Into the Cascades We Go

Old Cascadia 100 | Ultra #041

Pre Race

At the end of February, I had just finished my first 200 mile race (https://trevormeding.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-franklins-200.html) followed up with Jackalope Jam 24 hr, where I obtained my goal of 100 miles (https://trevormeding.blogspot.com/2019/06/100-miles-is-not-that-far.html). I then realized how much I loved these longer distances. I just knew I wanted to run more 100 milers. And with that the UltraSignUp search was on and I came across this epic race out in Oregon, Old Cascadia, that had only been on for one year but with tons of vert and some epic scenery to its credit. Early in March I pulled the trigger and convinced the family to come with me to Oregon for a race adventure in the Cascade mountains.

Travelling with my crew as we arrive in Oregon | Photo: Katie Meding

Mid-June was finally upon us and I had been counting down for weeks now. At this point, my last race was back at the end of May which seems like an eternity to me, since I enjoy racing a lot with my Trail RacingOver Texas (TROT) schedule and the extra races I find to fill in the gaps. I had booked off work Wednesday morning as our flight was that afternoon. Oregon was lush and green beyond depths as expected once we got to my wife’s brother’s place in Wilsonville. I got in a short shakeout on Thursday to enjoy some of the lushness in a local park there. Friday we travelled southeast down to our Airbnb in Sisters which was only 35 minutes from the start line in Willamette National Forest. The pre-race anxiety was there as usual and I tried to sleep with the rest of my crew in our cozy loft style house. I slept good once the kids settled in.

Race Day

03:30 wake up to be on the road by 04:00 for the 40-ish minute drive to the start line. My wife and I packed the kids and gear into the van and headed to the start line/bib pickup. We arrived with plenty of time ahead of the 06:00 start time. I walked over to the start area in the brisk 38f morning mountain air. It sure felt cold to what I was used to in Texas, but at the same time the crispness was refreshing, reminding me of back home in AB, Canada. 10 minutes to go and the race directors, Trevor Hostetler & Janessa Taylor, gave the briefing. Here we go! The 47 starters lined up (along with an additional ~65ish 50 milers) and off we went.

Race morning bright and early | Photo: Katie Meding

Standing with 3 oldest daughters as they stayed warm by the propane fire just before the start of the race | Photo: Katie Meding

The Course

This course is a 50 mile giant lollipop. There is a 10 mi “stick” to the first aid station where it proceeds to be a large 50 km (30 mi) clockwise circle (“the lollipop”) where you return to this original aid station and then return the 10 miles back down the “stick” to the start finish. There are 4 major climbs within this course that are all at least 2 miles long with significant gain which comes out to ~12,500 ft per 50 miles (25,000 ft+ overall). At least the amazing Cascade scenery distracts you during all of these. The only road section was a 1 mi pavement road (2.0%) + 0.6 mi gravel access road (1.2%) at the very start of the race. The other 48.4 mi (96.8%) of the loop was all awesome singletrack trail.

The race provided excellent detailed maps and elevation profiles on their website prior to the race which was useful in preparing.

Source: Alpine Running website

Loop 1

Bridge at about 3.5 mi from start |
Taken from Old Cascadia Facebook page | Photo: unknown

Since the start was all intermixed of the 100 & 50 milers it was very confusing as to who was in what distance. This was good and bad. The plus was it forced me to run my own pace and not judge based off the others around since I did not know exactly what distance they were doing. I settled in and followed a group of 5 or so where we were all cruising at the same pace once we got to the singletrack after the 1.6 mi road sections. The next portion of the 10 mi “stick” part of the course consists of a nice long 2,700 ft climb which ensured you wouldn’t go out too fast. Once you got to the summit of this first peak and tagged it, we then cruised down a long flowing section nearly losing all the elevation we had just gained.

After finally getting to the first aid, we veered off to the left and headed back deep into the Willamette National Forest. I was so excited and looking forward to what lies ahead as it was all new trails and terrain to me. I knew the approximate splits between aid but I did not have it super memorized. There were a couple longer gaps around 10 miles so I made sure I always filled up water & fuel when I could.

