Crystal Mountain Sky Marathon

 

Photo by Glenn Tachiyama

 

The Crystal Mountain Sky Marathon was September 19th. I've waited too long to write about it! That's what happens when I let work get in the way. My work load has been overwhelming lately. After successfully completing a half marathon and marathon the week before, I figured doing some hills was next on my crash training schedule for my 120 mile trail race in October. So four days before the Crystal Mountain Sky Marathon, I decided to do the race. It was a race up and down the mountains a few times at the ski resort -- about 9,400 feet of elevation gain.

Sunrise at the base of Crystal Mountain

The starting line
I woke at 4:30am Saturday morning and went through my pre-race routine of eating breakfast and giving myself time to use the restroom. Then, I made the two-hour drive to Crystal and arrived in plenty of time to register and get my race number. The morning was crisp and clear. It was a small group of runners and we were all excited to get started. The first three miles were an uphill climb. The sun felt good, and I loved the smells of mountains. Ahhh, it felt good to be on the hillside and working up a sweat. I reached the aid station at the top of the gondola. Mt. Rainier was out in all of his glory. I love it up there! I wasn't in last place, and I was feeling good.

Gondola aid station

Gondola to Sand Flats (7 miles)
I was looking forward to heading down the ridge and in to a bowl on the way to Sand Flats. This area is my favorite area to ski at Crystal! It looked much different without snow. The grass was tall. I was able to pass a few folks on the way down. Somewhere along the way, I got stung by a bee on my ankle. Ouch. Bee stings usually hurt so much but running through this one seemed to lessen the pain. Thank goodness. When I arrived at the Sand Flats aid station, the volunteers said I was about the 7th person to say they got a bee sting. I'm still feeling pretty good, and almost half way to the finish!

Heading into a bowl

Sand Flats to Crystal Mt. Road (4.5 miles)
I continued downhill after the aid station, and now I am all alone. Lonely and starting to get tired. The clouds had rolled in and it was misty. I was disoriented and it felt like I was going way off course. But I kept seeing the confidence flags so I knew I was going the right way. Then, the course made a sharp left turn and started heading uphill. I was out of gas and needed more fuel. I had some Gu and soon reached the next aid station at Crystal Mt. Road.

Crystal Mt. Road to Gondola (6.5 miles)
This is where the uphill really started. Wow, it was steep, and never-ending. I went uphill for a long time. I tried not to look at my watch. I didn't want to see how fast the time was slipping by as I inched my way up. My GPS beeped a mile - 17 minute mile. Someone slowly passed me and we chatted a while as they went by. He did this ridge two weeks ago to prepare for the race. I told him I thought he was crazy to come back and do it again. My GPS beeped a mile again - 40 minute mile. I passed someone who was having muscle cramps. It beeped again - 43 minute mile. I started worrying about making the cutoff time. I ate a lot of Gu, Electo-bites, and Shot Blocks along the way. I finally reached the bee sting area and was happy to be back in familiar territory and close to the Gondola aid station again.



Climbing back up to the top of the gondola. The path is marked with pink and yellow flags.

Getting close to the top! (Photo by Glenn Tachiyama)



The gondola aid station didn't have the same view of Mt Rainier as it did a few hours earlier.

On the trail back to the base, and the finish line!

Gondola to finish (4 miles)
I planned to spend some time at the aid station refueling, but it was windy and cold now. Mt. Rainier was hidden somewhere in the clouds. I grabbed my coat out of my backpack, stuffed food and drink in my pockets from my drop bag, and headed out, this time the course skirted us around another part of the ski area. I was happy to be going downhill again. After all, the finish was at the base of the ski area. But wait! There was one more climb around mile 23. It was about 500 feet up to the Pacific Crest Trail. I had to stop at this trail intersection for a moment, not because I needed a rest but because I had been there a few times about 40 years ago backpacking with my family, including my mom. It was a bittersweet moment and I took a picture of the signage to show my dad. Coming into the finish line was pretty cool. Everyone watched and cheered as I came down and ran under the blow-up arches. The race director gave me an awesome hand-made finisher's medal. I loaded up a plate of pulled pork, beans, and corn on the cob; and sat down to cheer more finishers as they crossed under the arches.

Intersection with the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail)