Test Driving the North Face Rucky Chucky Shoes at the Rucky Chucky 50K

We're Off! (Photo Courtesy of Austin Violette)

On Saturday, I joined about 100 runners (82 in the 50K and 20 in the 50K Relay) for the Rucky Chucky Roundabout 50K. Apart from last week's 15K race, this was going to be my first race of the year and yet another chance to do some trail-testing. This time I was checking out the Rucky Chucky trail running shoes -- a new model from The North Face. I had bought it in Portland after discovering that there is no sales tax in Oregon!

The New North Face Rucky Chucky Shoes

I knew this was not going to be a super-fast race fro two reasons:

1. No aid stations for the first and last 14 miles, which forced everyone to carry lots of water or risk running out of water on a fairly hot day (or, in my case, both!)
2. The course does not play to my strengths, with screaming downhills (my favorite) on the way out and butt-kicking uphills on the way back. It would have been perfect to start at the river crossing instead and run the course in reverse.

Still, I felt strong and had a good base coming into the race, so I was going to do my best to run a good race. On race morning I picked up Frank Plucker in Grass Valley and Mark Tanaka (the eventual winner, now known as the grrrrreen dinosaur!) in Auburn, making this a very environmentally friendly trip to the start.

Lightning-Fast Mark "Ultrailnaka" Getting Ready to Crush the Course

We found everyone in great spirits at the start. It was fun to see many trailrunning friends again, like the fitter-than-ever, Vespa-chugging Scott Dunlap with his brand-new Inov-8 hydration pack; race-volunteer-for-a-day Catherine; future WS100 pacer Tony Overbay (this was the first time I actually met Tony in person); 12 Hours at Cool RD and Rucky Chucky sweep Nancy Warren; two-ultras-a week Ray Sanchez; fellow Tahoe Triple veteran Sigurd Asp (training for WS100); the 16-year old track-star-turned-ultratrailrunner Austin Violette; and many more.

View from the Trail (Photo Courtesy of Austin Violette)

The race started promptly at 8 a.m. and we raced down some of the steep downhills, perhaps going out a little too fast, but it was hard to slow down. The course follows the WS100 trail all the way down (roughly 2500') to the Ruck-a-Chuck river crossing and I remembered some of the sections from pacing Dave Yeakel jr. on this same course last year. It was not all downhill in one go though -- there were still plenty of uphill sections!

Elevation Profile of the Rucky Chucky 50K Race

Until just before the race started I was not sure if I should take two big hand bottles or my CamelBak. In the end, I opted for the latter, but the danger of using the CamelBak is that you put too much water (read: weight) in it. Also, it is very hard to tell how much water you have left. It took me about two hours to reach the first aid station (13.9 miles) and I still had water left in my pack. Norm Klein and Tom Wrobelowski kindly filled up my pack for the return trip and I left it there so I could run to Ruck-a-Chuck and back without my pack. I reached the turnaround in 2:15.

Austin Violette at the Turn Around Point (Photo Courtesy of Austin Violette)

As soon as I strapped my CamelBak back on and started running up the hills, I started feeling a bit sluggish. Time to refuel. I thought that I might have brought too much water, so I started splashing some of it on my face and neck in order to cool down. Although the race site says it was only 67 degrees, it sure felt a lot hotter, especially on the more exposed sections of the trail.

Some parts of the trail were so steep that it was more efficient to just walk, making it a long and slow climb back to the start as well as a great training experience for the hotter weather that is coming up. At a certain point I felt like my water supply was shrinking and I stopped pouring it over my head to make sure I would not run out. Unfortunately, at mile 28, I heard the dreaded bubbly sound that accompanies the last few sips of water in the CamelBak. Turning the backpack sideways helped a little bit, but at mile 29 I was completely out of water. Fortunately there were only about 2.5 miles to go.

RD Robert Mathis at the Finish

I finished in 16th place overall in 5:45, a little slower than I had hoped for, but given the conditions I was happy with it. The post-race buffet, prepared by Linda Mathis was excellent and I talked to many of the other runners for a while, before finally heading back home where a great stack of pancakes was waiting for dinner!

Catherine and Other Volunteers Record the Finishing Times

Race details: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=5226179#

Jack Driver on the Home Stretch

As for the new shoes, I really enjoyed them. Here is my summary:

Summary of the Rucky Chucky Trailrunning Shoe Experience:

• Fit: Excellent. The shoe fit me very well (slightly bigger than "normal" size 13s) and feels very smooth. It has good breathability. The shoe features an ergonomically-designed footbed that looks a bit weird at first but really does not bother your feet.
• Toughness: Very Good. The bottom of the shoe is very well protected with new "snake-plate" technology.
• Flexibility: Excellent. The Rucky Chuckies are very flexible, unlike some of the other TNF running shoes.
• Side-to-side Stability: Very Good. The shoes felt extremely comfortable and allowed me to move over tough terrain effortlessly.
• Grip: Very good. Not super aggressive, but plenty to get the job done, especially on rocky terrain.
• Switchback Handling: Very Good. I had to stop and tighten the shoes very tight to handle some of the extreme downhills (so my toes would not hit the front of the shoes) and without an integrated lacing system this restricted my feet a little bit.
• Weight: Excellent. This is the shoes' best feature! They are really very light for a trail running shoe. I almost did not feel any difference with my road shoes. I found some of the other TNF shoes on the heavy side.
• Price: OK. At $120, it was a good thing there was no sales tax in Oregon!
• Overall: This is a great and surprisingly light shoe for almost all trail conditions and can even be used on the road if needed.

Next Up: The Daffodil Run 10K!