Greeting my 2 oldest daughters 50 km in | Photo: Katie Meding

At the Quarry, which was mile 31 (50 km into the run), I got the opportunity to see my crew (a.k.a. my family) for the first time. This was a huge boost. My watch was reading slightly under mileage at this point and so it was a bonus surprise when the aid station was within ears reach. I also knew this was close to 1/3 of the race complete, which was also a good positive mental point. I told my wife I’d be here at approximately 6 hrs and I came in right around 5 hrs 55 mins --- as close as one can get in time estimation during an ultra. I felt good and was energized by seeing my family. I refueled and turned back out, mentioned I was aiming for 11 hrs total elapsed time (to the next aid station they’d have access to).

There was a nice little 3 mile section here down around to the next aid, but then it was the longest climb of the race – the pyramid trails. This was a 2,700 ft+ climb up the mountain all the way to the peak. It was steep and steady climb all the way. Once at the top I noted it was essentially 20 km (12.5 mi) back to the start/finish. Little did I know this is where the quad crushin’ descents would take its toll. I don’t know the exact tally, but about 75% of those last 20 km were downhill! It was all downhill back to the first aid station, where there was a small ~2,000 ft climb up then all downhill again back to the start/finish which included that road section there. Since I was “only” half way through the race I felt ok still I was doing a decent pace down these last 13 mi. I was holding onto a runner in front of me (which I think was a 50 miler) to hold my pace.

Running on the lush PNW singletrack with a bunch of runners loop 1 | Photo: Kyle Meck

Taken from Old Cascadia Facebook page | Photo: unknown

Taken from Old Cascadia Facebook page | Photo: unknown

Taken from Old Cascadia Facebook page | Photo: unknown

Epic Cascade scenery, awesome photography here | Photo  Kyle Meck

Interloop

Coming in to start/finish half for 50 mi seeing my family | Photo: Kyle Meck

Coming into the road section at the very end I glanced at my watch and sure enough I was nearing my 11 hr estimate. I was hoping my family was there and ready for me, and sure enough once I turned that corner at 10 hr 58 min I saw the arch and crossed the line for lap 1 in nearly exactly what I had told my wife. I sat down here in a chair for the first time and got some calories in and conversed with my wife and kids. I only managed to stay just over 12 minutes as I got my food in and refilled my pack. I re-applied my Trail Toes to prevent any issues. Soon I was off again headed back out for another trip around the lollipop. I told my wife I would be back for 24 hrs (best case), but more likely 26 hrs (which would be 08:00).

Family crewing at halfway point | Photo: Katie Meding

Loop 2

Knowing exactly what to expect for this loop I knew the downhill sections would be the part that may or may not be my undoing of the race. I headed out trying to keep my pace best I could on the uphill sections hiking steady. There was no sign if muscle cramps or fatigue yet. But once I got to that first peak and had to run 2,500 ft back down to the aid station my quads could feel every single step. From this early part of loop 2, I knew that downhill running would be my nemesis. Once I got that first 10 mile “stick” portion done I had to switch on my headlamp as the darkness was creeping in. Normally I enjoy the night running but today the night hit hard and made me feel a little sleepy very early on. I was doing a little sleep running, not fully concentrating on the steps and it took a bit for me to snap out of that. But by the time I came around to the Quarry again mile 31 into the loop (mile 81 overall), I was fully lucid again. I sat down here and got in some great calories thanks to the aid station volunteers: bacon, quesadillas, and soup broth. This definity revived me and my spirits at the time. The only thought in my mind at this point was the fact that there was so much downhill left, but first I had the largest climb ahead me.

The pyramid trail was again a long grind as anticipated but I got it done in the darkness and took a moment there at the summit to take it in. I sat there for a few moments and breathed deeply knowing it was mostly downhill ahead of me (and this was the quad crusher). I pushed through best I could and ran the downhill as much as I could. The pain was setting in every step, but I continued to focus on the finish line. On the long way down to the original aid station I was no longer in need of my headlamp as the sun was peeking back through the tall trees. I was about 2 miles to the aid station on that decent and looked down to check the time – shit – my watch was off, it had just run out of batteries. Earlier at the Quarry aid station, I took out my used battery charger and placed it in the drop bag, I just never replaced it with the fully charged one I had sitting there waiting – rookie mistake.

I got to that aid station and knew I was now 90% done…just 10 miles to go and just one last climb. My goal of 24hrs was now out the window at is was essentially 06:00 now. I filled up on calories one last time and hit the trails with that end in sight. Day light was slowing creeping higher as the morning temperature was just about perfect to run in, not too cold now, but not yet too warm. The last miles were not the fastest nor the easiest, but they went by as I just anticipated seeing my family at the finish.

