Originally published Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM
There's a reason this race near Bellingham is called the Endurance Challenge
From the description, it sounds like a great place for an extended backpacking adventure. The route, according to the official literature...
Special to The Seattle Times
Adventure races in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia
NOT ALL ADVENTURE RACES are purely for runners. Many combine multiple sports and disciplines, including running, route-finding (orienteering), mountain biking and even paddling.
The Pacific Northwest Adventure Race Community Web site (www.pnwar.com) lists a host of races and events through the region, from Washington to Montana, British Columbia to Oregon. Among the events in coming months:
Barebones Evening Adventure Sprint Tournament (BEAST) Race Series, www.beastrace.com:
May 14-15 — BEAST No. 2, held in Renton; includes mountain biking, trekking/orienteering, paddling and a surprise category.
June 3 — BEAST No. 3, held at Union Bay in Seattle, includes canoe orienteering, road biking, trekking/orienteering and a surprise category.
Mind Over Mountains Adventure Race Series (MOMARS), www.mindovermountain.com/momar:
July 26 — MOMAR No. 002, held in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, B.C.; includes mountain biking, kayaking, trail running, orienteering and navigation, water challenges, "coasteering," bushwhacking and mystery challenges.
Sept. 27 — MOMAR No. 003, held in Cumberland, B.C.; includes 40 kilometers of kayaking, mountain biking, trail running and mystery events.
Cascade Orienteering Club Ultimate Orienteer Series, www.cascadeoc.org:
June 14 — Ultimate Orienteering Event, held at Lord Hill Park in Snohomish; includes sprint orienteering and short-course orienteering.
July 19-20 — Seattle Night and Day Challenge. This is a foot, bike or duathlon race that brings you to nooks and crannies of the city like you've never seen it before. Sixty point-valued checkpoints are spread throughout Seattle. Visit checkpoints in any order you choose for three, seven or 16 hours. Teams with the most points win.
Eco Primal Quest Adventure Race, www.ecoprimalquest.com:
June 21-July 2 — 2008 Eco Primal Quest. The big dog of U.S. adventure races, this is a 400-mile foot, bicycle and boat race in southwestern Montana.
Get ski and boarding conditions all winter long with webcams, snow alerts and more at seattletimes.com/snowsports
From the description, it sounds like a great place for an extended backpacking adventure.
The route, according to the official literature, includes "insane views of Mount Baker and the North Cascades to the east. The views of the San Juan Islands to the west, Canadian [mountains] to the north, plus the vast Skagit Valley to the south are not half bad, either. Elevations bounce between 200 and 2,500 feet, but do not include any huge, sustained climbs. Traverses of broken ridgeline require nimble feet while highly technical sections demand mountain goat skills."Unfortunately for folks who like to plod slowly along on a backpacking adventure, the literature in this case isn't a hikers' guidebook, but rather the Endurance Challenge race pamphlet, and the description is that of the Bellingham-area race course.
What kind of people would run — and not just for fun, but to compete for the fastest time — along such a precarious backcountry trail? And up to a foot-numbing 50 miles?
"I saw an ad on the back of Runners World magazine, and thought it looked like a great new challenge," said Craig Jacobsen of Seattle. "I've done a few regular half-marathons in the past, but nothing like this, so I thought I'd try it."
On Saturday, the Endurance Challenge, sponsored by The North Face, descends on Bellingham's Camp Lutherwood. Nestled on the east side of Chuckanut Mountain, Camp Lutherwood serves as the start/finish of a series of races through the rugged terrain on Chuckanut.
The North Face Endurance Challenge Series includes events in New York state; Washington, D.C.; Wisconsin; and a series championship event near San Francisco. Prizes for the contest include $1,000 for the winner of each of the four regional 50-mile races and a $10,000 prize for the series championship in December.
Drawn by the challenge
Jacobsen, 27, has run trails before, but only on recreational outings of four or five miles at a time, so he knows the Endurance race will be a true challenge. "I went to school in Bellingham. I know how steep those trails are."
The course maps and route profiles show a roller-coaster course with one massive climb right in the middle, shooting from a few hundred feet above sea level to nearly 2,000 feet, in just a mile of trail.
"I expect this to be a lot harder than anything I've done before," said Jacobsen. That is exactly what draws a growing number of racers and recreational trail runners to these events. This growing category of backcountry recreation draws thousands to trails and even trackless terrain each year, and the Pacific Northwest is fast becoming a favorite destination for race organizers and enthusiasts.
The Endurance Challenge offers four different races during the day, starting with a "simple" 10-kilometer course (a mere 6.2 miles). There is also a half marathon (13 miles) and a 50-kilometer (31 miles) course. For those who really want to experience the ultimate running adventure, the crown-jewel of the race day is the 50-mile course.
Up and away
The profile of the 50-miler looks like a seismograph gone wild. Four times, the course veers upward, peaking well above the 2,000-foot range, before dropping back into the hundreds. Between those soaring climbs are several more modest ascents, topping 1,500 feet repeatedly. This muscle-burning, ultramarathon course swarms over the length of Chuckanut Mountain, crossing east to west and north to south.
Race organizers have secured permission to use portions of private roads to close gaps in the trail networks, creating loops in order to prevent runners from having to backtrack on the course. In fact, this is the first time this specific route has ever been fully opened to public use, and is only accessible during the race, because of those private property issues.
Though Jacobsen has some experience as a recreational trail hiker, he's not a dedicated wilderness fanatic, so the 13 miles of forest trails he covers will be something new for him. "I'm nervous but excited. I'm looking forward to the challenge. After it's done, I'll know if I want to do more trail running, but for now, I'm just looking forward to doing this one."
For more information about the Endurance Challenge, see www.thenorthface.com/endurancechallenge.
Dan A. Nelson, a Puyallup-based freelancer, is the gear reviewer for NWWeekend and an author of outdoors guides for The Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
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