The North Face - Endurance Challenge

THE ENDURANCE EXPERIENCE

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TRAIL - BELLINGHAM, WA - 2008

Experience | Results | Photos/Video

PACIFIC HEIGHTS

The North Face® Endurance Challenge entices Seattle-area runners with big climbs, technical lines, and good times

Bellingham, Washington – When The North Face Endurance Challenge presented by Gore-Tex announced that its 2008 Northwest Regional would take place in the mountains above Bellingham, 90 miles north of Seattle, the local running community took note. Seattle-area runners, from chiseled ultramarathoners to weekend trail warriors, are accustomed to hitting mountain trails a very short drive from their homes.

Many registered for the race with hushed curiosity over what the course would hold.

Some runners with local knowledge were left scratching their heads, too, wondering how the courses would link together Blanchard and Chuckanut Mountains. The North Face worked with local residents, DNR, and Camp Lutherwood to establish links between the two, offering runners a choice of never-before-run routes.

But how about the course itself? How difficult would it be? Could it be as gnarly as the Endurance Challenge held four weeks earlier, in Bear Mountain, NY? The answer grew apparent during the early miles. This was a true test of trail running, with hearty uphills, thunderous downs, occasional flats, technical singletrack, fire roads, and scenery so stunning that a runner could easily get lost – that is, if it weren’t for the countless trail markers, ribbons, and streaks of flour guiding the way. (As 50-miler Jeff Browning noted on his blog: “… the good news is that it was marked crazily well. Overly marked. I swear there was a flag every 50 yards …”)

So it was with giddy excitement that athletes tackled distances of 10K, Half Marathon, 50K, and 50 miles on Saturday, May 10. The weather stayed cool (mid 60s, at its warmest point) and the traditional Pacific Northwest rain held off (a good thing – one race organizer said “There was already mud. If it rained, it would have been like the Congo out there.”).

With everything organized, marked, and in place, all that was missing was Race Day drama. And, soon enough, there was soon no shortage of that, either.

10K: Making a Splash

When Nick Aldrich and Brad Cheek crossed the finish line of the Endurance Challenge 10K, they barely broke stride, loping together across the staging area at Camp Lutherwood, and splashing right into a nearby pond. The pair tied for second, but that almost seemed irrelevant.

That sort of good-spirited competition summed up the 10K. Despite a tough course layout that included two separate loops and challenged runners with a monstrous, steep climb during the second half of the race, smiles were more widespread than grimaces. Mud-caked legs were the fashion of the day, a badge of honor shared by the front runners as well as those last to complete the race.

The men’s race was won by Ian Redding of Seattle with a time of 1:03:14 – 1:31 ahead of Aldrich and Brooks.

On the women’s side, Shannon Kelley of North Bend, WA, turned in an impressive performance, clocking a time of 1:13:19, nearly five minutes ahead of her next-closest competitor, Julie Westcott of Seattle. Charity Davidson placed third in 1:19:54.

A total of 115 runners tackled the 10K distance. 112 finished.

Half Marathon: Not Exactly a Gravel Trail

Jeff Bigler, 31, from Tacoma, Washington, is a regular runner. “I’ve been to a lot of races,” he says, matter-of-factly. He had heard people talk about running trails, but had never ventured off-road -- although he always thought it would be fun to try. Finally, the Wednesday before the Endurance Challenge, his girlfriend, Tatiana Botsford, discovered the race online and they both signed up.

“I thought, ‘OK, this is going to be a nice little gravel trail,’” says Bigler. The pair loaded up the car and headed up to Bellingham. Days later Bigler admits that they underestimated what awaited them. “We even brought our bikes up there thinking we’d do a ride on Sunday.”

“We did the first loop and I’m thinking ‘man, we’re going slow,’” says Bigler, who ran with a GPS. “I’m thinking ‘this is taking forever.’” Bigler, who normally completes a road half marathon in under 1:20, noted that it took him roughly 30 minutes to cover the first three miles.

“We were so greatly surprised by the course,” he says. And he means “surprised” in a good way. “It was just a blast.”

“What I liked about the trail run was that a lot of it (the effort) is coming from the will within you to push on when your lungs are gasping,” marvels Bigler. “It’s the sheer pushing forward. And the conditions are so much more of a variable than on a road run.”