Popping out of that last singletrack and knowing I only had 1.6 miles to the finish was a great feeling. Since my watch was off I didn’t know exactly what time of morning it was but I figured I would be over my 26:00 estimation (which is turned out was fairly accurate). I got to the final pavement section and the last 0.5 mi I started passing cars and some of the spectators and crew vehicles of people. I got a few cheers and words of encouragement here and turned the final corner where I could see the finishing parking lot. I saw my wife in the distance standing in the road peering down looking for me. I saw her gather up the kids and inform them I was coming. My 3 oldest daughters ran down the road to me, this is the best feeling. I gave them all a big hug and then gathered them all up and even got the youngest from my wife too. After 26 hours and 43 minutes I crossed the finish with all 4 of my daughters beside me as we passed under the arch!

Done.

Crossing the finish line 26:43:49 | Photo: Katie Meding

Presented with my buckle. With Race Directors Trevor Hostetler & Janessa Taylor | Photo: Katie Meding

Gear Used

Gear Bags: VictorySportdesign

Drop Bag: VictorySportdesign (Coyote II)

Shirts: TeamTROT x1 t-shirt & x1 sleeveless, rabbit x2 t-shirt and x2 long sleeves

Shorts: rabbit FKT 5” (gecko green)                                                                                        

Shoes: AltraRunning TIMP 1.5

Socks: Drymax Socks (2 pairs)

Jackets: rabbit elements jacket

Headwear: rabbit (BOCO gear), multiple buffs

Sunglasses: Goodr

Watch: Garmin Fenix 3 HR

Hydration: NathanSports Inc Grit 7L Race Hydration Vest (electric blue), Nathan Sports Inc VaporKrar WaistPak (black)

Headlamp: NathanSports Inc Halo Fire

Calf Sleeves: Zensah compression leg sleeves (Lego print)

Nutrition: Tailwind Nutrition, fruit, coca-cola, and a bunch Hammer Nutrition gels and Muir Energy gels. Really enjoyed the aid stations with bacon, quesadillas, and got in quite of bit of soup broth during the night hours.

Results

7^th overall (M6) | 102.69 mi | 24,785 ft+ | 26:43:49

My 41^st ultramarathon.

As mentioned my stupid watch froze due to my error in battery management and so the activity is split up over 2 entries:

https://www.strava.com/activities/2475405519 (the first 90.10 mi recorded)

https://www.strava.com/activities/2475529313 (the finishing 12.59 mi manual entry)

 

100 Mile Finisher buckle

Thank you

A big shout out to my 2019 supporters:

rabbit | rabbitELITEtrail Team
Trail RacingOver Texas | Team TROT

Victory Sportdesign | Team Victory

Nathan Sports Inc | Team Nathan

Altra Running

Trail Toes

Drymax Socks

Goodr

Alpine Running for being awesome hosts and putting on a stellar event out here in the middle of the Cascades. The Race directors: Trevor Hostetler & Janessa Taylor. They have found a gem of a course I know they will grow this event.

My wife, Katie, whom is always my biggest supporter and allows me to do these crazy adventures (Lucky for me we were able to make this a family vacation and visit her brother out on Oregon around this race). I am so thankful when Katie is able to attend and be there to support me. Her crewing with 4 little ones is no small feat in itself. My 4 daughters who inspire me as well, again it is amazing to see their smiles after long efforts.

Getting Loopy: The Game Backyard Ultra

Getting Loopy

The Game Backyard Ultra

Ultra #038 | Trevor Meding

Originally posted on Facebook notes 2019-04-21.

History

Official backyard ultra rules posted by Laz |
Photo: Backyard Ultra Facebook page

The Game is one of the backyard ultras that has become a very popular format due to and his Big’s Backyard Ultra that got a lot of press coverage last year when Johan Steene (283.335mi), Courtney Dauwalter (279.168mi), and Gavin Woody  (270.835mi) all went deep into in this format. Spectrum Trail Racing had this format already for the past 2 years, but with the rise of these golden ticket races they adopted the official rules and came up with a course this year that fits the 4.16667 mi loop format. When I first moved to Texas back in 2017 I ran this race with Spectrum as a long run training race where I completed 50-ish miles in preparation for a 100 miler I was training for.

