Squak Mountain - Issaquah, WA
Since May of 2003 I have run 176 races of distances of 200 meters to 50 miles and today I was completely humbled by a race more than I can remember in quite some time. My work travel schedule left me overnight on a Friday in Seattle so I signed up for the Squak Mountain Trail half marathon in Issaquah, Washington. They also offered a 50km, but I had just enough time to run the race, clean up and make it to the airport with minutes to spare to catch my flight back to Huntsville. As I found myself walking on some of the killer climbs atop the mountain, I wondered if I would get home at all. This turned out to be one of the more difficult races that I have completed. Luckily the weather was a cool 58 degrees at the start so we didn't have weather to deal with on this gorgeous morning in the Pacific Northwest.
This was a very low key, first time event with a small field. The selling point for me was the advertised elevation change of over 7,000'. I love to climb and this was a great chance to get in a quality effort before flying back home. The race started off with an immediate climb on a gravel fire road starting at 350'. The first third of a mile was easy going before ducking off on overgrown single track trails. They were so narrow and winding that numerous blow downs were concealed by the growth and even though I didn't go down, I am sure that someone after me did. This was a lollipop section for about a mile and a half before returning to the road. I was leading the way but was fairly certain that the pack was not far behind. I had already passed some of the 50km runners who got an early start more than an hour before.
What ensued was one of the toughest sections that I've come across in any race. From mile 1.73 to mile 4.04 we climbed from 524' to 1971' or an 11.8% climb in that section. I held strong for the first mile on the fire road, but began to walk some in the latter portion as it switched to technical trail and was passed as we neared the summit. From running so much on my forefoot, my calves were on fire and my feet actually felt numb. My splits were a humbling 9:12, 8:21, 9:36 and 12 flat.
At the top, we ran a two mile section around the eastern and northern edge of the peak. The trail was mixed technical single track with rocks and roots to boulevard width where I was able to pick up the pace. I turned my already twisted right ankle again and had to proceed gingerly after that. It took a little while to shake the garbage out of my legs from the climb, but eventually I got there and began to feel better before the 6 mile mark as I tossed in a low seven minute mile. The new inov-8 x-talon 212's that I was wearing were working well as they provided good grip on the gravel climbs and on the faster flat sections. Any more shoe that that would have been too much.
From the 10km mark we started a series of three rolling peaks with the first one being 600' of climb. I walked substantial amounts on this mile and clocked just over an 11 minute mile. Being just over half way completed, my energy stores were drained and I was feeling defeated by this course. I took some Honey Stinger Gold which seemed to bring me back to life a little.
There were two more climbs of 400-500' with valleys in between over the next few miles. The course kept looping back upon itself and was decently marked but I kept questioning the flags as I thought at some point I had made a wrong turn as I began to see runners coming from the opposite direction. I toggled my GPS over to the map mode just to make sure I was at least going in the right general direction. I didn't know that there were some sections with two way traffic so after that I started to question each turn more and more. Twice I went back to the intersections to make sure I had gone the correct way. After the single aid station at mile 9, the rest of the course was supposed to be "down" but the "down" didn't really start until after the 10 mile mark.
There were some people hiking up the southern face of the mountain so I asked and got a gauge of how far I was from the end. I was certain that the GPS would not accurately capture the distance with the density of the forest and the valleys masking the signal. They let me know I was about half way down from the summit which turned out to be about two miles from the finish. It was looking to be a fast finish as we had to drop from 1,750' down to the finish at 350'. The trail widened out and without any switch backs, was mostly a straight drop. I rolled through the last two miles at a high 6 pace as I was able to stretch out my legs with a longer and more normal stride than the short choppy steps from the early climbing.
I crossed the fire road one last time and with a quick push on the final section, I crossed the "line" in 1:55:05 and in second place. I really can't imagine having to repeat the loop for a second time and then having to throw in another 5 mile loop on top for the 50km. I loved the difficulty of the course but had enough of Squak Mountain for one day! 8:47 pace for a half marathon and I was very proud that I didn't die out there.
After grabbing a few cookies and filling my water bottle, I was in the rental car and on my way to the airport. I stopped at a park to take a "shower" in cold bottled water and just barely made it to SeaTac in time to board before they closed the doors. I had maybe 10 minutes to spare in the entire process so I am glad that I didn't walk more than I already did!
Results will be posted here.