In the early morning hours runners from as far away as Kentucky and Alaska
converged upon Vashon Island's Paradise Ridge Park in Washington State's Puget
Sound. By 8:00 a.m. there was a growing buzz - Bob Marley playing through
the PA, registration packets being picked up, and various running shirts
discarded in favor of the new ultra-cool Vashon Ultra tech shirts. After a quick
briefing on trail and community etiquette by Co-Race Director Kevin Kim-Murphy,
the runners were off. What had started as a crazy idea a mere 7 months
earlier came to fruition on June 26, 2010.
The lead group ran and chatted together for the first mile or so, but by mile 2
the conversation faded to silence, by mile 5 the lead pack had dwindled to just
a few individual runners, and by mile 10 there was only one. Co-Race
Director Bruce Cyra was on his way to his first ultra finish, his first ultra
win and first ultra course record.
Forty runners completed Vashon Island's 50 km on a course that consisted of
three loops of rolling forested single track speckled with wide gravel and dirt
roads, sections of pavement and grass shoulders, and some deceptively
challenging hills. One hill, nicknamed 'Deliverance Hill' and located on
the 9th mile, is a long, grassy and at times steep stretch of trail that came
back around on the 19th and then the 29th mile as well. It got more
daunting with each pass - living up to it's nick name. One runner
complained sardonically, "What was up with THAT bit of evil?!" A response
that drew big grins from both RDs - that was what they were looking for when
designing the route, a course that had all the elements of Vashon Island.
It was clear that they had achieved their goals when at the post-race barbeque
Barefoot Ted McDonald exclaimed “How do I sign up now for next year’s race?”
There were special awards handed out for barefoot ultra runners, and 19 year old
Loren Frohning received the winners award - a golden foot courtesy of the
Island’s Bone Factory.
For those not ready to handle 50k there was a simultaneous 10 mile trail run on
the same course with 69 finishers. Local Island athlete Scott Healey was
upstaged by San Fransiscan Will Callan, whose family gave up running the Double
Dipsea to come run the inaugural Vashon Island event. The event, run by a local
charity, raises money for the Island's school athletic teams.
For photo credit please use: Rebecca Douglas Photography.
Michael Yadrick (of Seattle), wearing five fingers, back to camera.
David Levant (of Vashon), #520.
Bruce Cyra (of Vashon) #510 on his way to winning the 50K race.
Bruce E. Cyra, President of the Board of Directors
Heart of the Sound Triathlon, Inc. PO Box 61 Vashon, WA 98070 (206) 376-0717