Seattle Running Club

Misc

Once A 5Ker

Joe Creighton at the 2008 Fremont 5K The 2008 Fremont 5K was a long time ago.Photo: Chuck Bartlett

I ran my first marathon in 2005. My first ultra in 2008. I’m considered by my many many friends to be a “long-distance runner,” and I don’t waste my breath debating the fact. It stands though that the only race I have scheduled in 2012 for which I will actually train and go “balls out” is a mere 5k.¹ Just 3.1 miles. In early June I will cross town to Fremont and run the evening 5k they hold (I forget what it’s called, sorry). Despite my “distance” reputation, this is the only event I’m thinking about this year. After a few years of slow and somewhat uninformative trail miles, I want to test myself again.

A couple years ago I grew weary of road races. I was tired of paying some exorbitant fee to run on Highway 99 and two days later find out my chip time wasn’t recorded. I slowly gravitated towards the trails (discovering Seattle Running Club in the process), and for a good amount of time I was happy. My finish times at the (less pricey) Cougar Mtn Series races were always accurately recorded, though a little less helpful in terms of measuring my fitness. The trails at Cougar and Tiger (and Mt. Si and Crystal Mtn and hell, even Discovery and Lincoln Park) were soft and scenic. Long runs became longer. Race distances climbed from 5Ks >> marathons to 50ks >> 50 milers. Occasionally the thought of hitting a 100 miler would tempt me, if for no better reason than simple bragging rights. I truly believe I am a better runner today because of the long, slow, dirty miles accumulated over this time. One thing I couldn’t shake though was the desire to set concrete, black & white goals and then lay it on the line to achieve them.

In all 50ks I’ve run, a time goal has never been formulated. It’s more a vague guess on where I should wind up based on familiar names and the times they’ve posted in prior years. At the Chuckanut 50k last month, I expected “something around 4:45-4:59:59,” but at no point during the race was I thinking about how on-pace I was for that window. It never extended beyond “gee, I wonder what my finish time will be.” While it was nice to finish a few minutes earlier than anticipated, the sense of satisfaction was finite. What *did* I really accomplish? Was that even a good time, considering my fitness? Maybe my prediction was a little soft. These lingering thoughts are frustrating for someone who, unlike most ultrarunners, is not simply out there for the run itself. I don’t get the spiritual experience many of my facebook friends seem to get while traipsing through the trails. I’m not fast enough to compete with the big dogs,² and the varying nature of ultra races (weather, course conditions, one mishap with a gel at the wrong time, a bear, BEES!!) can lead to wildly differing results, making it hard to compete even with myself, let alone the ghosts from ultrasignup’s results archive. At least not with any significant amount of closure.

****

I feel bad for Greg Crowther. The guy loves running far too much to have been injured for the past 15 years³ with a mysteriously persistent heel injury. Meanwhile, my running schedule has remained largely unimpeded over the same time frame, despite the fact that my “love of running” doesn’t really exist and is more accurately defined as a “hatred of being obese.” It isn’t fair; he deserves the miles more than I do, and I can guarantee without having to txt him for confirmation that he wants them more than I do. In fact, struggling through the composing of this paragraph has been more fun than any of my training runs this past month. Outside of those fleeting moments when the stars are aligned and everything is easy, running is merely something I do so I can eat a horrible amount of food later that night while simultaneously fitting into the same clothes I’ve been wearing since 1997. Greg on the other hand has been chewing on his arm, threatening to write “Nora Ephronesque rom-com novella[s]” while his heel heals far too slowly. Surely all the more frustrating since, when healthy and fit, I can think of only one other guy in the vicinity with the kind of 5k >> 100k range that Greg has. (I won’t name him here, even though he’s also a card-carrying SRC member. I’ll just say his name starts with a “U” and ends with “li Steidl”.) The recent passionless runs I’ve been subjecting myself to leave me feeling not only uninspired, but guilty.

