After finishing Mountain Lakes 100 a year ago we moved to the Central Coast of California. The move happened the weekend after the race which is kind of coincidental since my first attempt at Mountain Lakes in 2017 we had sold our house in Michigan and had to move the weekend before the race. At any rate I was pretty tired from packing and training along with race travel etc... and thought about all the training I have put in almost every year since 2012 when I started running ultras. The feeling of being burned out from it had set in and mentally I knew that it was time for a break. Initially I told myself no ultras in 2025, just shorter runs and live life like a normal person for a year and focus more on spending time with Jessica and improving relationships with family and friends. After the move it was pretty easy because it was college football season and I didn't have any issue laying around all day on a Saturday and not getting out the door early to hit the trails. After the holidays and the football season was over I was basking in the glory of an Ohio State National Championship; however, I had the desire to get out and explore the trails in the area which were all new to me. I didn't really do any runs longer than 10 or 12 miles at the most over winter, spring, and summer. Johnny, my friend and podcast co-host (Ultrarunning News Network) had not run an ultra in awhile because of an injury and some other issues. When he was cleared to start running again he decided to do a race called Perpetua Coast 50k on the remote coast of Oregon about 2.5 hours Southwest of Portland. I had been getting the itch to do some longer runs so I decided to also sign up for the race and when I mentioned it to Jessica's cousin Joe he immediately signed up because he and Debra were already going to be in Oregon at that time.
It was going to be a fairly short training block as we have traveled a lot and been very busy this year. After attending a wedding in Utah around late August I knew I would have the month of September to kick training into gear. Over the next 5 weekends I gradually increased the distance of my weekend long runs on the Central Coast trails and it was great to further my exploration of the area and figure out how to make some longer routes. I injured my quad slipping and falling back on a steep downhill at Montana de Oro. This injury set me back a bit as I was still able to run on it but it was painful and never fully recovered over the next few weeks leading up to the race. Oh well, it's the cost of doing business in this sport, I was good enough to get through the race so that's all that mattered. Afterall, I have done at least one ultra race every year since 2012 so I had motivation to keep that streak alive. My last long training run was two weeks before the race and I put in 24 miles and 5,300 feet of climb which I thought were similar stats to the course we would soon be running on (Perpetua Coast 50k has 31 miles with ~6,000 feet of climb). It was a hot day when I did that last training run and there were some technical rocky sections on that route as well. Afterwards I noticed that defining moment during a training block where you feel that your fit enough to be in "ultra shape" and mentally prepared for the challenge of a long trail race. I was really looking forward to traveling up to the Pacific Northwest in early October. It's one of my favorite parts of the U.S. and the weather for the race was looking choice. Also, I had seen some YouTube videos of the course and the trails looked absolutely perfect, smooth pine needle surface with some classic Pacific Northwest pine trees and coastal views. Getting to hang out with friends was an added bonus of the long weekend ahead.
We arrived in Yachats, OR on Friday afternoon and had dinner with Johnny and Jenn. Since we were staying at the same location as the race starts and ends I didn't have to get up super early. In fact, I crashed very early the night before and got at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep which has NEVER happened the night before a race. I don't think I've ever gotten that much sleep even before a long training run. I thought with my good training block and a great night of sleep that my goal of finishing in less than 7 hours might be achievable. Joe and I were on the start line and ready to rock with a temperature of around 56 degrees and foggy/overcast which it would stay the same for almost the entire race. Johnny had some setbacks and unfortunately was not able to run the race with us but he still traveled out to Oregon as it was a planned vacation for him and Jenn. The first 4.5 miles of the race are an out and back on some hard packed flat sand which was surprisingly easy to run on and we got to the first aid station which was at the start/finish. Joe and I stayed together through this section and as expected we went out pretty fast. Then we still had about 2 miles on mostly pavement until we got to the trails where almost all of the 6,000 feet of climbing awaited us. This is why I thought it would be important to bank some pace early on the flat-ish non technical stuff. Joe and I split up on this section before the trails. Once in the woods I realized that sub 7 hours was going to be difficult as the trails were not as smooth as I originally thought. We immediately started climbing when we got to the forest and it was pretty steep with a lot of roots and a little bit muddy because of rain earlier in the week and fog. This was classic Pacific Northwest woods with big pine trees and very lush greenery and ferns etc... At the top of the first of four climbs there was an incredible open view of the trees and the coast down below. Then we descended on some more technical rooty trails and eventually reached the next aid station.
After leaving the second aid station I ran into Debra which was cool because it's always nice to see a familiar face and get some encouragement. Then I tackled the second of 4 big climbs and this one seemed to go on for a long time and towards the top I saw the first and second place runners coming off of a big loop on their way back to the finish, jeez this made me feel so slow! The downhill after this climb was glorious. One of the non technical trails we would get to go on and it was a nice grade with cushy pine needle surface and minimal roots. I flew down this section trying to make up for some lost time/pace with the rooty up and down from before. On this downhill section I ran ran into Jessica who was out for a run of her own and she was climbing up! It was so great to see her out there and it gave me a boost of energy and I was thinking that maybe I could muster that sub 7 hour finish. Then I got to the bottom of the long descent and Johnny was hanging out at the third aid station! It was very cool to see him and get refueled for the next section which would be the biggest climb of the day. The first two miles or so of the next section were on a nice gravel road with a gentle uphill. I was able to maintain a slow shuffle up on this gradual ascent and was able to pass quite a few youngsters who were walking this section. Then we got to the trail where the climb became steep which I was able to power up fairly well since I had been training for climbing. In fact, I was able to pass more people on this climb which gave me a nice boost of confidence. Finally, the biggest climb of the day was complete and we started the long descent back to the last aid station of the race (which was also the second aid station). This descent was technical for the first few miles and this is when most of the younger runners I passed before started passing me on the downhill. I guess in my older age that I'm getting much slower on the technical downhills. This is the first time in any race where I started feeling like I'm one of "the old guys." However, I wear that with a badge of honor as I am always inspired by the older men and women that are still running ultras and thriving.
The technical rooty trails on this descent eventually gave way to a nice smooth but steep downhill into the aid station. Johnny was also at this one and it was great to see him again and get pumped up for the last 6 miles or so of the race. The next section called Amanda's trail we had already done earlier in the race and that is steep and technical. This time it was muddier than it had been early in the race so the descent required extra caution but it was the home stretch of the race so I didn't mind too much. Then we crossed a neat suspension bridge which we crossed earlier as well, it was hard to run on because it bounced up and down so much but it was cool because it's not something you see everyday. After a little bit more trail we finally popped out into the streets section where we had about 2 miles to go. I had lost a lot of time on the downhill section of Amanda's trail so I knew that a sub 7 hour finish was out of reach but regardless I was ready to be done and sit down with a cold beverage. Since it was paved and my legs still had some energy I was holding down a decent pace (for myself). I passed one runner but I could also hear someone right behind me for about a mile and a half. Then we were on a stretch of road about a half mile from the end and she passed me so I eased up on my pace a bit before crossing the finish line in 7:19 which was good for 87th place out of 141 finishers. It was nice to see Jessica, Debra, Johnny, and Jenn along with sitting down, eating some food, and drinking a few beverages. Joe came in about an hour later and he was pumped up to cross the finish line. I think this race was a little tougher than either of us anticipated but it's a great event and Daybreak Racing does a great job. The volunteers and race crew were awesome. We all went out to dinner at a local bar in Yachats to watch the Buckeyes football game and also the Tigers vs Mariners in the baseball playoffs. It was a really fun weekend and made me miss being a part of ultra races on a regular basis.
