Category: race
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Prepping the old man
May the 4th be with me. May 4th is the date of my first ultra-marathon of the season. I am running the Old Man Backyard Ultra in Lethbridge, Alberta. It gets its name from the Old Man River, not because it is restricted to old men like me. This is a race format I’ve never…
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Riding the Iron Horse
“Don’t forget to look up every now and then and check out the view.” Adam’s advice was well timed. I had just crested the lip of a gnarly hill. I took my eyes off my feet and twisted for a look at what I just climbed. A rippling tide of yellow leaves rolled through a…
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Death Race 2
I hadn’t planned on running against Death this year, but suddenly there I was tightening my laces. After my upset at Sinister 7 in July, I felt like I needed an ounce of redemption. That, and my young new running buddy, Lewis, decided he was going to take a crack at this gruelling ultra marathon.…
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DNF
Did Not Finish. Excuse me, what!? I knew this was a possibility. In fact, one of the things I like about ultra running is the real possibility of failure. Failure still stings though. This is the first DNF I’ve ever recorded in an event. I came close on my first olympic distance triathlon when I…
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I’ve gone and done it now.
I hope to have done it, anyway, by Sunday afternoon July 9th, 2023. All I’ve done at this point is signed up and paid the entry fee. There are eight long months ahead to be prepared for the Sinister 7 ultra marathon. It is 100 miles (161 km) with 6363 meters of elevation gain (20,876…
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Iron Horse 100k – Race Report
The race is named after the train line that ran through this area of Northern Alberta, the Lakeland. The tracks have long been pulled up and the remaining line a multi use trail for ATVs and snowmobiles. Much of the race sticks to the Iron Horse. While sections are ideal compact dirt, keep in mind…
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Ragnar Wasatch Back
I’d been chasing that little red blinking light for a couple kilometers. A three quarter moon was shinning brightly and the once inky black sky was giving way to infinite deep blues. My last leg of Ragnar Wasatch Back was a little mind numbing. It followed an old train track with less than a 2…
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Ragnar Trail
I caught the Frontrunner train out of Salt Lake to Provo after work on Thursday. A borrowed backpack with its sleeping mat strapped to the side and a sleeping bag hanging from my arm painted a strange juxtaposition to my white shirt, tie and polished dress shoes. On the way out my colleague commented I…
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A near death experience
I am in the hospital. This isn’t the type of place that I frequent, at least not as a patient. The heart rate monitor attached to my finger makes typing difficult but I suppose that is the least of my worries. Or perhaps it is my biggest worry at the moment? I feel great. It…
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The Canadian Death Race
The Canadian Death Race (CDR) was my second ultra marathon. At 125 kilometres it is nearly double the distance of the first ultra I ran back in September, 2014. At the time I thought that ultra was pretty tough with some significant elevation change. Here is a little perspective for you: my total time for…
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