Racing Plain 100M+ in 2009

Last week I had the pleasure to meet up with a group of ultra runners for the 2009 Plain "100M" race. I met with Beat J at the airport and we drove for a couple of hours to arrive at the race central at the Thousand Trails Lodge in Plain, WA.

Plain is a back-to-basics race, and quite a contrast to WS100 I did earlier this summer. There are no medical checks, no television crews, no long lines, no crowds, and just a small team of crew members. However, the race has tremendous charm, with home-cooked pre-race dinner, a family-style race briefing, and a warm relaxing atmosphere. The nearby Search-and-Rescue (SAR) team takes care of runner safety and handles timing.

Plain is not a "beginners" 100M race (if such a thing even exists). This race has no trail markings, no pacers, and only 1 aid station (at 55 miles); and as a bonus adds an extra 5+ miles beyond the formal 100M course thus coming in at approx 105M total. The course itself is demanding, if not brutal, in several aspects - crossing over 3 peaks at 6000-7000ft, and several sections of rough and exceedingly steep trails - for total of more than 21,000 feet of climb and same coming down. Competitors that choose to run at Plain need to be confident to handle a wide variety of trail conditions, besides carrying all food and essentials needed during the race. Water can be found in streams, and as I personally found out - requires "active" planning to ensure sufficient hydration at all time.

On race morning start was at 5AM, and the field sprinted off in the darkness. I joined up with Michael Popov at the front of the field, and together we chased a single runner up in front. We passed Deep Creek at furious pace after just 14 minutes, and turned up the hill towards the Maverick Saddle. Here the road climbs steadily, and we kept a solid pace at the front of the pack. After checking the map we found the correct turn to the left on a smaller rough gravel road. I reached the SAR check point after 1:19 hrs, and Michael joined me a couple minutes after. Together, we rounded the hill and turned off to a small road leading down/left. After a few minutes this connects to the Mad Lake Trail single track. We continued running at good speed, and could not hear or see anyone following us anymore. After approx 10 minutes we came to a trail crossing, where the course turns sharp left up a faint almost overgrown trail. The trail is steep, and even walking is tough at some sections. The climb continues for 20 or so minutes, and then leads to rolling trail along the ridge line. This is a very runnable section, but the trail is cut out by water and motorcycle tracks in a few places and I had to jump around to avoid the largest gaps.

I stopped to refill my water bottles, and Michael caught up with me and did the same. As we fixed our gear, 2 other runners passed by. We continued a steady climb and up to and across several very pretty lakes and alpine meadows. This section was very cold in the morning and I wished I had brought some thin gloves (especially when running with 2 hand bottles filled with ice cold water).


The trail eventually comes to a trail crossing to North Tommy Trail, where it is important to turn right to get up to Klone Pk. This is really the only place on the first lap where it is possible to pick the wrong trail. A small trail then leads up to the top of Klone Pk - the views are amazing.

I was at the top (at approx 6600 ft) at 9.12 AM in the morning. I had another granola bar, and put on my ipod. the run down from Klone Pk to the next SAR check point is mostly a nice soft downhill, including a section of almost zig-zags. This is a great section to keep up a nice pace, and I passed a couple of runners who were going slower. The trail empties out to a gravel road, passes the SAR check point, and leads to an asphalt road. Running on the asphalt road was tedious, and by now the heat was increasing so I tried to stay in the shade where possible. This is also a very runnable downhill section - just very boring. After approx 20-30 minutes the road leads to a turnout area, with a trail leading down left towards the creek. This section is narrow, downhill, runnable but dusty and somewhat technical. At the bottom of the hill (at approx 2050 ft) I met the race directors Chris and Tom who where picnicking and watching the runners come by. I turned right the trail leading up the hill, and crossed the bridge over Tommy Creek after a few minutes.

