Oregon Hikers

Dear Hikers,

I recently ran the entirety of the Wildwood, which has always been on my bucket list. I agreed to run it with a buddy I met while running the Portland Trail Series, in spite of not running over 15 miles since my first/only marathon in 2014. I’m an avid hiker/backpacker/runner so I thought I could whip myself into shape in a reasonable amount of time.

We decided that we would train for 8 weeks before making our bid - which is roughly the length of the running series.

I logged as many miles/cross-trained as much as I could in that timeframe. Sadly, my friend had a work event come up the weekend we agreed on and bailed last minute. By that point I had already mentally committed to running it and made my bid solo.

I had my partner drop me off at the trailhead at 9am (thanks boo). I packed enough food and water to last me for a couple hours, and asked her to meet me where Wildwood crosses Cornell Rd with more supplies. My game-plan was to run all the flat sections and walk the uphill/downhill sections.

I usually run or workout after work when i’m already exhausted, so I was feeling pretty good that morning after a light breakfast.

So good, I ran all the way to 53rd at a half marathon pace. After 53rd, my feeling of invincibility quickly faded and then the real test began.

I remember hitting a wall at the base of Pittock, and *cheerfully* walked to the Summit. In the back of my head I knew that the summit is only a handful of miles from the end of the trail - so holding onto that thought really helped me get through it.

After winding through the confusing sections of Wildwood in Washington Park - I finally finished around 5pm. It took me a little over 8 hours to complete.

In hindsight, taking on Wildwood point to point is very doable for regular runners/experienced hikers - especially if you are aiming to hike a decent amount as well. It’s relatively flat and you even get 1 to 2mi stretches to yourself North of Germantown Rd.

If you are training for Wildwood and have any questions - feel free to drop a comment below!

I hope you enjoyed this report.

Thanks,
Abe

nice!

How many miles?

30.2!

pretty good for 8 hours. I could do it in a couple days if I stretched.

Nice work. Took me I think about 10 1/2 hours to hike it a few years ago. Pretty much hiked it as fast as I could without stopping.

Ending in Washington Park is definitely cool, but I prefer running in the other direction. Knocks the bulk of the climbing out early, and the best miles for my money are in the north end of the park.

I called it a hiker treadmill as it felt like it was basically the same thing the whole way. I’m glad I did it as an interesting thing to do, but I’ll never do it again...kinda boring. IMO. Much more interesting to go around MSH in a day or Hood. But again...a nice thing to do once just for the heck of it.

You might next consider running/hiking what are known as the Forest Park Nasties. There are four of them and vary between 11 and 13 miles in length but also include 2800-3000 ft of elevation gain.

https://sites.google.com/site/runs4cach ... orest-park

Those are perfect for distance hike or ultra-marathon training. They include parts of the Wildwood trail as well as the fire lane "roads". If you are really ambitious, you can chain a couple of these together for a Double Nasty.