Yes.  Tell us how far you think you actually ran. And whether you saw a badger. And if you, at any point, thought you might be in a wholly different state than where you were supposed to be.

I'm not much of a writer but I'll give it a go:

Badger Mountain Challenge.
In short: ow, ow, ow, ow……

The web site lists elevation change as +17,565 / -17,565 but RD said at pre-race dinner that with course re-directs, it would be more like +19,000 / -19,000. Okay, then.

Because of the wind on most of the course, it was marked with landscape flagging which I guess worked a little better than last year (ribbons tied to sagebrush) but the wind still managed to shred the flagging in spots or rip out of the ground outright

I guess I was one of the lucky ones. I have a good sense of direction, and since a large part of the course is an out and back, I would slow / stop periodically to look back at the trail to get a sense of what to look for on my way back.  This really helped, especially at night. I was on a 9 mile section, that included a monster down/up bushwhack with a couple of other runners and was able to keep us going in the right direction.

Sections of the course consisted of jeep roads and jeep trails, and they are NOT the same things. Jeep roads are the means of access to the tops of the hills / mountains in Eastern Washington and the surface is comprised of 4”-6” sharp edged rocks that are almost impossible to run comfortably on. Jeep trails are areas where jeeps drive for fun, and they go straight up, and straight down and meander all over the place. Both suck.

I was able to hold things relatively together until mile 81 when I had been in the jeep trails for about 4 miles. I had misjudged the distance and my pace so ran out of water and food, with about 3 miles to go to next a/s. Had a mini-meltdown, screamed fuck at the top of my lungs, buckled down and slogged to the next aid station.

From this a/s (Dallas Rd.) there is a 5 mile loop and then you head back towards the finish.  As I started the loop, I saw off in the distance what looked like Ayers rock (or the Eastern Washington equivalent) As soon as I saw this, I knew that the course was going to go over it. Sure enough, a couple of miles down the trail, the course starts bending towards the rock. Shit. Ok, power up, slog across the top, and then back down.

After fueling up at the a/s, I start heading back towards the finish. By all accounts and information from volunteers, I have a 3-mile section to next aid, then over Badger Mountain to finish. Unfortunately, this was a 6-mile section with a climb up and over Badgers twin to the next aid station. I was not happy when I came into last aid station. Fortunately for me, another runners crew member (Jess) told me I was looking good (a lie) and gave me a hug. That was just what I needed. She also told me what to expect over the last four miles, which was a very good thing.

She warned me that the last four miles tended to meander around the mountain rather than a more direct route and to not get frustrated. I would eventually come to the finish line. Which I did.

You earned that medal.  Did you get one?  I heard Mr Hagen did not.

 RD was originally going to be at finish line to hand out buckles to those that couldn't hang around for the 3pm awards ceremony.

I could not hang around and he was still on course so I split without my buckle. I exchanged e-mails with RD and it showed up in mail yessterday. It is awesome.

Matt was not having good luck. He was not in results when first posted, although he is now.

ETA: man, when I think of jeep roads, I think of graveled, Western Washington "double track" These do not suck.

Eastern Washington jeep roads? They suck

Nice - Not the jeep roads/trail but your effort and resolve to finish.

I still think 50 miles is the nicest race distance ... I am 0/1 at 100s.

.... when all else fails... scream fuck at the top of your lungs.

 

 

 

That would make an awesome t-shirt

I thought it was cool that Shawna T. won race.

Way to go, gumbee!

I HATE those rocks. Didn't even knew such things existed, let alone gathered in abundance enough all in one place to cover a jeep "road" ... boy was I surprised and pissed - ow, ow, ow. And confused enough that I didn't even know I was on the expected jeep road and so thought I must be elsewhere ... which left me even more surprised when I reached the next section of the course.

Nicely done, gumbee!!