For 2019 Lazarus Lake had opened his registration for the Big's Backyard Ultra and got a lot of interest. He has a 2-part selection process to get the best field. Initially he selects everyone based on their prior achievements and successes (completed already), and then later this year is a lottery process for the remaining people who put in their entries (this has not happened yet for the 2019 race). This year due to the excessive interest and the pop up of all these “copycat” backyard ultras Laz decided to make a golden ticket way of entering his race to further enhance the depth of the field at his main event in Oct-2019. Laz announced in Dec-2018 that the winner of the 10 affiliated races around the world would all gain entries into 2019 Big’s. In addition to the international Last Men Standing, two more golden tickets will go to the winners with the greatest mileage from these affiliated North American Backyard Ultras. And this is where the Spectrum race fits in.

The Game

Pre race coffee stop: Buc-ee's

03:00 wake up and time to gather my last items and get on the road. A relatively short 2.5 hour drive to the Ball Farm just south of Austin, TX. I arrived just before check-in at 06:00. The morning was still cloaked in darkness. There was rain in the forecast due to an incoming storm from the coast and so the humidity was high which kept the morning temperature warm. I found my way down the side entrance following the race signs and came through the trees to the parking which was adjacent to the large outdoor pavilion at the farm. Spectrum had lights strung up and the peacefulness of the morning was calming at this point. I parked and walked the 150 feet over to the start/finish area where a few tents were already set up for crewing purposes. I scouted out the area, and talked to Mallory Brooks, Spectrum Race Director, and then I picked out my spot and started lugging my gear over. Set up my tent and unpacked my Victory Sportdesign gear bags setting my supplies out in my tent strategically. Since I am always early and take pride in being ready on time I sat down in my chair in my tent setup and enjoyed the remainder of my coffee and delved into my kolaches I had purchased at Buc-ee’s on the way. People were now starting to file into the parking and setting up their tents and gear as the light was slowly creeping into the morning. Actual sunrise would occur until 07:06 when the race began.

My TROT teammate, Dena arrived and took a spot next to me. We were both excited to be able to push each other in this format and were scheming the prior few days of how we would do so. I met a couple other runners whom I had brief acquaintances with before and we chatted briefly as everyone was getting prepared.

Pre-race briefing | Photo: Spectrum Trail Racing

After a briefing everyone grabbed last minute items and the chatter quieted down as the seriousness was turned up slightly. Being a different format, I got the sense of everyone’s excitement and as the countdown began….07:00 was here, and off we went. We took off into the trees and started winding around a jeep type road. This quickly thinned out into a mad up singletrack section that came upon a small lake the farm had on their land. The morning light was beautiful at this point and I was grateful to be out on my feet yet again. The course winded up a small hill and joined back onto an old overgrown jeep road that swung around the remainder of the lake. Then we disappeared back into the shaded section of some more trees. There was a nice small ditch section here that dropped about 20 feet and popped right back up. (Eventually this section would hold a nice puddle at the bottom and eventually become a nice up and down mini climb on the slick dirt). The course came up to the farm fence line and from there we turned and followed the perimeter of the land, where it transitioned into a gravel road for about 0.5mi portion. After this short gravel the route jumped back onto a jeep road and here was a uneven short stretch that was an ankle twisting nightmare (Later on, post-storm, this would be an obstacle course of dodging puddles for rest of race). The last portion of the loop winded around the open fields and shrubs of the farm, around the actual homestead at the farm and to a table near the start/finish. The table was a half way point where you grabbed a poker chip, as proof of getting there, and returned all the way to the finish arch where you returned the poker chip and ended the loop at the aid area. Spectrum made this slightly more interesting by writing short questions on each chip you would answer as you returned it to them crossing the finish line. Some of the questions were examples like:
• Favorite food?
• Cats or Dogs?
• Longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?
• Sing or Dance?

These simple little questions often kept my alert and made me focus as I did the last half of the loop before returning the chip in.

The loop overall was a great mix of singletrack, jeep road, a short gravel section, and some open meadow type fields that wound its way around the Ball farm property. I had envisioned a plainer and more boring route to be honest, and so I was pleasantly surprised.

