Cascade Crest Classic 100 — usually called Cascade Crest — runs 100 miles through Washington's Cascade Mountains, starting and finishing in Easton, WA. 23,000 feet of climb. 32-hour cutoff. Held in late August. Long-running classic (since 2000), a Hardrock qualifier, and famous for two course features: a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, and the "Trail from Hell" — a 5-mile bushwhack-and-rock-scramble that breaks at least one runner per year.
The course
A loop course through the Cascades. Climbs out of Easton up to the Pacific Crest Trail (mile 33–53), runs along the Cascade ridge with views of Mt. Rainier, drops down for a rolling section, then re-climbs for the brutal middle. The Trail from Hell (around mile 70–75) is a single-track scramble through downed trees and rocky stream crossings — most runners walk it entirely. Finish is a long descent back to Easton.
By the numbers
- Distance: 100 miles (loop)
- Vert gain: 23,000 ft
- Vert per mile: 230 ft/mi (mountain)
- Cutoff: 32 hours
- Date: Last weekend of August
How to qualify and enter
Lottery-entry. 100K or 50-mile qualifier required. The race fills quickly when registration opens; many runners take 2 lottery cycles to get in.
Gear strategy
- Vest: 12L+ for layers. UltrAspire Zygos 5.0 or Salomon Adv Skin 12.
- Shoes: Hoka Speedgoat 6 or Tecnica Magma. Course is mixed terrain.
- Layers: long sleeve, light shell, gloves, beanie. Cascades are unpredictable.
- Poles: recommended. The Trail from Hell rewards anything you can use to push off.
- Headlamp: primary + spare. Two nights potentially in play.
The Cascade Crest experience
The PCT section is one of the prettiest 20-mile stretches in any American 100. The Trail from Hell is character-building. The aid station volunteers (many ex-finishers) know exactly what runners need. Most finishers describe Cascade Crest as the most distinctly Pacific-Northwest of the major 100s — moss, ferns, fog, and the kind of beauty that makes the suffering feel meaningful.
What these sessions assume you are measuring with
Every pace, zone and power figure here needs something recording it. These three cover running, long days and the bike.
Garmin Forerunner 965 AMOLED multisport with the training-load and threshold metrics most of these sessions assume you can see day to day.
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COROS APEX 2 Series GPS Watch Sapphire titanium and the longest battery in its class, which is the deciding feature once a day out runs past a few hours.
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Favero Assioma Uno Power Meter Pedal Single-sided pedal power, the cheapest honest entry into training with watts rather than estimating from heart rate.
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