Notes from the RD: The First Howl

Black Wolf Endurance rang in the New Year with a one of a kind race that had runners chasing books on multiple loops through the woods in well below freezing temps. It was just the kind of challenge and chaos that I love! It was important to me to start this new year and new chapter with a new race. The timing of it was also planned so that Deakan - my son, race assistant extraordinaire, and BWE merch director, could be here for our first race.

As excited as I was for this race, I found myself saying often, "This is why I don't do winter races." The never ending wind storms over the last months took out hundreds of trees on the trail and blew the trail markings away as fast as I could put them up. With much help from some dedicated runners, trail users, and the MatSu Borough, we were able to get most of the trees cut or moved off the trail before race day and thankfully the last round of markers stayed in place!

Race morning greeted us with a brisk -5 degrees and, as always, I wondered how many runners would actually show up. I should know by now to never doubt the grit and dedication of this running community! 50 of you came ready to party...by party, of course, I mean suffer. At bib pick up runners were asked to draw cards that would determine the order of their trail loops. Emotions ran high as runners learned their fate. Those who drew the 5 mile loop first were thrilled, those who drew it last, not as thrilled. Weird.

Once runners knew the order of their laps, the clock counted down and they began their race in search of their first book. On each loop, a book was hidden at the halfway point where runners would need to tear out the page that matched their bib number (Barkley style) and bring it back to me to confirm they ran the whole loop. This is where runners who chose the 3 mile loop first, realized that I am, in fact, a liar. That book was inadvertently placed well past the halfway mark and had many runners searching in circles for a book that was still further up the trail. I cannot apologize enough for that. Every new race has a learning curve and this one had several!

Runners soon began returning to the finish line, turning in their pages, and heading back out on their next loop. Many of them came in almost unrecognizable as ice had begun forming on their beards, hair, face, and eyelashes. Next year, we will definitely be having a best "Frozen Beard and Lashes" contest. One of my favorite parts of this format was that runners did not know who was in the lead as they all were on different loops, on different parts of the course. It was very much a personal challenge for each runner, against themselves, the elements, and the trail.

Zac Cheyette was the first runner to complete all three loops in 1:15:03. Close behind him was Pete Harrison in 1:17:08. Both were shy one book page but even with a 5 minute penalty would hold their positions. Josh Taylor, the first runner with all three pages, came in third with a time of 1:23:51. The top three female finishers were Kristin Wetzel (1:33:09), Natalie King (1:39:43) and Olivia Route (1:42:17). Full results are now posted on the race website.

As runners continued to cross the finish line, we started preparing for the Valley's first ever Nog Mile. Bushes Bunches graciously provided all the eggnog we needed for this event. 11 brave souls took on the challenge and while we were getting their first pour ready, the eggnog froze in the cups because...of course it would. -5, remember! Hilarity ensued as runners tried to get their eggnog down, several asking for spoons, others complaining about the "shards of nog cutting their throats." A poorly timed comment from me about working in Starbucks during the launch of the eggnog latte almost had Mark Snyder being the first to throw up. If there was ever a running spectator event, this was it. Josh Taylor was our first finisher (10:04) but because he had brought his own corn syrup free eggnog which didn't freeze (hmmm), we made him take another lap. Snyder was the runner up and ultimate Nog Champion with a time of 11:45.

Many thanks to my team - Deakan, Rita, Xavier, Tom and Kat, for working cold, dark hours getting this race put together for you all!

Xavier is quickly mastering our livestream at Wildly Inclined so be sure to check out our YouTube channel to see the finish line (and maybe some trail cam footage) at all our races this year.

Our race photographer, Keith Blanchette, also deserves high praises for braving the cold with his equipment! We'll get race photos out soon but you can see some of his other work at Eye on the Wild.

Lastly, our sponsors are just the best! Thank you to the Progressive PT team for adding swag to our podium awards and helping with the Nog Mile and to the Kuuk Water team for being on site filming and assisting runners throughout the day.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Thanks for being a part of our pack!

Heidi Quinn, RD