My initial plan was to tick by 45 minutes loops and have 15 mins to rest and aid myself in between. Loop 2 provided slight excited as a group of 4 of us where we turned wrong at one point and didn’t realize it until we ended up having runner coming at us, because we were turned around and on the wrong direction. We added like 0.4 extra mileage on our 2nd loop, bad for being a looped course, but that is trail running. Loop 3 and 4 we started to get some minor rain and slight dampness. The storm that was predicted had seemed to be delayed or maybe miss us totally? After 4 hours we started our 5th loop in the rain and headed out, and it was at this point the sky opened up as well and a downpour ensued. About 1 mile into the outward section the thunder and lightning had begun, and it was quickly closing in. There was 3 strikes that were within mere miles of our proximity based on counting time between the flash and the loud boom. At this point it was like running in the shower. Everything was soaked, my rain jacket was rendered useless to the onslaught of mother nature. There was even a short bout of hail the size of peas or maybe slightly bigger. Jason Brooks, Spectrum Race Director, was out in the storm flagging everyone down and waved into the covered pavilion at the start/finish area. Here we stood as a collective group in a Texas storm and not knowing what this meant. Was the race over? Did mother nature just decide it for us? Were we allowed to keep running on the farm in these conditions? No one knew. The race directors were concerned for the runner’s safety due to proximity of these lightning strikes, and rightfully so. We performed a head count to ensure everyone was back since the lightning had been within 1 mile of the course.

Once everyone was gathered up Mallory announced that we would access the conditions every 15 minutes and once there was no lightning in the area anymore we would continue. As fast as this storm blew in, it was starting to leave us on the farm in the same fashion. Mallory & Jason then announced we would head back out on the course at the top of the hour. Since the course was so twisting and winding it was really easy to get back to where you left the route, and so they employed the honor system where we’d all head back out to where we stopped and continue on from there. In the end we had to shelter in place under the pavilion for what ended up being a 30 minute total delay overall, including the time in and back out onto the course. The remainder of loop 5 was finished and we were now starting & finishing the loops at the bottom of the hours, due to this Texas weather delay. Of course, being a farm and just natural land type route there was multiple ponds and new water holding areas out there. I later recall my shoes never fully dried out well into the dark hours of the night.

My oldest 3 daughters crewing. My shirts also hand drying now
that sun was poking out a bit | Photo: Katie Meding

At the very end of Loop 6 my crew was just showing up on the scene. They were also slightly delayed from arrival because of the storm. I was very happy to see all their smiles and gave me quite a boost as it always does. I kept maintaining my 42-45 minute loops and kept that time in where I could get my feet up for 10-12 minutes before each loop start. So far I was enjoying the experience, beside the soaking feet that was unavoidable due to the prior storm and the puddles left behind. I think I ended up going through 4 pairs of socks, but never did change shoes.

My pace kept consistent as we slowly dwindled the field of competitors. I was waiting for the 12 hour (50 miles) and then again at 15 hour (100 km) mark since they we the nice round numbers. I expecting to see more people drop off at these typical ultra distance milestones. As the night hours crept in just after that 12th loop headlamps came out, feet were still wet, but the spirit was elevated of the remaining competitors.

My entire ultra family crew | Photo: Mallory Brooks, from Spectrum Trail Racing Facebook page

14 runners started loop 14, then a couple more dropped. Sadly, my TROT teammate Dena fell off here after loop 15. I was hoping we’d be pushing till loop 30+ together.

12 souls started loop 16.

Can’t recall exactly what happened here but only 7 people headed out for loop 18. I believe this was the time in the night where the colder wind began to pick up and cool off significantly. Especially since most of us were damp and worn out from the day’s moisture.

6 started loop 19.

4 runners began loop 21.

And then just like that we were down to 2 people for loop 22. I was left standing with Joshua Houser. I knew the sunrise was just around the corner and was really looking forward to the warmth and the rejuvenation ultra runners often feel with the start of a new day that comes with the reset of natural circadian rhythms. Besides I had been receiving texts from my wife and she was about to pack up the kids again and head back out for the day, and that would be another big boost.

