I've wanted to rerun the entire Klickitat Trail for a while. Fortunately, I had some fitness built up and figured I could better my time from a few years ago. I had my mom and my partner, Molly, crewing for me this time, handing me water and nutrition so that it would be a supported effort. The forecast for all week looked extremely wet, but the weather cleared up on the day, and it barely even sprinkled on me.
I started in Warwick again and began the journey to Lyle at 7:30 am. Swale Canyon has recently reopened after a challenging fire season for everyone in our community, and it was a pleasure to have the privilege of running alongside Swale Creek and taking in the changing colors. It's an extraordinarily remote section of trail for its proximity to residences. The first 14 miles went smoothly, and I grabbed some water and dropped off nutrition with the crew at Horseshoe Bend. I am excited for the day when a bridge connects the trail segments from Horseshoe Bend to near the town of Klickitat. For now, it's onto the road for a very long feeling four miles with some of the most significant "hills" on this net downhill route. Saw the crew again in Klickitat and decided against grabbing any aid. I started feeling really crummy as I entered the town of Pitt as a result. Held on and tried to focus on fueling and hydrating, but I was finding myself growing increasingly dizzy. I decided to keep pushing through the dizzies until the marathon and reassess at that point. Clocked a 3:08 marathon on my watch and then completely crumbled. It took me two very slow miles to start running again, and there was a moment when I didn't even know if I'd be able to walk the last 4 miles to make it in under four hours. But somehow I came back to life and made it in 3h50m49s!
Happy to have pushed myself to what I feel was my best on the day. I'm also pleased with the progression of my times on the Klickitat and look forward to someone setting a new bar for the future! Please let me know if you're considering this route; it's so beautiful and special.