Temperatures in the upper 40s Fahrenheit, overcast skies, no precipitation, and tacky trails made ideal conditions for a new course record by Max King (post-race interview) and a comeback to ultrarunning after a long injury by women’s winner Ellie Greenwood (post-race interview, race report).
As usual, we’ll be updating this article with additional results as well as links to Chuckanut 50k-related articles, photo galleries, and race reports.
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2014 Chuckanut 50k Men’s Race
David Laney (post-race interview), last year’s Chuckanut champ and now previous course-record holder, and Max King, who has twice missed the Chuckanut win (getting lost and finishing way back in 2012, second to David in 2013), went after it from the get go. Taking the field out hard, David, Max King, and Max Ferguson (who was third last year), plus one other runner turned up at the 6.75-mile aid station in 41 minutes flat, a smidge over 6:00-mile pace.
David Laney finishing second. Photo: iRunFar/Kim Wrinkle
At the 10 mile aid station, midway through the climb up Chuckanut Mountain, Max King had a 10-second gap over David. But at about 12.5 miles along, the pair was even again. The leapfrogging continued because David arrived to the 13.1-mile checkpoint enough ahead of Max King to win the $100 King of the Mountain prize from the local Seven Hills Run Shop.
At this point, Daniel Kraft had found third place and Ryan Ghelfi fourth, where the two would hold through the finish line. Ed McCarthy would eventually move himself up into fifth place.
Daniel Kraft earning third. Photo: iRunFar/Kim Wrinkle
We didn’t see the runners again until the mile 24.4 checkpoint, but there Max had opened a two-minute gap over David. It seems Max made his move on ridge trail atop Chuckanut Mountain.
Max King wins and earns a new Chuckanut 50k course record. Photo: iRunFar/Kim Wrinkle
Passing through mile 24.4 at 2:55 elapsed, Max only needed to not blow up and he would have both the win and a new course record. He had no problems, however, with hammering to a 3:35:42 finish, setting a new course record by four and a half minutes.
2014 Chuckanut Men’s Results
- Max King (Montrail) – 3:35:42 (new course record) (post-race interview)
- David Laney (Nike) – 3:38:37 (post-race interview)
- Daniel Kraft (Nike) – 3:41:05
- Ryan Ghelfi (Nike) – 3:48:12
- Ed McCarthy – 3:53:23
- Max Ferguson – 3:53:44
- Cody Callan – 3:59:31
- Oliver Utting – 4:05:25
- Masazumi Fujioka – 4:05:49
- Benoit Gignac – 4:10:34
2014 Chuckanut 50k Women’s Race
Last year, Jodee Adams-Moore ran a simply insane 4:01:23 course record, finishing 10th overall and running more than eight minutes faster than any other woman has on the course. This year, Jodee took off from the line with the men, and we couldn’t help but wonder if she was looking to go sub-four hours. It seemed she was on pace to do so at the time checks for 6.75 miles, 10.25 miles, and 13.1 miles. And while she’d fallen off pace a bit by the mile 24.4 aid station, she still retained a three-minute lead over the rest of the field. But then things fell apart for Jodee, and she was having clear physical issues by the time she reached the finish.
Jodee Adams-Moore after her second-place finish. Photo: iRunFar/Kim Wrinkle
At the same time as Jodee’s race seemingly fell apart, Ellie Greenwood was starting to feel really good. Ellie, who was UltraRunning magazine’s 2012 Ultrarunner of the Year, spent most of 2013 injured. This was her first ultra in almost a year. She told us before the race that she worried a bit about her fitness over the long miles. At 6.75 miles, Ellie was just under three minutes behind Jodee and five and a half minutes back at 12.5 miles.
Ellie Greenwood, 2014 Chuckanut champ. Photo: iRunFar/Kim Wrinkle
Then, at 24.4 miles, she was just three minutes back again. With a little over four miles to go, Ellie caught and passed Jodee, putting two minutes per mile on her over the rest of the distance to the finish. She finished in 4:11:51, which is only about two and a half minutes slower than her fastest time on this course. Injured no more, let Ellie’s domination of ultrarunning re-commence!
Melanie Bos after her third-place finish. Photo: iRunFar/Kim Wrinkle
Melanie Bos finished third, Trisha Steidl fourth, and Gina Lucrezi fifth.
2014 Chuckanut 50k Women’s Results
- Ellie Greenwood (Montrail) – 4:11:51 (post-race interview, race report)
- Jodee Adams-Moore (SCOTT) – 4:20:37
- Melanie Bos (The North Face) – 4:38:20
- Trisha Steidl (Seattle Running Club) – 4:42:14
- Gina Lucrezi (PepsiCo) – 4:45:22
- Tara Berry – 4:59:08
- Amy Golumbia (Arc’teryx) – 5:04:52
- Tracy Wollschlager – 5:07:58
- Kristina Pattison – 5:09:30
- Emily Kruger – 5:10:54
2014 Chuckanut 50k Articles, Race Reports, and More
Articles and Photo Galleries
- Glenn Tachiyama’s photo gallery
Race Reports
- Max King (1st male)
- Ellie Greenwood (1st female)
