Jeffrey Thimgan's Staging Area

Out of the many trail races that feature the west summits of Tiger Mountain, this is the only one that makes you climb the Section Line trail proper; a direct ascent from Issaquah to the top of West Tiger 3. Then you complete the ridge to Tiger Mountain 1 before earning your downhills. There should never be any other option for a Tiger Mountain trail race other than a direct ascent of Cable Line trail or Section line trail at some point in the race hahaha. This course nails it! Well done Evergreen 🙂

Mad praise for the aid station at the start of the Tiger 1 climb; strategically placed so the aid station volunteers can see you come over the hill at Tiger 2! Once you come over the hill, unhinged and vivacious cheering, with questionable electro-pop music blasting through a bluetooth speaker echoes through the hills just for you until you reach the station. The aid station nicknamed me “bottles” for my propensity of carrying two 20oz plastic bottles in my hand during a race. I really appreciated their overall energy and the delicious Tailwind electrolytes they filled my bottles with. Thank you.

Lastly, it was my first 50k trail race completed since I tore tendons in my foot and had to have that foot reconstructed. I did have a good cry around the 22nd mile of the course when I could feel it in my bones that I knew I was going to finish this race. The complexity of my foot surgery 3 years ago was such that I was told by my surgeon I would likely never approach being able to run an ultra again. It has been a very long road of peaks and valleys back to this point. Next up…Mad Meadows 50.