Rachel Drake running Pfeifferhorn Peak in Alta, Utah. Photo: Mike McMonagle
From White Bear to world class.
Rachel Drake didn’t set out to become a professional athlete, but the White Bear Lake native’s love for trail running has seen her climb to the heights of the ultramarathon world.
A decade into her trail running journey, the anesthesiology resident and Nike-sponsored athlete is pursuing her sport with joy and gratitude. “[Running has] gotten me through a lot of challenges in life, especially with medical school and residency, which can be stressful,” Drake says. “It’s a way for me to unwind. It’s meditative. It’s when I feel the most myself.”
The Starting Block
Drake grew up on a quiet street near the north shore of White Bear Lake. Her parents, Craig and Gloria Drake, instilled a love for the outdoors in Drake early on. “I think I was less than a month old the first time I went camping,” she says.
The family’s house was just two doors down from Longville Park, where Drake spent many afternoons playing tennis and other games with the neighborhood kids. In the winter, the family hopped on cross-country skis in their backyard to traverse Dellwood Golf Course. In the summer, Drake took lessons at the White Bear Sailing School. “My brother and I would ride our bikes there wearing our life jackets, just like cackling the whole time,” she says.
At White Bear Lake Area High School (WBLAHS), Drake joined the tennis team. While she had a few wins, she wasn’t in love with the sport. But it was during the mandatory mile at the start of her sophomore season that Drake was scouted by Patti Percival, the school’s cross-country coach.
As a student at White Bear Lake Area High School, Rachel Drake participated in track and field, as well as cross country. She still holds the second-fastest school record in the 3,200-meter run. Photos: Rachel Drake
“I vividly remember watching Rachel run a mile on the track during tennis practice and thinking what a beautiful runner she is,” Percival says. That spring, Drake joined the track and field team, running the 1,600- and 3,200-meter distances. She quickly found a passion for and community around running. “We had such a good team. Katie Moraczewski, Abby Tracy, Brianna Waldvogel—there were just a lot of really fast people on the team. I learned a lot from them,” Drake says.
To this day, Drake holds the second-fastest school record for the 3,200-meter run.
“She had great success right away as a track athlete, and this convinced her to run cross-country the next fall,” Percival says. “She outworks anyone when it comes to achieving her goals.”
Drake still looks back to a sectional meet her senior year of high school as her most memorable race. To qualify for the state meet in the 3,200, Drake had to place in the top two of her section. “I remember being a little ways back with 300 meters to go, which is less than a lap. And I heard Patti say, ‘It’s not too late!’”
Drake “put in a good kick” and won the race. The other two girls—Drake’s good friends—also qualified for the state meet based on their times. “It was just really cool because we all got to go,” Drake says. “It was one of the moments where I thought it was over, and I pulled through.”
Point-to-Point
Drake was recruited by coach Gary Wilson to the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field teams. “I was what we would call a ‘bubble’ person, where you’re not for sure going to be on the travel team. I had to do race-offs before, for a travel spot,” Drake says. With more on the line, Drake felt drained of her joy for running. “I was in this high state of stress, worried if I was going to make it,” she says.
After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and Spanish, Drake moved to Portland, Oregon, to begin medical school at Oregon Health and Science University to become an anesthesiologist.
She took some time off from competitive running, though it was the trails near her new campus that solidified her choice to move west. “I went for a run after my interview, and it was just like, ‘Wow. I can be in this sea of green just two minutes from the hospital on foot!’” Drake says.
“It was a slow unraveling of this whole new world,” Drake says. Before long, fellow runners began encouraging her to look into ultramarathons. “It was initially a social reason to go from running to racing,” she says.
At her first 50K—the 2015 McKenzie River Trail Run in Blue River, Oregon—she met her future husband, ultrarunner Tyler Green. “After the race, everyone was just swimming in this stream, and he offered me some soap,” Drake says. The two became fast friends and married in 2019. Their son, Lewis, was born in 2022.
For her first few years of racing, she stuck close to home with races in the Pacific Northwest. Eventually, Drake decided to try to get on a world championship team. After applying for at-large positions with no luck, Green encouraged her to do an automatic qualifier race in Moab, Utah. If she finished in the top two, she would qualify for the team.
She went on to win the 2018 Moab Trail Marathon. “From there, it was just seeking more competition,” Drake says.
Making Gains
To date, Drake has raced in 25 ultramarathons. In February 2024, she won the Black Canyon 100K in Arizona, one of the most competitive trail races in North America. The race ended in a truly adorable fashion. “My parents were there watching Lewis, and my dad handed him off to me before I crossed the finish line,” Drake says.
Rachel Drake at the Black Canyon 100K with her son, Lewis.
Drake is sponsored by Darn Tough, HydraPak, LEKI, Nike, Osprey and Precision Fuel & Hydration. For 2024, she was named the Female Trail Runner of the Year by the Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council. She was also named UltraRunner Magazine’s third-ranked UltraRunner of the Year and Freetrail’s fourth-ranked Trail Runner of the Year.
Last year, Drake relocated to Salt Lake City to start her medical residency at the University of Utah. There, Drake is dedicated to uplifting young runners and improving access in her community and often organizes local runs and leverages her sponsorships to donate gear. In November, she hosted a community trail run where the first 100 runners each received a free pair of Darn Tough socks.
Making strides can look different for each person, but Drake takes it one step at a time. “With running, I’m always able to feel progress, that I’m gaining skills,” she says. “Doing a little something, going for a short run or a slower workout, may not be flashy, but it’s still meaningful.”
What keeps her going? “It’s just the curiosity of what I’m capable of and, honestly, the joy it brings me,” Drake says. “I really feel like, when I’m trail running, that this is something that I was made to do.”
Drake’s Favorites:
International Race: Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (Chamonix, France). “The race goes around Mont Blanc, and you run through Italy and Switzerland, encircling the mountain.”
Outdoor Space: Forest Park Conservancy (Portland, Oregon). At a whopping 5,200 acres, Forest Park is one of the largest urban forests in the country.
App for Athletes: Strava. “It’s like social media for athletes. You can share your runs, plan routes out in advance or look at heat maps to find new trails others are exploring.”
Song To Run To: Makeba by Jain. “I’ve listened to it for three hours straight on repeat.”
Sibling Fun
As Rachel Drake discovered her passion for running in high school, her brother, Ryan, would often bike alongside her with water and snacks, even through the winter.
On a visit to White Bear Lake last Thanksgiving, the siblings were able to relive those memories—and create a new one. “We were doing a little stopover in White Bear on our way to the East Coast for this 50-mile race,” Drake says. The visit lined up with her brother’s trip home; and so, the pair set out together once more.
“My brother biked around the lake with me and gave me water and cheered me on,” Drake says. “It was so funny. He was like, ‘You’re so fast! Like … wow!’”
Instagram: @rachelraedrake
