The 50 mile course started at Snoqualmie Elementary School, followed the paved city roads, changed to Snoqualmie Valley Trail toward Northwest direction up to Mile 10, and then back toward city of Snoqualmie (Mile 20). From that point, it joined 50 Km course that followed the Southern section of Snoqualmie Valley Trail down to Rattle Snake Lake (Mile 29). It then turned to Iron Horse Trail climbing up to the peak at Mile 35. Afterward, it became gradual downhill back to the finish at Snoqualmie Elementary School.
The weather was a little bit chilly at start and stayed cloudy for the first half. Then sun came out and warmed up for the rest. The trail condition was very good because the weather stayed dry for previous several days.
When the 50 milers started at 6am, I was still sitting on my car trunk with the hatch lifted up to figure out how to sort out the entangled shoe laces. So, a few minutes late start gave me the last position in the pack. The positive side of this hassle was that I could maintain my “survival mode” pace from the back. Because it was so tempting to speed up in the beginning due to the early morning excitement and the smooth paved road, keeping the pace slow and steady was very important in the early phase to survive in the first 50 miler. I was able to keep about 10:00/mile pace consistently for the first 20 miles. I got a few hot spots on my right foot but nothing major. When I reached the drop bag location at Mile 29 around Rattle Snake Lake, I treated some blisters with blister pack and Band-Aid while changing my socks. It really helped for the rest of the run.
From Mile 29 to Mile 35, the course turned to be fairly noticeable uphill. Of course, my pace became slowed down pretty much in that section (approx 12:00/mi). The worst part was a big drop right after Mile 35. After getting down to the bottom, I had to climb up. I took a walk break on that section while eating some snacks (energy bar/gel).However, the course became gradual downhill all the way to the finish afterward. I could retain consistent pace of 10:30/mile until I crossed the finish line. The finish time was 8 hours and 53 minutes claiming 21st place overall and 19th place male.
Although I didn’t set any specific time goal for my first 50 miler (The only goal was to finish with smile), I am really happy with my finish time. Especially since I could maintain the slow but steady pace through out the race, I felt pretty comfortable and strong at the finish line.
For running almost 9 hours in the trails, I could have many thoughts. Thoughts about the family, marriage, kids, sports, education, friends, work, algorithms, circuits, future, past, politics, philosophy, and the universe. What a precious time it was!
