CHUCKANUT 50K RACE REPORT
BY Nikki Vander Wiele

Any doubts I had about whether or not I gave it my all yesterday at the Chuckanut 50k were wiped away when I rolled out of bed this morning. Soreness spread from my shoulders to the tips of my toes, even in places like my ribs and the crooks of my elbows. Every time my achy quads gingerly lower my seemingly bruised glutes to the chair I feel both pain and a sense of accomplishment because the main goal of racing is to give your best effort and I feel reassured that I did. This is my favorite race of the year, not just because it’s local, beautiful, challenging, competitive, and well organized – it’s the training that I love and this year I loved it more than ever. From mid-November until March nearly every Saturday was spent exploring the trails with my friends. There was this sense of purpose, this goal at the end that we were endlessly pursuing and every extra mile, every extra repeat up fragrance lake trail, and every day we fought through the snow and ice, felt so intentional and worthwhile. All along the way the little victories -a Strava segment PR, hanging on to my fast friends a little longer, a day that felt effortless and strong – they added up and I went into the race already feeling as if I’d won.

This was the most prepared I’d ever felt for a race. The training cycle went smoothly, every challenge and workout was accomplished according to plan and gains in fitness since November were measurable. Looking through my log made me feel like there was potential for big things come race day. Last year was my ultra debut and first year in the trails, so improving on my 2016 time of 5:03 felt completely within reach. My goal was to be sub 5 and to nail the last 10k of the race, but most of all I wanted to have fun and celebrate the process and the preparation. Race morning my daily devotional just happened to say: “Whatever life gives us the opportunity to do, let us do it well. Let us do it to the best of our ability, then leave the results with Christ.”

After the snowiest winter since I have moved to WA and countless weeks where we couldn’t even run on parts of the course because of snow, 45 degrees and rain didn’t sound like a bad race day forecast. But I underestimated the mud. I don’t think I have ever seen the trails so muddy. Puddles, swamps, slick peanut buttery mud that made you slide backwards on the uphills and skid out on the downhills. My shoes were filled with water within the first mile, even the interurban was sloshy and the more runners that traversed each section the worse it got. It reminded me of a chewed up cross country course and more than once I joked with the aid station workers that the only thing I needed was some spikes. As a kid we used to play a game called “mud pigs” where we basically made a giant hole of mud and rolled around in it for hours…during the race I kept thinking, “31 miles of mud pigs – this should be fun right?” A couple times I charged a puddle trying to prove I wasn’t afraid of the challenge only to end up knee deep in a swamp. For a lot of people the conditions didn’t matter, the men’s winner Max King broke his own course record and the women’s winner Ladia Albertson-Junkans ran an incredible 4:17. But, I am not those people. On the trails I’m timid and nervous. The technical terrain and the muddy conditions made sections that are usually run-able and fast into technical challenges as well. I would try to be brave and not overanalyze every step but a couple of ankle rolls and minor falls were enough to convince me better to be safe than sorry.

The combination of nervous braking and stutter stepping and the energy lost to the mud and heavy mud caked shoes left me way more tired than I expected. At the top of Cleator Rd. I was 7 minutes behind last year’s time and my legs were tired. I fought hard to maintain pace as best I could and felt like I ran smooth and strong most of the way, just slower than I wanted to be, walking a few more hills than I’d planned on. When I finally got to the final descending 10k back on the interurban I wanted to crush it like I had planned and prepared for in training. I felt like I was running hard, surely 7:30-8min pace at least, but my splits were nowhere near that. The accumulated fatigue and cold pouring rain zapped all my power and I ‘charged’ home with what probably qualifies as a shuffle. Honestly, last year I don’t think I would have been able to finish. In the end 5:16 was well off my time goal but still good for 13th female and despite the struggle and suffering I never felt negative or frustrated during the race. The only thing I’m disappointed with is my time. I’m proud of the effort, my attitude, and the overall result. I had fun, stayed positive, cheered on the pack of men I yo-yo’d past all race, and thanked the volunteers. I could not have done it without the help of so many people. This year more than ever I learned to be thankful for all I have, the blessings of encouragement and support, time given, and how wonderful it is to have people to lean on. I’ve been writing this Oscar acceptance speech of a thank you list for months….so, here’s to you:

To all my patient’s and co-workers who had to hear the same weekend plans for months now, “Running a long way with my friends.”
To all my family and friends who text, call, listen, and at least pretend that my running is as interesting to them as it is to me
To Ash Goddard at Nine Needles for her expertise, relieving my chronic butt pain, and for helping me figure out my SI issues. As a PT I always think I can fix my own injuries but finally giving in and being the patient has made a huge difference.
To Fairhaven Runners and all their staff for always asking, encouraging, showing interest and for patiently helping me try countless pairs of shoes searching for the perfect one. Seeing all the staffers out cheering on the course and at the finish and getting to run with Sierra for part of the race reminded me of the awesome running community in Bellingham.
To so many others from the local running community who were out supporting, encouraging, cheering not just during the race but all along the way. I felt the love of the community and like my goals and training were worth it.
To my coach David Roche. I’ve been running for 20+ years and thought I knew what I was doing but was frustrated by lack of progress. I finally decided to listen to someone else. All the little things – more rest, more food, more strides, more smiles, more positivity and a lot less worrying and judging – all lessons from Roche – running is more fun than ever before.
To Tad, there is no way I could ever say enough to capture the gratitude and thankfulness I feel. From planning Saturday routes and groups, answering countless shoe and gear questions, awesome pics, pre-race advice, and constant encouragement, analyzing detailed splits from races and training runs and pointing out the little victories along the way – Tad is always positive and always believes in me. The support, messages, and praise have been huge and I’m forever grateful.
To my BDP teammates – You guys are amazing!!!!
Maria – for letting me tag along on all your weekend adventures, for encouraging me, all the hugs, congrats and love, pre-race discussions and warm ups together.
Corrine – for reminding me how much fun this is supposed to be, 25 miles with you feels like nothing but smiles. All the advice, training tips, woohoo’s, and believing in me more than I do myself.
Scarlett – for talking race strategy, keeping me company, making me be brave, cheering throughout the course, and helping me at the finish when I couldn’t get my cold, wet, muddy self together.
Alyson – for always asking, encouraging, and praising my training all while I was putting the reigns on yours. It’s a true friend who supports you when their own running is on hold. Your enthusiastic cheers on the course always makes me smile.
Aly – for remembering to text all the way from London, always checking in, and staying positive.
Amber- for Sunday long run company even when I can barely keep up, friendship, and support.
Court – my constant rock. Whatever I need, workout company, earlier start time, slower pace, to vent about life, to geek out over training, motivation, encouragement, you are always accommodating, always there, always thinking of others before yourself.

In the end, a race is about testing yourself and putting it all on the line. This training cycle has taught me that I’m so much stronger and more resilient than I ever knew, how deeply I am loved and supported – and for that I couldn’t be more thankful.

*For full results see HERE