Article by Ryan Sullivan
Gorge Waterfalls 100K Race Report
I ran the 2025 Gorge Waterfalls 100K with big dreams of securing a top-2 position, which would have earned me a spot on the US team in the 80K for the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Canfranc, Spain in September. I needed to have a 95th percentile day, and ended up having a pretty average, but not bad, day, which landed me in 5th place in a very stacked field, and under Vincent Bouillard’s previous course record (Walmsley’s record was on a slightly different course)…but not in the coveted top two. And so it goes.
Logistics: We had a group of friends and family who stayed in Hood River, about 20 minutes east of Cascade Locks, the race’s start/finish. Plenty of people stay about 30 minutes west of Cascade Locks in Portland, but this includes variables like traffic and such. Daybreak Racing/Freetrail put on an amazing event with vibes, clear communication, good course maps, crew instructions, etc.
Course: basically two out-and-backs on the Gorge Trail and the PCT. The first out/back includes a loop at the end with a big scenic climb/descent. Crew points are at miles 6, 33, 39, 49, and 59. It’s a mixture of highly technical terrain with mud and wet rocks, as well as some relatively smooth miles in the second half of the course (on the PCT). 11,000 feet of climbing, totally runnable without anything too steep that would require much hiking or poles. There is about 5 total miles of pavement in the first half of the race, in 2.5 mile stretches on the first out/back.
Shoes, gear, etc.: I ran in the Norda 005 (one pair for the entire race), which was a perfect shoe for the course.
It’s insanely light and fast, and the Viibram outsole provided plenty of grip on wet terrain and handled the wet rocks amazingly well. The shoe is stable and I only had one minor ankle roll, for which I only had myself and a brief lack of focus to blame. The uppers were amazing and drained any water remarkably quickly.
The only minor issue (compared to a plated shoe) was that I did feel some of the rocks through the midsole, but there is enough structure in the foam to where it never hurt or caused any foot soreness. In fact, the midsole behaved about as well as the Agravic Speed Ultra (below) in terms of preventing foot and lower leg soreness/fatigue. (Editor’s Note: RoadTrailRun’s Norda 005 Multi Tester Review)
I raced my 2024 season in the Adidas Agravic Speed Ultra (RTR Review), and I think that shoe would have really struggled on this course, both in terms of staying upright (they’re relatively unstable on technical rocky stuff) and grip (the small-lug continental rubber isn’t great in mud or on wet rocks). Several notable drops from the men’s elite field were related to ankle injuries, though it’s important to note that none of those athletes were wearing the Adidas shoe. I think the Agravic Speed Ultra would have been an amazing choice for the second half of the race, if one were looking to make a shoe change.
I used the Raide Research belt (RTR Review), which (seriously) doesn’t bounce. I carried a full 500 mL flask as well as 6+ gels for most of the race, in addition to carrying a handheld bottle.
For fuel/nutrition I drank Skratch hydration mix in every one of my bottles, and used a mixture of SIS Beta Fuel and CARBS gels. It was a high of 55 degrees and mostly overcast, so about 2 bottles per hour was enough to stay hydrated, and cooling strategy didn’t come into play at all.
Race: I went through mile 20ish with the lead pack including Adam Peterman, Tracen Knopp, Jeff Colt, Matt Seidel, Dylan Humberger, and Anthony Williams (from what I can remember). They picked up the pace when I decided to back off just slightly, thinking that the back half of the race would entail all kinds of carnage and that if I felt good enough, I could pick people off and make my way onto the podium.
Unfortunately, when the back half of the race came and I was only a couple minutes off the lead, there wasn’t much to squeeze, despite having fueled and hydrated to perfection - just one of those days. By the turnaround point (Wyeth aid station) of the second out/back at mile 49, I started to feel amazing and absolutely flew for the last 13 miles and gapped the folks behind me, but much to my surprise/dismay, Jeff Colt and Phil Royer cruised just as fast and never came back to me.
Adam Peterman and Tracen Knopp were on another level and, deservedly, blew everyone’s doors off and deserve to be representing team USA at worlds.
I had a great crew of family and friends
Ryan Sullivan is a 34 year old trail and ultra runner who lives in Grand Junction, Colorado and works as a primary care doctor outside of running. He likes race distances from 30K through 100M and typically logs 90-100 mile training weeks over 6 days. His 2024 results include 2nd at the JFK 50 mile with the 6th fastest time in the race’s history, a win and CR at Quebec Mega Trail 80K, and 4th overall in his 100 mile debut at Leadville. He received several UROY votes and now considers himself a solid C-list celebrity in the sport of ultrarunning. Most of his miles are run in the high desert near his house or in the San Juan Mountains, often accompanied by his dog, Willie (who is, confusingly, a girl).
Ryan’s Norda 005 was provided by Norda at no cost. He was not otherwise sponsored by Norda.
The Norda 005 is available now at Norda and select retailers including
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