During the race pre-briefing they had informed us that the next 14 or so miles had no water, and I had brought a couple extra water bottles (besides my hand bottles) for this reason. However, I had misread the map, believing that there was another creek further up the hill - and therefore I only filled my hand bottles, so to try avoid carry unnecessary weight up the hill. The hill is brutally steep and goes on for ever. After climbing for an hour, my water now was gone - and I realized that there would be no more creek higher up. I thought for a moment about returning back down to fill up water, but quickly decided this would be a bad idea. I kept hoping there must be SOME place to find water higher up. The climb continued upwards, and after 2 hours I could see Signal Peak high up in the sky. As I continued the climb up to the peak I now had been running 1.5 hrs without any water and really started to feel weaker. The trail passes several smaller false summits, and the last part up to the highest point (at approx 6500 ft) is extremely exposed to sun since all vegetation is gone due to some forest fire in previous years. Finally the trail turns downwards, and passes through some more tree covered sections. I went off the trail to look for some possible water sources - but all was bone dry, so I decided to just keep going - knowing that I would have at least 7 miles remaining to the next known water source. I had never run so long without any water in any race or in training - so I was wondering what the effects would be for the race overall, and even if I would ultimately would get water - how long it would take for my body to recover from the added stress during these dry 2-3 hours. At one point the trail rounded a small greenish meadow - and I realized this may be a unexpected opportunity to find some water. There was no clear running water to be seen, but I jumped out in the high grass and walked out into the middle of the meadow to find a very small stream. I filled every water bottle I had and also drank over a liter of water right on the spot. Life was back, I took some salt tablets, and some food - and got back on the trail and was able to pick up the speed running at nice speed. I passed by the SAR check point, and dropped off 10 hours worth of empty GU packages and CLIP-2 bags.

The section leading down to the river crossing is very demanding, it is steep down hill, and has much loose rocks, and is also overgrown with weeds and bushes. But it is worth the price - as the water in the stream is superb and refreshing. I again filled up all bottles, and continued onwards on a rolling climbing trail up to Maverick Saddle. This section of the trail is amazingly pretty - with dense vegetation, and many magical small waterfalls along the narrow creek canyon. I finally reached the top of the trail, and after checking the the map I came out back at Maverick Saddle. I felt surprisingly good, and was relieved to have completed much of the first lap of the course. I knew the next 4 or so miles were mostly downhill on a relatively easy mountain gravel road. I ran all the way down to Deep Creek to complete the first lap at approx 13.5 hrs. I had hoped to come in below 14 hrs so I felt all was per plan so far. The volunteers informed me I was in 4th place - which felt great.

The volunteers at Deep Creek did an amazing job and were super helpful. I changed clothes and shoes, swapped to my night backpack, and was served some nice hot pasta.
In 5-10 minutes I was off on the trail towards Alder Creek. I found this section of the trail quite tedious, I was able to run large parts of it, but there are never ending small hills that break up your rhythm and the trail zig-zags in and out of the woods in the a convoluted way. I passed Alder Creek after a couple of hours, and as the evening was coming I took out my headlamp and continued onwards in a mix of running/shuffling/walking.

After another hour the trail narrows and climbs steadily up along Chikamin Tie Trail. The trail is very steep in some sections (although not as sustained as up to Signal Peak). It was now pitch dark, and I had not seen another person for almost 4 hours. I felt OK physically, but sensed I was getting in somewhat of a zombie mode mentally as I continued grinding up the hill. An hour later, as I was refilling my water bottles, I met a skunk(!) blocking the trail. The skunk clearly had no intention to move, and I certainly did not want to get "skunked" - so I hurled a few pine cones and twigs at him, and he ultimately decided to disappear out into the dark woods. As I kept running on, I was passed by another runner. I figured that 5th place was still fine, and I should just keep up the forward speed, A little further on he stopped to fill his bottles, and I passed him. Another hour later the trail turns up to the right (this is one of the few places where it is possible to miss a turn on the second lap). This led to a longer than expected sustained climb up to the next SAR check point. At first I could see some headlamps following me in the dark, but they faded away and I did not see any other runner for the next couple of hours.

The section of the trail that climbs up to the top of the peak (at approx 6300 ft) and then comes around the Pond Meadows was extremely tedious. The trail is just a single narrow motorcycle tire width which makes running difficult and painful for the feet. As I came down past the meadows I was passed by another runner. It was late at night and it now was getting chilly. I stopped at Mad Lake and put on my windbreaker, only to have to take it off 15 minutes later when as I started the climb up Alder Trail. From the pre-briefing I did not realize this was a climb - I had assumed it was all downhill from Mad Lake...

At the crest of Alder Trail my headlamps started to get dim, it was still another hour until proper daylight - so I ran in semi darkness for a while. Then follows a steep endless zig-zag downhill. I ran most of this section, but it was mentally demanding as it felt it would never end. Finally, the trail spit me out on a gravel road, and after a short section of single track there is a couple of miles on a wide gravel road leading down to Alder Creek trail crossing. As I came down to the main trail intersection I passed the same runner I had met a few hours earlier up at Mad Lake during the night. As I stopped to fill up water, he continued on and sprinted away out of sight.

