|
Post by yassine on Aug 26, 2013 21:58:58 GMT -5
I'm hijacking Yassine's post to summarize what we know about FKTs on this route. John Coffey has the FKT, 6h24m33s, set in a race on August 28, 1982.Lynn Harmon has the women's FKT, 7h15m17s, set in the same 1982 race.Max King set the unsupported "modern" (post washout) FKT, 6h40m40s, October 28, 2015.Tyler Green had the previous unsupported FKT, 7h28m15s, September 27, 2015.Before Green, Ryan Matz and Ryan Ghelfi had the unsupported FKT, 7h29m56s, July 8, 2015.Before Matz & Ghelfi, Rod Bein had the previous unsupported FKT, 7h38m, Sept. 3, 2014.The following times from races on the Timberline during 1979-1983 is given at realendurance.com: Men's times: | John Coffey | 6h24m33s | 1982 | Warren Finke | 6h43m25s | 1982 | Rae Clark | 6h43m36s | 1983 | Rae Clark | 6h49m19s | 1982 | Stephen Boyer | 6h49m27s | 1983 | Rich Goodhead | 6h52m55s | 1982 | Jim Pellon | 6h55m22s | 1982 | Frank Thomas | 7h1m56s | 1983 | | Women's times: | Lynn Harmon | 7h15m17s | 1982 | Lynn Harmon | 8h8m6s | 1981 | Susan Deane | 8h43m45s | 1983 | Karen Clement | 9h0m55s | 1981 | Karen Clement | 9h6m55s | 1982 | Sandra Stepp | 9h24m1s | 1983 |
The "modern" non-race FKT by Max King (6h40m40s, October 28, 2015) is discussed at trailrunnermag.com. Times are expected to be slower since the huge washout of Eliot Creek in 2006 - this section of the trail is still officially closed, but it navigable via use "trails" and some ropes. There have been other washouts as well. Here's Yassine's original post, which includes some good links: The Timberline Trail that circumnavigates Mt. Hood is a 40-ish mile route that I have covered three times now. I have done it in 2011 and 2012 in one day (approximately 10.5 hours both times), and in 2013 in two days (with camping in between). The epic loop is one of my favorites! (More info on my past trips HERE)
After doing some research to see if anyone has ever done it for speed the only documentation that I was able to find was from when it was a race. I'm sure folks have done it fast without reporting it, but It seems that John Coffey set the all-time record in a mind-boggling 6 hours 24 minutes! (Click HERE to read about it) I realize that this was before the Eliot washout, and that he had the help of aid stations but this is still a superhuman effort. In any case I thought that it was coincidental and serendipitous that he did it on August 28, 1982 (the same day I turned 4 years old!).
So...the stars aligned and I decided that on my 35th birthday (Wednesday August 28, 2013) I am going to attempt the same route unsupported to see how fast I can do it. I will have GPS data to report when completed and I will be starting and finishing at the Timberline Lodge. Just like every other time I will be running counter clockwise and I will be carrying all of my own supplies/food/etc. and will not be receiving any help from anyone. More will be revealed!
UPDATE: I finished the route in 7 hours 47 minutes and as far as I know I have the unsupported FKT for this route. HERE is the GPS information
|
|
|
Post by J.Moyer on Aug 30, 2013 20:03:04 GMT -5
Sorry to burst your bubble but that's not the fastest known anything. You might be able to call it the FTI "Fastest Time on the Internet". The route is slower then it was in the 80's and 90's but the men that ran it then were just as tough as anyone today and they didn't think it an accomplishment worth bragging about.
|
|
|
Post by Roger Michel on Sept 1, 2013 19:49:20 GMT -5
Great job yassine!
|
|
|
Post by Seth Wolpin on Oct 13, 2013 8:56:24 GMT -5
Yassine - you are the man. We were inspired by you and had a great run. I'd love to see J. Moyer toe the line next to you!
|
|
|
Post by Steve Wecks on Nov 24, 2013 23:15:46 GMT -5
I don't know Yassine but I ran into him at the Timberline parking lot after his run, mid-afternoon. I didn't know anything about trail running and thought it was odd that there was someone who was obviously a runner and had been running up there. I asked him if he'd been running on the Timberline trail and was dumbfounded by his answer! It was pretty cool to be there and be witness to such a feat of endurance! I had been hiking up on part of the trail earlier in the day and still marvel at the thought of someone doing it all in one day let alone part of the day. Amazing what the human body is capable of.