Bigler discovered the will to endure through some steep climbs – including one chinscraping, muddy slope where it seemed most runners slipped back one step for every two steps forward. He eventually finished 8th overall, with a time of 2:31:43 – a full hour slower than his typical road run … but a whole lot more fun, as he explains.

Bigler’s girlfriend, Tatiana, finished in 3:15:18, in a virtual tie with The North Face Endurance athlete and Endurance Challenge host Dean Karnazes, who is between runs on his quest to complete the Desert Grand Slam.

Pushing the pace in front of Bigler was eventual winner Kyle Hathaway, of Oak Harbor. His time nipped second-place finisher Michael Fitzpatrick of Anacortes, WA, by just 15 seconds.

In the women’s race, Julie Bryan of Jackson, WY, clocked an impressive time of 2:35:38 – a time that placed her 9th overall and first woman. The next-closest female finisher, was Laura McAndrew of Woodway, WA, with a finishing time of 2:46:34

In all, there were 137 finishers out of the 140 starters – calculating to an astounding finisher’s rate of 98%.

As for Bigler and Botsford, they did not go for a bike ride on Sunday, the day after the race. They were too tired.

Instead, they brought their road running shoes to a local car wash. “We had to pressure wash them to get them white again,” laughs Bigler.

Women’s Accelerade 50K: Homecooking

Krissy Moehl, who works for the Conservation Alliance in Bend, Oregon, loves where she lives. But, she also freely admits where her heart is. “My roots are here,” she says of Seattle. “I can’t deny that.” Moehl grew up in Washington and lived for a number of years in the Seattle area. It’s a connection that runs soul-deep.

Moehl happily booked her flight to Seattle after registering for the Endurance Challenge Accelerade 50K. She made arrangements to drive to the race with her mom. “It was a nice way to spend Mother’s Day Weekend,” she says.

It was a homecoming in more ways than one. “I went to summer camp at Camp Lutherwood,” says Moehl, referring to the race’s staging area. “It was kind of fun – I drove up with my mom and we got all nostalgic.”

Moehl has also been the six-time Race Director for the famed Chuckanut 50K, held in the same area in March every year. The Accelerade 50K course did not overlap with parts of the Chuckanut, but the Endurance Challenge 50-mile race did. Moehl has trained a lot on the area’s trails as well.

Despite a depth of course knowledge, Moehl entered the day with some trepidation. “I’ve been injured,” she noted. “I actually took an entire month off.” Earlier in the year, in February, Moehl fell on some ice and tore her gastrocnemius muscle (the calf) off the fibula and bruised her kneecap. “I made the smart decision to do what my body was ready for,” she says, admitting a slight temptation to run the 50-mile race, but deciding against it.

Early in the race, Moehl led the female runners, but trailed a lead group of several men by up to 15 minutes. “On one of the earlier out and backs – at about mile 15 – I saw that they had roughly 15 minutes on me,” she says.

Later, at aid stations at miles 18 and 23, Moehl saw her mom and boyfriend, Dagan, and switched out water bottles without saying a word. It was evident she was in race mode. Later, she learned that she was gaining on the horde in front of her.

“I unknowingly surged near the end,” says Moehl, with an apparent shrug. She soon began catching runners, eventually landing near the very front, vying for the overall lead.

“I caught them near the Oyster Dome,” she says, referring to a popular climbing area just off the trail – while also exhibiting a bit of course familiarity. “As I passed the guys, they were like, ‘How does First Place feel?’” Incredulous, Moehl replied, “You mean OVERALL?!?!”

On one of the race’s final major climbs, Moehl surged one more time, attempting to put the proverbial hammer down on her pursuer, Ryan Smith. “I’m not a sprint-to-the-finish kind of runner,” she explains. “So I tried to put some time on him on the big climb.” In the clear on the homestretch, Moehl shifted into a more celebratory mood: “Near the end, I had fun weaving between the runners.”

Moehl’s mom and boyfriend greeted her in the finishing area, right back at Camp Lutherwood, where she spent numerous summers at camp. Her boyfriend, Dagan, was shocked at her performance. Moehl laughs: “He just looked at me and asked, ‘Who ARE you?!?!’”

Moehl’s finishing time of 5:28:52 gave her the overall win and placed her roughly 90 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Ryan Smith (see below: “Great Scot!”). The second female finisher was local Michelle Stiles of Bellingham in 6:45:11, while Krys Pick of Maple Ridge rounded out the top three women in the Accelerade 50K, registering a time of 7:03:47.

