Welcome to Easton! The welcome sign that we stopped to take a picture of just about summed up our experience here. On the hour or so drive up from Seattle, Julie and I couldn't stop taking about the amazing trees and dense forest that lined the highway. The trees were so tall that you couldn't even catch a view of the entire towns that laid just behind them. Definitely a contrast to Colorado where the main attraction are the 14ers that line our skylines. I'm so happy that Cascade Crest 100 found me. The idea to travel to Washington for a 100 mile race started when I looked into doing a race close to a good college friend of mine that moved to Washington several years ago. I hadn't seen him or his family in years, and it would be an excuse to both see them and have an epic adventure at the same time. I had heard about the Cascade Crest 100 from a couple of friends that had raced it previously. As a Hard Rock 100 Qualifier, the race had a reputation of both difficul
There is a short steep climb at mile 5 of the Leadville 100 that seemed to audibly laugh at me and assert the truth that an extremely difficult 27 hours was ahead of me. My quads were heavier than barbells at the bottom of the ocean. My breathing felt like each breath was moving through a straw. And worst of all, a crack in the strong armor of my mind rapidly grew from a hairline fracture to what would eventually grow to be the Grand Canyon. -------------------------- This has been an epic summer in Leadville. Signing up for the Lead Challenge or ‘Leadman’ series was something that I have thought about since my first Leadville 100 finish in 2016. Completing the Marathon, the 50-Mile run, the 105 Mile MTB, the 10K and the 100 Mile run over the course of 10 weeks was a bit daunting, but something I was excited for. The challenge of balancing both mountain biking and running ultra-distances would prove to be difficult both in terms of time and training. Having made it through the 10