Facebook post updating the Big's Backyard Ultra group page

Loop 23 started, which would be the last one with a headlamp for next 12 hours. I kept my pace aiming for my 45 minute loop still and was ahead of Joshua. By the time I arrived at the half way table where the poke chips were, Mallory was there and said well “I have good news and bad news”. I knew instantly what this meant. I was now the only person on the course as Joshua had turned around. This meant all I had to do was complete this loop 23 and I’d be the winner, but at the same time this meant the backyard ultra was over and we wouldn’t have a chance at the golden ticket (This part was known as the prior races had already achieved 31 hours/loops, and so we knew starting this would be minimum needed to have a chance at this). I took the news in the good & bad way. I had planned mentally on being there for a long time and even had a personal day off work on Monday lined up in case we went into day3 of running. I thought it might take 48 hours (200 miles) to win this event, but the Texas storm probably had something to do with the field achieving less time than I had predicted. There were a lot of strong competitors out there. I thought of all of these as I slowly returned to the finish on what was my final loop. I did a lot of walking here now not pressured at all knowing I would not have another loop to prepare for. I recall my final thought before jogging it in. I don’t remember if this was from a documentary or I read it on an article, but it came from Laz himself. He stated how each competitor needs each other out there to draw the best out of one another and be able to push the other, for once it is down to one person the desire to continue on a simple loop is all but gone. He says he’d seen it time and time again on the final loop when the eventual winner must go out and finish without anyone. And these final 2 miles back to the finish was exactly how I felt. I could have physically gone on for a long time, but knowing there was no one else to run against my motivation to continue had just automatically resided. How far could I have gone on for? I guess I’ll have to wait to find that out.

Results

My STRAVA activity is posted here (https://www.strava.com/activities/2290039340). I had 23 loops of 4.166667 miles which came out to just shy of 100 miles. I totaled 3,967 ft of elevation gain.

Official results | Photo: taken from Spectrum Trail Racing website

Pre-loop selfies. I though of this concept right before I started and kept it up throughout the race.

The Game trophy. A very cool & unique gift well earned.

My Gear Used

·        Gear Bags: VictorySportdesign

·        Shirts: TeamTROT jerseys, and many different rabbit tops

·        Shorts: rabbit ELITE team split shorts

·        Shoes: AltraRunning TIMP 1.5

·        Socks: Drymax Socks

·        Jackets: rabbit, & a warmer Salomon running jacket at night.

·        Headwear: rabbit, BOCO gear

·        Sunglasses: Goodr

·        Watch: Garmin Fenix 3 HR

·        Hydration: NathanSports Inc ExoDraw 18oz Handheld

·        Headlamps: NathanSports Inc Halo Fire

·        Nutrition: Tailwind Nutrition, fruit, coca-cola, and a bunch of other random stuff.

Data

My own spreadsheet data post-race. Lap analysis.

My own graphed version of the laps (running time vs inter loop time).

Thank You

·        Trail Racing Over Texas | Team TROT

·        rabbit | rabbitELITEtrail Team

·        Victory Sportdesign | Team Victory

·        Nathan Sports Inc | Team Nathan

·        Altra Running

·        Trail Toes

·        Drymax Socks

·        Goodr

Spectrum Trail Racing for being gracious hosts and putting on a stellar event. Mallory & Jason Brooks for making the right call in the storm moments and managing through the conditions. The homemade pizza and burgers that Spectrum provided to the runners was amazing fuel during the day!

My wife, Katie, whom is always my biggest supporter and allows me to do these crazy adventures. I am so thankful when she is able to attend and be there. My 4 little one who inspire me as well.

----- ----- ----- ------ -----

Why I Run

Why I Run

A simple explanation to a hard inquiry.

Originally posted on Facebook notes 2019-03-21.

Not long ago Billy Yang Films created a movie titled The Why where he explained and documented his journey through Leadville 100 and showed many people in very simple terms of what drives some of us crazy ultra runners. Sometimes it is very hard to explain to someone of what I do on the weekends, away from my office here in downtown of the city in Houston where I’m surrounded by hard working office bound people. I just say that I like to run.

So how come then am i writing a note like this? I want to explain my reason why in very simple and very clear terms of to how I have become so in love with this extreme fringe endurance sport of ultrarunning.

"The Best Part of Me" by Addison Meding (2019-02-28)

"The best part of me is my legs. One reason is I can play my favorite sport. I can hike up the mountains. I can run so that I can run with my dad. I love my legs."

My oldest daughter wrote the above not long ago as one of her 1st grade assignments. She came up with it on her own and surprised us by bringing it home all proud and happy to show it off. She is only 6 years old. It made my heart melt and also made me reflect back.

My oldest daughter and I at my first ever race |
Woody's RV Half Marathon | Red Deer, AB, Canada |
2016-05-22 | Photo: Katie Meding

In March of 2016 is when I got the idea to run a half marathon and try to get myself back into somewhat better shape. I did not particularly enjoy running, but I had a goal of getting this training and eventual race done. Training was hard and the weather on the day was worse for my first ever race. But there is one thing that made it all worth while. My wife and kids were there cheering me on and supporting me the entire time when it came to the race. They were trapped in the exact same shitty weather I was (rainy 4C / 39f), but they were there for me...how cool is that.

