Bigfoot is wearing a mask!

(Keep Bigfoot healthy when you run one of  the Destination Trail Bigfoot Elusive races.)

The BIGFOOT races were scheduled for mid-August, but had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.  So Destination Trail, the sponsor, is offering a virtual Bigfoot race.  Instead of calling it the BIGFOOT Virtual race, this year it is the BIGFOOT Elusive Race.

In previous years over 200 runners, their support crews and pacers, the Destination Trail staff, medical personnel, dozens of volunteers, and several family members meet up in the forest in Washington State between Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams.  The runners are supported with aid, food, and sleep stations throughout the 200+ mile course.  

There is a tense and excited atmosphere at dawn on the morning the race begins, with a volunteer dressed as a shaggy “Bigfoot” cheering the runners as they cross the Start Line.  The runners have 100 hours to complete the race. The first three finishers for men and women get artistically handmade plaques, and everyone who finishes the race gets a belt buckle.   

Due to COVID-19, Bigfoot is wearing her/ his face mask this year. When Dan and I noticed the face mask on Bigfoot, we both burst out laughing.  Here is a picture of the belt buckles:

We are going to finish the BIGFOOT Elusive 200 and earn our belt buckle!  We expect that they will be a collectors item since this year the race will be virtual and will be the only time the belt buckles will include the word “Elusive”.  Actually the truth is—we wanted a Bigfoot belt buckle anyway.

This year the BIGFOOT Elusive Race started August 1 and ends on September 30th.  To reach the finish line is actually 206.5 miles.  Some of the racers are seasoned ultra runners and plan to run/walk the entire Bigfoot race in one big push.  They want to win the race and/or see how fast they can run it.  Those who run/walk the distance the fastest anytime during these two months and provide verification of their time will be awarded the first, second, and third place plaques.

Our goal is not to “win” the race.  We just want to finish  We think it would be very cool to win the prize for the slowest time (there really is a prize for last place finisher).  After all, we are the only entrants who are in their 70’s!  And our bodies don’t hold up well if we hike over five miles a day without some rest days.  

For this reason we do a variety of activities.  We not only walk/hike but also cycle, swim play ping pong, and do ballroom dancing.  We are very fortunate because we both enjoy so many different activities, and it’s even more fun because we get to do them together.

My daughter, Candice, is the owner and Race Director for Destination Trail.  She scoped out each area and created and designed every race that Destination Trail offers.  Dan and I volunteered at the inaugural Tahoe 200 and at the inaugural Moab 240 races, but we have never attended a Bigfoot race.

Although we haven’t been to a Bigfoot race, these forests and mountains in central Washington have a very special meaning to us.  In 2014 we took our grandsons, Ian and Adam, camping and hiking through most all of the Bigfoot race course!

Because of this camping experience with Adam and Ian, as we “run” the BIGFOOT Elusive 206.5 in our community and remote desert camping locations in Arizona, we will be able to see all the forests and mountains on the actual Bigfoot trail in our memories.  And those memories will include Ian and Adam playing and hiking with us.  Ian who was then only 10 years old and Adam who was seven.  Now they are young men, but we will get to "see" them as boys again.

Here we are with Adam and Ian with Mt. Rainier in the background in 2014.

The following pictures are of the forests and mountains of the Bigfoot race. 

Mt. St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980.  Due to the ash explosions and pyroclastic flows it was the deadliest and most economically destructive event in US history.  

 Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake:

Spirit Lake was completely displaced by the avalanche and heated to body temperature when Mt. St. Helens erupted.  The blast-felled trees were swept into Spirit Lake as water displaced by the landslide receded. 

Spirit Lake with Mt. Rainier peaking over the top of the foothills:

 

Mt. Rainier is the highest mountain in Washington State and in the Cascade Mountain Range.  It is an active stratovolcano. Due to the probability of an eruption in the near future it is considered one of the most dangerous volcanos in the world.

Majestic view of Mt. Rainier:

 

We are both at mile 66 of the virtual Bigfoot race.  We are north of Spirit Lake and can “see” Mt. St. Helens looming over the lake and Mt, Rainier to the north.  This morning we passed Norway Aid Station and we are on our way to Elk Pass Aid Station.

Each morning as we go on our walk around our community lakes and golf courses or hike in our beautiful deserts we talk about where we are on the BIGFOOT Elusive Race course, which Aid station we are approaching or have just passed.  We talk about the “mountains” we would be seeing in the distance, and we talk about all the fun adventures we have had with our grandchildren and all the adventures we will have in the years to come.  It is an elusive journey into the past and future.