Race Report: The Cascade Crest Classic 100 - 2015...That'll Take Awhile To Get Out

As you all may know I participated in the recent addition of the Cascade Crest Classic 100. After the Zion 100 I figured I would change the scenery up by heading to Washington State and run the lush pacific northwest forest.
Before I get into the race, a little background is needed. Up until the week of the race it was predicted that it would be hot and in the mid 90's for the race. Being from California I ran some intense heat training runs in the middle of those god awful 110 degrees days. Mind you Washington State was and currently is battling intense wildfires ( I could not find the link to donate help, but just google it and help out any way you can) which almost threatened the race. Rich White (the race director) informed us that the race was still on and a storm is actually predicted to hit us for the race. So all my heat training just kinda went out the window. As the race got closer and closer I had no idea what to expect temperature or condition wise and no idea what to wear. The night before my lovely and awesome crew extraordinaire and girlfriend Andrea Quant recommended we go to the REI and pick up a wool compression shirt just in case. This would be an invaluable object for the race. Andrea's Mom and her nephew Desi decided to come make the trip and provided a great relief and support system during the entirety of the trip in which I am extremely grateful.So basically all in all, I expected a shit show weather wise. I still wanted to try to get a podium finish, but I just remembered to run the course and not the clock. Now...on to the race!

Andrea and I at the start

We showed up at the little Easton fire station at around 8:30 am to drop off my drop bag and get my bib. The race did not start until 10 am with the idea that no matter how fast you are, you are going to have to run through the night. The leisurely start time allowed my crew and I to soak in the energy of the environment. Just before the race started the clouds disappeared to provide a bright warm sun to give all of us a false sense of hope that all the race would have this weather. After the Canadian and American national anthem we were sent off.

Off we go!

Like all races I say I am not gonna go out fast, but sure enough there I was right behind Yassine and Jesse. About a mile or two in I started to slow down a little recognizing that the pace may be a little too quick for my taste. For the first 3 or so miles the trail was a nice little climb up to the first aid station which then ramped up to a pretty giant climb up to Cole Butte. I was passed by a few people on the way up. All in all it was about 10 miles in with ~5500 ft of climbing on soft but technical uphill.
My race strategy had been to power hike all of the first 50 miles then see how I felt. Of course I love my downhills and would fly down them. During this climb I noticed a common mistake that runners do all the time which is to run all the uphills with no break. I had even suppressed my competitive drive to say to these people to save their energy, but they didn't listen. Pretty much everyone that did this ended up dropping with the exception of some phenomenal athletes. I remember this smaller lady (I believe Jannesa Taylor, she is a beast btw) that I played leap frog with for the whole first 30 miles. She would pass me on the uphills and I would pass her on the downhills.

First 2 miles (Photo by Glenn Tachiyama)

Anyways during the climb I sustained a bee sting to the back of my right calf. It hurt a little, but the runner's manual had said be prepared to get stung so there was no real surprise when it happened. It also says in the runner's manual if you go hard on this uphill section, this is where most CCC100 DNFs start. I agree with this sentiment. Coming up to the Cole Butte aid station I got some water and had some watermelon and started our first downhill section.
For this event I decided to give ElevationTat a try. ElevationTat is a company that produces temporary tattoos of elevation. I found this to be invaluable to me because it also showed where the aid stations were.
After looking at my ElevationTat I saw a good two miles of downhill followed by an annoying little ~1500 ft climb. I flew down the big fire road downhill pretty quickly, just letting gravity do the work. At the bottom I took a pee and started feeling the beginnings of some tendonitis in my hamstrings. This was a little worrisome this early in the race to me. Must have been from the climbing.
From here it was a gradual uphill where I just powerhiked up it. It was a relatively boring section of the course and I was passed by a few people.The skies opened to a little drizzle on this part and I donned my jacket. Once we hit the Blowout aid station we started what turned out to be my favorite part of the course...the Pacific Crest Trail!
Running through the PCT was everything that I love about trail running. Lush, vibrant, and wet forest with grounds padded with decades of decayed flora under your foot. The rain was blocked by the dense canopies of the huge trees and made for amazing views. I ran without anyone really coming up on me and passed no one. For some reason I couldn't really enjoy the moment too much because I had a headache and some tendonitis spreading into the tendons that connect the hamstring to the knee. Towards a little climb a runner came up on me right before the aid station at Tacoma Pass at mile 23ish. His name was Greg Lackey and we would run together until mile 55ish. We swapped stories and backgrounds. He was a really good uphill runner and I was a really good downhill runner so we both acknowledged our mutually beneficial camaraderie until one of us couldn't keep up anymore. After Tacoma pass we did some climbing up to Snowshoe Butte which was manned by an ecstatic and helpful cross country team. Greg and I both stated our hamstrings were giving us problems. So when we left aid stations we would go up to each other, even though we weren't ready, and say "Hey let's get on outta here!". Right after leaving that station Rich White was on the trail to give us high fives and see how the lead pack was doing. Rich would do this for almost the entirety of the event! He was like the G-Man from Half-Life (nerd cred). Greg and I wondered how Rich was able to be at a lot of aid stations so quickly.

