Gear Boy's Canadian Death Race
Gear Boy's Canadian Death Race
Hi all,
I've been pretty busy with moving from Edmonton to Calgary, and have been without Internet access for most of the time since running legs 3 & 4 of the Canadian Death Race. It's time to get this race report done.
We (me and my mechanic) arrived late Friday afternoon to get the tent setup and eat before the waste of time mandatory racers meeting Friday evening. (We had to stand in the rain while the race rules were read aloud.) Our team of runners got things organized and planned out for the next day.
Saturday morning we were all up to see Natasha off for the first leg before heading back for breakfast and to work my brain into the race. The mechanic took our 2nd leg runner Cam out to the transition point. Then it was the waiting game for when Cam would arrive back into town for me to take over for leg 3 & 4.
We had guessimated about 4 hours for Cam to finish leg 2, but it took him closer to 5 hours in the muddy conditions. (I forgot to mention there was a light rain all morning. It would sprinkle a little more early on during leg 3, but after that the weather improved.) I was finally off.
Leg 3 isn't particularly challenging. You lose and then gain altitude early on, and then you loose all the gain until near the end when you climb a little before coming into the 3-4 transition. The trail isn't anything difficult other than some rocky trail that made you pick your footing carefully least you roll an ankle or fall on your a$$. I made good time and was finished in 2:08.
I rolled into the transition and met my teammates for a pit stop. I changed my shoes and socks and reloaded my pack for the next leg and the climb up Mt. Hammel. If you're not familiar with the CDR, leg 4 is 38 km with a very long climb to the summit of Mt. Hammel up a steep trail with lots of switchbacks (~15 km), and then you descend for a very long time to the next transtion.
The climb took me long than I had expected since I was going on the guesstimate that the climb was about 12km. It took me about 3.5 hours to get to the summit and retrive the flag from the other end of the summit ridge - almost a full hour longer than I had expected. I did manage to make steady and continuous progress. Wile I was disappointed by the amount of time and energy it took to complete, I was glad to be headed downhill, so I took off with the goal of making the last two-thirds pass as quickly as possible.
Everything was going quite well until it got truly dark, and I was forced to rely on my headlamp for light. This was problematic for on reason - the light was so flat that it turned the trail into a 2D black-and-white photo that made it very difficult to read the trail. This forced me to slow down and really pay attention to where I was placing my feet. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and I lost my footing along a muddy spot next to a large puddle. I landed on all fours in six inches of muddy water.
I was soaked in cold, muddy water from my elbows to the ends of arms and from below my chest to my toes. This is where I mention how my Icebreaker made all the difference as it dried out and still kept me warm. I walked for a while and soon returned to running at an even slower pace. This was partly because my renewed caution for my footing, but also the pain in my right knee. I had done something to it, but I wasn't sure how badly or even what exactly. It felt more bruised than anything, and it didn't hurt enough to keep me from running. So I kept running at a slower than hoped for pace.
A couple of the things I'll mention about the trail. First, it's used by quads a fair bit, so it's quit rutted along most of the descent from the summit - partially by the quads digging up the trail, and partially from the rain run off carving the ruts deeper. Second, the low spots in the trees get little or no sun that turn into small swimming pools with all the rain the area had received in that previous few days. I would have brought my inflatable ducky if I'd known this would turn into a duathlon. Fortunately there were lots of side trails around most of these spots.
I made it to the Ambler loop aid station where I took a moment to eat and change my damp socks. Feeling better I was off along the road again, but still feeling the sore knee. I kept at it since it was mostly downhill, and then made the turn to return to the aid station. Since the road you follow from the aid station is mostly downhill, the trail after the turn is mostly uphill, and my knee wasn't feeling well enough to be more agressive along the sometimes steep climbs. But once I was going downhill again I quickened to a run again.
After returning to the aid station it's another 10km to the 4-5 transition, and I didn't waste much time in setting out. It's along a gravel road of some sort, and it was a bit to figure out the best way to run it. If you could find the mostly packed and least muddy line, you could make some good time; otherwise it was a slippery, muddy mess that caked your shoes with more weight than your legs wanted to move at more than a slow shuffle.
By this point my knee was becoming quite sore with the constant downhill. I would run for about five minutes and then walk for a minute while I meditate on reducing the pain before I was off again. I saw a little bit of the moon, but it was neither full enough or clear enough to run without my headlamp unfortunately. An hour later I arrived at the highway and the last bit before arriving at the transition.
The slight uphill was a welcome respite from the pounding downhill, so I actually managed to run the last 15 minutes to the transition area. As I got closer to the transition point I could hear calls of "Go Death Racer!" and it definitely lifted my spirits know I was almost done. I was carrying a small air horn, so I started letting loose blasts to let my team know I was coming.
I finally made it into the transition and passed off the time chip and coin to Adrian for the last leg. I had cover two legs and 57 km in ~9:30. I quickly got into the car for the trip back into town for a shower before sleep. I was cooling off rapidly and was shivering a lot by the time I got to the warmth of the rec center for my shower.
In the end my team finished in about 20 hours, and I had run almost half of the total distance and time. It's been three weeks since I finished my CDR, but the sore knee has only just recently recovered enough to let me run for any length of time without pain. Now it's back to training to see if I can manage enough miles before it's time to take on the Mantario trail.
Ciao.
I've been pretty busy with moving from Edmonton to Calgary, and have been without Internet access for most of the time since running legs 3 & 4 of the Canadian Death Race. It's time to get this race report done.
We (me and my mechanic) arrived late Friday afternoon to get the tent setup and eat before the waste of time mandatory racers meeting Friday evening. (We had to stand in the rain while the race rules were read aloud.) Our team of runners got things organized and planned out for the next day.
