The last 2.5 weeks have certainly been very hectic. In the week leading up to our race, Tally in the Valley, I was very stressed out and certainly feeling a lot of anxiety about the race. I was unable to sleep and Heather and I both poured all of our time and energy into the race. I think it is fair to say that, when trying to organize an event like this, there will always be issues that arise and things that go wrong.
The race site set-up went very well, thanks to my friends Steve, Trish, and Jennifer. We set up all of the tents and proceeded to mark the entire course. They were actually filming a movie or tv show on the race course but they allowed us to continue marking. It was pretty cool, seeing the crew of 150 people with equipment, lighting, and fog machines, which helped to create a very interesting setting. After marking the course, I had to go pick up some food for the aid stations and then grab the U-Haul that we had rented. It was after hours but we were informed that we could pick up in the evening using a mobile device, which I have done before. Although the rental was parked outside waiting for us, our order had been cancelled and there was nothing that anybody could do to help us. This was a pretty significant blow and certainly added to the stress. It was now 11:00pm, the evening before the race, and we didn't have the cargo van that we needed. We would have to prioritize and decide what were the most important items that we needed and we loaded my truck and Heather's small car (in the rain) with everything we could squeeze into it.
I once again received very little sleep and was back at the race site by 6:00am. Friends and strangers rallied together as volunteers and made the day a success. The races were very exciting to watch and we were lucky to have great weather for the day. I stayed up all night, once again, and was exhausted by Sunday morning.
After the race, we spent a couple of days tying up lose ends and then, had to start thinking about our trip to Alberta later in the week. For various reasons, I was up late every night and was really feeling the effects of sleep deprivation and was definitely burning the candle at both ends. The day before we left for our trip, I again had less than 2hrs sleep for the night.
On Friday morning we would fly from Hamilton to Calgary and then take another flight from Calgary to Grande Prairie. From there, we would rent a car and drive 2 hours to the town of Grande Cache, Alberta. In this small town, for the past 19 years, runners have been flooding the town for the August long weekend to run the Canadian Death Race.
The Canadian Death Race is a 125km race that has runners summit 3 mountains, cross countless creeks, trudge through mud, and, with some luck make it to the river crossing, which signifies to runners that they are getting very close. Participants can run the race as a relay team (which is the most popular choice and one that looks like a lot of fun) or as solo death racers. This was my 3rd time running the solo event. I did not finish in my first attempt. It was 2014 and I was relatively new to ultra running. It was the hottest day in the history of the race and my Southern Ontario legs were not ready for the mountains. After throwing up for 5 hours with no caloric intake, I dropped out of the race at the top of the final mountain summit- somewhere around the 80k mark.
The next year, I went back for redemption. Only, I went into the race injured. I had suffered an IT band injury at my first ever 100 mile race 2 1/2 months earlier and could not recover. I went in with a very different game plan. I ran the first leg hard, knowing that I might not make it to the second leg if my IT acted up. I ran the 2nd leg hard just trying to hold on . By the 3rd leg of the race, my leg was bad and I had to walk- especially the downhill sections which caused considerable pain. I walked at least 75km that day. It hurt like hell but I walked fast and was determined to grind it out. Although not an ideal race, I finished in about 21:30 and vowed to never return.
Fast forward 2 years. While enjoying some beverages with my close running friends, we started talking about the Georgia Death Race and decided that we should do it. I had heard that it was harder than the Canadian Death Race. Maybe we should do both in the same season so that we can compare. The DOUBLE DEATH RACE year was born.
We arrived in Grande Cache in the late afternoon, settled into our rooms, got our drop bags ready, and made our way to race kit pick-up. I stayed for part of the pre-race meeting and then headed back to the room to try to get some sleep before the race. I never sleep well before a difficult race so I wasn't expecting to get a lot of rest. In the night, something very strange and quite unfamiliar to me happened- I slept through the night! A solid 6-7 hours of glorious sleep! I can say with certainty that, had I not had a decent night's sleep, I would not have had a chance of finishing the race.
Last month, I had decided that I would run the entire race with Heather, who was quite scared of the wild animals that inhabit the area (mainly black bear, grizzly bear, and mountain lions). I was excited to be spending the next 24 hours with her and getting to see her complete her most difficult race (even though it was not her longest).
We got off to a good start. We took it very easy and avoided mud and standing water to the best of our abilities. Leg one, the shortest and probably the easiest leg, was pretty uneventful. We got through it.
Leg 2 is a very challenging leg. It is close to 30k and has runners summit 2 mountains. There was a lot of mud and some steep and very long climbs. However, by far, the most challenging aspect of this section for Heather was the descents down the mountains. Her climbing was very impressive and effortless but going downhill, she was hesitant and tentative. Over the course of the day, she must have fallen at least 15 times while descending. It was hard on our knees and slowed us down so much that we suddenly found ourselves uncomfortably close to cut-offs.