Instead of sitting around with my finger in my nose, waiting for inspiration, I’ve forced it. Sometimes the magic of running comes not from winning races, or tagging a summit, but from discovering yet another way to keep the flame alive, if only for one more race. If I cannot stop and smell the roses during my interminable daily runs, I will pick a number and run for it. That number is my 5k PR. It is 1000 seconds. I ran it four years ago. I’m a very old 32 years old,⁴ and time is slipping away, but Fremont has a 5K in early June (I’ll get the official name eventually). A glorious Friday evening. I have recruited a friend with similar goals. On Tuesday evenings from here forward we will make a mockery of Fleet Feet Seattle’s store run.⁵ On Thursdays we will be found at the Garfield High School track, reminding ourselves of our own mortality. Though I’ll always prefer the trails, and I will return, at this moment I need something concrete to shoot for. I’m excited to hit the roads at least one more time, in honor of my smoking buddy Mr. Greg Crowther, and in tandem with my temporary teammate, Mr. Brett Walton.

They had better record my chip time though.

¹Not counting the 2012 Fat Glass 50k, of course.
²That guy with the ponytail from irunfar.com has never requested an interview, even though my email and cell # and home address is easy to find.
³Give or take
⁴Physiologically, I am nearing the big 5-0.
⁵Come join us!

Tags Father Time, Fremont 5K, Guys Who Seem Older Than They Are

Featured Member Information

Passing the baton

Post author By Greg Crowther
Post date April 1, 2012

As many SRC folks are aware, Win Van Pelt succeeded me as SRC president this past November. Win was a founding member of the SRC and has talked with many of you at various trail runs and races. But for those who don’t yet know him, or who wish to know more of the story behind the perpetual Van Pelt smile, I thought it would be useful to (re-)introduce him here on this blog. So without further ado, here is a small window into Win’s World, provided by Win himself.

* * * * * *

I was training for my first marathon, running up to 16 miles on the pavement. My knees hurt, my hips hurt, everything hurt. I liked hiking; what about training on trails? Hmmmmm….

After 3 weeks of running on the trails and feeling much better, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be nice to run with some others on the trails?” I was running up Wilderness Peak and ran into an enthusiastic group coming down the hill. Wow — I’m not alone! “Hey, do you run trails very often?” The curly blond hair leader, Scott, said yes! Awesome!!! Ever since I have been hooked on running trails.

I kept hearing this word “ultra,” so I asked, what is an ultra? I was very inspired by these ultra runners who took me under their wings. I was thinking to myself, how do they take all this time to run and compete locally and nationally? I called Scott McCoubrey (the founder of the Seattle Running Company) and shared my thoughts on starting a nonprofit. Scott said that he had been thinking the same thing. We worked together (Scott did most of the work), and the Seattle Running Club was born.

One fall Scott asked me if I would run cross country — they needed another male runner. The race was that week. Crazy! I hadn’t run cross country since high school. Cross country was great. It made me a faster ultrarunner and the team spirit is so much fun.

I am thankful for this fun and enthusiastic group who want to live large and be out there enjoying God’s creation. We are lucky — lucky to live in this beautiful part of the planet with lots of trails and adventures to explore. If you haven’t, I hope you will come out and experience this warm, welcoming community of runners.

Win Van Pelt
President, Seattle Running Club

Misc

Ideas on Running and Writing

Post author By Marlene Farrell
Post date March 29, 2012

I am a runner who wants to be a writer. I don’t call myself a writer because the title implies a level of worth that I am not ready to presume for myself. I’m not sure which milestone I must pass to gain a sense of belonging to the group that calls themselves writers. Do I need to write longer stories or a novel? Do I need to get published? I’m hoping the answer isn’t so product-focused and instead I’ll feel a writer when I simply write every day.

Similarly, I have met many runners who back away from the label “runner.” They might say, “I run, but I wouldn’t call myself a runner” or “I jog, I don’t run.” It is funny that I would say to them, own it, give yourself that validation. It feels good to say this is a part of who I am. Perhaps I shared that mindset when I started running twenty plus years ago; I can’t quite remember. I certainly avoided the term “athlete,” because I disliked P.E. and lacked anything beyond rudimentary coordination. I was one of the gangly awkward kids left standing after the stallions were auctioned off for dodgeball teams, and I’d pray to be second-to-last and not last. Running was a relatively safe bet because the team (cross country or track) didn’t seem to care whether I was good or not. In other words, I couldn’t let them down. I could focus on the improvements in speed and endurance that came with daily devotion to running and a gradual increase in miles. Somewhere in there, a runner was born. Horizons opened up for me because suddenly my enhanced physical toughness spawned mental fortitude.

