Wonder-Girls Circumnavigate Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail Video

here is the video i took of the girls adventure running around mount rainier in 2.5 days. 94 miles with 20,000 ft of gain.



a bit of history on this route. my buddy, mtb pioneer, patagonia ambassador, bad ass and all around nice guy, john stamstad was the first to run the wonderland trail for speed in one shot. in 2003 he ran the trail non stop in a time of 24hr 01min. he drove the route and dropped supplies for himself first, then ran it. he basically set the standard for speed attempts on the trail. kyle skaggs of hardrock course record fame then ran it supported in 20:52 - stout!

i love peter bakwin's site fastest known times. it's fun to read through the fkt's and imagine the incredible effort and fun i'd have attempting some of these. here is what the page on the wonderland trail says. "The Wonderland Trail has not seen a huge amount of speed record activity. In 2003 mountain biking legend John Stamstad ran the trail self-supported in 24:01. His trip was reported in the May 2004 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. Kyle Skaggs beat that time on Sept. 23-24, 2006, 20:53."

Wonder-Girls Circumnavigate Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail

i had the district pleasure of crewing krissy meohl and ellen parker this weekend as they ran the 94 mile wonderland trail that circumnavigates mighty mount rainier. if you know ultrarunning you know krissy. if you have been paying attention to the local nw ultras this summer you have seen ellen's name because she has been tearing it up. if you know trails in the pacnw then you know the wonderland trail is 94 miles with 20,000 feet of vertical gain - no joke. most folks take a week or two to hike it. the girls had planned to knock it out in 2.5 days.


since we all had work to do friday we drove down to longmire late in the day. the girls were quick with their prep and hit the trail around 6:55pm, running counter clockwise. a few miles later i met them along reflection lakes (ellen's favorite part) video below. they were truly enjoying themselves, that much was obvious.



they finished in the dark at box canyon (mile 13) later that night. we camped here. up early, coffee, breky and out. the girls had 19 miles to go so it gave me a bit of time to play, before meeting them again at the white river camp ground. they looked good although ellen had some leg pain at that point. a simple comment really, and an issue that never bothered her again. but one i couldn't get out of my head. worried dad syndrome. from there they were on their own to the finish. which meant they took bigger packs (ellen was borrowing my nathan hpl #063 horton pack and loved it), sleeping bags and two whole days worth of food. they finished saturday with 25 miles to mowich lake. there was apparently a discussion about calling me since ellen's blisters from white river (where she got 4th!) were back with a vengeance.. but they toughed it out.



from longmire to mowich (and a little bit further) the girls said was the most beautiful sections of the wonderland trail. i was insistent on finding that out because one thing was clear - it's a whole lot easier access than i had imagined, and there are campgrounds and water everywhere. crewing sort of demystified the wonderland trail for me (and i've got big plans for this trail - right ty draney?!).

sunday my 17yr old nephew josh (who is visiting from new hampshire) and i met the girls with a variety of soupy ben & jerry's ice cream to congratulate them. there was pain in ellen's face as she said "matt, i'm in the hurt locker" when they arrived at longmire. i applaud her toughness. they got it done - congratulations girls!!






some of my twitter posts here.. and the video is DONE - it will be posted later today.

Opening Video For Montrail Presentation

lot's of hours put into this.. i hope you enjoy it.

coaching endurance, and success

just wanted to give a public congrats to two runners i've coached that have done outstanding!

congrats to ellen parker who ran her first 50 miler on july 28, 2007 at the white river 50! that is one tough first 50 too. ellen ran a strong 9:55:01.

also congrats to matthew noell who has done so much for me i can't even tell you.. he's one of my best friends and has been a huge part of my success in ultra distance racing. he's an amazing friend, bike mechanic and motivator (aside from being an amazing dad, business owner, martial artist and microsoft exec!).. yeah he's that good. it was a blast helping him train for his first marathon.. and in true coaching endurance form he didn't just decide to do a marathon, he decided to do one of the hardest marathons in the country as his first - the crater lake marathon!.. and he rocked it in 5:24:07. nicely done dood.

the photo is from the 2005 24hr solo mtn bike norba national championship - matthew was my mechanic and crew. he's balancing his son wilder who was part of my crew as well. here is another photo of matthew "doin work!"

i threw an email out to my close friends asking if anyone wanted to come to the teton mtns and help crew me for what i described as "one of my biggest challenges yet". lots of my friends talk a big game about wanting to be a part of my crew, year after year. as usual matthew was the one who stepped up. he will be my main crew person for my first 100 mile ultramarathon - the grand teton 100 sept 1-2! i can't tell you how excited this makes me. i was truly touched when he threw down and booked his flight. =)

i am lucky to have such a good friend. with him crewing and montrail ultra stud ty draney pacing me the last 25 miles - i have no excuses, and no worries.. just one foot in front of the other.. for around 273,600 steps or so.