We finished leg 2 feeling quite good and were determined to make up time on the easier leg 3. Heather continued to run very well and we made good time, until we hit The Trench. The Trench is a exactly as it sounds, a trench through the woods with dirt walls on each side that block the runner in. I knew that we were getting close to the end of the leg and felt really good about how well we ran the leg. I was wrong. The course had changed since I ran it last in 2015. There was now a ridiculously steep climb (ropes were needed) followed by some narrow trail with steep drop-offs, more climbs, very steep descents, more falling, even more climbing, and plenty of cursing. I had not taken this into account when I was estimating the time that we would complete the leg. To make matters worse, when we were at the highest point, we could see people far, far below us, skipping this crazy section and running past it on the road. We were not impressed. We got to the end of leg 3, very quickly packed the gear and food that we would require for the next 8hrs and were on our way. The last thing that we heard before leaving was "4 minutes until cut-off". Too close for comfort. Oh yeah, and all those cheaters who skipped the most challenging part of the 3rd leg, well, they had no choice and weren't actually cheating at all. It turns out that a bear wandered into The Trench behind Heather and I and the trail was too dangerous to use. They had made a wise decision and were not penalized for taking the road.
Leg 4 is tough! It is the longest leg of the race and also has the longest climb to the highest point of the course. Runners start climbing within 1km of leaving the checkpoint and continue climbing for hours! Heather absolutely crushed the climb and we made it to the top in 2.5hrs. I was super proud of her, though I probably didn't mention it as I was experiencing a bout of nausea that slowed me down and lasted about 2 hrs. I definitely had to work really hard to keep with Heather during the climbs and, even so, still slowed her down a little bit.
Heather and I then experienced our first real low point in the race. Heather was hallucinating and actually fell asleep while walking. I wasn't much better and was really feeling that our race was about to end; I thought we would either drop out or not meet the next cut-off. We trudged along until the next aid station. They didn't have much to offer but we had a lot of great options in our drop bag. What we needed was caffeine! We shared a Red Bull and got right back at it. Secretly, I thought that we would possibly discuss whether or not we should bother to continue at this point. We needed to cover 13km in the next 2.5hrs, which was actually faster than we had moved in the previous 4-5 hrs over very technical and rocky terrain. However, Heather was determined and she started to move really well again. She ran an 8k stretch without stopping or slowing down and we finished the leg within the cut-off.
I always think of leg 5 as the "Sneaky Leg" because it is harder than most people expect. There are some tough climbs and fun but slow single track sections to content with. We had two major challenges that we had to overcome if we were to finish. First, we had to reach the boat by 6:00am and then, if we made it that far, we would have 2hrs to complete the final 15k. It was certainly going to be tight! The fire was lit within each of us and we moved fast. We pushed hard and made it to the boat with 30 minutes to spare. We hopped off the boat and pushed extra hard for the next hour. By this time, we had been moving well and pushing hard for 6 straight hours. We didn't even stop to take the annoying pebbles out of our shoes!
Shortly after we got off the boat, the sun came up. With the improved visibility combined with the fact that we were close, we gave one last push. Heather continued to move exceptionally well. Being so close to the cut-off had us running scared and pushing hard for a really long time and finally, after recognizing where we were and realizing that we were definitely going to finish, we were able to relax a bit and enjoy the final couple of kilometres.
We finished feeling pretty good, with the exception of us both having sore feet and lots of blisters, due to the wet conditions. I was super proud of Heather. Our friends Jodi, Matt, Ryan, Wade, and Stephen all had great races and our group had a 100% finish rate. Jodi and Matt also ran the Georgia Death and, therefore, have now completed the Double Death Race. Both of them are having great years! Ryan ran his longest race ever and showed a lot of patience early in the race and finished with an impressive time. Stephen ignored his foot pain and had an amazing race and will now focus his attention on running CCC in a couple of weeks. Wade did okay as well. Just kidding! Wade absolutely crushed it and was able to sneak in just under 16hrs. Unbelievable!
I originally planned on racing this event hard and trying to run sub 18hrs. Honestly, having the opportunity to run the entire race with Heather and just make the cut-off was way better and far more gratifying than anything I could have done on my own. For those of you wondering which race is harder, the Canadian Death Race or the Georgia Death Race, I'm actually not sure. They are both very challenging. The Canadian Death Race has way longer climbs and much better views (obviously, it's Canada) whereas, Georgia has a similar amount of overall elevation gain with fewer major climbs. Georgia's course breaks you down with constant short and steep climbs, which makes it very difficult to ever get into a rhythm.
I've been struggling with some injuries lately but I seem to be on the mend and I'm hopeful that, with 31 races completed, I will be able to reach my goal of running 40 races this year.
This weekend, I will be attempting my first obstacle race since 2012. It should be fun. After that, I've got a break from racing for a month. During this time, I will be getting married, scoping out some new routes, and holding a training run for our Sticks n' Stones race.
Happy Trails Racing has had an eventful past few weeks. Registration for our next race, Sticks n' Stones has picked up and may even sell out this year, The Beav has sold out and the waiting list is full, and we have firmed up most of the details for our Falling Water Trail Marathon in September 2019, which is going to be really special. Perhaps the news that I am most proud of is that Tally in the Valley raised over $7,500 for SickKids Hospital and then, this is crazy, one of the participants who wishes to remain anonymous, matched the donation putting our total at over $15,000!