Now having done all the hard parts of the course, I was considering how fast I should run the final 7 miles. I felt it would be great to go under 29 hrs, and thus picked up a decent pace of walking uphills and running the flat and downs. After the next 3 or so miles, I realized 29 hours was safe, and I decided to get as close as possible to 28 hrs. I passed Deep Creek at 28.02 hrs, and then just had the 1.7 miles left to the Finish. A volunteer at Deep Creek told me I was in 4th place. This information made me realize that I had a chance to make a solid result at this race. I immediately started to worry someone would come and pass me in the last 15 minutes of the race - so I ran the whole section as fast as was possible, stopping at each turn to check that no one was coming after me... (Later I found that the next closest competitor was more than an hour back, but the stress definitely helped me sprint the last part of the race).

Crossing the finish line in approx 28.20 was wonderful and met my goal of finishing in between 28 and 30 hrs.

In summary, Plan is a superb challenge and an excellent race for those that enjoy a more back-to-basics adventure-like race.

Note: Pictures in this blog are reused from Glenn Tachiyama's great write up of his training runs for both lap 1 and lap 2.



My official time at SAR check points

Maverick	1:19:05
Tommy	5:41:00
Tyee	10:14:10
Maverick	12:35:34
Deep Creek	13:14:45
Chickamin Tie	19:53:00
Alder Cr.	27:18:00
Finish	28:21:02

Summary of Trail conditions (scroll down to see the information!)

Section	Distance	Grade	Width	Trail	Water	Other
Start - Deep Creek	1.7	Gentle	Wide	Road	No	Dark
Deep Creek - Maverick Saddle	7.0	Steady up	Wide	Road	No	Dark
Maverick Saddle to Hi-Yu Trail		Rolling	Single track	Trail	Yes
Hi-Yu Trail		Steep up	Narrow	Trail	No	Overgrown
Ridge Line past Lost Lake	11.7	Rolling	Single track	Trail	Some
Meadows at Blue Creek Trail		Steady up	Single track	Trail	Some	Very cold
North Tommy Trail to Klone Pk	20	Steady up	Single track	Trail	No
Klone Pk - SAR (FSR 5605)	26.6	Rolling/down	Single track	Trail	No!
SAR down on road		Down	Wide	Road	No
South Tommy Trail down to Creek	30	Steep down	Single track	Trail	Yes	Dusty
Over Bridge and half-way up the hill		Steep up	Single track	Trail	No	Very steep
Halfway up to Signal Pk	36.6	Steady up	Single track	Trail	No!
Signal Pk to SAR		Rolling/down	Single track	Trail	No!!
SAR to Cougar Creek	44.3	Rolling/down	Narrow	Rocky!	Finally	Brutal Overgrown
Cougar Creek to Maverick Saddle	49	Rolling/up	Single track	Trail	Yes
Maverick Saddle to Deep Creek	55	Steady down	Wide	Road	No	Gravel road
Deep Creek to Alder Ridge Trl	62	Rolling	Single track	Trail	No
Alder Ridge Trl to Chikamin Tie Trail	65	Rolling/up	Single track	Trail	Yes	Darkness coming
Chikamin Tie Trail to SAR	74	Steady up	Single track	Trail	Plenty
SAR to Pond Camp Trail	80	Steady up	Single track	Trail	Yes	Rocky sections
Pond Camp Trail to Pond Meadow	84	Rolling/up	Narrow	Trail	No	Tedious
Pond Meadow to Alder Ridge Trl	87	Flat/up	Single track	Trail	Yes	Chilly
Alder Ridge Trail down zig zag		Steep down	Single track	Trail	Some	Technical
Road all down Alder Ridge Trail	97	Flat/down	Wide	Road	No	Gravel road
Alder Ridge Trail to Deep Creek	103.3	Rolling	Single track	Trail	No
Deep Creek to Finish	105	Flat/down	Wide	Road	No	Gravel road

Western States 100 in 2009

Like many other runners my journey to run Western States 100 has been a long one, dating back several years. In fact, it started already in 2005 as I was getting into ultra running after many years of doing triathlons, trail runs, and mountain biking. That year, since I had no chance to run the WS100 race, I instead opted to run the course without support from Squaw to Michigan Bluff. Needless to say, I was immediately hooked, loved the course, the mountain views, and the highland trails.

