Chad Ricklefs, A'85 - Burke Mountain Academy
Chad Ricklefs, A'85 - Burke Mountain Academy
Chad Ricklefs, A'85 - Burke Mountain Academy
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Administration, and other agencies I manage the preparation<br />
of EISs and EAs. I think that I always knew I wanted to<br />
eventually work to help protect the natural environment, and<br />
I am sure spending so much time in the Northeast Kingdom<br />
had something to do with that.<br />
TJ – What have BMA’s values taught you about life after<br />
high school and college? Were there any <strong>Burke</strong> principles that<br />
carried over and proved useful?<br />
CR – Of course BMA has had a major influence on how I<br />
have approached life. The values that BMA is based on have<br />
carried over into my personal and work life. Growing up in<br />
the BMA community provided a solid foundation based on<br />
trust and honesty. These values have helped me forge strong<br />
relationships with professional clients as well as with family<br />
members.<br />
TJ – How has the close-knit community of BMA affected you<br />
positively or negatively in the real world? What has it taught<br />
you?<br />
CR – I think that the closeness of the BMA community<br />
taught me to respect other people’s beliefs and values which<br />
has been invaluable in my professional career. I think that<br />
the one downfall of living in such a small community was<br />
trying to integrate into a large community at CU. Moving to<br />
Boulder from East <strong>Burke</strong> as an 18-year old was a challenge.<br />
There definitely wasn’t that close-knit feeling like BMA. It took<br />
awhile to remove myself from the distractions and focus on<br />
what was important to me, athletics and education.<br />
TJ – What did <strong>Burke</strong> prepare you well for? What did <strong>Burke</strong><br />
not prepare you for?<br />
CR – As I just mentioned, I think that I wasn’t really prepared<br />
for the realities of life in a town like Boulder. Being somewhat<br />
isolated from “distractions” at BMA may have made it easier<br />
for me to focus on my athletics and education. However, BMA<br />
definitely provided me with the skills to set goals and to go<br />
after them like there was no tomorrow; both athletically and<br />
professionally.<br />
TJ – Boulder is an obvious choice of residence for a runner of<br />
your caliber, how has the active lifestyle there allowed you to<br />
pursue, and excel, as a long distance runner?<br />
CR – For me Boulder is the ideal location to train. Being<br />
surrounded by world class cyclists, marathoners, triathletes,<br />
etc. provides excellent motivation. It is uncommon to not run<br />
into some world class athlete during a training run. I have also<br />
been lucky to hook up with a great coach, Mark Plaatjes (1993<br />
world marathon champion), who is also my physical therapist.<br />
Another benefit of living in Boulder is the ability to train at<br />
altitude.<br />
TJ – How does your job allow you to be a long distance<br />
runner? I’m sure a quick hour long run around the track isn’t<br />
what prepares you for an ultramarathon. And was your choice<br />
of career affected by your desire to run?<br />
CR – Fortunately my employer is flexible and allows me<br />
to train when I need to. Although running between 1 and 2<br />
½ hours before work still requires me to be on the roads by<br />
5 a.m. ( and I thought the 6:45 morning runs at BMA were<br />
early). I like to get my run in before work so that I don’t have<br />
to worry about escaping from work to go run.<br />
TJ – On the same note, tell us a little about your training.<br />
What’s it take to be an ultramarathoner?<br />
CR – As you can imagine, training for ultramarathons<br />
requires spending a lot of time on the roads and trails. A<br />
typical week during the peak of my season includes intervals,<br />
hill repeats, or tempo workouts on Tuesday and Friday (1 ½ to<br />
2 hours per session), a 2 – 2 ½ hour run on Wednesday, and an<br />
easy 1 hour recovery run on Thursday. My runs on weekends<br />
range between 2 to 6 hours depending on what race distance I<br />
am preparing for. For example, I was doing 6 hour runs on both<br />
Saturday and Sunday leading up to my 100 mile trail races. I<br />
also have learned that as I get older I need to spend two days<br />
in the weight room to help avoid injuries. As you can see, my<br />
days are pretty packed so there is not a lot of time to spend on<br />
things other than training and work. Competing at the level I<br />
do in ultras while also having a full time professional career<br />
has forced me to make many sacrifices. I know that I only<br />
have a few more years left in me at the elite level; after that<br />
there will be plenty of time to relax and enjoy some snackies!<br />
TJ – You recently placed 17th overall, 3rd for your age<br />
category, in an IAU 100 km World Cup in the Netherlands,<br />
reaching a personal best time of 7:01. What was this<br />
experience like? How did it feel to be all the way over in<br />
Europe and have such a great race, competing for the USA<br />
Track and Field’s 100 km Ultramarathon Team?<br />
CR – Last year’s World 100 Kilometer Championships was an<br />
incredible experience. After nearly 25 years of pursuing my<br />
dream of competing at an international level championship,<br />
I finally was able to live that dream. Racing in Europe is<br />
awesome! As you can imagine, ultrarunning in the U.S. is<br />
not very popular so the crowds and interest in races is small.<br />
Europeans live for obscure sports like ultras, cycling, Nordic<br />
skiing, etc., so the crowds are always large and in typical<br />
fashion very boisterous! Competing in a USA uniform was<br />
inspiring and I am sure helped me run a personal best time<br />
for the 100 kilometer distance. I have already qualified for<br />
the 2008 U.S. World 100 Kilometer Championships team and<br />
have started preparing for that event (being held in Italy in<br />
November). My goal is to improve on my overall pacing by<br />
finishing in the top ten. This year’s course has some hills<br />
which will play into my strength. n