My stomach lurches as I crest the top of a technical ridge, my quads ache, my lungs struggle for breath, as sweat drips into my eyes. This past July, I ran the White River 50 miler near Mount Rainier, an endurance trail race where most people, me included, are just trying to finish, let alone win. 

Throughout the race, which took me just under 12 hours, I went through many highs and lows, dealt with an upset stomach, dusty trails, high temperatures, and several falls that scraped me up. I loved it all. 

Last weekend, runners had the opportunity to double my 50-mile effort in one of the hardest 100-mile races in the country, the Teanaway Country 100. The out and back race started and ended in Salmon La Sac, just outside of the small town of Roslyn, a former coal-mining settlement. Competitors had 40 hours to complete the race, meaning some runners were up for almost two full days, running through the night, sometimes alone, on technical, rugged trails in the Cascade mountains. 

The race was started by Brian Morrison, the owner of Fleet Feet Seattle, a running store in Capitol Hill, in 2018, after he fell in love with Mount Stuart, the tallest non-volcanic summit in the state, and the surrounding area where the race takes place. The race is “one of the more challenging 100-mile races in the world,” Morrison says.  “Also, one of the most beautiful.” 

Last year most of the competitors were from Washington, but others came from as far away as Georgia and Maryland. 

The amazing thing about this race, (and any endurance race), is the support, camaraderie, and nontrivial lessons learned along the way, something that going way outside of one’s comfort zone brings out. I’ll definitely do it again.