|
|
|
Post by skipper on May 20, 2014 1:58:43 GMT -5
Might you be willing to give me some beta on your 2 day supported run? I really want to do it but am getting conflicting reports on access etc. shoot me a note at sethsherryspam@gmail.com (not sure if i will get spam from posting here, so i put a backup email, hope thats ok). Thanks so much! The Timberline Trail that circumnavigates Mt. Hood is a 40-ish mile route that I have covered three times now. I have done it in 2011 and 2012 in one day (approximately 10.5 hours both times), and in 2013 in two days (with camping in between). The epic loop is one of my favorites! (More info on my past trips HERE)
After doing some research to see if anyone has ever done it for speed the only documentation that I was able to find was from when it was a race. I'm sure folks have done it fast without reporting it, but It seems that John Coffey set the all-time record in a mind-boggling 6 hours 24 minutes! (Click HERE to read about it) I realize that this was before the Eliot washout, and that he had the help of aid stations but this is still a superhuman effort. In any case I thought that it was coincidental and serendipitous that he did it on August 28, 1982 (the same day I turned 4 years old!).
So...the stars aligned and I decided that on my 35th birthday (Wednesday August 28, 2013) I am going to attempt the same route unsupported to see how fast I can do it. I will have GPS data to report when completed and I will be starting and finishing at the Timberline Lodge. Just like every other time I will be running counter clockwise and I will be carrying all of my own supplies/food/etc. and will not be receiving any help from anyone. More will be revealed!
UPDATE: I finished the route in 7 hours 47 minutes and as far as I know I have the unsupported FKT for this route. HERE is the GPS information
|
|
|
Post by Rod Bien on Sept 2, 2014 14:24:09 GMT -5
Ouch, well... I'm a little intimidated to post on here since J. Moyer doesn't think its worth posting on; and maybe he's right. I'm sure lots of people have run it faster than the internet crowd nowadays for sure! I'm using the route as a final training run before Mountain Lakes 100 but it seems like a fun challenge to try and run it as quickly as anyone has posted on the internet. So, for the record, I'm sure lots of guys have gone faster but I'll give it a solid effort tomorrow just for fun and hope its a great day around the mountain. I'll post my results; whether it is on the quicker side or turns out to be a pleasure cruise. Hopefully, it is both! I will be running it self supported and running it counter clock wise. I'll be driving over from Bend so I'm guessing I'll start around 8:30 AM.
|
|
|
Post by Rod Bien on Sept 5, 2014 8:55:03 GMT -5
I did the Timberline Trail around Mt Hood on Wednesday, September 3rd. I finished the loop in 7:38 for a new FKT. From a logistical standpoint, my run was kind of a fail. I got turned around on the ridge above the Elliot Glacier and could not find where to drop in and wandered around for probably 15 minutes or so until finally just descending to the bottom where I then found the trail. Once on the other side of the Glacier, I wasted more time by heading up towards the mountain, instead of heading down, losing more time. I then really hustled and made up time to where I was confident that I was close to 30 minutes ahead of record pace by the stone cabin and ran well all the way to Ramona Falls. Once there, I missed the very tricky left hand turn and headed about .8 miles the wrong way on the PCT. I took out my map, realized my mistake and headed the correct way and saw where I missed my turn. I pretty much gave up at that point as I was pretty flustered from all of my mistakes. But, I figured no need to dawdle anyway and might as well get my ass home. I didn't feel great on the long 2K climb after that but I realized I would probably be somewhere around the old FKT so I kept plugging along. When I got to the final creek crossing, I realized that I might just sneak under the old record and ultimately did. It was a bittersweet day as I think I probably would have flirted with a sub 7 hour time if I had known the route a little better. I think a very elite runner could probably knock off this course in around 6:15-6:30 if they knew the route well and I'm hoping to be able to run sub 7 next year. Here is my data from Strava: www.strava.com/activities/189567971 I'll also post a full write up sometime this weekend. As a side note, this truly is a world class route. The views are jaw dropping. The flowers were on the decline but there were still some great wildflowers near Elk Meadow. Have fun no matter how fast or relaxed you do this route and make sure to keep your head up to enjoy the views! Cheers.
|
|
|
Post by pdxjohn on Sept 12, 2014 16:13:41 GMT -5
If you go to RealEndurance.com and search Timberline Trail Ultramarathon results you'll get all the event results from when the race around Hood was held. There war about a half dozen runners who did the loop under 7 hours. While it's tempting to say it was easier then, it's actually the opposite. We had to go through Cloud Cap Inn as opposed to the bypass now, also the trail iOS much less rugged in many areas due to decades of use compared to the late 70's early 80's. The Elliot river crossing while a little more of a challenge today is not worth that much time. FKT is what is known from actual race results and accurately timed event. As for aid stations (some times given as a reason for the speeds on the record run), they were very primitive wilderness aid stations with hiked in water. There were only four "aid" stations on the entire loop.