On the beautiful PCT during the rain! (Photo by Glenn Tachiyama)

Greg and I clicked off the next 5 miles pretty quickly with no one behind us. We came to some beautiful clearings where the trail was reminiscent of Southern California only to retreat back into the dense woods. We kept commenting on how quick this race was going (boy were we wrong!).
We came out unto probably my favorite aid station which was Stampede Pass. Stampede Pass had a Jurassic Park theme and even the soundtrack blasting in the background! On top of this Greg got to see his crew and pick up his vest. They also offered Fireball shots of courage! I tempted Greg to try it with me, but he said it was probably not a good idea. I concurred and we got out of there.
The next few miles Greg and I got separated a little due to his outstanding uphill running. My tendonitis was in full throe now and I had to stretch my hammies out every 30 or so minutes. I kept thinking to myself "This is gonna be along one". I did some pretty steep climbs and popped out into a nice, dark super technical downhill. Upon coming to Olallie Meadow aid station I caught a little swig of PBR courage from a nice group of PCT hikers. At the aid station I caught up with Greg and fueled up on food, knowing a pretty cool section was awaiting us. He was stoked to see me and I him. We took off together stoked to be almost halfway done with the race.
Greg and I ran the rocky downhill to the legendary Ropes section. This section was awesome and terrifying at the same time. You literally rappel down a mountainside. I ate shit and knocked the wind out of myself, but kept going. Next up we entered the Snoqualmie abandoned train tunnel and ran it for 2.7 miles. It was pretty trippy going through there as you are literally under a giant mountain with water ,finely purified and smashed,  seeping through the granite ceiling. Greg and I ran it at a good clip and popped out at the Hyak aid station, over halfway done with the race and my first time seeing my crew!
I came out to Andrea, her Mom, and nephew all greeting me with giant smiles. It was such a relief. I can honestly say that one of the most important things in an ultra is the love and warmth from your family and friends. The human factor is real and I have become a big believer in it after running these races.
While her Mom and Nephew looked at me like I was just crazy, Andrea assessed me right away. She got my drop bag ready as it was starting to get a little colder. I took off my racing singlet and donned the Smartwool longsleeve that she so graciously made me get. I said hi to a little video camera they held up and gave everyone a hug and a picture, then Andrea ran me off saying I love you and pick up the pace! LOL! I must admit that I faked being ok at this aid station. I literally felt like complete shit right here. My tendonitis was so bad that I could not straighten out my left leg and now was spreading to my dreaded Achilles tendons. Picking up the pace was not really an option at this point for me. I thought I may have been down and out.

 Andrea helping me switch out the singlet for Smartwool

Much better!

I took off with no pacer as I did not have one for the race while Greg got his pacer. I am not really a fan of pacers, but out of pride and stupidity. They certainly are a benefit, but they kinda take away the aspect of being self sufficient to me. I found Greg's pacer to be somewhat distracting as he rattled off how excited he was and crunched numbers about how fast we will finish. To me it seemed easy for him to say what he was saying without 53 miles of this shit we had just run through, plus I thought his calculations were way off, but hey whatever (we both ended up beating his predictions :)).I will say this, too many ultra blogs are too nice and I just tell it how it is, if you have a problem with that...go run a 100 like this one. I was not excited at all and let them move ahead. I had to stretch a little as I was in alot of pain. For about 2.5 miles it was all road.
I heard the pacer say we have a "little" ~2500 ft climb (another reason I found him distracting...what 2500 ft climb is little?!) and my ElevationTat confirmed this. I knew I would be walking up this beast up to Keechelus Ridge only to be shat out into the beloved Trail from Hell. Once the road ended, it was a long fire road all the way to the top as the heavens opened up the flood gates. The rain wasn't too bad, but the climb was merciless and long. Thankfully I made it to the Keechelus thanking all gods in the book that the climb was over.
Now it was about 6 miles of fun downhill to the Trail from Hell. It was already pretty dark at this point and as I ran down the downhill, the rain really opened up big time. It poured like the storm in Jurassic Park. With torrential pounds of water bearing down on me I still hauled ass down the downhill as I saw a light start the downhill a few thousand feet up. I don't like being passed this late. I put a good distance between us and got to the Kachess Lake aid station and took off. I had seen The Ginger Runner's video of the Trail from Hell, but it didn't seem too daunting.

