NEW - Start & Finish area
For those runners that have participated in Chuckanut in the last ten years you know that parking has always been an issue. Typically runners have to walk around a quarter mile from their cars to the start and back again after they finish. In the highly likely icky weather that we can have in the PNW in March, plus the mileage from the days race having your vehicle a bit closer at the finish might be a little more comfortable and convenient.
For the 20th Anniversary we had to think beyond our current planning for the race and find additional parking for the increased number of participants. We were lucky enough to find the Haskell Corporation and their parking lot a mere mile from our normal start finish. This worked well to accommodate the morning parking and the shuttles back to the car in the afternoon worked, but I still felt like it wasn't completely ideal.
This year I requested the use of the parking lot for both the start and finish. It is a little difficult on this RD to relocate from the cool iconic Fairhaven Park finish area, but with a few extra details to beef up the finish line, I think we can create a great gathering spot and everyone will be more conveniently located for both the start and the finish.
Below is a link to a Google map showing the start and a line following the addition (same as the start last year) to connect runners to the established course. The change from last year will be that instead of turning off the interurban into Fairhaven Park on their run for the finish, runners will continue along the interurban back to the 6th & Harris parking area where they started hours earlier.
Having the ability to park everyone's cars near the start and return you to them at the finish is a great solution to the parking dilemma that we have dealt with as the race has grown. I am excited to see how this solution works and am very thankful to Haskell Corp for allowing us the use of their space.