I’m pondering what running has taught me that I can apply to writing. It’s important to make it habitual, so it becomes second nature. So that to not run or to not write feels weird. Once I’m in a training groove, to run every day helps ward off the dread. Yes, you read that word correctly. If I’m honest with myself, I know that there is dread even toward something I love as much as running. It is there for several reasons. There is a part of me that follows Newton’s first law, that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. It requires force to break out of inertness. There is dread of the unknown and possible discomfort due to weather that is too hot or too cold, too wet or too windy. There is dread of pain from sore or tight muscles. And sometimes there is dread of failure when my heart expects and desires a run in a certain time and my legs cannot keep up. As I get older this is an inevitability that will become familiar. But I can’t let that keep me from coming back, day after day.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Writing, which is a way for me to fill the void, scares me too because it’s unchartered territory. I worry I’m not up to the task. But courage and self-trust, which are integral to running, will also serve my writing dreams. Haruki Murakami wrote a remarkable little memoir on his running and writing life (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running). He wrote of how his running has enabled better writing. Writing requires, as he described it, physical strength and endurance. A writer’s heart isn’t pumping quickly while s/he is sitting with pen and paper. But meaningful writing requires reaching and drawing from the inner core of our beings, and continuing, despite resistance, to grapple with messy problems and explore a multitude of paths without guarantee of success. Staring at the blank page of a writing project can be like toeing the line at the start of a race. There are hopes and expectations, but all of that can and will change minutes, hours or days later. Running gives me a sense that I can complete what I started, so why not a children’s story or a novel too?

One other factor that applies to both running and writing is, beyond discipline, there must be enthusiasm. Julia Cameron talks a lot about this for creativity in The Artist’s Way. Those every day encounters, with my running shoes or my pen and paper, need to have an aspect of play and exploration. I shouldn’t crack the whip over myself to get it done and check it off the list. An early morning run should be about moving amongst the stars and taking in the dusky sunrise that washes over the mountains in evanescent hues. It should mean finding a new road and not checking my watch. And writing should be about discovery and following a whim and playing with words.

Featured Media

Chuckanut 50k Images!

Post author By Win Van Pelt
Post date March 27, 2012

Beautiful day and challenging with snow and rain…..happy ending in the sun! Congratulations to all who ran and we hope to see out there again soon! Thanks to Krissy Moehl and Ellen Parker for another great race!

-Win

[Chuckanut 50k]

Tags Chuckanut 50k, race images

Club News

2012 Brooks SRC team announced

Post author By Greg Crowther
Post date March 21, 2012
3 Comments on 2012 Brooks SRC team announced

The Seattle Running Club has finalized its 2012 roster of Brooks-sponsored athletes following a competitive application process. Returning team members Travis Boyd, Julie Cassata, Marlene Farrell, Max Ferguson, Destry Johnson, Trisha Steidl will be joined by Lance Thompson, John Wallace, and Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs.

Team members were selected according to their running-related achievements and service to the SRC and the running community as a whole. They will be visible as representatives of Brooks and the SRC at various local, regional, and national events this year.

Travis Boyd is a graduate of UW, where he ran track and cross country. His personal records are 14:29 (5K), 30:11 (10K), 1:07:56 (half marathon), and 2:23:23 (marathon).

Julie Cassata spent much of 2011 hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Previous major events included the 2008 Boston Marathon (3:22) and 2010 Umstead 100 mile Endurance run (21:30). She is the secretary of the SRC in addition to working part-time at SRC partner store Fleet Feet Seattle.

SRC board member Marlene Farrell is a 2-time Olympic marathon trials qualifier with a PR of 2:45:16. Other recent PRs include 1:18:54 for half marathon (Geoduck 2010) and 36:58 for 10K (Wenatchee 2011). One of the perennial leaders of the SRC cross country team, she also coaches middle school and high school runners in her hometown of Leavenworth. She blogs at runwenatchee.org.

Following a 3rd-place finish at the 2011 Amica Seattle Half Marathon, Max Ferguson is looking forward to a full year of racing in 2012. Probable events include the Seahawks 12k, Yakima Skyline 25k, Vancouver Marathon, Seattle Marathon 10k, Salmon Days 10k, Seattle Half Marathon, and a fall marathon. He works at SRC partner store The Balanced Athlete.

