Race #47 Chuckanut 50k

Race #47 Chuckanut 50k

An iconic race that has been around forever and a must race for any ultrarunner.  This was the first time I had ever done this race.  My wife and I drove up to Bellingham on Saturday morning to go straight to the race and pick up my race number and packet and stuff.  I was really excited about this race because there were some really great runners in the race.  One of my favorite ultrarunners Gary Robbins was racing and I was hoping to have the chance to meet him.  I went and got checked in for the race and then met a bunch of my new trail runner friends and talked with them for a bit before the race.  After picking up my number I went back to the car to get everything I would need for the day and to apply the life saving Sportslick to the right spots and then started to wander over to the start.  At the start I saw Gary Robbins and introduced myself to him and he was really a nice guy.  Didn't have a whole lot of time to talk because the race was getting ready to start, he took off to get up front and I stayed where I was because I didn't want to get to far ahead of myself.  

The weather report had called for rain all day and I was really worried it was going to be a miserable day.  When we started the race the skies were overcast but not raining.  I started out at a pace that was really too fast, the first 6 miles are all on a paved bike trail so I was going out like a marathon race but later i found out this would not be a good strategy.  By the time I got to the Fragrance lake trail I was feeling pretty good about my race but then we hit the trail and that was where I slowed a bunch which is weird because I usually am pretty fast on trails.  I almost made a wrong turn at Fragrance Lake right after watching the guy in front of me miss a turn which I called him on and he tucked in behind me and then I made a wrong turn and he caught me it was good to have that check.  Coming down to the bottom of this trail you hit a logging road, this is where Tim Mathis passed me, I didn't think I would be anywhere near him but after about 10 miles I was still ahead of him.  We had a long climbing logging road before we got up to the ridge.  Tim lost me on this climb and I never caught him again.

Leaving the logging road we got to my favorite part of the race the ridge which was really fun and technical to run.  It reminded me of the first big climb at White River 50.  On a clear day you would be able to see the Sound and the San Juan Islands, it would have been beautiful but it was foggy.  The next section was just kinda soppy and wet and muddy so that wasn't so fun.

The next section was the last climb of the race, Chinscraper.  This is an iconic section of trails in trail running.  I was going along well and almost to the top, I was really just trying to stay ahead of Angel Mathis but I made a wrong turn and that is when she passed me although I thought I was ahead of her all the way to the end until I found out she finished ahead of me.  Also at this race right about this same time when I made a wrong turn, Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, passed me on Chinscraper as well.  He really ran it like a rock star.  After the top of Chinscraper we came back down the same logging road we went up and then down the Fragrance lake trail back to the bike path.  I absolutely loved this section because I was screaming on the downhill, I was passing people left and right it was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had in my short ultrarunning career.  When I got to the bike path I slowed considerably because I had nothing left.  I basically ran then walked, ran then walked for the last six miles and got passed by a bunch of people but I finished in 5 hours 47 minutes and 10 seconds, 156th place out of 347.  I was happy with my performance but I think I can do it faster.

After the race I had some soup and just hung around the finish for a bit.  Found out I won a prize through the random drawing, it was a leg wrap that you can put an ice pack in.  This comes in handy in my later race reports because I have been using this product a lot.  My wife and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Bellingham and it was so awesome, this is definitely the way to go, do the race first and then relax at a hotel after the race I had a great experience and will probably do this one again.

This race was March 16th, 2013.