Willow Dolde runs year-round, often clad in a pink top and skirt, long pink hair flying in the breeze, feet bare or in simple sandals.
Dolde is an ultra athlete who trains for and competes in 100-mile races.
Asked the preferred pronoun to use, they, them, their is the reply.
Born as male, Dolde prefers being called they, and texted a link from webpage “Teaching Outside the Binary: Quick Guide to Singular They” to help raise awareness for writing this story.
The website’s author explains they used as a singular pronoun dates back to 1375 in medieval poetry and is used in everyday speech. An example of using singular they notes: “…let’s say you’re at a restaurant and someone leaves car keys on the table. You’d say, ‘Someone left their keys here,’ because you don’t know their gender.”
By the way, Dolde texts and emails in all lower case letters, explaining: “I tend to use all lower case in my writing in part out of an aesthetic feel and then it gradually grew into an awakening that we are always making choices with our language.” For this story, traditional capitalization is used.
Back to ultramarathons, gender is a part of registering for events.
When competing in popular ultramarathon 100-mile races, such as the ‘Javelina Jundred’—a popular run through the Sonoran Desert in October, Dolde registers in the nonbinary category. Other races have different criterion.
“Just as one might use Ticketmaster to buy concert tickets, ultra runners use a service called ultrasignup to register for races. The website keeps information for you in their account. Ultrasignup allows runners to register as nonbinary on the website. It has a second question: ‘…if a race does not have a nonbinary division, in which category should we put your results?’ In my inner image of myself, I do not think of myself as a man, so for some races I register as nonbinary and accept that my results will be in the men’s division. Again, for many of the smaller races I do, the top 10 runners are all trying to win outright, no matter what gender they are and may say I came in 6th place overall, rather than focusing on division. This is at least an experience for some.”
“I don’t think of myself as a man, so in writing a nuanced version of this…I wish I didn’t have to compete in the men’s division. Javelina Jundred has a nonbinary division. Women sometimes win races outright. I never want to steal someone else’s glory or diminish their accomplishments. But I understand smaller races can only do so much, and with Trump, I might expect races to do less, though they are so small scale, he might not notice them.”
Regardless of one’s gender fluidity, it takes considerable determination and endurance to become an ultra athlete.
Ultra athletes, are those who run distances beyond traditional 26.1 mile marathons. The longest ultramarathons, are those whose 100-mile course is completed in under 24 hours. Dolde seeks to improve their time to 17 hours or under.
The current world record for fastest runner, as noted in Outside Magazine’s January 2022 issue is “Lithuanian Aleksandr ‘Sania’ Sorokin (who) maintained a 6:31 pace for 100 miles, en route to shattering two of his own eye-popping ultra distance world records. His time of 10:51:39 smashed his standing 100-mile world record of 11:14:56, set last April.”
A Google search found the women’s world record for running 100 miles is “…12:41:11 set by Camille Herron at the Jackpot Ultra Running Festival in Henderson, Nevada” in Feb. 2022.
Dolde texted that “…during COVID I ran this solo effort, all tracked, but not an official race. I’ve run a bunch of 100’s in the 17:40 range and want to get under 17:30 and 17.”
Their very best time so far was 100 miles run in 16:18:11, according to a screenshot taken from Strava, a social network and GPS tracking app Dolde subscribes to. It is designed for athletes who wish to track and share their runs, course conditions, site challenges and connection with others.
It was running with border collies and reading a best-selling book called “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen,” by Christopher McDougall, published in 2009, that took Dolde’s passion for running excellence to a new level.
Rocky—a black and white border collie—and Latte—a brown and white border collie adopted in 2017, prompted Dolde to train for running longer and longer distances. Starting out with shorter runs when they were puppies, their human increased the distance as the dogs grew older. In addition to running with the dogs, Dolde competed in a Seattle marathon followed almost immediately by a 50 mile run, and realized increasing the distance to a hundred miles was a reality within reach.