At age 37, Destry Johnson continues to compete very successfully in the open division of local road and cross country races, setting PRs of 14:55 (5K) and 1:08:58 (half marathon) in 2009 and coming within 4 seconds of his 12K PR (38:30) last year at Bloomsday. Target races this year will include Bloomsday, the Seattle Rock ‘N Roll Half, Puyallup City Blast, Torchlight 8K, the New York Marathon, and his usual slate of local/regional cross country races.

Trisha Steidl, head cross country and track coach at Seattle University, remains active as an athlete, winning the Seattle Marathon for the third time in 2011. She also won the 2011 Bridle Trails and Cougar Mountain 10-mile races. Previous times include a 36:22 10K, 1:21:53 half marathon, and 2:48:17 marathon. Her activities as an SRC board member include volunteering at many club events (Cougar Mountain, White River) and other events such as Club Northwest’s All Comers track meets.

Lance Thompson has best times of 9:13 (3K steeplechase), 15:16 (5K (15:29), 25:29 (8K), 1:13 (half marathon), and 2:39 (marathon). He volunteered at a Cougar Mountain race and as a Seattle Marathon pacer last year, and looks forward to more running and racing in 2012.

SRC treasurer John Wallace has not missed a day of running since 1989, ran across the United States in 2004-05, and plans to run one ultramarathon a month in 2012. “I am a mix of the everyday runner and the every day runner,” he notes. “You can count the number of races I’ve won outright on one hand…. You can count just 86 Americans that have run more consecutive days.”

Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs is well-known as both an athlete and volunteer at running events. She has helped mark the Cascade Crest 100 course, and raised money for the Washington Trails Association through the creation of Glenn Tachiyama’s trail running calendar. For the past three years, she has been among the top 6 masters at both the White River 50 and Where’s Waldo 100K. Her 2012 schedule includes the Oregon Trail Ultramarathon Series and Angeles Crest 100.

Tags Brooks Team

Media

White River 50 Mile Videos

Post author By Seattle Running Club
Post date March 11, 2012

SRC treasurer John Wallace III can often be found at various club events with a variety of cameras in hand. Some of the best footage he gets is most people’s favorite part of the renowned White River 50 mile race: the finish line! We just bumped our clocks an hour ahead, which means it’s basically spring here in Seattle. What better time to get fired up for one of the best ultra races in the country? To set the mood, check out the finish line footage from last year and 2010 as well as a big ol’ heaping plate of finish line photos. If you ran this race either year, chances are you’ll find yourself in here somewhere! Happy training and we hope you see John this summer (July 28th) at the 2012 White River 50!

2011 Finish Line Top Four

2010 Finish Line Video

2011 Finish Line Photos (facebook)
White River 2011 Photos
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

2010 Finish Line Photos (facebook)
White River 2010 Photos
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Tags media, photos, videos, White River

Featured Member Information

Cross Country 101

Marlene Farrell, SRC [/caption]

Are you toying with the idea of running cross country for the Seattle Running Club this fall? Or, are you interested in a fun, social, exciting opportunity to run and race in a different way than road or trail races? If so, then read on.

The Basics

Women and men race separately. At some events, masters (over 40 years old) race separately from open divisions. Women run 6km and men run 8km or 10km, often on lap courses.

The race course surface is generally a combination of grass and dirt. Trails and pavement are accidental – hence the usefulness of spikes, particularly through mud.

Scoring

Individuals are recognized for their overall placement but what really matters is how the team’s combined score of the five best runners compares to that of other teams. Each runner gets a number representing his/her finishing order and the team with the lowest combined score wins.

Why You?

Have you ever had a chance to compete as a part of something larger than yourself? Perhaps you’ve done a relay, or raced to raise money for a good cause. Cross country, likewise, fuses the thrill of the individual best effort with the knowledge that your effort also contributes to your team’s placement. As you pass competitors, your team score is improving, one tick at a time.

Is It Too Short?

No way. Cross country races are the perfect distance for speed over uneven terrain, around tight corners, hustling in a sea of runners, unless you’re lucky enough to be leading what can feel like a tide threatening to engulf you.

