Quotes from Plain 100 2014:

• It kicked my ass and I'm happy.
• If you want to replace your Plain 100 rock Tom will send you one for $1000. That is better than running it again.
• I'm glad my toenails are going to fall off soon, so that I can finally clean out all the dirt that is under them.
• Am I proud of my DNF? You darn toot'en I am.  
• Are we going back next year?  What do you think?
• Thank you Chris and Tom for putting on a hell of a race. Thanks to Search and Rescue and our knight in shining armor from the US Forrest Service.
• I LOVED the low-key atmosphere and self-sufficient ethic of this event.  Don't change a thing!
• Thanks for including all the splits!  It’ll help with training for my comeback next year.
• Thanks for a great event, both of you.  Extend further thanks to all volunteers and S&R.
• Sure hope the Signal Peak climb up is back next year, though the reroute was great too.
• You know you are in Plain when the replacement for a 6000 foot climb is harder than the climb.
• You haven't seen the last of me yet. I'll definitely be back for seconds.
• Thanks again for such a great race. I'm usually not someone to come back to repeat a race, but this one is already beckoning me back. I'm craving the Klone to Signal Peak section already.
• My racing partner bailed on the race two weeks prior because he slashed his leg with a chain saw and got twenty stitches which was the less painful option.
•  I feel I have a better sense of the Plain philosophy. I am grateful to have finished and will cherish my piece of Washington granite forever."
• It helps to make the prerace briefing for this event - Tom mentioned that he had said during the briefing that a sign was down on the Lower Chiwawa trail - the absence of that knowledge cost me about 30 minutes of wandering around Goose Creek Campground.
• I would not have finished if Tom didn't motivate my white butt!!"
• Plain – where the course flagging is leaves and the aid stations are mud puddles.
• You know you’ve run Plain when it’s four days after the run, you’ve taken five showers and two baths, and your feet are still dirty.
• Thanks again for a life altering experience
• It kicked my ass, fair and square.
• I am going to use this race to give Hardrock a shot."
• You know you are at Plain when you get skeert by a frog.
• It's a really tough 100, but at least you have great footing (wink, wink).
• Search and Rescue did a great job this year. They can’t help you unless you’re dying, but they smiled, laughed and waved all the same.
• Learn to love your own company because you’re not going find much out there.
• 40 miles without seeing another person is a long time.
• I typically leave my map and GPS at home. However, I usually find several lost runners out there carrying them.
• The water’s pretty clean, except for that one mud puddle that I drank out of.
• There’s plenty of wildlife on the course, some of it not even human.
• Yes, next year I’ll try something different. Running barefoot on a belt sander in a sauna for 20 hours comes to mind.
• Plain was definitely the toughest finish we have done including Hardrock.

Quotes from Plain 100 2013:

"... I feel I have a better sense of the Plain philosophy. I am grateful to have finished and will cherish my piece of Washington granite forever."

"...it helps to make the prerace briefing for this event - Tom mentioned that he had said during the briefing that a sign was down on the Lower Chiwawa trail - the absence of that knowledge cost me about 30 minutes of wandering around Goose Creek Campground ..."

"...I would not have finished if Tom didn't motivate my white butt!!"

“Plain – where the course flagging is leaves and the aid stations are mud puddles”

“You know you’ve run Plain when it’s four days after the run, you’ve taken five showers and two baths, and your feet are still dirty”

“Signal Peak was the second best climb of the day.  The best was anything else.”

"Thanks again for a life altering experience!"

"It kicked my ass, fair and square."

"I am going to use this race to give hardrock a shot."

"You get skeert by a frog."

"It's a really tough 100, but at least you have great footing (wink, wink)."

Quotes from Plain 100 2011:

"DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOT PERMANENT"

“Well, at least I finished Hardrock this year.”

“Running down to the Entiat River felt like running into a hair dryer.”

“The Signal Peak climb is possibly the hardest single climb in ultra running that nobody knows about.”

“I could have built a big log cabin from all the blowdowns that were across the trail.”

“Some of the trail is going back to nature.  A nice wildfire to burn out some of the brush in the trail would be helpful.”

“Search and Rescue did a great job this year.  They can’t help you unless you’re dying, but they smiled, laughed and waved all the same.”

“Learn to love your own company because you’re not going find much out there.”

“It was so hot that it completely melted the chocolate on my Snickers bars and I had to drink them for nourishment.”

“If you drop at some of the checkpoints you will suffer more pain in the vehicle ride than if you just continue on.”

“I typically leave my map and GPS at home.  However, I usually find several lost runners out there carrying them.”

“The water’s pretty clean, except for that one mud puddle that I drank out of….”

“There’s plenty of wildlife on the course, some of it not even human.”

“Yes, next year I’ll try something different.  Running barefoot on a belt sander in a sauna for 20 hours comes to mind.”

“Plain brain is getting into the wrong car after finishing.”

“Plain brain is not knowing what day of the week it is.”

“Plain brain is saying that you won't do that again and a week later strategizing for the next year.”

“I don't know why Plain100 is so hard”

"You can do anything that's time limited, even child birth concludes with a prize! along with the baby or in this case finish, additional rewards; a shower & rest!"

"THAT'S JUST STUPID!"

Nothing is promised to you except a damn tough course.

There are no nurseries on the trail.

This is a no WHINE zone.

Independence exerted here.

This is a DO-IT-YOURSELF race.

The exultation of Plain is knowing that you have competed in one of the toughest, unsupported 100’s in the U.S.

Run it! Tuck it in!  Shut up!  Get moving!  This is PLAIN.!!!!!!!!!!!!

You Know You're in the Plain 100 when:

"...when you vow to never run another ultra and disown all friends who do.
Plain was definitely the toughest finish we have done including Hardrock."
Tom Hayes and Liz McGoff
The 2002 Finishers

"I actually laid down 1/2 mile from Deep Creek and tried to sleep but I got too cold and had to walk in."
Jim Rudig

"Damn, I never had to work so hard to drop in a race as this one."
Bill LaDieu

"...you decide to quit at 70 miles but have to drag yourself to mile 95 to find anybody who cares."
Martin Miller

"...when you ask the Search and Rescue/radio checkpoint "where is the trail?" and they say "sorry we can't tell you" and they mean it!"
"...when you have to ride 100 miles (if you can find a ride)to return to the Start/Finish line if you drop at the 30 mile mark."
"...if the numbers 'Two' or 'Zero' are used independently to denote the number of finishers for any given year."
"...if you have a nightmare about being in the Plain 100 only to wake up and realize You are in the Plain 100!."
"... if 'Zero' equals the number of 'solo' finisher."
"...if you make a decision that next year instead of doing the Plain 100 you vow to go to a biker bar, smack the biggest guy in the place while proclaiming: "Honda is King and Harley's are Queen."
Scott McQueeny

"... if the RD is ready to drop a few more trees across the trail to add a little challenge to the course."
"...if the snot in your nose is as thick as the dust in your shoes."
Mike Burke

"...you budget your shoes to be thrown away after the race."
"...take the 'L' away from 'Plain' and what do you get?"
"...you add things up and it ain 't a 100."
Randy Gehrke

"...when you start the race definitely knowing that it might take you several attempts to complete the course!"
"...when you need to check your map multiple times for water sources."
"...when you definitely need to take care of your feet to even think of completing the course."
Dimitri Kieffer