Though running for nearly 40 years, it took until 2010-2011 to run without debilitating injury.
While attending college during the 1980s on the East Coast, Dolde got into running, though their body rebelled.
“I made a couple of friends and we all liked running—we ran almost every day—5k, 10k, 15k,” they recalled. “We aspired to run longer races. But I kept getting injured, knee, hip, back. I’d take some time off. Heard of 50 milers, but that seemed magical and impossible, something I would think about some day.”
While attending grad school at the University of Iowa, Dolde continued running marathons, participating in cross training with bikes, and kept getting injured.
“I destroyed my body by being a serious grad student,” Dolde recalled, saying hours spent hunched at a computer caused a number of ailments. “Wrists back, hips. After grad school my body began uncurling.”
Then came romance, marriage and a pair of children, along with a move to Whidbey Island.
Hired at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School as an early childhood teacher in 2008, Dolde found they moved around quite a bit while teaching–sitting on the floor, walking with children in the woods–and ran in off-school hours. Reading to their young son and daughter, Dolde would move through various yoga positions when not having time to run.
Discovering barefoot running or wearing minimal footwear proved the answer to solving body injuries endured in the past.
“About 2010, 2011, while teaching at Waldorf, the book “Born to Run” came out. It’s about the Mexico Tarahumara indigenous tribe who run in sandals 50 miles a day. The messengers in ancient Greece ran in sandals.”
Thinking this method might work for them, Dolde experimented first with soft-soled, five-toed shoes.
“Got my first pair of five-toed shoes and ran the trails around Waldorf,” Dolde said. “Then I switched to sandals/and/or barefoot around the trails of the school. There were times when I was not running to race, I’d run maybe 3-6 miles at a time. I’d be in beautiful woods in no or minimal shoes. The injuries that plagued me no longer did. With barefoot style your feet do the work. Your back, knees and hips don’t do all the work. Since then I’ve been running mostly barefoot, my feet are conditioned and strong. I’m sure the bone density is insane.”
Personal trainers and physical therapists agree the best way to increase and strengthen bone density is by participating in weight-bearing exercise such as walking, jogging, dancing, or hiking.
Meanwhile teaching is a natural skill for Dolde, who taught at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School until 2023. They credited the synergy working with other early childhood faculty Vanessa Kohlhaus and Dyanne Harshman at the time to the success of the program.
“Vanessa, Dyanne and I were all experienced early childhood teachers,“ they recalled. “It was a magical time of my life. We had such competence and trust. Like working with experienced jazz musicians—I love music. We could start a meeting without much planning and it would go well. At some point I thought I’d be teaching kindergarten in my 70s.”
Dyanne Harshman sent this text following the article’s publication, which also appears, edited in the South Whidbey Record.
“Willow is honest, intelligent, observant, humble, courageous and willing to work hard. As a teacher of young children Willow created space for children to be themselves while gently supporting and guiding each child to work through whatever challenged them. At this age, so much of what children are working on relates to their own movement capacities, as well as their own capacities to ‘move’ in the social and emotional sphere.
“Willow gave space for all of this, intervening in the most eloquent ways that would inevitably leave the children feeling as though they had worked it out in a sustainable way on their own…a true measure of self confidence for the children.
“As a colleague, Willow brought an honesty to our work together which inevitably left a wake of sustainability and perspective appreciated by all. I have so much appreciation for Willow’s fervor for life, and my raving would not be complete without fully lifting up just how hilarious they are. Their humor is spot on!”
As time passed, Willow realized another road beckoned:
“The best way to say this is I’ve been an outdoor teacher for 8-10 years, and can really refine and augment the way we teach children outside, and I had fallen in love with the woods. I brought children to their favorite spots. On the bounce back from COVID, society was looking for a way to have children be away from their parents for more than four hours. Too many needed full time daycare. I felt I couldn’t commit to that ‘normal’ way of life.”
Times changed, and COVID was a catalyst for Willow to explore and express who they truly were.
