Volcanic 50K — A race around Mount Saint Helens

Race complete, I made it around the mountain!

It was not an easy journey but I completed the Volcanic 50K in 9 hours and 23 minutes. This was the most challenging 50K I have ever run. I have run 50 mile courses in less time to give some context. The temperature and geology of the course were both factors that had to be conquered.

I don't feel I am exaggerating when I say a good 25% of the course felt to me not runnable. Whether it was boulder fields, climbing up slopes that required ropes or narrow, sandy, uphill trails, it had to be taken slow.

The terrain varied from dense forest to desolate blast field depending on which side of the mountain I was on. The weather was also a factor and I spent most the race drinking electrolytes and still feeling slightly dehydrated.

In spite of these challenges, I loved this race. I won't be racing back to sign up soon, but the thrill of running around the mountain, seeing the blast zone up close and the sense of accomplishment are worth the suffering.

Race breakdown

Miles 1 — 4: The start of the course is four miles of uphill from roughly 2500 feet up to 4500 feet. The trail on this part of the course is through forest and clear trail so it is runnable, but the last mile turns to giant boulders that must be carefully treaded across. One slip would likely be the end of the race day.

Miles 5-10: The course starts to slowly change with sections breaking from the tree cover, but for the most part this section is runnable and includes the first aid station at mile 6.3

Miles 11—15: This section starts with a nice downhill run into the aid station at mile 12.2. There is a section climbing down a steep slope that requires the assistance of ropes down to the aid station and a climb up the other side, requiring the same, coming out of the aid station. The aid station offered a chance to cool off in the river, but did require getting my feet wet for the first time. The refreshing cool water was more than worth wet feet for a short time down the trail. Once leaving the aid station it begins a long exposed stretch of trail and the day started to heat up. The trail turned sandy and was much more difficult to run on some narrow uphill climbs.

Miles 16-20: On the elevation map this section looks like a nice opportunity to bank some time, but being exposed to the hot sun and the sandy trail made it slower than I would have liked.

Miles 21—25: Miles 20.3 and 24 were the last two aid stations of the day. The cold spring at mile 20.3 was a god send. I was feeling very overheated and took a nice cool bath to bring my core temperature down. I was feeling much better coming out of this aid station but couldn't make up too much time immediately. The steepest climb of the day hit between miles 21 and 22 and brought me to a crawl. Thankfully this was followed by a gentle downslope on very runnable trial into the aid station at mile 24.

Miles 25—Finish: Miles 26-30 were tough! A lot of it was over boulder fields and directly exposed to the sun. Around mile 30 was when I knew I had made it. The last section of the trail back tracks the first 3 miles of the course, meaning a tree lined, down hill, groomed trail led to the finish line.

What's Next?

I have a lot of good footage on a Go Pro I was able to borrow from my local library for the race so I hope to have time in the next month to compile some footage and share. It was a beautiful, but tough, course and I'd love to show some of it off.

As far as running goes, my son is looking to improve his 5K time and I will be helping him train and run a few races in the next two months. I have a tentative 100K race I am eyeing in early spring of next year, but I want to give my body a few weeks of downtime and healing before making a final decision.