OK. First: this race is in Washington, not Oregon, and it's in August, not September. It's a loop of Mount Saint Helens, which is in southern Washington state, about 20 miles north of the border.

This race is hard. Not like, "oh gosh what a workout!" Like, go in prepared or you will be in serious danger HARD. It's 33 miles, 7500' of gain, and hot, and blasting sun, and hazardous side-hill scree hiking with sheer drops, razor sharp pumice boulder fields, and MILES at a time with no water, including 8+ miles between aid stations. It is no joke. Take it seriously. I would not be surprised to hear of a death on this course.

That said, OH MY GOD this was the best experience ever. It was so challenging but so rewarding. There isn't an easy step on the course. They tell you to think of it as closer to a 50 miler, in terms of finishing time. I've never done a 50 miler but this took me two hours and 25 minutes longer than my last ultra, which was two miles longer than this one.

There are *miles* of boulder fields. Box canyons that go on forever. Sand. Dust. And you cross the blast zone of a volcano that erupted only 40 years ago: a denuded moonscape with no shade, no shelter, and nothing to do but press through and get to the other side while admiring the most spectacular views of an open crater you can imagine, with Mts. Rainier, Adams, and Hood looming on three horizons.

I don't want to give a blow by blow of the race, but just want to say that it was PERFECTLY marked, fabulously organized, great volunteers, awesome aid stations, and relentlessly beautiful. If 33 miles of remote, austere, blinding, staggering canyons, boulders, forests, and aggressive hornets appeals to you? You won't find a better race on planet earth.

This is a very small race in Washington's south Cascades. It's about an hour outside Yakima starting at the Tree Phones Campground. There's a 12k, a 25k, and a 50k. I ran the 25k (that's about 15.5 miles). Because it's a small, inexpensive race, there's not a lot of bells as whistles, but the finisher's stein was super cool. The race itself is a trail run up and over a ridge and then back. The 50k goes 7.5 miles further before turning around, up another even more challenging ridge.

The 25K starts with a 1500' climb up the ridge to a flatish top with staggering views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. Then there's a 2000' descent down the other side of the ridge to the turnaround point. There were two aid stations, one of which you pass twice.

The trails are not too technical, and mostly runnable (if you can run uphill for 4 straight miles! I can't). There's a good combination of dry eastern scrub trail and forest. Overall a great time, well-marked, and a great experience. But it is REMOTE. Unless you want to drive an hour to the start, you have to camp. And bring bug spray. Definitely.

Tiger Claw is a stellar new race from The Ginger Runner, set in the Issy Alps about 20 minutes from Seattle. It is a very innovative format, allowing runners to choose the order of three different loops as they climb Tiger Mountain three times, all descending on the same trail. Over all, it covers 22 miles and about 8000' of gain (For metric people, that's about 36km, and 2400m.).

These are hard, technical trails. Often steep, very little flat ground. For me it was hike up, run down. This took me almost seven hours to complete (there's a 9 hour time limit). Despite the 22 mile distance, from an effort perspective, this is very much like a hard trail marathon or 50k. Three days later my quads are still *destroyed*!

The race was amazingly well put together. The direction and communication were spectacular. The Aid stations were stocked. There were great views of Mt. Rainier and the Cascades. The T-shirt is stellar. There was a free raffle at the Expo! This was a truly remarkable race. One of the best I've ever had the privilege to run. Only negative is the parking situation, which is out of their control, of course. There's a small lot you have to carpool (and get there early) to park in. Otherwise it's roadside parking a quarter mile away.

But don't be fooled: this is a brutal series of steep technical climbs and challenging, hard, loooong descents. Be prepared to hurt. If you're not a trail runner yet, don't make this your first attempt.

We selected the Badger Mountain Challenge as our first ultra after injury and weather scrapped the prior two we were signed up for. But in the end, this was a great choice. I loved a couple of things about the structure of the race, first of all: it isn't a 50km. It's more like 56km. And it's an out-and-back, which is a format I like. And finally, you get a MEDAL!! Which a lot of ultras don't do. Buckles are for 100 milers, I get it. But I want something to hang on my wall, and the BMC50km gives you a nice one.

Everyone kept saying it was "deceptively" hard. I get that now. It looks at first blush like running on soft, groomed trails over rolling hills. NOPE. There are some big ups and downs, and the rutted-out jeep tracks are murder. It was dry and dusty this year, but I'm told other years it's caking mud or even ice and snow.

The "out" is a lot of fun and felt nice and easy to begin with. A couple of 700' climbs on groomed trail, and then running past the "endless vineyards" on road or packed earth. But then it takes a sudden turn into gullies, jeep trails, and serious climbs that don't LOOK bad on the GPS track but are really steep and forbidding.

The aid stations were well stocked with happy, encouraging people. And there was even GRILLED CHEESE!!! It was so good. Beware the weather. It was only 65 degrees F at the hottest for our run, but we were in relentless sunshine with no cover for the entire race. Sunscreen, or even a hat would be reasonable.

The way home, going up Candy Mountain hurts a lot. It's a 25% grade at least, for 700'. No switchbacks. The climb up Badger isn't as bad, even though it's a lot longer. And finishing on a nice two mile downhill that lets you run through the finish and feel like you finish strong is really nice!

Overall, I'm super proud of this as a first ultra. My only criticism is that sometimes the course markings were a little vague, they could use a few more flags in places. We added on about a kilometer with a missed turn! But that didn't take anything away from the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.