The following years, I was in the lottery for both 2006 and 2007 - but was not selected. Those years I instead choose to help as as safety patrol runner from Squaw to Robinson Flat. Each year I actually drove to Robinson Hill the day before the race start, and ran the course backwards to to Squaw, and then ran back to the car as part of the Safety patrol team. It was a nice experience, and it certainly helped me get to know the first 30 miles of the course in great detail.

The following year, 2008 the race was canceled, and I was only able to do a shortish training run to Red Star and back.

So, in 2009 it finally was time for the real deal. However, the situation was not optimal from a training perspective, since I had been struggling with a foot stress fracture for much of the spring, and in fact the only 2 times I had run more than a couple of hours was at a race in March and another race at end of April. Therefore, I did not really know what to expect in terms of form, and whether my foot would hold together for the whole distance.

I traveled up with my family to stay at a house nearby Squaw for a couple of days leading up to the race start. At the morning of the race all went per plan, and by 5 am we were off. The start was actually a bit of a surprise, since in previous years I had been with the Safety Patrol waiting high up the mountain when the gun went off. This time it was great to be part of the crowd, and I enjoyed the cheers from the spectators as all racers headed up the mountain. The run/walk up to the top went without any issues - I stayed close to a group of other ultra runners from the bay area. I was a careful to not go out too fast, but I felt good - and I crested Escarpment in around 50th place, and I was approx 5-10 minutes ahead of my target 24 hour pace.

The run down from Escarpment to Lyon Ridge and then Red Star was nice running, but a little odd as I met surprisingly few other runners. In fact, for much of the Granite Chief section I did not meet a single person for more than 30 minutes. I came into Red Star almost 30 min ahead of 24hr pace, and kept telling myself to go easy in the beginning. I added a little extra tape on my left foot where I felt some friction developing. The part to Duncan Canyon was also fast, but incredibly dusty. I ran behind another runner for much of the last 2 miles, and it felt as running in a sand storm, luckily the gaiters worked and had no issues other than breathing a lot of dry dust for some time. Previous years I have always struggled a bit with the section from Duncan to Robinson Flat, however this year I was able to run the vast majority of it at a decent pace. The swim at the bottom of the canyon is superb - and it gives a boost to get up the hill. I arrived into Robinson Flat 45min ahead of planned pace. The crowds were amazing. I cooled off with some ice water and continued quickly out up the short hill to Mt Baldy.


I had never run this section of the race before so I did not know what to expect. It is safe to say that this now is one of my absolute favorite parts of the run, in terms of the gorgeous views and the nice downhill trail coming down from the top of Mt Baldy. The section to Miller's Defeat was longer than I had expected and the last section was tedious and the temperature was now climbing quickly. The last miles seemed it took for ever until I got to the aid station. The volunteers were very helpful as always. At this point I was running without a shirt to keep cool, and one volunteer helped add a layer of sunblock on my back. This was a lifesaver for the rest of the sunny day, but I felt bad for the guy who had to do it - considering how sweaty I was at this point :-)

The next section was very runnable, with only distraction was a herd of cows (or was it bulls?) in the middle of the trail. I played it safe and walked around it at a little distance and then continued down the trail. I came down to Dusty Corners aid station at 38 miles just after noon, approx an hour ahead of 24 hr pace, and in about 45th place. I felt good about the day, but also knew well that the bulk of the run was still ahead of me. The section to Last Chance was also new to me, since when I ran it previously I had opted to take the gravel road instead of the trail. I was surprised by the amount of downhill on this section, and I kept up a decent pace, but choose to walk some of the steeper uphills to save effort. Much of this part is shaded so the heat did not really bother me much. By Last Chance aid at 43.4 miles I had lost a little of my time buffer down to 45 minutes. It did not worry me too much, as I was hoping to pick some of this back on the 2 big climbs coming up. The run down to the creek was uneventful, and I started the power walk up to Devil's Thumb, and arrived at 2.30, and was glad to see I had picked up 15 more time. The climb was steep and tedious as usual - but I was mentally very prepared for it so it went by quite quickly. I had picked up an extra large water bottle at Robinson Flat, and for all the following sections I had it filled up with just ice. This worked wonders on all the climbs as I was able to refill by hand bottles half way up the climb with half melted ice water and also use for cooling over my head. The next climb at Michigan Bluff went in a similar way, and I arrived up at the top at 4.30 pm, now in 52nd place. I felt quite good, warm yes - but definitely not over heated.

