By John Pearch

The dawn of the 2nd Capitol Peak Mega-Fat Ass started off with extremely thick fog that made driving conditions on the windy logging road to the start, less favorable. But that didn't stop over a 120 runners and volunteers from getting there. I had this feeling I was in the movie "Field of Dreams" when all the cars came in all at once with all the headlights gloaming in the fog.

96 brave souls survived muddy, rainy and hilly conditions in order to complete the Capitol Peak Mega-Fat Ass Trail Run either in the 25K or 50K distance. Not even unpleasant January weather could stop runners from coming, from all over the Northwest (including Washington, Oregon and Utah). 31 finishers completed the entire 50K distance and 64 completed the 25K. There were more dogs this year than people in last years fat ass. 34 additional runners showed up without any pre-notice allowing a to get a respectable sized crowd! Even some of Olympia's finest runners came out to have fun in the mud, including Dave Mora (winner of the 1990 Goodwill Games and 2 time Olympic Trials Qualifier), Craig Dickson (2000 Olympic Trials qualifiers) and Karen Steen (2000 and 2004! Olympic Trials Qualifier). Scott McCoubrey gave a supportive effort and brought more than 20 runners from the Seattle region, including Scott Jurek, Uli Steidl, Trisha Rosenberg, Eric Sach and more.

Much preparation went into this event in order to make it a success. The website was developed by Scott McQueeney (Oregon City, OR) who did a remarkable job of posting photos of the course and other information about the race. The photos were all taken on top of Capitol Peak in September, however there was no view on race day, with all the fog. A 50K single-track trail course was selected amongst the 100's of miles of trails that span throughout the 90,000 acres of Capitol State Forest, part of Washington's legacy trust lands. This course was originally thought to have over 8,000 ft of gain but was proven to only be around 4300 ft of gain on race day. The entire 50K course is in the shape of a figure 8, with only 1 mile backtracking and only 2 miles of logging roads over the course of the 50K. The first half and second half both loop right back to the starting point, making a perfect spot for a fat ass type run. The course featured two major climbs including the infamous Capitol Peak climb of 2200 of gain and the 1800 ft climb in the last 5 miles, climbing out of the 1.5 mile mud hole known as Hells Bottom - named after Hell Creek.

The week before the run, a crew of 12 helped get the start area ready by cleaning the Wedekind Picnic shelter (start/finish) taking more than 2.5 hours and loading over a dozen of heavy trash bags full of nails, glass and other garbage. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) were very pleased to see all the work we put into cleaning this facility and for all the good people that attended this run. Wedekind was a happening place during the run. This was the first time Capitol State Forest has ever experienced a trail run and the DNR are encouraging us to continue. A recreation use permit was also approved by the DNR in order to host the event.

The Mega-Fat Ass lived up to it's prefix as it had many aspects that made it more then the average fat ass training run. Thirteen awesome Search and Rescue volunteers (Pierce County Explorer Search and Rescue and the 4x4 unit) were posted at designated stations throughout the course. $200 of donations were given to the Search and Rescue team for their support during the run. Many additional volunteers were also a huge help throughout the run, including some of my own personal co-workers and friends from the Washington State Dept. of Ecology, DNR, and the Mountaineers - Olympia chapter. Markus Dennis (co-FAD), another good friend of mine gave a great deal of effort in helping me organize and was a key leader throughout the run. A nice warm fire was burning throughout the run under the shelter, which allowed runners to keep warm while coming through at the halfway mark for the 50K or for 25K finishers to be able to wait comfortably for the 50K runners to finish. Special thanks to Timothy Stratford (Markus's friend) for going out of his way to buy some additional equipment, including the cast iron fire pot, which allowed us to stay dry and warm under the shelter. The USA Track and Field Association also sanctioned the event as a "National Sanctioned Mountain Running Event", upon obtaining liability insurance.

We are considering getting this course certified as it is very runable and has a lot of potential in allowing fast times. The course was verified during the run to only have approximately 4300 ft of gain. Participation awards were offered to several individuals and team members, which included first dog owner, first out-of-stater, first group of 3 or more and first couple. Several sponsors were also greatly appreciated for donating T-shirts and other goodies for the participation awards, which include South Sound Running of Olympia, Montrail, and Seattle Running Company.

We would like to honor the senior participant's who completed either distance, who happened to come forward and announce their age following the race. This run allowed John Bandor to complete his 300th marathon/ultra! Marv Christensen also gave a strong effort in completing the first half with his dog Hector. Larry Webster helped out greatly by sweeping the first 25K. Another special achievement worth recognizing is this run also allowed Max Welker to complete his 100th ultra.

A front page cover story featured in the Olympian newspaper the day after. The stories can be seen here:websites and here:website. The saga continued in the following Tuesday in the Olympian Sports page.

We are grateful for everyone who either participated or volunteered that made this a day to remember as well as put Olympia on the map in the ultraworld! It was so good to see so many people throughout the NW at one event. Olympia is a good central point for people coming from either Oregon, the Seattle region or Central Washington.

Next year, we are considering having another Mega-Fat Ass in January as well as an official race in May.
Some how I managed to finish the entire 50K with only 3.5 hours of sleep. It's a good thing I had so many volunteers and great people to share all the energy and support!
Thank you all for coming!
See you all next year!