How does bushwhacking 50 miles and 25k feet of elevation gain without a set course sound?

”I don't usually do races where a finish is a good result, but every so often, I humbly find myself in one of those situations where I'll just be happy to finish...literally. 

On October 16th, I found myself in exactly that situation. This was one of those peculiar races where there’s no "elite" field, there's no finishers medals, or t-shirts. It's just you versus the course, and it's going to do its best not to let you cross that finish line. 

And I'm not talking about the self-deprecating, ”Oh gee, I hope I finish,” type of mentality when the normal finish rate is well north of 80%. I'm talking about a race where the finish rate is typically lower than 10% and no one in the field is trying for a fast time. 

The Euchre Bar Massacre is in a similar vein to the popular Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, where people – not very many of them – wander around the mountains looking for books to rip pages out of and therefore "prove" they have completed the course. And I use "course" loosely; while there is a route that you are supposed to follow, it's unmarked, mostly off-trail, and ultimately, you're not going to follow the same ”course” as everybody else. (See Max’s Instagram post for book pictures!)

Due to the off-trail nature of the Euchre Bar Massacre, there is significant bushwhacking leading to typical finish times over 24hrs. Did I mention it is only a 50 miler?! The length of the course is irrelevant. Distance on a course like this is measured in ”hills”, as in ”it is 3 hills until the drop bags” rather than ”it's only 10mi till the drop bags.” The vertical gain of each hill and difficulty of the bushwhacking determines the time until you can drop from the race...or stubbornly continue on to the next set of hills. 

These types of events aren't popular, and it's not because they are difficult. Trail runners do plenty of hard things. They appeal to a small number of folks that are drawn to this type of adventure. I think each participant's reasons may vary but for me, it's the whole combination of elements that really sucks me in. I love the wild nature of this type of race.

It is remote – I raced alone for 20hrs without seeing another person other than about 10 minutes at the drop bags.  

It is rugged, obviously – it has 25k of vert, tons of vegetation, and about half is off-trail. I looked like I was stuffed in a burlap bag with 20 cats before I was done. 

It is routeless – with no course markings you're going by map and compass and when it gets dark, you better know how to use that compass. I kept telling myself ”trust in the compass” as I was going in a direction that my mind was telling me was completely the wrong direction. I also did a complete 180-degree circle around a patch of manzanita in the middle of the night and realized I'd been there before. That's a terrible feeling. 

There's a lot about an event like this that appeals to me and a few nutty others but doesn't appeal to a lot more people out there. And that's okay.

Now, If you're thinking of getting into one of these, here are a few tips:

• First, reconsider your decision...
• Second, practice navigating, bushwhacking, and being alone for a long time in a safe space.
• Third, put ”For The Win”, or ”FTW” on your calendar as there are no winners, just finishers.

Words and images by: Max King

Thank you for this recount, Max! We sure know who to call when we want all pain and no gain!