The 12th running of the Vashon Island Ultramarathon & Trail Run brought many new faces to the trails of Island Center Forest and Fisher Pond on Saturday, June 4, to join those that have made these races a yearly event.
Newbies included the brother and sister duo, Zach Adams, 24, from Colorado, and Dashell Adams, 22, from Bellingham, running their 50k race together and finishing in 5:56.
In the 50k race, Ben Winfield won in 3:52, followed in second place overall by Vashon-born Christie Mosley, in 4:24, from Issaquah. The first islanders in the men’s race were Rusty Knowler, Nick Keenan and Sam Thompson.
Many friends and family showed up to support their favorite runners, such as islander Alice May’s father, who attentively awaited his daughter’s first attempt at 50k, and who was happy with her success in finishing as the first islander in 5:43. Alice was followed by islanders Suzanne Tufano and Debbie Banner.
Veterans included 84-year-old Bob Norton, born on Vashon and now living in Huntington Beach, California, returning for his seventh time to run the trails, this time on the 10-mile course. Also returning, for her eighth time, was Karen Wiggins of Belfair, who has logged at least 137 ultramarathons in her career, running the 50k.
Very young, but not a rookie in any sense, is Isla Chadsey, a 17 year-olf junior from Northwest School, who recently took 5th in State in the two-mile, and the next week set a new course record here for women in the 10-mile trail race, finishing in 1:11:14, breaking the old record by eight minutes. Chadsey returned after finishing the ten-mile last year as a 16-year-old. The first islanders across the line following were Katie Simpson, Kristen Cohen and Jenny Simpson.
The 10-mile was won by Paul Young, from Normandy Park, outsprinting Evan Boyle from Seattle by a mere 23 seconds. The first islanders across the line following were Elliott Wargo, Wyatt Golding and Jeff Cohen. While many in the 10-mile were islanders, there were quite a few from out of state, including Latisha Thornton from Mesa, Arizona, who was in Seattle on business and looked for a nearby race for her weekend. She was rewarded with scenery and trails quite unlike anything she runs on down in Arizona and was happy to have made the trip out to the island.
The theme this year was “sacrifice,” a word to salute both runners and their supporters who all give of their time, energy, and attention to make such challenging events as Vashon’s race successful, and also a word to remind all to treat the trails and their distance with the respect they deserve.
Results can be found at vashonultra.com.
