deception pass 50...{er} 25k.

"You should totally sign up for this race with me."

"Sure," I answer. "Which race?"

Megan and I are sitting around enjoying a beer after a Trail Factor run. Our conversations tend to go this way when we are high on endorphins. 

"Deception Pass 50k. You get to run over a bridge."

"I totally want to go run that."

"Cool," she answers. "Let's see if Bunky wants to join us."

And just like that, we've got another race on the calendar.

"Dude, you know that's like close to the Canadian border, don't you?" I ask her a few weeks later when we start to plan the trip.

"Really? I had no idea where it was. But you get to run over a bridge."

Megan has a thing for bridges.

Thankfully for us, we decided the five hour trip was worth it. Because it certainly was.

The view at the start line.

The Deception Pass 50k and 25k is another brilliant race from Rainshadow Running. Now we knew that Rainshadow races have a reputation for being tough. But for some reason, we convinced ourselves that this race would be fairly flat. After all, the highest point was only 400 feet above sea level.

After a few dire warnings about deadly falls, slippery rocks and narrow bridges, we were off. Right away a huge "seagull" swept across Cranberry Lake and landed in a snag just above us...and showed us his beautiful bald eagle head. And just that quickly, I knew I wasn't going to be racing. This was the kind of day that you sit back, relax and take some photos.

Early views of the bridge.

Climbing up to the bridge.

Within the first 2.5 miles, you cross the Deception Pass bridge for the first time, running 180 feet above the water. Sea lions cavort in the water below; later we would see sea kayakers. The experience of running over the bridge was worth the trip alone.

After crossing the bridge, you start out on the first lollipop, running along Bowman beach out to Rosario Head. The trail was somewhat technical and overgrown, and the out and back sections were at times a tight squeeze. But the new and ever increasingly scenic views did not disappoint.

Stink beach.

Sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy where you are at.

A cathedral of trees.

Rosario Head.

After a couple of lollipops, you head back over the bridge for the second half of the race. At this point, I wasn't sure which way I was facing.

Snow capped peaks of the Olympics. I think.

Climbing up Goose Rock.

400 feet above sea level. A much tougher climb than anticipated.

After reaching the top of Goose Rock, you quickly descend and are faced with the choice - 1.5 miles to the finish of the 25k, or another 16 for the 50k. I started off on the 50k path - well, at least I thought I did - but my heart wasn't in it. I called home, trying to decide what to do. And that's when the girl in front of me, Susie, called out that she thought we might be lost.

What.

Sure enough, there were no more marking ribbons. So we backtracked and noticed a pink ribbon high in the tree. And a trail...sort of.

So we followed it. Right into a swamp.

But still, there were ribbons on the other side, so we hopped on through. Crazy route, I thought, but that's part of the challenge, right?

We followed the trail up to a road...wait, what?

Down the way, we saw runners popping out on the road and an obvious sign - so now we knew for sure we had been off course. We wandered down to where they were coming from and realized that this was where our cozy cabins were. The cabins with clean clothes, soft beds...

Backtracking to where we had gone off course, we hit the 25k/50k decision point again - we had added at least a mile. Argh.

Any resolve I had to finish the 50k was gone. But I was at total peace with that decision. My main motivation for this race was to see the trails around Deception Pass, and this I had done. I was not there to race or push hard; not every race has to be about reaching a new PR. Sometimes it is just enough to run, and this was one of those days. I have a feeling that I have a lot more of these days to come.

Susie was determined to soldier on, and I admired her tenacity. After some other folks came to help her towards her goal, I wished her well and headed to the finish line.

Self portrait?

Cranberry Lake.

A bonus of finishing early was that I was able to cheer in Megan and Bunky, as well as loads of other folks.

Megan finishing.

Bunky finishing.

That night we shared our tales of the trails as we camped out with the other folks at the ELC - including Susie. We shared high fives and silly name games with the kiddos. A fine way to round out the day.

The next morning, we were up early for a 30 minute recovery run and a chance to run over the bridge again. I could do that every day, I think.

Recovery run the next day.

The bridge that made it all possible.