Chuckanut 50k

On Saturday, I toed the line at Chuckanut 50k in Bellingham with lowered expectations, because last Saturday, for reasons which I'm still unclear of, I participated in the Quad Qruncher with all the other Fools. 7 loops of a 10km course plus 1 km of purposeful misdirection equals really tired and sore legs.

I mean, who would willingly subject themselves to a 50km race in less than ideal conditions, and then have a brutal 100 miler race the next week? Well, I got my answer when I saw Gilles Barbeau huddled in the warming hut, apparently he didn't get the memo the other Fools got.

It was like a reunion of BC and CFA Ultrarunners, there were 72 registered Canadians, I think only 66 showed up. I joked with Neil Ambrose and Carolyn King that I only ran the QQ so I wouldn't start out too fast and blow up in the last 10k. (Who knew how prophetic that would be!)

The RD Krissy Moehl went over the brief instructions, follow the orange ribbon, and just like that @ 8:08am we were off! The first 6 mile section (and also the last 6 miles) is a fairly runnable trail more akin to a crushed gravel fire road. Despite fairly wet conditions prior to the start, it had since cleared up and while not quite warm enough made my two shirts (first half longsleeve under my 2007 KK shirt (Yes, Monty. I'm still rocking the Knee Knacker tee!)) and my windbreaker overkill.

About 4 miles into the run we come up to our first hill, part of my strength training for Miwok 100k is to walk uphills backwards. It build up my quads and hamstrings and saves them for the relentless pounding of the downhills. I'm aware that this looks weird. I'm not mocking any other runners as I'm going backwards and I make eye contact with them up the hill. Perhaps I shouldn't do this during a 50k race and only on training days, but every day is a training day. I got a few backhanded comments and a few quizzical looks, but I'm used to that.

Saw a lot of wellwishers giving me nods and words of encouragement on the out and back, pulled into AS 1 at 1:05, saw Betty and David and dumped my jacket off. Much better. Was okay for liquids (I'm wearing a Nathan speed belt with four 10 oz flasks, two are filled with water, the other two have 5 gels each) but nabbed a PBJ wrap on the go. Walked past the outhouse where a lineup was already forming. I can't eat and run so I took a brief break to properly chew the wrap and then was off again up a nice little climb (forward this time as it was narrow singletrack with roots) but descended into more singletrack. It was starting to get muddy and already I was hearing grumbles "if it's muddy this early, what's Lost Lake gonna be like?"

For the most part, I just ran my race. I lost a little time tightening my shoes as 5-6 runners zipped past me, but I caught 'em again on the uphill. It was a cloudy cool morning, perfect running weather and I took it easy on the descent to AS 2. Took two potato chunks, some water and made my way up the 3 mile hill. Since it was a wide gravel road, I alternated backwards strength builiding and forwards powerwalking. I had a nice little chat with Olga Varlamova, who I had met at Hagg Lake 50k last month. I managed to make up some time on a few local runners Martha Grant, Lori Wong and Dave Whitworth who appeared to be favoring his right arm. As I got closer, I could see why, his arm was in a sling, he broke it two weeks ago!?! Man, he is tough! Dave convinced Lori and Martha to run ahead and they did, for about 2 minutes, then they hit another uphill.

At this point, I've abandoned my backwards approach and going for RFM. I hit AS 3, but not before pulling a runner out of the way who couldn't hear the car coming from behind. "That's why we don't wear headphones on the trail." My drop bag is here, but I just refill my flasks and get another PBJ wrap and head out on the ridge. This was a fun section, but you still had to pay attention as one misstep meant a long way down. There were some funny and vital signs detailing which path you should take. Olga caught me here and we played leapfrog for a while. I'm not known for technical downhill running and I lost sight of Olga soon after.

Suddenly I found myself heading right onto Lost Lake Road, initially dry but slowly getting muddier, I also managed to catch Olga on a walk break and I took the opportunity to access the wrap when Olga started up again and wouldn't let me walk! I made some offhand comment about my watch and she didn't want to hear it. Well, I can take a hint and made my way through the slop. This was a lot of fun as I have my Dirty Girl Gaiters on and so went straight for the puddle. None of this sidestepping the muck for this bad boy.;) I was really enjoying myself and was starting to pass other runners now who were just picking their way, trying to find the best path. As I passed two runners, I heard one of them say, "Well, this isn't stopping him." Caught another bunch of runners, including one who had shortcut the course briefly. It took me 35 minutes to catch him, but it just made it that much more sweeter. On the uphill I noticed a 2006 version of the KK shirt and I caught Kathryn O'Grady at the crest. Briefly chatted with her until I noticed the terrain was dry and sloping downhill. Oops, gotta run.

As this was fairly decently trail, I took the opportunity to really run this part fast, especially since I saw the sign that Little Chinscraper was coming! Passed two more runners who stepped aside and let me tackle the very steep climb. As I was powering up the trail, I noticed a NSA jersey worn by Jurgen Watts who complimented me on my form as I passed him. At this point I was almost out of water and really needed to know where the next AS was. I was assured it was near the top of the hill. Cool. Where is that again? Fortunately it was fairly cool and kept my core temp down which was great because I found the AS 4 at Cleator RD. Gilles was just leaving and we exchanged pleasantries.

This time I called for my drop bag and exchanged my wet tops for my brand new CFA top and a can of Young Coconut juice, (that's right, I like my coconuts young) for the sodium, potassium and the 240 calories it provides. During this transition period I overheard the timing chip guy say so, "We have another 100 runners left." Mentally I figured it out: 345 registered, 50 no-shows, 295 actual runners. So I was in 200th place. Let's see if I can improve on that!

Hit the downhill road section and found myself on the fire road for 0.75 miles, fortunately all that muscle memory of the QQ was still very recent and I had a great time on the descent and even better once it switched to relatively softer trail. Caught a few runners here and had a good debate on the benefits of having beer waiting for you at the finish line. All too soon we hit AS 5, none the worse for wear, but out of nowhere Jurgen arrived too. I dipped a potato in salt and had 3 cups of flat coke. My gel flasks were half empty and I grabbed a 3rd PBJ wrap.

I now had 6.5 miles to run on decent trail, let's get 'er done! Making my way home, I was passing runners, I tapped knucks with Jurgen and moved on to the next runner. This is where I used my CFA shirt to its fullest advantage. My strategy was not to speed up, but keep up a good pace, run behind the person ahead of me, then side by side, then move in front, give'm 5 seconds to read the slogan then repeat. I passed about 12 runners on this 3 mile bit before I hit the downhill section that I had walked backwards only 5.5 hours earlier. I caught Gilles at the crest who commented that I was looking good. And for me, personally I was feeling stronger and fresher than I had any right to be. Came out of the fire road and hit a previous dirt section which had been chewed up by 200 feet. Overtook a group of three runners which included Rob Smith and Gail Forshaw, passed another two runners on a windy uphill, then a 1.25 mile gravel road with 3 moving dots in the distance.

Finally I came to the end of this road and up a paved path which led back to Fairhaven park. I could hear voices and a PA system and cowbells? Yay! I saw Betty and Dave signalling the next runner, which thankfully, was me. I gamely tried to catch the last guy but I settled for a sub 6:24 (6:23:52)!

After getting some much needed calories in the form of a burrito and soup, jogged back to my car and awaited the rest of the finishers including my carpooler, Ian Griffiths who ran his first 50k in 7:08!

After a celebratory postrace beverage at the Boundary Bistro, I was back home at 9pm and back on the trails at Buntzen Lake at 8:30am Sunday. Gotta get that lactic acid out somehow, right?