattle area to run a lesser-known ultra, mostly run by locals, called Pigtails Challenge. There were five distances, 50K, 100K, 100 miles, 150 miles, and 200 miles. I ran this race in 2014 and finished the 150-mile race. This year I entered the 100-miler.

The Pigtails Challenge is held at the Lake Youngs watershed near Renton, Washington, which is only about 15 miles from where I grew up and went to high school. The 9.4-mile loop trail runs around the perimeter of a very protected reservoir that supplies drinking water for Seattle. Along the trail, there is only one place where you can get a glimpse of the lake. The course is very easy to follow because you simply run on the outside of the high fence that guards the property. It always reminds me of the movie, “The Village” where a society lives secretly in the woods behind high walls.

Pickled Feet 48/24/12/6 hour run is held at Eagle Island State Park, near Boise, Idaho.  It is a wonderful event put on my Emily Berriochoa. They also provide a 100-mile option.  Last weekend I ran 100 miles at 4mph challenge and I really didn’t consider running this event just one week later, but my recovery went well, the Idaho weather forecast improved, and at the last moment, I decided to head for Idaho and run. If successful, I could accomplish two 100-mile finishes with just five days of rest in between them.  I have accomplished that one other time, back in 2013, running 107.7 miles for 5^th place at North Coast 24-hour, and then the next Friday running Salt Flats 100, finishing in 8^th with 23:29.  So, I knew it could be done.  Could I do it again?

I ran Jackpot 100 held at Cornerstone Park near Las Vegas, in Henderson, Nevada.  I had never run this race before and looked forward to running in warmer temperatures away from the long, cold winter in Utah.  This race is a loop-format race on a 2.38-mile course through the park.  Various races are held concurrently, 48-hour, 24-hour, 100-mile, 12-hour, six-hour, and marathon.  I chose to run the 100-miler.

To close out 2015, I again ran in Across the Years (ATY), a fixed-time race held in Glendale, Arizona at Camelback Ranch, the spring training facility for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox. Last year, after completing a 24-hour race there, I noticed that I was just 132.24 miles short of earning my 1,000 mile ATY jacket. I groaned, knowing that if I wanted it in one more year that I would need to enter the 48-hour race this year.  Running for that long has been tough on me and I’ve come away injured after piling up miles before. But after an injury-free year, and solid training, I decided to go ahead and enter the 48-hour race.

At ATY, there are four different races, running concurrently, 24-hours, 48-hours, and 72-hours and an incredible six-day race.  The objective is to run as many miles as you can during your time period.  You can rest all you want, but the clock is always ticking.  Many ultrarunner friends turn their noses up to these fixed-time races, running in circles for hours and hours.  But to do well in these type of races requires mental strength and solid training, that for me transfers over to doing well in mountain 100-mile races.