March 17, 2012
Happy St Patrick’s Day – let’s go run a 50 km ultramarathon! For the last few years, I’ve been contemplating doing a 50 km race, but had not committed myself to the endeavour. My motivation came as Shane decided that he was going to try the ultra scene in 2012, and start the year off with Chuckanut. Well, I thought I’ll be training for the Boston marathon during that time anyway, so it seemed like a good time to bite the bullet and sign up for my first ultra.
Chuckanut’s popularity has grown exponentially in the last few years, and in order to guarantee ourselves a spot on the start line, we woke up early on the morning that race registration opened, and were on our respective computers logging in to purchase a race entry. The first 500 spots sold out in 3 hours – much faster than in previous years. However, as it was the 20th anniversary year for the race, the race directors got approval to expand the entries for the race and opened it up for another 500 registrations. Eventually 700 signed up for the race – with a very deep and competitive field. It seemed like every fast ultra-runner out there wanted to run this race, and it stacked up with some impressive talent, including fellow Canadians Jason Loutitt and Adam Campbell.
Back to race morning. We awoke early, as the race started at 8:00am, and we were staying about 50 minutes away at Shane’s uncle’s place. The weather was gray, rainy, cold and dismal. Not really inviting to go run 50 km. There was no indoor waiting area at the start, so we got ourselves ready in the car and hit the start line at the last minute. It was definitely a chaotic morning, with HUGE line-ups for the port-a-potties.
However, once we were all corralled up and ready to go, it felt like it had warmed up already quite a bit, and thankfully the rain had eased off somewhat. The conditions on the race course were reported to be snowy, muddy, wet and slippery. This would definitely make for a slower race, and I only hoped that the snow on the top was not too deep.
Finally, it was time for the countdown and we were off. For once, the pace started off reasonably, as everyone jostled to find their groove. I was a bit nervous about how this race would go, and was just hoping that I would have enough energy to make it through and not feel miserable. I’d come down with a cold earlier in the week, and although it had not been too bad, it had made a significant dent in my energy.
The first 10 km of the race is relatively flat along a wide and not too interesting trail. There were a couple of small early climbs, and then a few downhill sections, that I envisioned would be tough on the way back when the legs would be fatigue – but first I had to get through this first 10 kilometers. Off the bat, my energy started to wane, and the sickness feeling took hold. ‘Drat’ I thought, hopefully I don’t feel this way for the entire race, otherwise, it would be a very long and uncomfortable run. That first 10 kilometers, although relatively flat, felt long and it was a battle between my mind and my body. Although, I knew this is how the race would end, I didn’t figure that this is how it would start. My mind wanted to go faster, knew I could go faster, but my body was holding back and was only willing to let me go at a more leisurely pace. So, I settled in, and figured this might end up as a just ‘survive it’ race.
There were mile markers along this first section of the course, and I counted my way down to the first aid station and the end of the first section. Soon, I heard the cheers, as the field made a left turn up into the forest and mountains. This first section was indeed slow: 54:30 for 10.7 kilometers.
Interestingly, as we ascended into the mountain, this is where I started to actually feel like myself again. Somehow, I’d been able to outrun my cold, and my legs and energy returned to a normal state. Who ever thought that an uphill would make me feel better… but I’ll take it.
The first climb was steady, single-track like, although not grueling, during which we rose about 1,000 feet over around 6.5 kms. It took me 41:35 minutes. Okay, so I wasn’t blazing up the trails, but I was definitely holding my own and wasn’t getting passed - and this is where the race became fun for me. Getting into the forest was a definite mental boost. We climbed our way out of mud and into snow – as it covered everything around us. Luckily though, the trail itself was well tread, and as a result it was just mucky, but not snowy. I part jogged and part hiked up the hills – trying to jog it along the less steep sections, and hiked the steeper parts. Again, I was surrounded by men – and we formed a long train, as we rose our way higher and higher.
Then, we got a bit of a descent – a short rest before heading into another climb. The descent was switch-back along a single-track trail that wasn’t too steep. I definitely enjoyed this part. Descent #1: 33:40. Climb #2 took us along a wide road over 4.5 kms. This climb was over 1,000 feet, and again I resorted to a partial jog and partial hike – although for the most part I was able to hold a jogging stride.
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| Course Map |
This was a long climb and I kept thinking the top was just around the corner, as each little bend seemed like it was the high point, but alas it would not be so, as I was continually disappointed to only to see another rise up ahead. This section was a bit slippery, and my goal was to try and stay in the most secure spots on the road. I kept a pretty decent pace all the way up and managed to pass a few men, and one woman who had been ahead of me.
Mid-way through this section, I dove into the ‘real food’ that I had brought. I started craving something a bit more solid and took out my bag of steamed potatoes, sweet potatoes (yams) and a hard-boiled egg. However, I unloaded a portion of the bag onto the ground, as I pulled it out of my pack. I only noticed when someone yelled ‘Did I just see an egg fall to the ground?” Oops, that was me – and yes, I was hungry enough to go back to pick it up, dust off the dirt and place it back in my bag for later. Finally, the top appeared with Aid station #3 – climb #2 – 33:43 total time. This is the only aid station where I actually stopped. We were going into a long ridge section that covered about 12 kilometers and I wanted to top up my water – I also grabbed a banana, which tasted absolutely amazing.
