Caden Ragsdale: 200mi @ ATY

Across The Years ("ATY") is an annual series of timed multi-day ultra-marathons held during the new year week outside Phoenix. Participants can choose to run for 24, 48, 72-hours, or for 6-days. It's quite a popular event for ultra running aficionados who want to "run in the new year."

Ultra running is generally defined as any distance longer than a marathon. Typical ultra distances are 50km, 50mi, 100mi, or 200mi, or like ATY, done in time periods during which the runners try to run as far as possible.

At this year's ATY, Seattle's Caden Ragsdale completed 201.169 Miles in 66:15:37. Caden is 15, and as far as his dad Chris and I can tell, he's the youngest to ever complete (or even try??) this distance.

The lowest age limit for most ultras is 18, so that is one limiting factor. Chris found records of a 12-year old finishing a 100, and there was a 16 year old at ATY that finished 100 miles in 40 hours.

Caden says training for ATY was hard. He had no idea he’d be able to run a 200 when he started. It helped him to focus on the training process, getting out in the community, running with friends, and talking with people during the race. At the end he felt a great sense of accomplishment that can apply to anything else he may encounter for the rest of his life.

Caden's dad Chris is an experienced ultra athlete who started out as a cyclist. In addition to hammering everyone's legs off in local group rides, he had success at the Furnace Creek 508 (now the Silver State 508), and the 2011 Paris Brest Paris. As he progressed, he set his sights on the 2013 RAAM (Race Across America). He felt disappointed by his performance that year.

When Chris got home he parked his bike in the garage, did a reset, and turned his focus to running. With running buddy Jim Ryan (also a former long distance cyclist), they've done Cocodona 250, Big Dog's Backyard Ultra, and the Moab 240.

While I can imagine most kids feeling intimidated by a father with this kind of athletic resume, Caden has felt naturally drawn to running, and has progressed to longer and longer distances.

Chris says his role doesn't really have anything to do with ultra running, it's about life:

"As a parent my goal is to nurture and support Caden's goals and dreams. And to help show him the process of accomplishing things. I've told him many times if all we were doing was running that would be ridiculous. I'm trying to teach him to choose big audacious goals and then break it down. The same process applies to sports, career, and life. He understands it's all done a single step at a time. Learn from those who are doing it well. And to listen to your body, in training, racing, and life."

Part of Caden's approach has been to connect with other runners. During the summer of 2018 Caden established a successful running club to connect with friends and family who also liked running.

Now as a high schooler he also runs Cross Country (XC) and track. He made it to Varsity districts for cross-country, and runs the 1600 and 800 in track.

His current best time at the 5k distance is 17:58.

Running ultras as a high schooler gives him a unique perspective in the "distance" events of XC and track.

"It's hard to transition from tempo and speed to the much slower ultra speeds. It takes practice to learn how the body is feeling over longer periods of time. I've had to learn to slow down during the first miles of an ultra, not go out too fast, just go slow and stick with it."

"For 5ks you need to be on top of it. You are making rapid fire decisions in the moment."

"When I am making a plan for an ultra with my dad, we think about taking it a section at a time. For the 200 I focused on 50-mile sections. I didn’t think about splits. I was able to sleep as needed and still be on pace."

One of the hardest parts of ultras is staying fueled.

"We plan the meals. For me, eating solid meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner is important to keep the body familiar with real foods. To avoid caloric deficit, I eat at regular intervals."

Caden has learned to respond to specific feelings that signal trouble.

"I can tell I am going into caloric deficit when I have feelings like weakness, or I'm emotionally agitated--hangry."

During ATY he says started to fall into caloric deficit 5-10 times, but caught it before it got too bad.

"Fighting off the numbness and mental tediousness can be hard. If the route is scenic it’s easy to stay distracted. If it’s a boring loop, then it takes work. I use music to keep my mind occupied."

Caden says he's already thinking about college and would like to get in to a school with a good running program (author's thought bubble: Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff?)

Caden's running journey benefits him outside of running. The biggest lesson is "that there are low points in school, homework, friendships, but you have to push through the low points to experience the better things that can come through."

Does Chris think Caden will burn out?

"No not at all, I've never really thought about it like that. Not for myself or for him. It's kinda funny I really don't think of myself as a runner or even a cyclist. I'm just doing whatever inspires me next. I'm not concerned with him burning out because I'm not attached to him running. I've told him many times who knows what he will do with this training. He could be a skier, or speed skater, maybe a cyclist?"

I asked about what's next on his ultra calendar and he's not sure. He'll start making plans after track season ends, but he's already thinking about another 200.