Betty Yeti 100 - Rattlesnake to Cle Elum and back
August 1, 2020
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
We were supposed to do the Washington version of the Yeti 100 but like all races these days it was cancelled or you could choose to do a virtual 100 on any course of your choosing. I signed up for the yeti because I really wanted to run beyond Hyak on the iron horse trail...and so we did.
The original course that the race director put together had us starting in North Bend and then turning around at some random point just beyond Easton. I thought it would be cool to go from Rattlesnake Lake all the way to Cle Elum, so we did. We recruited a few others who had signed up for yeti and there seemed to be mostly gals so I called it the Betty Yeti 100 so as not to be confused with any other Yeti 100.
The course really has no place to get aid, no stores along the way so you really have to eat all the berries, and drink from rivers or get your husband and friends to be aid stations for us. Chris and Jess helped out in this way with great aid and Jess even ran 58 miles with us. My husband Chris is a trooper and stays up most of the night to support us. He has done this for the last three hundred milers and some 100Ks and we are now getting so happy looking forward to seeing him and the SUV. We start counting down the miles to Chris, 3 miles to Chris, 2 miles to Chris. He will likely tell you that it is not him we want to see but all the goodies he has in the SUV. I say it’s both. Thank you.
The Iron Horse Trail is beautiful and the views are lovely. We enjoyed the challenge of the slight uphill on the way to the tunnel. It is really only slight as it is a railroad grade and can only be 2% or less. Lots of berries were along the trail so we would sample a few often. The tunnel was busy on a Saturday. So many bikes and so many people. The old railroad tunnel is about 2.3 miles long and it is helpful to have a light. Some people were walking through the tunnel without lights, kind of scary in my opinion but maybe that is what they were going for. There were also many big groups of families that rode through on bikes with lights. So we really didn’t get to see the light at the end of the tunnel which can be a cool experience as the light expands starts as a small pin hole and expands as you get close to the end.
The views beyond the tunnel are great, lots of views of Keechelus Lake and then you get to central Washington and there is not much. Long straight flat trail that seems to go on for miles, and it did. It was hot and dry and my nose, kept running. I drank a lot and ate a lot and brought fruit cups having learned from the last hot run that fruit cups go down easy in the heat. Something felt off and I am not sure what but this was a strange 100. I felt great into the 50s but then I had to walk more and thankfully walking and running were AOK. The 60s and 70s are always a challenge during a hundred but we were moving well. I do well when I run side by side with someone and Jess and I both listened to podcasts and music as we shuffled along. Thank you.
When we got back to Hyak, Jess supported us again with great croissants, snacks and drinks as she did at 21 miles earlier in the day. She went home and Chris fed us hot noodles and Amy and I kept warm in the SUV before heading back through the tunnel. We expected the tunnel to be cold and it was surprisingly warm at night. We also had it to ourselves which was bliss compared to earlier. After the tunnel you get to go back down that 18 miles you ran up at the beginning. It was helpful to have the downhill and it supported our tired legs to move some.
Amy was feeling good and really helped me to get myself moving. Then I think the wheels came off. About 5 miles from the end I felt really awful. Heartburn, burpy, dry heaving, just awful. There was no question I was going finish but I just didn’t feel well. I told Amy, as I often tell myself at the end of a hundred, why do I do these things, I’m not doing another 100. In true Amy fashion she asked, what about multidays? I tried to tell her I say this a lot, never again. I took a salt pill and felt a little better so I think I am going to chalk this up to an electrolyte imbalance and heartburn from eating too much. It is a really difficult task during a hundred to eat enough to be fueled and have energy to keep going and not eating too much. After my last few long runs where I bonked, eating too little and now this, I am a little unsure of my fueling strategy, something to work on for sure.
Amy is a great friend to sign up to do this with me and for putting up with my sorry ass at the end. Thank you. Vivian and Jess, thank you for running with us and for your support. Congrats to Sue and Reed for finishing the Betty Yeti in their own way. Chris B and Ross, if you do this course, let me know how I can support because you will need support.
Well another 100 miler in the books (35 total) and of course I said no more of these...my husband and daughter laugh at me when I say these things. They know better. I do think I could benefit from doing some excellent 50 milers where you are home for dinner, 100K runs as you finish in a day, these might be in my future. I am so grateful for my eccentric (not crazy as that is a diagnosis) friends who like to do these things. Thank you.