|
|
|
Post by Peter Bakwin on Sept 16, 2014 16:43:21 GMT -5
If you go to RealEndurance.com and search Timberline Trail Ultramarathon results you'll get all the event results from when the race around Hood was held. There war about a half dozen runners who did the loop under 7 hours. While it's tempting to say it was easier then, it's actually the opposite. We had to go through Cloud Cap Inn as opposed to the bypass now, also the trail iOS much less rugged in many areas due to decades of use compared to the late 70's early 80's. The Elliot river crossing while a little more of a challenge today is not worth that much time. FKT is what is known from actual race results and accurately timed event. As for aid stations (some times given as a reason for the speeds on the record run), they were very primitive wilderness aid stations with hiked in water. There were only four "aid" stations on the entire loop. I did as you suggested and the site did not return any results. If you would like to post those times that would be terrific. The historic information is of great value and interest. Thanks.
|
|
|
Post by Sean Meissner on Sept 28, 2014 22:31:19 GMT -5
Peter, A really quick and easy search on realendurance.com for "timberline trail" yielded me some great info from the Timberline Trail Race glory years. realendurance.com/event.php?a=E66I encourage you all to look around on the page. There are some, at the time, yet-to-be grizzled vets in those results. Pretty sweet. It's a shame that this race wasn't grandfathered in when much of the route was made wilderness.
|
|
|
Post by jacehives on Oct 2, 2014 12:01:56 GMT -5
Well since most of the mountain bike and running races I planned to do this year became ablaze, I would like to run around something going ultra super duper fastest. Saturday 10/4/2014, I plan to run Timberline Trail counter-clockwise, beginning and ending at my vehicle at Timberline Lodge parking lot. I will run un-supported (bring all my food, fill water on the way). I will used my altimeter/time watch and iphone (gps and photos). I will aim for 7:37:59. However, every run I have done with Rod or Yassine I have always struggled to keep up. In other words, I will carry on with my fastest pace and see how I finish. I have only run Timberline Trail once before- with Kurt Eisle and Joe Grant in 2009.
|
|
|
Post by jacehives on Oct 5, 2014 14:37:18 GMT -5
It may take some time for me to properly process such (seems to me) failed attempt at running around the Hood within close proximity to Rod's and Yassine's un-supported time. Embarrassed I am at posting my time. Last night and most of this morning I wallowed in my disappointment and negativity, but now I am beginning to believe I will do it again in a quicker time. Perhaps the best thing about my slowness, about my bar-lowering, is how easy it is to grasp the fact that I will go faster next time.
Since I am so ultra, I will ultra-blog on my blog about this ultra Mt. Hood run. But here is the powerpoints of my ultra run (and walking, crashing, puking):
1) in my excitement I made a stupid, dangerous, rookie mistake of not drinking any water before I started, which left me confused, tired, and legs constrained util mile 5ish when I realized what was wrong. 2) I ran back-and-forth at Elliot. I should have crossed higher up, but went down to (where Joe, Kurt, and I crossed in 2009) where the canyon narrows and the trail on the other side is visible. After scaling the rubbish, I ran up the spine for a few minutes, then realized once again I was incorrect. Ran back down then to the proper trail and continued on. From here to the long ridge descent I felt great. 3) On the ridge, a mile or two before the PCT intersection, I crashed hard. Sprang the wrist, Hyper-extended the left knee, smacked the same knee at the IT band. The rest of the trip, the knee was irritated enough to annoy but not to slow me. 4) Near the crash point my stomach began to turn. When I started the last major climb, now on the PCT, my stomach went the way of the shit. Didn't eat anything from the bottom to the lodge. Pushed the fingers in my mouth half-dozen times to no avail. Walked and sat much.
Ahhemm. My time: 8:37am - 6:16pm. 9:39:12 (pavement to pavement) Ascent and descent 10,663
|
|
|
Post by Ryan Ghelfi on Jul 6, 2015 21:47:06 GMT -5
Myself and mountain crusher Ryan Matz will be attempting the Timberline Trail FKT Wednesday july 8. We'll be starting from the junction of trail 2000 and the Timberline Trail on the NW side of the mountain at approx. 4300ft. We will run counter clockwise and start around 6:30am. Neither of us have run the trail before.
|
|
|
Post by pplskllz on Jul 7, 2015 17:06:19 GMT -5
Ryan - just curious to know if you picked that entry/exit strategically? Also, if I may recommend, try to get some solid beta on the Eliot crossing. Specifically, finding the optimal point of crossing. I've done the T-line trail a few times and have learned to not fight it and just cross where the T-line trails start/stop. If you find the ropes (both sides of the washout), you'll know you're in the right spot. The potential for time wasted and precious energy expelled at Eliot is a significant factor in your run.
Have a great run! I'll be doing it for the 7th time on July 25th. Can't wait.
|
|