Chirico Tenpeat, Tiger Hat Finds A New Den
At 7:30 AM on a cool, clear Wednesday morning more than a few hardy souls toed an imaginary start line in the dirt. The route is simple: 1.7 miles out, 1.7 miles back. There’s only one uphill, and only downhill. Repeat ten times. It’s worth mentioning that the 1.7 mile out hosts around 1,700 ft. of uphill. The Seattle Mountain Running Group, a collective of online trail and ultra enthusiasts in the Seattle, WA area, began the Chirico Tenpeat in 2012. No need to ask why, just nod your head and accept the unique masochism.
The route is steep enough that on warm afternoons when the thermals are right you can look up and see colorful speckles swirling around in circles. No, no one is throwing large amounts of biodegradable –this is Washington- confetti from the mountain top. The colorful sprinkles in the blue sky are people paragliding down to the lawnmower etched landing zone between the parking lot and the trailhead. It’s another activity that brings extra competition to hikers and trail runners desperately attempting to get a parking space in popular trailhead’s three Port-A-John crushed gravel parking lot.
In 2012, James Varner, Rainshadow Running, was the only participant to complete the task. Varner established a course record that sent the Seattle Mountain Group Run into social media exclamations of disbelief. Varner ran the ten repeats in less than 11 hours.
This year, six runners completed the 17,000 ft. of vertical gain course. Roger Michel, Evergreen Trail Runs, rewrote Varner’s established record by running the ten repeats in 9 hours 20 minutes. The elated winner didn't even seem to believe his own accomplishment. After a 12 oz beer slipped into his mind, Michel explained his success was due in part to his competition. Smiling he crowned himself with the coveted Tiger Hat.
Jess Mullen, Fit First, organized the 2013 event for the Seattle Mountain Running Group. Mullen gathered prizes and resources from local specialty running shops that fueled the competition, but importantly she brought together trail runners of all abilities and gave them the opportunity to enjoy sunshine, smiles, and a few miles. Some runners ran one lap, some five laps, and a select six ran ten laps.
Six finishers, in order: Roger Michel, Kevin Douglas, Candice Burt, James Varner, Joshua Heckathorn, and Jess Mullen.