The following section was surprisingly tedious, I walked parts of it and running on the wide gravel road was just not as fun compared to the beautiful trails I had been on for the last 12 hours or so. In addition, the descent down to Bath Road was a bit of a surprise, I had not checked this section in detail on the map, and had expected a relatively steady run up to Foresthill. Instead, there now was yet another canyon to battle with and it drained some mental energy.
I passed the aid station and continued the long walk up the road to Foresthill. I mixed running and walking, and came in to Foresthill aid at 6 pm after running 13 hours, an hour ahead of my 24hr target time. I was starting to feel more optimistic about the race. I tried hard to not get my hopes up too high about finishing under 24hrs, but felt there may be a chance if I kept up a steady pace. At Foresthill I changed shirt, shoes, ipod, and got out the headlamp.

I knew the next section well, as I had done a run there in the previous year. The steady downhill was nice and I kept a steady pace. However, as I got close to the Cal 1 aid station I stopped to pee and noticed a distinct red color, not good I realized... The condition is referred to as hematuria. I had never experienced this in any previous ultra so could not tell if/how bad this may be. I asked a few other competitors what they thought - and the typical answer was "not good"... so at this point I decided to play it safe and I shifted down the pace and walked much of the way to Cal2 and Cal3 aid stations. BTW - since the race I have read more about this condition and found that it necessarily must not be a critical issue, and can happen quite often at strenuous exercise.

I continued peeing red for the next few hours. I felt no other pain or tightness, however mentally I got quite worried, and even wondered if this would force me to stop the race. When I finally arrived to the river crossing, at mile 78 just after 10 pm in 64th place, I asked a nurse what options I had. She asked a few questions, and we agreed I would go slow, and monitor the situation, keep up the fluids, and then reassess at next aid.

The river crossing was really fun, and the water level much deeper than I had expected. Over on the other side I changed into a dry pair of shoes and set off up the long hill. This is another example of a bit poor review of the course, as I had expected (hoped for) a steep but relatively short uphill. However, the climb up to Green Gate, at 80 miles, was far longer than expected. I arrived up at at around 11 PM. Still ahead of a 24hr pace, but I had lost much of the buffer by now.

The next section went really slow, and I ended up walking majority of this. My feet were tender from blisters, and I was feeling out of energy. The darkness was solid and I power walked most of these sections without seeing much other runners. On the positive side, pee was now good again and I felt less concerned about DNF due to that situation. After what seemed like forever, I arrived into Auburn Lake trails. I had decided that my feet needed some serious attention - so I sat down and got help by the medical team at this aid (manned by Bay Area Mountain Rescue team). They gave excellent service, and I had several cups of hot soup. However, the foot service took a long time, and I left the aid station at around 2am. I was now behind my time goal, and had mentally decided to stop worrying about 24 hrs, but instead keep up a steady power walk into goal, and try run as much of the downhills as possible.

Brown's bar aid station was marvelous, one could hear their music from far away around the mountain, and the lighting was energizing. I had some more soup, and I left the aid station at 3.13 am. I was surprised by the deep descent into the next section, and then just as surprised about the very serious climb up to Hwy49 crossing aid station. I spoke with a doctor about my earlier troubles, and she confirmed it was OK to keep going, but to monitor the situation during and then after the race. I left the aid station at around 4.30 just as the first rays of morning sun could been seen at the horizon. I power walked the next section, and ran some of the downhills and arrived to No Hands in good spirits as I was certain I would finish my first WS100 run.

I continued the power walk up the climb to Robie Point, and then up along the streets down to the High school. As I got closer I got into a run, and I entered the track in nice pace. The half lap around the track was very emotional, and I finally realized that I had done this race - after 4 long years of planning and trying.

I completed the race in 25.47, not the sub-24 I had hoped for, but still very satisfying. I learned a lot about the course and how to plan out the race for a faster time - next time. Western States clearly is a unique race compared with many other ultras - more racers, bigger crowds, professional service, superb logistics and race organization, and more. However, at its core it is still the individual athlete that has to dig deep both physically and mentally to complete the race - and which is what makes running ultras such an all around satisfying experience.