Outdoors

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008

Ski to Sea race to switch mountain biking, running legs

Popping ibuprofen like it’s a bag full of M&Ms and seeking relief in a canal full of snowmelt will no longer be Memorial Day weekend traditions for runners in the region.

Ski to Sea Race Director Pete Coy announced Tuesday, Nov. 11, that the race will switch the running and mountain biking legs beginning with next year.

The switch means that runners will no longer have to endure pounding their knees, ankles and shins for the eight miles from the Mt. Baker Ski Area to the state Department of Transportation Shuksan shed — a run that drops approximately 2,000 feet in elevation at a 4.7-percent average grade.

The move also puts the mountain biking leg in the mountains, creating a course Coy and the Ski to Sea Race Committee hope will be more challenging for competitors and eventually evolve into a ride completely on trails.

“This is a move we’ve been talking about for more than 10 years,” Coy said. “Since 1995, many mountain bikers have said that that leg is too easy and they would rather see more trails and hills.... Runners have been saying since I was a runner on a team that the running course is too punishing on their knees and ankles. We think this move will help make both legs of the race better.”

The move also will add about three miles to the course, making the combined length of the seven legs 88 miles. To adjust for that extra mileage and an anticipated increase in race times, organizers will push the start time a half-hour earlier, to 8 a.m.

Cross-country and downhill skiers will still man the first two legs of the race, as they have in recent years.

But instead of handing off to the runner, the downhill skier will pass the timing chip wristband to the mountain biker, who will ride 2.2 miles down the Mount Baker Highway to a trail portion of the course within the ski area. The trail will include a half-mile climb near Chair 7 and a slalom course that will include a ride down the ski area’s half pipe, Coy said.

Bikers will then return to the Mount Baker Highway and ride 4.8 miles to Salmon Ridge, where they will again exit the highway for a 0.7-mile trail loop. The leg will finish with a half-mile ride to the DOT shed, where the mountain bikers will hand off to the waiting road bikers.

“On this new course riders will need to descend well, and it will test their technical abilities,” said Dan Bass, who organizes teams for Barron Heating and has competed in the old mountain biking leg a number of times since 1995.

One obvious concern is having 425 mountain bikers speed down Mount Baker Highway is safety. To help reduce bikers’ speed, there will be eight mandated dismount areas. Riders will need to get off their bikes and walk or run them through the dismount area before continuing their ride.

“We think we can make the mountain biking leg the safest on the course,” Coy said. Fastest riders should be able to complete the new leg in 35 to 40 minutes, Coy said, while average riders should finish in about 45.

“We think competitors are going to finish sooner, and there are going to be very few riders still on the course when we release the cars,” Coy said. “We’ll keep cars on the left side of the road and mountain bikers on the right and have them separated by cones.”

The leg switch and time change should enable cars to be allowed down the mountain from the ski area as early as 10 a.m., rather than the 11:30 a.m. release time from this year’s race.

The road bikers and canoeists will complete their usual routes, but the runners now will do the leg from Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale to Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham. The new 9.8-mile leg will be substantially flatter, easing the wear and tear on runners’ legs.

The new course will take runners from Hovander to Slater Road 1.5 miles along the Nooksack River dike. The course then heads 0.9 miles along Slater Road to Ferndale Road, 1.9 miles to Country Lane, 4.7 miles to Marine Drive and 0.8 miles to Squalicum Harbor, where the runner will had off to the sea kayaker for the final leg.

Coy said 1.5 miles will be trail running, and the rest will be on county roads.

“It’s going to allow more elite runners to enter the competition now,” said Keefer Whan, who has been one of the top runners on the old course for Barron Heating Masters in recent years. “You won’t have the negative stigma of wrecking a runner’s career running down the hill.

“By virtue of the 10-mile run, I think you’re also going to add the element of intrigue by putting an hour-long run at the end of the day. My runs usually took 37 minutes (on the old course), and the intermediate runners were 40 to 45 minutes because gravity equalized everybody. Now your top runners are going to run 55 minutes, and there will be a 15- to 20- minute gap to the intermediate runners. It’s going to be more important for a team to recruit runners.”

Coy said getting more top-end runners and lessening the impact on competitors’ legs were the main reasons the committee had sought to move the running leg for years.

“We’re very excited about this change,” Coy said. “This is the most significant change we’ve made to the race in many, many years. We feel it’s going to attract better athletes to the race, and I think they’re going to enjoy their leg of the race more than ever.”