I can honestly say that is definitely a trail from hell. It looks like a flat spot on the elevation profile, but why would the CCC100 ever be nice to you? LOL. The Trail from Hell is 4 miles through extremely technical and dangerous trail next to a lake dropoff with barely enough room for a foot to fit. Sometimes you had to "climb" up or down over roots, trees, rocks. whatever there may be. I say "climb" because I mostly slipped down the climbs. Your night could easily have eneded if you were not focused 110% on the trail a foot or two in front of you. With torrential rain and darkness it made it amusing. I could picture Rich White laughing amusingly by our feeble attempts at his version of the Hunger Games. It really was masochistic and designed by a sadist. I did not hallucniate this entire trip, but the roots on this trail looked full on like all kinds of snakes which freaked me out a few times. During the entirety of the trail someone was chasing behind me. I could see their lights flicker through the thick foliage. I felt like an escaped convict. I heard a lot of comparisons to this trail being exactly like the H.U.R.T 100. The trail never seemed to end. Finally I came out relatively refreshed from the trail. Now for the last ~5500 + ft climb for the race. At this point it started dropping in temperature and I was getting pretty cold in the fingers. Much to my surprise my feet never got cold or torn up, a testament to Smartwool socks and the Altra Lone Peak 2.5.  At this point I had just my shorts, gloves, Smartwool longsleeve, Buff, jacket, headlamp, vest, socks, and shoes. I realized running faster and harder would be the key to warmth. Upon this climb I was caught by a guy and his pacer out of nowhere. I swear they pulled the headlamp trick on me, but they said they didn't. I was not too happy with them. They were running the uphill and I wasn't. I did notice the runner was not wearing much which surprised me for how cold it was getting. I started sucking the water out of my gloves and placing them on my lower back while powerhiking. This was pretty effective at warming your hands up. After climbing in the cold rain for what seemed like an eternity we came to the Hawaiian themed No Name Ridge aid station. This aid station was awesome and warm. Here I noticed a lady (Marta Fisher) I had not seen pass me and it was a little strange. I usually have a good memory and never saw her pass me, but hey who knows stranger things have happened. I was feeling a little better and kept trucking.
The weather was just getting worse and worse and next up was a out and back climb and descent down Thorp Mountain. These next 4 miles were literally the gnarliest conditions that I have ever not only ran in, but been in.I was passed by Marta. The climb up I literally could not see that well as rain was starting to turn into sleet.I thought my vision was going blurry but there was just that much sleet and rain. The winds started gusting at 40 mph and started getting really really cold. I turned my Buff into a balaclava to keep my face warm and retrieved the number on paper that said you went up the mountain.( It turned out be the worst summer storm in the Pacific Northwest in history : http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-strongest-summer-storm-in-northwest.html ) As I descended the mountain I could see how close people were behind me. Turns out I am a pretty bad uphill climber as there were two guys getting pretty close. I booked it towards the next section aptly named Cardiac Needles.
I heard a lot of bad things about "the needles", but I thought the worst part was the weather. Basically the Cardiac Needles are a series of super steep hills. They say there is always one more needle than the course says...according to local lore. I counted...two? They were definitely steep but the downhills had a intense crosswind that blinded you with rain on a super technical trail. I fell off the trail once from just the trail giving away.I  even fell off the trail looking at my ElevationTat (the weirdest feeling ever, yet another reason not to text and drive!).
After this section we got to the French Cabin aid station.88 miles, I'm almost there! This aid station was awesome and I took a whole PB&J sandwich. Just before I went out, one of the volunteers said there was a kid that was almost hypothermic and  had laying under the heater for half an hour. It was the guy that was wearing nothing that passed me..you know...the headlamp trick guy. I hoped he was ok, but hey when it rains and its cold...put a jacket on.
Now....the hardest part was over! It was literally all downhill from here. 8 miles of technical downhill! I had been savoring this moment for awhile as downhills are my bread and butter. I hauled ass down the technical downhill stomping through the puddles. The rain had backed off to just normal rain now and I just let gravity do the work. I caught Marta on the downhill in which they seemed really surprised. I kept trucking and put some distance between us. I stopped for a pee to see if there was any RABDO issues to be scared about, but no all clear! Literally! I had intentions of not stopping at the mile 95. I passed by the mile 95 aid station and they sarcastically said "Thanks for stopping by!". By now I settled into a nice but brisk pace when all of a sudden Marta and her pacer were right next to me. I said "Wow" then her pacer tried distracting me and talking to me saying how she turned it on and how amazing she was while she ran ahead of us and booked it. I was pretty pissed as I was tired and banged up. Sprinting was the last thing I wanted to do, but this is an instance when anger is a good thing. I caught up next to her and said "Well...now we're gonna have to race." then booked it...I mean really booked it probably high 5 or low 6 min/mi pace at mile 96 ish. I knew she was going to be super tough and would fight till the end. At the moment I hate things like this, but looking back, this is what it's all about. Around mile 98, there was a tight right hand turn in the mud and I full on ate it. With mud all over me I got up and thought she would've passed me, but to my relief she didn't. I continued to book it into the mid 7 min/mi range. I got to the road and new the finish line was close. I followed the markers and came into the town of Easton. I crossed the train tracks and cried a little. It was such a relief. I saw Anuedrea see me and jump and run to the finish line. I saw the legendary CCC100 start line and heard Rich White on the microphone yelling "All the way from Orange, CALI!!!!! BRANDEN BOLLWEG!!!!!". I came to the finish and gave Rich a big hug telling him that his course was a beast of a course. He was super stoked for me and they all seemed confused that a southern California could do so well in the conditions. I looked perplexed I had guessed I was maybe 15th, but turns out I got 7th place at 21:53! He gave me my awesome belt buckle and I went straight to Andrea and gave a giant hug and kiss. I spoke with numerous people from Rich's coven about the conditions and we all agreed that may be one of the hardest races ever raced due to the conditions. Turns out only 98 people out of 153 made it. That makes it tied for the lowest percent success rate (63%) in the CCC100's history.