Men’s Accelerade 50K, Part II: Great Scot!

Ryan Smith, 28, of New York City is fast becoming an Endurance Challenge “regular” – yet he’s also brand new to the sport. Four weeks before the Seattle-Bellingham Accelerade 50K, he volunteered with his New York-based running club, Reservoir Dogs, to work the Mile 33 Aid Station at the Endurance Challenge New England Regional at Bear Mountain, New York. He wanted to run that day, but decided it was best to save his legs for the Boston Marathon a week later.

“Working the Aid Station, it was good to see what they (runners) were requesting and what they were eating,” says Smith, in an accent that reflects his upbringing in Scotland.

With experience in hand and a 3:03 Boston Marathon time under his belt, Smith set off for Seattle, attempting to tackle both his first trail run and his first ultramarathon. “I was looking to do a longer, off-road race,” he says. “and Seattle was an area I hadn’t seen before.”

Smith was immediately struck by the difference between running the Accelerade 50K and tackling the Boston Marathon. For starters, the 50K climbed over 7,000 vertical feet while Boston’s famed “Heartbreak Hill” is barely a 150-foot speed bump by comparison. Smith also realized that, because of the technical terrain, he needed to stay focused the entire time—whereas a road marathon allows you to “zone out,” as he puts it. Finally—and oddly—he found the Accelerade 50K to be easier on the body. “In the Marathon, the repetition of movement taxes your body,” he explains. “After Boston, I just wanted to sit down and sleep; I didn’t hit the same sort of low in this race.”

Hesitant at the beginning of the race, Smith didn’t go off with the lead pack. “I didn’t want to go with them in case they were levels above me,” he says. Instead, he just let them go and enjoyed the solitude. “I must’ve run about 15 miles before I saw the first person,” he says, noting another enjoyable departure from the Boston Marathon, where he shared the course with nearly 20,000 runners and a million spectators.

Smith’s conservative approach paid off in a major way beginning mid-way through the race. “I started to see some people and overtook them,” he recalls. “I was able to pick people off as the race went on.”

It turns out, Smith was not entirely new to off-road running – even though his staple run takes him through New York’s Central Park. “I have a bit of a cross-country background,” he explains, reflecting on his early days in Scotland, “and I do a lot of hiking and spend time in the outdoors.”

A little more than halfway through the race, Smith glanced at his watch, noting the time. It read “3:04” – and marked the longest he had ever run, by just one minute. “I thought ‘Whoa, I’m in uncharted territory.’”

Soon Smith landed himself at the front of the race pack, running with Michael Havrda of Kenmore, WA. “I had some gas left in the tank,” he notes. That’s when Krissy Moehl (see above: “Homecooking”) caught and passed him. He tried to keep up, but she managed to pull away on a major climb. “I didn’t see her again,” says Smith. “She must have really been going for it.”

With a time of 5:30:26, Smith finished the race in second place overall – first male—not a shabby trail ultra debut for a gent who had only previously run two road marathons to his name. He was followed by Havrda, who ran a 5:35:46, and Joseph Creighton of Seattle, with a time of 5:54:15.

After all was said, done, and run, a total of 57 runners started the Endurance Challenge Accelerade 50K, and 53 finished.

Days later, in a phone conversation, Smith waxed poetic about his inaugural trail-ultra experience. “I’ve always secretly been a trail person, but I’ve also always lived in cities,” he says. “That’s where my heart is – trail running is just so much more satisfying than road running.”

Look for Smith at the next Endurance Challenge event. “I’m thinking about doing the Washington DC one (September 6) … it’s not far from here,” he says.

Women’s 50-Mile: Technical Merits

The enduring image of Nikki Kimball is that of a wild-haired, care-free runner, giggling her way confidently down technical mountain singletrack, seemingly without a worry in the world. So it’s a sock to hear her talk of her nerves leading up to the Endurance Challenge 50-Mile in Seattle-Bellingham.

“I was WAY more nervous going into this race than others,” she says. And that’s saying a lot, considering the 36-year-old Kimball, a member of The North Face Endurance Team, has conquered some of the world’s most prestigious ultramarathons, including the 2008 Ultra Tour Du Mont Blanc – in course-record time, no less.

