Local ultra-marathoner still blazing trails

Exercise is just what the doctor ordered for Yvonne Naughton.

It’s advice she doesn’t ignore because she literally wrote her own prescription.

The 40-year-old Irish-born doctor, who had been an award-winning athlete in her youth, drifted off-track, so to speak, after a ruptured appendix and subsequent second surgery put her distance running on hold.

So did life in general.

“The next 13 years or so flashed past in a blur,” Naughton, who lives and trains in the SneeOosh area near La Conner, writes in her popular blog “The Miles of My Life.”

While undertaking an exhausting three-year pediatric residency at the University of Arizona, Naughton recalls having labored to jog a couple miles at a time.

Now she can reel off a hundred miles in less than a full day.

Naughton completed her 12th 100-miler last month in Arizona, where she was on a mission to rid herself of ghosts from her past.

“I’d come back to the desert as a completely different person, physically and mentally healthier and stronger,” Naughton said after placing fourth among female entrants and 24th overall in the Javelina Jundred, one of the biggest ultra-marathon races in the country.

She finished the course in 19 hours, 33 minutes, a half hour faster than her pre-race target time.

“I didn’t just run a great race, taking three hours off my trail 100-mile personal best,” says Naughton, “I’d proven I was capable of changing my life for the better and through dedication, motivation, and consistent hard work, I went from struggling to run two miles in the Arizona desert to six years later running 100 miles.”

The transformation came after she and her husband, Dave Brown, also a doctor, moved their family here.

“I was quickly introduced to trail running,” she recalls.

Naughton began by running with the family malemute, which Naughton says needed exercise.

So did she, for both body and mind.

“Transfixed by the beauty of the forest,” says Naughton, “I was soon running further and further to discover new trails.”

Local routes reminded Naughton of her native Ireland.

Arizona, however, couldn’t be more different.

Naughton, a 24-hour Running World Championships qualifier, knew Arizona would pose unique challenges, not the least of which was daytime temperatures in the 90s.

“I was very familiar with the weather and environment,” she says. “And I was way too familiar with rattlesnakes, tarantulas, scorpions and the infamous javelina who often liked to eat the flowers out of the pots by our front door.”

Naughton already knew how to pace herself in competition, such as mixing one-minute walks between 10-minute runs to maintain an 11-minute mile average. And how to quickly shed and don clothing layers on the move to cope with temperature changes over a day-long period.

Still, she left nothing to chance.

This summer Naughton trained outdoors during mid-day hours and ran indoors on her treadmill wearing extra clothes with the heat turned up.

Naughton also employed a strict nutrition plan for the Arizona event. She embraced a healthy, calorie efficient diet.

She “feasted” on a bunless burger and salad the night before the race, and brought pre-made, ready to grab fuel foods and fluids during stops at Javelina Jundred aid stations.

Naughton estimated she would have to consume about 150 calories per hour to run well.

For the most part, everything went according to plan. Except for one mishap.

“Sometime after sunrise,” she says, “I got my obligatory nose dive out of the way, falling hard on my knees. Embarrassed, I jumped up and got back to running, not noticing my bloody knees until a volunteer suggested that I might fare better on my feet rather than trying to crawl on my knees.”

Naughton recharged at regular stops by downing sushi, cheese, and cold meats – forgetting all about the pumpkin pie she had hoped to sample.

After nightfall, she often kept her head down so as not to blind oncoming runners with her headlamp. Her alertness spared a tarantula that Naughton managed to sidestep along the trail.

It was one of many great strides Naughton made in Arizona.

She has no plans to stop running anytime soon.

“In the future,” Naughton says, “I will continue to strive to be the best version of myself that I can be. Because by continually competing with others we risk becoming bitter, but by continually competing with ourselves we will surely become better.”