I have been slowly gearing up my trail and mountain running mileage over the past two years with the desire to run long distances in the mountains. After pacing Frank last September on his first 100 miler RRR, and covering over 40 miles I knew it was time. I have heard nothing but great things about this place north of Vancouver called Squamish, settled in the mountains, working ocean front, amazing rock climbing, mountain biking, and just an all around outdoor enthusiast mecca. Once I saw that they hosted a 50 mile race, I knew it was the one for me. Boasting 11,000 feet of gain and descent on some of the most technical trails, I was sold. I wanted a tough race as my initial entry into the ultra running realm and boy did I pick one!
Stawamus Chief, home to some exceptional climbing!
Chelsea helped me in January to commit to this race and signed herself up as well for her first ultra! We planned to make a grand road trip out of it, take off for two weeks and see the beautiful Pacific Northwest for both of our first times. So we set off on our journey from Colorado and arrived in beautiful Squamish two days before my race and hers the following day.
Well, finally after training all summer and preparing for this race it was time! With a 5:30am start and mandatory headlamps through aid 2, it was an early start. I woke up early to ensure I could get my cup of coffee and oatmeal down with plenty of time before the race start.
and we’re off!
I tried to keep to my pacing schedule for the first 6 miles as it was mainly road with some flat trails thrown in the mix. I knew it was going to be a long day and that pacing myself was the key to success. As this was my first ultra distance race, I wanted nothing more than to cross that finish line!! I arrived to the first aid station 5 minutes ahead of schedule, but hey, I took it relatively easy.
Aid 1-6:30am, where’s the coffee!? PC Chelsea
I love racing but sometimes my competitive drive gets me into trouble too early on as it happened during last years’ Moab Trail Marathon. 18 miles of pushing it will make the last 8 miles very tough especially after an 1,000 ft climb and slickrock to follow.
Moab before the meltdown
The next part of the race was awesome as it finally spit you onto some singletrack and you began the first climb of the day and the steepest trail to boot. They weren’t kidding when they said Squamish trails were ‘techinical and steep’. Being from Colorado I was sure I knew what that meant, WRONG! Grabbing onto trees, roots, stepping up over giant boulders, scrambling through slabs and trying not to slip became the norm for the remainder of the day. I felt great on this climb and was able to push it on the ascent, passing by people who I knew I’d see again at a later stage of the race. I arrived into Alice Lake Aid #2 feeling pretty good, having crushed the first climb and descent. Loaded up on some food, sunscreen, gel’s and kept right on trucking.
Bridges galore!
Coming into Aid 2 – PC Chelsea
The next section was on Four Lakes trail in the Alice Like Provincial Park. This was beautiful in the morning as we passed by all of the lakes which were still glass. 17 miles in, still feeling strong, but knew the biggest climb of the day was looming around the corner. We had a 6 mile loop from Aid #3 that had great rolling singletrack but then a brutally hot and painful service road back up to the same aid station.
Stump Lake
After leaving Aid #3 for the second time, you had a 7 mile stretch to cover before seeing another aid. It was starting to get hot, I made sure to load up on some Skratch Mix (Electrolytes), watermelons, chips and put down as many of the delicious salted potatoes as possible before moving onwards.
Occasional views of the Tantalus Range on the big climb
The climb up Garibaldi couldn’t have been any more soul crushing. I don’t know if it was the previous 23 miles, the heat, or just the relentlessness of a climb that I was trudging on but I was feeling every step. I made sure to keep my calorie intake around 200-300 every hour mixing in some Hammer Gel’s with real food to keep my stomach at bay. Finally after climbing for what felt like an eternity I crossed the two bridges at the top and started descending 1 hour and 45 minutes after I had left the previous aid station.
The descents began to become morally crushing after climbing for so long I thought I was ready for over 2,500ft of descending… Finally I arrived to the aid station at 30 miles in and loaded up on my GU’s and hydration which I had emptied both of my bottles on the climb. Still, I knew the next aid station was only 3 miles away and would be fully stocked, I pressed on.
Most of the descents looked a lot like this
Did I say there were bridges?
Quest University was a sight for sore eyes and tired legs, at 33 miles in and 8 hours on my feet already, a cheering crowd was bliss. Chelsea was there all smiles to greet me, reload my once again empty Skratch bottle, it was great to see her and #theshea. They had some delicious soup and more of the potatoes that I put down, knowing another big climb was ahead of me and I would need every calorie.
Loading up on food at Quest Aid 6 – PC Chelsea
I heard from talking to other runners that the next climb was equally as devastating as the Garibaldi climb even though it was half the vertical. I took off from Quest, curious as to how I would feel on the next climb and what kind of lows I would hit on the climb. Little did I know that I was going tweak something in my ankle that would be fighting me all the way to the finish line.
The shade in the forest was quite nice!!