“This was really the first time I tried to race an ultra since August,” she explains. Since then, she has dealt with a seemingly endless chain of injuries—a dislocated knee, a sprained ankle. “I’ve done some other ultras as rehab for my dislocated knee,” says Kimball, who is a physical therapist. “Also, (going into this race) I was only seven weeks post-ankle sprain and I knew I had to be careful on it.”

“I told myself before the race that if the ankle gave me any problems, I was going to drop.” Softened expectations are uncommon to Kimball – or any champion of her caliber. “I usually go into races super confident because I know I’ve done all the training.”

On top of her own obstacles, Kimball also faced a formidable field in Bellingham. Many eyes were on Susannah Beck from Helena, Montana, who has made a statement at some early-season ultras and was running her first 50-miler. Most recently, Beck, 39, blistered the course at the Way Too Cool 50K in Cool, California. On that course, she clocked a new course record time of 3:55, nearly 12 minutes ahead of her closest competitor.

“I know Susanna is a 2:34 marathoner and that’s much faster than me,” says Kimball. “At the same time, with Kendra (Ralston) and Monica (Ochs) in the race, I knew I’d have to run well. Some of the nervousness came from the competition – but those are people I don’t mind being beaten by because they’re fast and they’re friends of mine.”

“Most of the nervousness came from ‘Is my ankle going to last 50 miles?’” she adds. “I just didn’t want to get hurt again.”

As expected, Kimball and Beck led the pack from the get-go, and they ran together to the second aid station. At that point, the course entered a muddy section. “I am more comfortable in the mud than she is,” says Kimball of Beck. “Until then, we ran together, just chatting, so that was a lot of fun.”

Beck admits that her strength is in the flatter, smoother sections of trail, when she can surrender to her jaguar-like legspeed. “My background is in road racing,” she says, “and I’m used to a lot of run-able courses and not walking – I will always do better on flatter and more run-able courses.”

“Technical is so easy for me … I’m just faster on that stuff,” says Kimball. “The terrain dictated what I did with the race.”

From there, Kimball was able to put some time on Beck, her closest pursuer. “Craig Ralston (husband of fellow 50-miler, Kendra Ralston, who was in hot pursuit of Beck) gave me a backsplit at twenty-something miles and she (Beck) was five or 10 minutes back,” says Kimball, whose ankle seemed to be weathering the storm quite well. “Having that (split time) information helped, because I knew if I kept it going, I could be pretty comfortable.”

But one crux still loomed for Kimball if she was going to hold on for the win. “There was a long section of easy running – sort of fire road stuff – between 20 and 30 miles,” she explains. “I knew that if Susannah—or any of those three women—was going to catch me, it would be there. When I didn’t get caught on that fire road section, it helped my confidence.”

With 13 miles to go, Kimball picked up a pacer, her friend Jason Hill, a footwear product manager at The North Face. Up to that point, Kimball had run alone since leaving Beck in the mud. Says Kimball, “I was glad that I picked up Jason because I was feeling sick at that point due to a recent bout with the flu.”

15 minutes back, Beck began to experience her own struggles. For starters, it was a cool day, cooler than she prefers – “I had to wear a trash bag for about 20 miles to stay warm.” Then, she began to bonk hard. A recent qualifier for her first 100-mile race, the Western States 100, she began to look past the Endurance Challenge, wondering how she could complete 100 miles: “I have to say about 30 miles in, I was wondering how I could get out of Western States.”

Kimball, at the same time, began to smell the barn. “I was pretty sure I didn’t need to go all that hard, so I held myself in check,” she says. “Knowing that I’m not at my fittest. I didn’t want to kill myself.” She arrived at the finish at Camp Lutherwood with a finishing time of 8:58:20, first female and fifth overall.

Beck broke the tape 15 minutes later, with a time of 9:12:58. Later, she reflected on her first 50-mile race: “It was really long and the course was a monster. For my first 50, I could have picked an easier one.” Compared to the Way Too Cool 50K, which she scorched in March, she said “Way Too Cool was a piece of cake.”

Kimball, meanwhile, relished the course, as it played to her strengths as a specialist on technical terrain. “I think the course is overall a good mix of fire road, moderate technical stuff, and a lot of hills,” she says. “It was a good, but TOUGH 50-mile course.”

For her win, Kimball took home $1,000 and a trip to the Endurance Challenge Championship in San Francisco in December. Beck’s second-place finish earned her $600 and Kendra Ralston, who placed third with a time of 9:21:59, received $350.