The Team Aspect

As a member of the open women’s team, I love warming up with my teammates, no matter how well we know each other, and concurrently cheering for the masters out on the course. And then, in my cool down, the open men are battling it out and happy for some encouragement. We all wear the same jersey, but underneath, we are more alike than that. We’ve come together for a love of the chase and the opportunity to both participate and support fellow runners. The bottom line, given the variety of courses, is not time, but a chance to push very hard and see what happens – this is an exciting task to accomplish and to witness in our fellow team members.

Why Now?

Why not? Last year our team was bigger than ever, with nearly 50 club members coming out to participate in one or more races. We were able to field five teams at Club Nationals, which was held in Seattle. We want to keep our momentum up so that means we need you. Cross country experience isn’t necessary. You learn it all in your first race or two. All we need is runners with grit, determination and courage to run in a pack and get dirty. And if you have other fall goals, a marathon or ultra, you can still race with us and get the benefit of a great tempo training run. The cross country races are short enough that you’ll be training again the next day.

SRC has fared well in cross country in the past. However, other teams sometimes have a stronger showing at events. Why not help SRC build a formidable team and fuel our rivalry with our local friends in orange and in red? Need more info or more reasons to join? Talk to me @ marlene@team-farrell.com or other group leaders listed here.

Tags Cross Country

Featured Media

PCT Happy Dance

The PCT Happy Dance represents the exuberant side of thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. From the get-go, I recorded a dance every few days, featuring myself, my trail compadres, and the scenery of the trail. The purpose of the project was to find a way to share the experience, particularly the thrill of living this life immersed in nature. Immersed is not the right word; it sounds like being an engulfed object. This life is much more like being dispersed in the great wild winds of Nature.

The video consists of 66 clips, peppered along the 2,650 mile footpath, across a six month long time span. On trail, there was never any music playing while we danced. I’ll let that be our excuse for any criticisms that may have crossed your mind regarding our dancing skills! My trail name was Tiny Dancer. That was my simple identity while I made a life for myself on the trail. I hiked most of the trail alone. The second-most frequently featured star of the show is Anchor, or Matt, my partner that shared this experience with me through the High Sierras of Central California and all of Washington.

Who are the people of the woods, who appear around minute 4:32? That’s the Seattle Running Club! Then-president Greg Crowther, current President and Sunday run coordinator Win Van Pelt, and good buddy Damon helped organize a run and hike event, to meet up with us once we arrived at Snoqualmie Pass over Labor Day weekend. Many SRC members showed up to either run the Kendall Katwalk route, or hike it with Anchor and me. It was a treat, for one day of my 140 hiking days, to hike with a group of friends from home.

Many great thanks go out to the Seattle Running Club, Brooks Sports, the Washington Trails Association, the Pacific Crest Trail Association, and many businesses and trail angels along the trail. These organizations, businesses, and people provide an outpouring of opportunity, and I am thankful to benefit from their generosity. Much love and thanks go to my family and friends for supporting and encouraging me not just on this hike, but continuously.

To provide an update regarding the whereabouts of Tiny Dancer, I now find myself in many roles: volunteer secretary of your Seattle Running Club, office administrator of your Washington Trails Association, and fit specialist and training coach at your local running specialty store, Fleet Feet Seattle. I’m thrilled to be serving my people and playing a part in you pursuing your adventures, your dreams, your wild winds!

Tags Happy Dance, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Thru-hike

Club News Featured

Welcome to our new site!

Win at the Enchantments

Wow!!!

We here at Seattle Running Club are very excited about the launch of our new website. Much thought and time has gone into its development. We hope the website will inspire you when you are looking for inspiration. Connect you when you are looking for a running community. Inform you when you are looking for training ideas or how to take your game to the next level. Or….ouch…..how do I get healed from that running injury or stay healthy and continue to enjoy running? We hope the website will take you places you will want to run someday as well as remind you of the wonderful places you have been.

I want to offer a big thanks to Joe Creighton, Glen Mangiantini, Julie Cassata, Glenn Tachiyama, Luke Cotner and others who have contributed. Be on the lookout here as we continue to grow. Meet up with us at our events, run for our teams, read our site for news and information, and most importantly, keep running!

Best,
Win