At the same time Dolde worked for and is still employed as a server with Langley’s Saltwater Fish House & Oyster Bar since 2016 to supplement income. They began experimenting with wearing women’s clothing.
“I’ve preferred women’s clothing all my life,” Dolde said. “But I didn’t wear it until around 2020 and various awakenings were going on. I’ll credit Waldorf for opening possibilities for me that I don’t have to be one thing or another. For a while I liked Boden—a glorious British brand of women’s clothes. I worked at Saltwater during the pandemic. I’d wear pink pants and a bright blouse.”
Complimented on their outfits, Dolde felt encouraged to express more and more of what was really inside.
“As I told one friend, it’s easier to be out than in. Rather than being subtle, here, I am…think what you want. With the permission of being nonbinary, not having to earn someone’s permission, I can let my inner self shine through and not be one way or another.”
Taking the new-found freedom of expression to running, Dolde said their preference is for bright clothing, which can give focus for ultra athletes.
“I remember 2018 or 2019 running the 5k and 10k, back-to-back by the Seattle Marathon Association at a Seattle Park. I did pretty well. I remember a teenage boy wearing a bright orange shirt. It was easy to track him and keep my pace so I could adjust my pace. Some wear gray for the opposite effect—so they’re not noticed, and then zoom ahead at the end. For a year, I wore black and gray trail running clothes. I hated it. I liked bright colors. I’ll be the deer for people and let them follow me. I do not want to be the sly stealthy fox in gray and black. I don’t want to break someone’s heart by passing them at the last moment.”
For this story Dolde ran from home to the soccer field at the South Whidbey Sports Complex. The attire was a hot pink watch cap, long pink hair, a spray of sparkly freckles across nose and cheeks, a pink Lululemon top, pink skirt, green sparkly finger and toe nails. The effect was truly dazzling and authentic. Photographer David Welton and I felt the impact of Dolde’s radiance.
The unique style is noticed by folks encountered on the course as well. Dolde added “Running in desert races with burly tough guys, they’ll say ‘I’m not sure if I’m more impressed by what you’re wearing or that you’re running in sandals.’”
Circling back to the book “Born to Run” about indigenous runners, Dolde mentioned a character in the book, Barefoot Ted. “One of the indigenous people made him some sandals. Ted came back to emulate them and formed a company and started a shoe company, Luna. The shoes I wear are Lunas.”
Runners can take in as much as 300 to 400 calories per hour and need to replace lost electrolytes—salts to prevent dehydration or heat stroke. Dolde prefers healthier treats such as avocado humus sandwiches and fruit. Sugary drinks and gels do not give them the pop other ultra athletes claim they get. Dolde is now experimenting with UCAN which provides energy without the usual sugar spikes. They are still experimenting with the right balance to maintain energy without side effects.
Dolde has learned that something will always go wrong when running a hundred miles. It’s a chance for creative problem solving. Take for instance, a former Javelina Jundred race when, after running 84 miles, their knee began acting up.
“My knee really hurt, where I had to limp into the aid station at mile 85,” Dolde recalled. “This is an established race with lots of entrants. Medical professionals were there for dehydration and heat stroke. The aid wrapped my knee in an ace bandage. I ran the next 15 miles feeling really good.”
Music as mentioned earlier, is a passion and accompanies Dolde on runs. “Often a Taylor Swift song runs through my head. While I don’t listen to Kanye West, his song went through my head in one race. My daughter had played it while on the way to Colorado.”
Upcoming races? “I know I’m running at the end of June. The Yeti 100 Washington, which starts at the Hyak trailhead at Snoqualmie Pass, runs through a 2.3 mile tunnel, continues to the Palouse region in eastern Washington to the Cascades trail. The race around Memorial Day I’m considering registering for is The Pigtails Challenge—its founder wears pigtails. There’s another one in Renton, Memorial weekend. Still need to talk with my bosses, at Saltwater about that.”
To learn more about endurance racing in Washington, visit Northwest Endurance Events.