Yeti 100

(June 2023) The second 100 in the season was the trek on the Palouse to Cascade (aka Iron Horse aka John Wayne) trail known as the Yeti WA 100. As I love running on the P2C, I have participated in the previous two races – finished a modified 100 mile course in 2021 and then moving down to the 100 km version in 2022. I was setup for some revenge on what would be a somewhat warm day and lined up with a decent plan and pacer to join in on the fun, albeit straight and repetitive trail.

The race starts with an out and back through the iconic Hyak Tunnel down to Rattlesnake Lake with a return back. It’s a gentle but consistent 1-2% grade down going out 21 miles (after you leave the tunnel) meaning a somewhat easy but multiple hour climb back up. I went out conservatively, chatting with a few friends, and even stopped for a few 1-2 min walk sessions, taking in a few gels along the way. It was somewhat cool at the start but we could tell that would be changing as the sun began one of its longest trajectories of the year in the summer sky. I made it down slightly under 4 hours and took in some Ensure to fuel me for the return trip. I began doing intervals of 8 min jog + 2 min walk and was able to quickly blast out the first 8 miles back to the only aid station on the return, where I gnoshed on some fruit. The next 13 miles went by faster than normal with my intervals helping propel me – before I knew it the tunnel was in the distance. I elected to walk a good portion inside to help cool me down – we still had a good 4-5 hours of light and the temps were in the high 70s.

I met up with my friend Rachel who would pace me the next 29 miles on the Eastern section out and back. She is so amazing that she brought popsicles and ramen noodles. In my elation at seeing the popsicles I devoured two and didn’t make much of a dent in the warm noodles. This would come back to be the biggest mistake of the day. I talked a bit with my friend Chris Bellevie as we headed out and he would eventually catch up with us as we made some decent time getting out to the first aid station at Mile 50.

I was munching a bit on a nut bar and still grabbing chips at the aid station but it was not enough. How many calories does my body need to shuffle at a decent pace? The next two segments were a bit on and off in terms of running as Rachel, Chris and I traded stories. The course goes straight east, doing a jig through Easton after you pass the lake. The sun had gone down, the headlamps had come out and we were smack into the night as the energy drip, drip, dripped out of my body.

At the mile 66 aid station I asked for anything hot as broth often helps me out. Alas, they didn’t have any electricity or propane to heat anything (isn’t that a minimal requirement for a full aid station in a looong race?). At this point I was walking full time and wasn’t even really conversing; trying to figure out how to keep going without actually doing the thing that keeps you going (EAT!!!). It’s a reasonably easy 5 mile section before reaching South Cle Elum and the turn around point. Rachel was getting cold given we were going so slow she couldn’t generate enough heat (mea culpa), so I lent her my depression era $2 gloves. She gave me some electrolyte tablets that she had snagged from another runner at the last aid station and they immediately had a positive effect, albeit nominal. Normally I struggle with swallowing salt gels (capsules) later on in races, but these were yummy tablets. Finally, I stumbled into Cle Elum at around 1:00am, some 18 hours into the race, needing a full reboot.

I grabbed my hiking poles and drop bag looking for something to eat. Eventually I decided to go with the noodles in hot broth, but they tasted simply horrible. I managed to get a cup or so down and after some commiseration/pouting and a no doubt feeble delivery of gratitude to Rachel, Chris and I set off for the return 29-mile trip back to Hyak. I made it about 3 minutes walking out of camp before the noodles reappeared in rapid order. 0 calories intake. It was going to be a long night.

Fortunately, walking at night during these long events is one of my favorite times. Add to that, this simple course allowed for very easy walking – no turns, no traffic, no bicycles or scooters to avoid. It was quiet, somewhat overcast, and slightly chilly on this June evening. Chris and I shared some stories to pass the time. We also took turns dry-heaving which is what happens when you simply don’t have enough food digested to reject. It’s not fun. I believe we both ended up with 5+ “episodes”, perhaps more comical looking back – it’s so important to stay on top of your food management and I was paying the price for falling way behind. I decided to try fruit at the next two stations given there weren’t many options. Blackberries and strawberries, taken in small quantities seemed to rest well. I kept the cadence up. but was barely making 3 mph. When Chris decided to stay back at a station, I decided to try some trotting at 1 min intervals. That worked well for an hour or so and helped get me to dawn at around 5:30am.

I made it to the last aid station at around 8am and as I was refilling some water bottles, a friend Bill from the Cayman Islands came strolling up. He asked if we could hang together for a while as he was a bit worried about the 30 hour cutoff (we still had 5 hours to do 8 miles, so I wasn’t terribly concerned). We had started out together and also ran the downhill last year, so had some catching up to do. There were a few people running by which inspired me a bit to pick up the pace, but I decided it was better to have a partner to walk beside. We made decent time the last few miles as the warm summer day was well upon us. With a time of 28:35, I crossed the finish line to greet the Yeti Master and collect my 9th buckle. I felt like I had tarnished such an easy course, but with each experience I was growing smarter about what/what not to do.