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Capitol Peak
Mega Fat Ass
25 & 50K Runs Olympia, WA.
by Eb Engelmann

On January 24^th, Gary Parcher and I ventured north to the Capitol Peak trail runs in Capitol State Forest, some 25 miles west of Olympia. We were joined there by a good crowd of runners from the Northwest, principally Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. It was a cold, threatening morning, with elements of fog, rain, and snow vying for dominance, but we were ready to go. We had brought a variety of clothing, including several hats, gloves, jackets, vests, and shoes. Winter trail running in the Northwest requires a sense of adventure, preparedness, and flexibility.

We debated the proper attire right up to the end, but at 8:00 AM, in thickly falling snow, some 130 of us lurched forward from the race shelter into the woods. Since the trail rapidly squeezed into a single track, we fell into a long "conga line" of shufflers with many side conversations, whoops, and jumps as we progressed gently but fitfully downhill. There were also many dogs vying for space with the runners, as dogs were invited, and there was even a category of "first runner with dog."

These "Fat Ass" runs have become something of a national tradition in the ultra running community. They are a way of shaking off the sloth and indolence of the year-end holidays and the typically adverse weather that occur, predictably, every winter. A variety of regional fat ass runs take place, typically within a few days of the New Year, and many runners turn out to partake of the sense of community, camaraderie, and overall relaxed atmosphere of these runs. Competition is typically secondary, and runners participate more with a sense of shaking off the cobwebs and visiting with their ultra buddies to catch up on the last few months of lessened activity and racing.

At this run, we were blessed with a veritable who’s who of Northwest ultra runners (including five-time Western States 100 winner Scott Jurek), some of whom ran, but including others who just came to help and make someone else’s day successful. That is one of the real joys of ultrarunning—and trail running in particular—the sense of community, camaraderie, and support between the front runners and the middle and back-of-the-pack participants. You do not see this nearly so much in traditional road running. In trail running we are all engaged in overcoming obstacles of time, distance, terrain, footing, weather, conditioning, support (or lack of it), and so forth. There is typically a real sense of "pulling together" to succeed at these events.

Back to the Capitol Peak runs now, the 25K consisted of one 17-plus mile-long loop through the woods, while the 50K included a second lap of the same loop. The low point of the loop was at about 400 feet in elevation while the high, Capitol Peak, reached 2659 feet. The weather typically hovered around freezing, and the generous precipitation fell as rain at the lower elevations and snow at the higher, with sleet and ice granules in-between. Footing was quite muddy with the many runners traversing the course. At lower elevations, it was raw, red mud, laced liberally with brush, roots, rocks, puddles, and angry rivulets of runoff, depending upon immediate terrain and circumstances. At higher elevations, it was still muddy, wet, rocky, and root-laced, but now it was covered with varying degrees and depths of snow. This often made the precise footing rather unknown and mysterious until the last second. And that had a "dampening" effect upon the runners and their times!

Finally, while we were invited to register for a particular distance, we were free to change our "election" throughout the run, and I am sure many did so—probably back and forth throughout the loop! But I had determined early on that I would do the 50K (here 34+ miles), come what may. And needless to say, the second lap was appreciably harder than the first. Not only was I one lap deep into fatigue and soreness, but the trail had been badly "chewed up" by 130 previous runners and an assortment of dogs (and even two unscheduled bikes)! And at elevation all of this "muck" reposed under ever deeper quantities of snow. Also on the second lap we had far fewer participants, and those were well spread out. Hence I spent the first hour of my second lap in a quiet reverie, seeing absolutely no one and sometimes wondering if I was even on the course. All told, I only saw three other runners over most of my second lap.

In the end, some 104 runners did the 25K between 2:09 and 5:50, and another 24 runners did the 50K between 5:09 and 8:45. Scott Jurek and Brian Morrison tied for first finishers in the 50K. Jurek stayed on well after his win to welcome other finishers to the big bonfire in the center of the Wedekind covered shelter—the impromptu race headquarters, now surrounded by celebrants enjoying the friendly banter and completion another fat ass run. And Gary and I started the long trip back home, pleased with our participation and our day.