White River 50 Mile & 50K
Enumclaw, WA
- 50 Miler, 50K
- Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
Set in the shadow of Tahoma (aka Mt. Rainier), this classic race offers amazing views of Washington’s tallest mountain. The 50M race features 10,200 ft of gain, ridge tops, northwest forest, and mostly single track trail. For decades runners, including many of the best, have come here to push themselves … MORE
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
My first 50 miler...
...and Mt. Rainier was a no show! I tend to pick more difficult trail races for my first attempts! I had family in WA, and the photos I had seen … MORE
…and Mt. Rainier was a no show! I tend to pick more difficult trail races for my first attempts! I had family in WA, and the photos I had seen of the race from previous years, had me convinced this was going to be one beautiful race. The race of my life, I thought. I chose the WR50 mile race, because this was the year I was turning the big Five-Oh. 50 miler for 50 years sounded so logical at the time. My Aunt was an ultra runner, so she and my Uncle were my Crew, and they were AWESOME. I had friends that were there as well! The day before the race we went to the pre-race dinner, and the weather was looking pretty bad. Rain was predicted. I could not believe my luck, but Mt. Rainier decided to hide behind rain clouds. All we could do was hope that we would at least get a glimpse at some point. Uh, not so much. The day was rainy, and it pretty much rained non-stop for the first 6 hours, and then off and on until the finish. We never saw the mountain! The AS at mile 27 is where I lost sight of my friend that I had started the race with. I was fighting cutoffs from mile 27, once I realized my friend had continued on, until I got to the finish. The AS were really great, and my Crew was the best of the best, but I was sad that I was not able to stay with the friend I started the race with. Needless to say, I ran the last 2 legs of the race on my own. There is so much to say about this race that was positive for me personally, but it really was a tough race. I’m not going to sugarcoat this one. I’ve never fought for a finish like I did the WR50. The race organization was really great, with the exception, there were people who were being told they could continue on at Sun Top, and people who were supposedly told they could not. I even saw a few people taking a shortcut, which was a bummer because some people were held back and couldn’t continue on. I’m not sure if it was the volunteers fault, but there was some confusion at one of the final AS. I was given good information, I’m just going by what I was told. I was lucky enough to get to the final cutoff with about 5 minutes to spare. The last 6 miles of this race are really tough, tougher than it looks on a map or elevation chart. They tell you this ahead of time, how technical it is, but you really need to experience it for yourself 🙂 Even with the tough conditions, I am so glad that I did this race. I’d like to go back one day and get a better time, but a finish is a finish. I was pretty out of it by the time 14 hours had passed, so I don’t remember a lot about the finish area, but the volunteers were really good to me, and I was able to spend time with family I had not seen in a long time. Honestly, anytime I can have family and friends with me at a race, it is all good! I don’t know that I would recommend this race as a first try for a 50 miler, but most of us are a bit nuts, and you will probably ignore this bit of advice anyway! Maybe the next time I give a review for WR50, it will be with photos of a mountain, that I am pretty sure is really out there somewhere!