The next section of the course was the most technical of the entire race. The trail was narrow and windy and there were logs, stumps and many other obstacles to go over and around. I was on my own for about 10-15 minutes, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I figured it wouldn’t last long. My technical running skills were not up to part for this slippery, snowy, technical section, and as I slowed down, I knew there’d likely be some men coming up behind me that would be able to blow past with their confident running. Soon enough it felt like there was a train of men behind me, waiting to pass. I stepped aside to let some go by, and it felt like 10 people passed me! Ok- not cool – definitely have to work on those technical confidence skills!
However despite my struggles, I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the course- it was an absolutely beautiful with the snow tipped trees. It felt like a little winter wonderland. Along the entire race-course there were little signs and pictures that had been posted with motivational language and tips reminding us to drink and keep fuelled. These were totally enjoyable, and as a first time runner, they put a smile on my face. These signs also identified that we were coming up to a portion of the course that was supposed to offer a spectacular view. Unfortunately, it was blocked by the clouds, and only the trees were visible – but the race organizers were kind enough to post a picture on one of these signs showing us what the view was supposed to look like ;-) – thanks guys.
Although I’d reviewed the course map prior to race-day, I was still surprised at how long this section of the course took to run. It wound back and forth and took me a total of 1 hour 27 minutes. By the end, I was definitely happy to see the aid station – except that it now led into the much anticipated and brutal Chinscraper climb – a short (1.8 km), but extremely steep ascent. The only upside was that this was the final climb of the race. After this it really was all downhill and flat. The hiking started almost instantaneously. My legs were pretty fatigued by this point, and it was more of a survive-it hike rather than a ‘push-it’ hike. This was evidenced by the fact that I was passed by a good number of people, when I usually hold my own on the ascents. My legs were burning by the end and I was more than happy to make it to the top. Total time: an embarrassing 21:09.
Now we got into an approximately 6 km descent that was a good quad crusher. Most of it was on a wide logging road that was easy to power down – and maybe too easy. I enjoyed letting my body fall into the hill and made up some ground on this descent, as I was able to pass a few people. Near the bottom, we transitioned onto a smaller trail that wound around a bit, and although the downhill was ‘easy-ish’, I was looking forward to getting off the quad pounder and onto something different. Despite the downhill grade, it still took me 29:48 to run this section. Wow – I definitely was feeling faster than that – oh how you can deceive yourself in this length of a race.
Next, I approached the final aid station and the transition into the last flat 10 kilometers of the race. I had expected this to be hard, but I was surprised as to how challenging it ended up being. I won’t ever know, but I did wonder if I’d held off on the downhill portion would my body have felt less wrecked for this last section of the race – would I have survived it better and ended with a faster time? Or perhaps I’d pushed too hard on the uphills? Or it could just be that 50 km is a darn long distance, and it just takes a toll on the body, no matter what. Whatever the reason, the last 10 km were a real struggle and definitely the toughest part of the race for me. My quads were burning and my entire core was screaming at me to stop. I was shuffling along, and it took every ounce of energy I had to propel myself forward. However, despite my best efforts, I did take a few walking breaks. I stopped twice along the flat section and then resorted to a hike on the small uphills that were in the last few kilometers of the race. Unfortunately, because of my struggles I lost several placings during these last 10 kms and was passed by at least 5 women! At the time, I didn’t have the energy to care, but after finishing I thought - if only I’d pushed harder, maybe I could have held my placing better… if only, right?
I appreciated the mile markers along this last stretch – it helped to think – ‘ok, just X kms more’ or only ‘x hundred meters’ until the next mile marker. Because of these markers, I had a pretty good idea of how much longer I had until the finish. When I was about 600-800 meters to the finish, I crossed a road, and there was a marshal standing there, who yelled out encouragement to me and told me ‘way to go, only 6 minutes to the finish!’ What, I thought, that can’t be right, I know I’m going slow, but I don’t think it should take me that long to run that distance. Luckily, she was mistaken, and within about a minute or so, I saw the final marshal who directed me up a tiny slope to the finish line. I had done it – I had ran 50 kms (actually about 52, as the race was a bit long)! It felt so awesome to run up to the finish line – and complete this beast. Shane met me at the finish line, and all I could say was “my legs are thrashed I have to lie down.” I staggered over to a grassy area, and plopped myself right down into a complete supine position. Aww, that felt sooo good!
Total time: 5:33:44 – good for 20th woman overall
Final 10 km: 1:05:49 (slowest 10 km of my life!!)
Food/energy intake: 1 scoop energy drink, 1 scoop carbo-pro, 1 egg, some potatoes and sweet potatoes, 1 gel, 1 fruit bar, ½ banana, some dried apricots and dates
Liquid intake: 750 mL? Definitely note enough in any event
Gear: hydra-pack and 1-500mL bottle on the back
Adam Campbell – a fellow Canadian succeeded in winning the race in a time of 3:48:55. The two leaders, Max King and, took a wrong turn in the middle of the race (due to course marshals and flagging not yet being set up), allowing Adam to come up from behind to take the win. Huge congrats to him. Ellie Greenwood, also a Canadian, unsurprisingly was the first female in a time of 4:09:27 (wow, makes me look slow!) coming in over 13 minutes ahead of the second place woman, and beating her own course record from the previous year. Shane struggled a bit during the race, as his legs felt flat and he didn’t have the extra edge to race to his potential. Despite that he still finished a respectable 24th place overall in a time of 4:11:44.
Overall it was a great race, a good challenging course, with frequent aid stations and encouraging marshals. The post race food was pretty good too – soup and bread, with some potato chips and fruit. Thanks to the race director Kristy Moel – Despite the challenges, I would definitely consider running another 50km race again.
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