After catching the running bug and finding the trails I grown to love this sport for a variety of reasons. But ultimately it keeps coming back to one reason and it is really simple to explain. Yet, I can not find the words to put it into proper form, so I won’t.

My 2 oldest daughters who were there cheering me on in my first ever trail experience | RVR 25 km | Edmonton, AB, Canada | 2016-06-18 | Photo: Katie Meding

My oldest daughter running kids 1km race | 5Peaks Fish Creek | Calgary, AB, Canada | 2016-08-06 | Photo: Katie Meding

My 2nd daughter providing support during my first ever ultra event | 5Peaks Triplestoke | Revelstoke, BC, Canada | 2018-08-28 | Photo: Katie Meding

Oldest daughter high five support | 5Peaks Trail Half | Canmore, AB, Canada | 2016-09-17 | Photo: Katie Meding

2nd daughter enjoying my finish medal | River Valley Revenge Winter 50km | Edmonton, AB, Canada | 2017-01-21 | Photo: Katie Meding

oldest daughter running into finish with me | Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35mi | Santa Barbara, CA, USA | 2017-03-25 | Photo: Katie Meding

Wife and 3 daughters supported me the entire race in my first ever 100 mile attempt. I credit my victory to their crewing | River Valley Revenge 100 mi | Edmonton, AB, Canada | 2017-06-10 | Photo: James Dalke

My family often supports me into the wee hours of the night as I have ventured into the longer distances | Dinosaur Valley Endurance Run 100 km | Glen Rose, TX, USA | 2017-11-04 | Photo: unknown

My 2 oldest daughters created cheering sign for me | Brazos Bend 100 mi | Needville, TX, USA | 2017-12-09 | Photo: Katie Meding

My 3 daughters ensuring I hydrate adequately | San Felipe Shootout | San Felipe, TX, USA | 2018-03-24 | Photo: Katie Meding

Often the kids have to be carried to (or from) the vehicle while sleeping in order to come to the events | Brazos Bend 100 km| Needville, TX, USA | 2018-04-07 | Photo: Katie Meding

Family affair crewing - even if in the womb | River Valley Revenge 100 mi | Edmonton, AB, Canada | 2018-06-16 | Photo: Brenda Shaughnessy

3rd daughter coming to say hi during aid stop | Brazos Bend 100 mi | Needville, TX, USA | 2018-12-08 | Photo: Katie Meding

Crossing the finish line for the victory & course record with my 3 oldest daughters | Running the Rose 108 km | Tyler, TX, USA | 2019-01-28 | Photo: Katie Meding

My 3 oldest daughters cheering me on at the start | Jackalope Jam 24 hr | Cat Spring, TX, USA | 2019-02-23 | Photo: Katie Meding

To me it is pretty simple. I started this journey 3 years ago this March in order to lose some weight regain fitness, and try and feel better about myself and how i was being perceived by my 2 daughters at the time (who were 3 & 1). Here we are now in 2019 and I have continued down the path of endurance for myself and probably just as importantly for my family and to provide my daughters (now 4 of them) a good role model. I know that showing them how to persevere during something that is extremely hard and seeing it through will provide some good lessons, whether they see it now or not. The simple act of my oldest daughter writing that simple little explanation of the best part of herself validates every single thing I have done over this journey. I will continue to push myself and explore what is possible. I will succeed at times, and I will fail as well, but in the end I will show my daughters that no matter what sometimes just doing the hard work is what matters. All of the above are the reason i tag all my Instagram posts with #ultrarunningdad. Those little smiles whether there in person, over the phone, or a voicemail or video left for me to check during an aid stations stop mean everything to me. Thank you to my wife, Katie, who is my biggest supporter, and thank you to my 4 little inspirations: you all drive me more than you know!

My self designed logo. Disclaimer: I am not a graphic artist

My favorite cheer team | Jackalope Jam 24 hr | Cat Spring, TX, USA | 2019-02-23 | Photo: Katie Meding

So why do you do what you do? What inspires you? Find your why!

Thank you as well to my awesome supporters this season!

• rabbit | rabbitELITEtrail Team
• Trail Racing Over Texas | Team TROT
• Victory Sportdesign | Team Victory
• Nathan | Team Nathan
• Altra running
• Drymax Socks
• Trail Toes
• Goodr