The end to a long race, Official time 21:53:39 (Photo by Glenn Tachiyama)

The hardest belt buckle to get thus far!

First off I want to say thank you to Rich White and all the people who volunteered and put this event together. It was such a fun and great event. The aid station volunteers who literally helped people survive hypothermia deserve a huge thank you as well. I would like to thank the fire fighters who continue to battle the intense wild fires out there. Special thanks to Glenn Tachiyama for his amazing photos! I would like to thank all my running friends and fellow OC Trailies (including Mike Bell) in Southern California for their encouraging words, wisdom, and inspiration. I would like to thank Andrea's  Mom and Nephew. You guys were awesome and kept things light and easy. Lastly I would like to thank the love of my life Andrea. I cannot tell you how many times just the thought of you brought me out of some dark places in the race. You are a tremendous human being that helped me immensely with this race. I can't wait to return the favor for you in a race you do!!!

Thank you to my one and only crew and girlfriend!

This was the hardest thing thus far ever done in my life. ~22,000 ft of climbing in highly technical, dangerous terrain in the middle of the worst summer storm in the history of the Pacific Northwest took everything I had mentally and physically. I was utterly exhausted and borderline hypothermic at the end of the race. I even got sick for awhile with a fever and cold the following Monday, probably by my immune system being shot to hell. The sense of achievement attained at the end of these races is unlike anything I've ever felt. I highly recommend this race, as the PCT part was the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen;but...I highly don't recommend doing it in these conditions. Next up is Chimera 100 Nov 14th 2015!

Nutrition : GU Electrolyte powder mix and Tailwind Nutrition

Gear
Jacket : Salomon Bonnetti
Headlamps : Petzl Tikka and Tikka+
Singlet: Brooks
Base Layer : Smartwool longsleeve compression shirt
Shorts: Brooks
Vest : UD Scott Jurek Model
Gloves: REI Running
Headwear: 2 Buffs
Socks : Smartwool PhD running
Shoes: Altra Lone Peak 2.5