Photo courtesy: Paul Nelson
So, I guess that race went pretty well. I’m not quite sure how I did that, but I’ll start at the beginning and explain how I got to where I am today. If you have something more important to do, I’ll just let you know now: it’s consistency. If you’re at work though, writing TPS reports, doing some crazy lab work (I’m looking at you Greg Crowther), or busy scoping out some nice real estate (Win…), feel free to kick your feet up for a minute and take a stroll with me down memory lane.
I can pinpoint the exact time I realized that people ran after college. It was early 2000s at Edmonds stadium. Lined up to run the 10k was two old dudes, some college guys, and the stands had maybe ten people. How or why I was there has slipped through the cracks in my memory, but there I was. I watched one of the older runners completely demolish the entire field–running under 30 minutes–at a time in my life when I was under the distinct impression that a 15 minute 5k was the limit of human achievement. At halfway, when the rabbit dropped out, I remember asking my assistant coach who the hell this guy was.
“Oh that’s Uli Steidl,” he said. “He is world class. I think he’s 40.”
My coach was correct about one thing and slightly inaccurate about the second detail. (Although to be fair I have asked a vast number of people about Uli’s age and only SRC members have gotten it right; everyone else just perpetually states “I think he’s 40.”) In any case, the memory of someone running THAT fast while not being sponsored or in school baffled me. How is it possible??? I didn’t really know, but I knew then and there I wanted to run after college. I never thought I’d be as good as Uli was, but I figured I’d give it a shot.
All through high school I had that image of post-collegiate glory bouncing around in my head. My high school coach, the venerable Jef Rettmann, gently explained, “Max, you’re never going to win state. The 5k just isn’t long enough for you. Wait ’til college though, the 10k is going to be your thing.”
So I kept at it.
In college the story was the same. My coach, the imposing Dave Warth, gruffly mentioned, “Max, you’re never going to win nationals. The 10k just isn’t long enough for you. Wait ’til you get out of college, the marathon is going to be your thing.”
So I kept at it.
After college, I tried the marathon. In fact, I might have even gotten good at it at one point. For a brief two month span through April and May of 2010, I honestly think I had that beast wrangled. But never tamed. I accidentally started in the wrong race in Vancouver that year, then ran back to the start after blasting four miles at five minute pace. The restart was no good, my calves blew to pieces, and mentally I was cooked. I spent two years trying to get it right and finally came to the realization “Max, you’re never going to win the Vancouver Marathon. The road is just too fast for you. Trails and ultras, that’s going to be your thing.”
So I kept at it.
Photo courtesy: Pacific Party Canopies
In April of 2012 I entered the Yakima Skyline 25k with hopes of dipping under 2:30. I came blitzing across the line in 2:15. In July I wanted to run 2:30 at the Chuckanut 30k, I stunned myself running 2:24. Finally, this past weekend, after splitting 2:24 for the middle 18 en route to a 3:47 Chuckanut 50k, I think it can be said I found “my thing.”
A huge thank you to all the people that have helped me along the way. My high school coaches Jef Rettmann, and Brett Johnson, without whom I never would have kept running as long as I have. I have been lucky enough to have had a phenomenal running family in high school and college, notably Sam Ahlbeck who never let me win a race, Joel Purcell who still probably think I’m going to hell, David Desmarais for beating me in the PE mile in 8th grade, Nate Lowe for arguing with me for every step of a 15 miler, Chad Byler for taking a huge risk allowing some freshmen on the C2C team, and Michael Hardbarger for taking me shopping in the middle of the winter that one time. I now find myself with another host of incredibly friendly and supportive faces, the Balanced Athlete peeps without whom I would be sleeping on the streets with a cardboard sign (“will tie shoes for money”), Seattle Running Club, without whom I would never have even tried trail running, my father Mike for refusing to carry me on hikes after the age of two, and finally my mother Susan for allowing me to drop the trumpet for track in hopes of wooing chicks with my athletic prowess.
As long as I have the support of people like this: I’ll keep at it.
I now have three strikes at running a sub-4 at Chuckanut. Fortunately, ultra-running results tell you near to nothing outside of context. Times can’t really be compared across races of the same distance or even between different years of the same race due to changes in course routes and conditions. Not that you would know it by looking at the times of the fast boys in the top two podium spots, but there was a decent amount of snow on the course this year which made a couple miles of Cleator Road and the backside of the course less than optimal.
