All’s Good in the Hood! — Wy’east Wonder 50 Mile Race

Oregon’s Mount Hood is indeed a majestic sight to behold. At 11,249 feet, it’s the state’s highest summit and 4^th highest among the Cascades volcanoes. It was at Hood four years ago that I fell in love with ultra-running. I flirted with it back in 2011, training for and running my first 50K and soon afterward first 50 miler to celebrate my 50^th birthday. But then I eased off and just ran a couple of 50Ks a year. But in 2021 during the Pandemic, and upon turning 60 and managing a newly diagnosed auto-immune disorder (PMR), my interest in ultra-running was reignited.

The Gunsight

My friend Peter invited me to run Mount Hood’s Timberline Trail with him. The thought of going around Mount Hood in a day—41 miles—10,000 vertical feet—with some pretty darn difficult creek crossings intrigued me—then energized me. I accepted the challenge even though I found it daunting. And upon successfully completing the run it occurred to me that I have not yet realized my potential as a runner. After the trifecta of turning 60, the Covid years, and dealing with an auto-immune that initially had me questioning if my best days were behind me—I was determined to overhaul my life and put my disorder in remission (I did and after nearly 3 years on prednisone) and see what I was still capable of doing in the limited time I had left to engage in such challenging physical endeavors.

Timberline motivated me to do a 100K—62 miles to celebrate my 62th birthday and I did it on the challenging Cuyamaca 100k Adventure Run course in the mountains east of San Diego. I ran Timberline again and decided to go for my first 100 mile run. I figured it was now or never. I have no idea what tomorrow will be like, and if I’m capable of doing this, now might be my only opportunity. After some thought as to where my 100 mile challenge should be, it was easy to pick Mount Hood. I love the trails and scenery of the area. And Daybreak Racing had launched a new run there, the Hood Hundred which in its first year received rave reviews. I had done two of their events in the past (at the Tillamook State Forest and Mount St Helens) and they are excellent events.  Hood Hundred was a no-brainer for my first attempt at a century run. The second holding of this race was elevated to a Western States 100 Qualifier enhancing its status. On race morning I will be lining up with 250 other runners from all over the country—just the kind of excitement and camaraderie that I thrive on when doing an ultra.

Lineup at the privy at 5.30 am

I started seriously training for this event last fall and within 7 months had completed three 50 mile races, a couple of  road marathons, a very challenging 50K and many long training runs. But I wanted one more hard and challenging race to do before the big day. Go beyond Racing’s Wy’east 50 mile run called out to me. Like Daybreak Racing, Go Beyond Racing has an excellent reputation for putting on runs and taking care of their runners. And this race as its name denotes (Wy’east possibly being the Multnomah Tribe’s name for Oregon’s highest summit) was at Mount Hood. It’s a challenging course with over 7,000 feet of vertical rise and 10,000 feet of descent and that appealed to me. The cutoff times however were going to be more of a challenge for me. And an older runner I have grown frustrated on how much I have slowed down in just the last couple of years. I still have the endurance—it just takes me longer to get it done. I know I have to accept this and be thankful that I can still do these runs at all. I’m working on being more grateful for still being able to be out there.

Warming up! Photo by Full Send Media

The course was primarily a one way from Bennett Pass to just outside of  Parkdale with a long loop along the way. We started at 6 am at the 4,700-foot pass and immediately stated climbing to an elevation of 6,000 feet. Here’s where I noticed my first challenge—I was short of breath. Normally this altitude doesn’t affect me—but today it was. My breathing was taxed. I may have been a little dehydrated at the start leading to this condition. The Hood Hundred starts at an even higher elevation—so I make sure I’m well hydrated at its start. And unlike this race which I traveled to the morning of from the Columbia River Gorge, I will be up at Government Camp high on Mount Hood the day and night before for Hood Hundred—that should help acclimate me.

I finally got into the groove on a roller coaster predominately downhill stretch. Views of Hood were gorgeous especially from the gunsight, a jumble of rocks resembling that firearm apparatus. While I had a good pace going, I stumbled several times catching my foot on small stumps cut flesh to the ground. It doesn’t take much to get tripped up and one stumble resulted in a cut finger as I grabbed onto some small trees. Other stretches of trail on the course including ones I will be running in the upcoming Hood Hundred lacked those obstacles which will definitely help as I progressively grow wearier along the way.

Running with new friend David, a writer originally from New England–like me! Photo by Full Send Media

Another surprise on this run was that I was stung twice by yellow jackets—once on the hand and once on the ankle which really hurt. Wow, only late June and they’re already aggressive. I hope by late July they’re not out in full force raising havoc. I have yet to react to a sting, but I always worry, especially if stung in the neck or face.

As with all of my ultras, I met lots of “new” friends along the way, running several miles with them carrying on engaging conversations to keep my mind off of the drudgery. My new partners kept me going helping me make the aid station cutoffs; which I did with 90 minutes to spare at the first two, 45 minutes at the third—and just 15 minutes to spare at the last one. That had me moving along despite that I wanted to take more time to recover at the previous aid station. Reaching that last cutoff was a relief because I no longer had to work against the clock—I was now guaranteed a finish as long as I kept moving.

But the last two miles were absolute hell on a steep rocky decent that even if my legs weren’t wobbly would still be tough to negotiate. I came in at 13 hours 35 minutes—about an hour slower than I wanted to which I contributed to that last stretch and based on my gps and others the course was a little longer than 50 miles. In any case, I successfully finished my 4^th 50 mile race within an 8 month span—something I couldn’t even image doing when I was in my 20s or 30s. And at 64 I was the oldest finisher once again and only one of two over 60s who completed the race. 115 of us in all started the race and 94 finished. I was happy with my performance and a little closer to believing that I’m ready now to take on the 100. But it’s still daunting to think that I will be doing a race twice the distance and being on my feet for so many more hours. A good part of ultra-running is mental. I have trained my legs what it feels like to be on them for a long time and in continual motion. Now it’s time to see if my mind will prevail over my body come June 26^th.

Big Thanks to the Washington State Potato Commission for sponsoring me. I am proud to be a member of Team Potato and to showcase the nutritional value and performance enhancement of potatoes as I attempt to run a marathon or ultra-marathon in all 50 states—and train for my first 100 mile run! I’ve got many miles left to go—and lots of potatoes to consume to power me along the way.

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