This section contained well over 30+ switchbacks, I felt really strong on the first half cruising up the switchbacks. I then had the urge to stretch my ankle out a tiny bit and boy was this was a big mistake. Every muscle and tendon in my body was already extremely loose from moving the previous 9 hours. I felt a weird sensation in my ankle and realized that I had just done something terrible, it wasn’t the worst feeling in the world but it sure didn’t feel great. My ankle felt weak after this and didn’t have the same stability that it had the entire day. I took a minute to feel it out and evaluate what was going on with it, felt like a rolled ankle more or less and I decided it wasn’t going to stop me. So I pressed on with the remaining switchbacks.
Some decor on the trails to keep ya moving!!
This happened around mile 35 or so, and with 15 miles to go I had to make sure I didn’t overdo it so that I could still make it to the finish line. The climbing wasn’t the issue, in fact, my ankle felt strong on the ascents but it was the downhills that I knew were going to wreck me. After climbing for what seemed like an eternity with all these thoughts of not finishing crossing my mind, I finally reached the top and started the 1.5 mile descent to the 6th aid station. As I knew it was going to be, the downhills became brutally slow but at the same time I knew I was still moving and still making progress towards the finish!
Some of the more ‘mellow’ descents
One of my favorite bridged sections of the course
Upon arriving to Aid station #6 I saw people who were in much worse shape than I was, and who were also pressing on to the finish. This was revitalizing seeing as how I wasn’t the only one in rough shape, I loaded up on GU’s and put down as many watermelons and oranges as I could muster. With 5 miles to the final aid station,I switched over to caffeinated gels as well as putting down a couple glasses of Coke. They made me feel great for a small speck of time, but it always got me moving out of the aid stations with the finish line on my mind.
Keep on keepin’ on!
I was able to get a nice trot going on the some the less technical downhills, but it was still slow going. It took just over an hour and a half for me to cover the 5 miles. Nearing the final aid station I knew I was well ahead of the cutoff times which I was very happy about! Not having to rush to make a cutoff was great, I was able to take my time and make sure I didn’t wreck my ankle and make things worse. Seeing Chelsea at the last aid was definitely a great feeling, although I’m sure she could tell I was in rough shape. I spent a little longer at this aid making sure I got in enough nutrition and hydration before making the final push. I also wasn’t able to say no to the volunteers dumping ice cold water over my head before taking off. What a great feeling this was at this point of the day, as it was 5:40pm and I had now been moving for 12 hours!
Worked at mile 43 – PC Chelsea
Did I say I was worked? – Final Aid
With 7 miles to the finish, I knew it was going to the toughest part of the race for me mentally and physically but I wanted nothing more than to make it to that finish line. I made a mistake in this section again, as there was finally a few miles of smooth runnable singletrack (which rarely existed on this course) and the caffeine I believe took over my better judgement. I took after a runner in front of me who was setting a great pace (if you weren’t sore and 45+ miles in) around a 10 minute mile or less for about 3 miles. This did not help my ankle situation and after the final climb to summit Phlegm Mountain I was done running. The pain was definitely present and I couldn’t muster any sort of a running pace down the final descent.
Sun setting on the Chief, 1 mile to go!
There was a final set of stairs leading you back down to the road where you would have 1.5 miles or so of pavement to the finish. I was reduced to lowering myself one stair at a time using the railings on both sides of me to descend. This was brutal. Upon reaching the parking lot, volunteers were there to cheer you on and point you in the right direction and I can’t imagine how I looked to them after taking 10 minutes to get down all of the stairs. I knew I was close with over a mile of flat to go, and I was able to ‘run’ a ~17 min/mile pace to the finish which felt like crawling to me at this point. I might have possibly been able to walk quicker, but I wanted to overcome and get a maintainable pace to carry me into the finish. I didn’t stop that entire time and persevered all the way to the finish line.
Gary Robbins the race director awaiting my finish!
What a triumphant moment it was to see the finish, the crowd cheering, and the race director just waiting to give you a hug as you complete the most brutal 50 mile course he could come up with. I came across with a finish time 14 hours and 11 minutes, 45 minutes beyond my goal, but the real goal was to finish and I did just that!!! Chelsea was there with another huge hug for me and without her support I couldn’t have done this! Words can not describe my feelings of bliss and pure gratification 😀
Great Success!
I did it! I completed my first ultramarathon and succeeded in picking one of the toughest 50 milers I could find. What an amazing journey it was to get there, with all of the training and adventures I had this summer, taking in all of the sights on our road trip, and exploring all of these trails in such a beautiful area. It was great to be a part of the Squamish50 race weekend and experience. Huge thanks to everyone involved with the race, the RD’s, volunteers, and congratulations to everyone who was out there getting beat up on the trails with me! I will certainly have to go back and have another whack at this race in the future.
For now, its time to rest and recover 🙂
My first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean before our trek back home
Migrantmatt 