I have a serious love-hate relationship with Bigfoot 74M, formerly known as Bigfoot 100K. I love the race for its beauty, simplicity, and toughness, but also hate it for the serious ass-kicking that it delivers every time. My first two Bigfoot 100Ks (2017 and 2018) were brutal and this time (2021) was no different...
What make the race so tough? It's a combination of technical trail made up of steep hills, rocky terrain, sharp lava boulder rocks with 14,000 ft of elevation gains all under a hot, intense July sun with average distance of 18 miles between aid stations around Mount St. Helens, which is an active volcano that last erupted in 1980. Even today, many parts around the mountain still lack vegetation and trees, making the terrain look like a barren desert on an alien planet.
From Start to Blue Lake (12 miles)
The race started with about 2,000 ft of gradual climb in first 4 miles. The trail peaked as I came across a large field of large lava rocks that's so sharp that they could cut your legs open if you happened to slip. I hopped and jumped my way through the rock field, knowing that from my previous Bigfoot that I would have to navigate through this field in the dark after running for 20+ hours to get back to the finish line. Couple miles after, the course turned into a nice, runnable downhill single track into the Blue Lake aid station. This was a fun section and I was able to pass several people, climbing my way up through the ranking.
Blue Lake to Windy Ridge (18 miles)
I left the aid station feeling good; the race was early so the course and the sun haven't depleted my strength yet. From my previous Bigfoot races, I knew this section was going to be long and difficult. This is where the real Bigfoot ultra begins and starts destroying runners.
The section out of Blue Lake started on a nice single track that gradually climbed for couple miles through a forrest area before the trail turned left and came across a small valley with a stream, which I had to cross by climbing down a very steep hill aided by a rope and jumping over larger rocks to cross the steam. Once on the other side, I had to use a rope again to climb up a bank to a plateau which led to a barren landscape with several fast moving water crossings.
By this time, the sun was nearing its peak, which added to my misery. I traveled through what seemed like a like a never ending rolling barren landscape being fully exposed to hot July sun, making water that much more precious. I had two 0.5L bottles with me during my first two Bigfoot and those were not enough so I upgraded to 2L water pack for this race. However, even 2L was not enough and I had to drink from streams along the way.
Some runners were using water filters but I never did in all three races and never had any issues afterward. But, a quick caution: do not drink from streams that you come across on the plateau (after the rope section), I think these are too dirty. Wait few more miles and you’ll come across greener areas with more vegetation. I drank from these streams in all three races without filters and never had any problems.
About halfway through this section, I met a runner named Tim, who serves as a pastor for a church in Longview, WA area. This was his first Bigfoot so he was caught off guard about how much water he would need, running out of water with several miles left before the aid station. I could tell that he was hurting for water and knowing what he's going through because I've experienced same frustration and desperation before, I shared my water with him by allowing him to drink from my water pack. This helped him just enough to continue and we came across a drinkable water stream shortly after.
Windy Ridge to Norway Pass (20 miles)
This section is marked by a big climb up to the highest point of the race (5,700ft) and drop down to the Norway Pass AS (3,800ft). I mostly remember this section as being a continuation of the last: very long, very dry and very hot. As I climbed, view got better though and I was rewarded with panoramic view of Silver Lake. And the weather also started to cool, revealing more frequent patches of snow. At this point, I was running with few other runners, including Tim whom I met earlier, and all of us were running out of water. Some couldn’t resist the temptation and were either eating snow or stuffing snow into their water bottles.
After a mile into reaching the peak, we finally came across a water stream that we could drink from. The water was cold and refreshing and gave a fresh boost of life to the runners, helping us make the push to Norway Pass.
Norway Pass to Windy Ridge (8 miles)
I don’t remember this section much. I was tired and dehydrated from sun bearing down on me all day and sourcing water like a cave man to survive. I think I ran on a pave road for a while...Sun went down (finally) so that provided some relief.
Windy Ridge to Finish (15 miles)
I remember sitting at the aid station thinking about what’s to come: hours and hours of darkness alone to get to the finish. I’ve been here twice before but didn’t recall it being this bad. My feet were sore all over. I had couple blisters on each foot and bottoms of my feet were in lot of pain due lack of sufficient support and protection (for some crazy reason, I thought a pair of road Nike would be alright for this race; I know, I'm dumb). The thought of being out there potentially for another 4-5 hours was draining and I was thinking about dropping to spare myself from coming suffering.
Sensing my pain, fear and desperation, Tim came over to cheer me up. He offered to stay together and assured me that we had sufficient time to make the cutoff. Tim really helped me here as not having to be alone in the dark and having someone to rely on through the last 15 miles gave me just enough hope to continue.
As we were about to leave, three other runners were also starting out so five of us decided to stay together.
This last section's very deceiving. On the map, it seems like mostly downhill. But, it's very deceiving as the section started with a steep climb that turned into a rolling terrain that crossed many streams. This was a very slow moving process that really frustrated me. I was tired, sore all over and felt like we weren’t making any progress despite being out for hours in the dark. Eventually, I saw the boulder field that I had navigated through more than 20 hours earlier. Only this time it was dark and I was dead tired. But seeing this boulder field gave me needed spark as I knew the finish was getting closer!
After slowly climbing up and down countless large rocks, I saw the dirt road leading to the finish!
It took me little over 24 hours to make to the finish and I probably would not have completed the race without Tim’s support. Not sure why he stayed with me despite me holding him back during the last stretch, but he did and I’m thankful for that. Perhaps he was paying me back for sharing my water with him earlier when we were both thirsty and running out of water…I guess you never know when and where that good karma will pay your back.
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