Men’s 50-Mile: Priceless

Brian Morrison of Seattle, Washington, had originally planned to head to the Bay Area for the Quicksilver 50 over the weekend of May 10. He had targeted it as a prime training race for a major 100-miler in June.

Then, when the Endurance Challenge was announced for Bellingham, Washington, Morrison reconsidered. “Yeah, it piqued my interest because I went to school up there and love the trails,” he said, before adding, “Honestly the prize money was an incentive, too.”

Winners of each Endurance Challenge 50-Mile regional event take home $1,000 and a trip to the December Championship. Second-place finishers take home $600 and third-place gets $350.

Race morning arrived with overcast skies and cool temperatures. At the sound of the starter’s pistol, Morrison, wearing a shirt emblazoned with the logo of his employer, Seattle Running Company, bolted from the starting line and made it clear that he’d be the one to beat. His tall build and seemingly endless legs swallowed up miles like a humpback inhales fish.

When the course entered the Lost Lake area, around mile 6 or 7, the mud seemed to catch him a bit off guard. He chuckles about it now: “I had my shoe sucked right off my foot and had to stop to find it.” As he fumbled with his mucky shoe, putting it back on his foot, he lost his lead to Dan Gallant from Bellingham. Unfrazzled, he caught up with Gallant and the two were soon running together.

Going into the race, Morrison did not have a good feel for his competition (Editor’s Note: The North Face plans to begin posting entrant lists to the Endurance Challenge website.). “I knew that Jeff Browning was tough,” he recalls, “but I also knew he was banged up.” Browning, as it turned out was not too far off Morrison’s pace in the early going.

“That other guy – he was running his first ultra – he was way off my radar.”

Morrison was referring to Andrew Mullenix, also from Seattle, who was attempting his first-ever 50 miler. Mullenix caught up to Morrison at the bottom of a climb around Mile 16.5. Morrison says, “I was asking him if he had run other ultras, and I thought ‘Geez, he’s running pretty hard”.’”

At Mile 21, as Mullenix surged, Morrison hit a rough patch. “I was having some stomach problems,” he explains, estimating that it cost him a few minutes when he took a “pit stop” to try to calm down his system. “He (Mullenix) put some minutes on me coming down from Fragrance Lake … I was totally caught off guard by this guy.”

Later, Morrison speculates on what may have caused his stomach problems. “I ate a potato burrito and drank an oatmeal stout the night before,” he says, confessing that he couldn’t resist visiting one of his old college haunts from his days in Bellingham. “It’s kind of a greasy spoon place – Casa Que Pasa – in college, it was the cheap place to go.”

Ordinarily, Morrison says he’ll keep his diet very basic the night before a race. The burrito might have exacted some revenge on him during the race. Would it cost him the win? Would the rookie Mullenix beat him to the finish?

At Mile 25, Morrison was grateful to see his wife waiting for him. “My wife, Andrea, crewed for me,” he says, “so I was able to quickly switch things out and go through the Aid Station rather quickly.” As any ultrarunner will attest, quick transitions in aid stations can make all the difference in the heat of competition.

Morrison got the sense he was turning things around, and soon had Mullenix squarely in his sights. He says, “At the base of the biggest climb I caught up to him (Mullenix) and I seemed to put some time on him right away”.

“I thought I was pretty safe as far as holding on for the win after that.”

Despite some additional stomach issues, Morrison was right. Mullenix didn’t fade dramatically, but he also didn’t have a late push in him to pass Morrison. Morrison made it back to Camp Lutherwood, crossing the finish with a winning time of 7:58:54. Mullenix came shortly afterward, finishing with a time of 8:18:01. Jeff Browning rounded out the Top Three, placing third in 8:40:10.

Total, 41 runners tackled the Endurance Challenge 50-Miler. 35 finished.

In a phone conversation a few days after the race, Morrison recalls how he and his wife wondered beforehand if the winners received those big novelty checks you see on game shows. Winning the Endurance Challenge gave him the chance to find out. On the podium, he was handed a monstrous styrofoam note made out to him for $1,000. He laughs about it: “I put it in the back of the car – we have a border collie – she’s a little neurotic and didn’t like sharing space with the check.”

He adds, “It would be priceless to walk into the bank with that.”

As priceless as the race experience itself? Maybe.

“That was a spectacular course,” says Morrison. “It was as well-run of a race as I’ve ever run in.”

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