Saturday morning we were all up to see Natasha off for the first leg before heading back for breakfast and to work my brain into the race. The mechanic took our 2nd leg runner Cam out to the transition point. Then it was the waiting game for when Cam would arrive back into town for me to take over for leg 3 & 4.
We had guessimated about 4 hours for Cam to finish leg 2, but it took him closer to 5 hours in the muddy conditions. (I forgot to mention there was a light rain all morning. It would sprinkle a little more early on during leg 3, but after that the weather improved.) I was finally off.
Leg 3 isn't particularly challenging. You lose and then gain altitude early on, and then you loose all the gain until near the end when you climb a little before coming into the 3-4 transition. The trail isn't anything difficult other than some rocky trail that made you pick your footing carefully least you roll an ankle or fall on your a$$. I made good time and was finished in 2:08.
I rolled into the transition and met my teammates for a pit stop. I changed my shoes and socks and reloaded my pack for the next leg and the climb up Mt. Hammel. If you're not familiar with the CDR, leg 4 is 38 km with a very long climb to the summit of Mt. Hammel up a steep trail with lots of switchbacks (~15 km), and then you descend for a very long time to the next transtion.
The climb took me long than I had expected since I was going on the guesstimate that the climb was about 12km. It took me about 3.5 hours to get to the summit and retrive the flag from the other end of the summit ridge - almost a full hour longer than I had expected. I did manage to make steady and continuous progress. Wile I was disappointed by the amount of time and energy it took to complete, I was glad to be headed downhill, so I took off with the goal of making the last two-thirds pass as quickly as possible.
Everything was going quite well until it got truly dark, and I was forced to rely on my headlamp for light. This was problematic for on reason - the light was so flat that it turned the trail into a 2D black-and-white photo that made it very difficult to read the trail. This forced me to slow down and really pay attention to where I was placing my feet. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and I lost my footing along a muddy spot next to a large puddle. I landed on all fours in six inches of muddy water.
I was soaked in cold, muddy water from my elbows to the ends of arms and from below my chest to my toes. This is where I mention how my Icebreaker made all the difference as it dried out and still kept me warm. I walked for a while and soon returned to running at an even slower pace. This was partly because my renewed caution for my footing, but also the pain in my right knee. I had done something to it, but I wasn't sure how badly or even what exactly. It felt more bruised than anything, and it didn't hurt enough to keep me from running. So I kept running at a slower than hoped for pace.
A couple of the things I'll mention about the trail. First, it's used by quads a fair bit, so it's quit rutted along most of the descent from the summit - partially by the quads digging up the trail, and partially from the rain run off carving the ruts deeper. Second, the low spots in the trees get little or no sun that turn into small swimming pools with all the rain the area had received in that previous few days. I would have brought my inflatable ducky if I'd known this would turn into a duathlon. Fortunately there were lots of side trails around most of these spots.
I made it to the Ambler loop aid station where I took a moment to eat and change my damp socks. Feeling better I was off along the road again, but still feeling the sore knee. I kept at it since it was mostly downhill, and then made the turn to return to the aid station. Since the road you follow from the aid station is mostly downhill, the trail after the turn is mostly uphill, and my knee wasn't feeling well enough to be more agressive along the sometimes steep climbs. But once I was going downhill again I quickened to a run again.
After returning to the aid station it's another 10km to the 4-5 transition, and I didn't waste much time in setting out. It's along a gravel road of some sort, and it was a bit to figure out the best way to run it. If you could find the mostly packed and least muddy line, you could make some good time; otherwise it was a slippery, muddy mess that caked your shoes with more weight than your legs wanted to move at more than a slow shuffle.
By this point my knee was becoming quite sore with the constant downhill. I would run for about five minutes and then walk for a minute while I meditate on reducing the pain before I was off again. I saw a little bit of the moon, but it was neither full enough or clear enough to run without my headlamp unfortunately. An hour later I arrived at the highway and the last bit before arriving at the transition.
The slight uphill was a welcome respite from the pounding downhill, so I actually managed to run the last 15 minutes to the transition area. As I got closer to the transition point I could hear calls of "Go Death Racer!" and it definitely lifted my spirits know I was almost done. I was carrying a small air horn, so I started letting loose blasts to let my team know I was coming.
I finally made it into the transition and passed off the time chip and coin to Adrian for the last leg. I had cover two legs and 57 km in ~9:30. I quickly got into the car for the trip back into town for a shower before sleep. I was cooling off rapidly and was shivering a lot by the time I got to the warmth of the rec center for my shower.
In the end my team finished in about 20 hours, and I had run almost half of the total distance and time. It's been three weeks since I finished my CDR, but the sore knee has only just recently recovered enough to let me run for any length of time without pain. Now it's back to training to see if I can manage enough miles before it's time to take on the Mantario trail.
Ciao.
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Nice piece of work Gear Boy!
Fortes Fortuna Juvat!
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Never really ready but always ready!
In support of injured Canadian Forces soldiers, please donate to Soldier On! http://www.cfpsa.com/Splashpages/SoldierOn/
Never really ready but always ready!
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Great job...yep ...I think it's time to go Solo
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"Princess" J0-JO...The Awesome Running Machine.
"a precious, unique and quirky individual"...definition given by a Toronto Cop
An Ever Loyal and Devoted Official Doonst Fan.
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer" -Albert Camus
"Keep Going. Never Give Up." Spencer
I'm totally behind and obviously absent from race reports lately! CONGRATULATIONS! Great work on the DR. Do you think you'd like to solo? Organization sucked again? Thank goodness you had Aerin to help you out as we all know that crew is vital to finishing!
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Stephan wrote:A little late but well done, sounds like a tough one.....there's a reason why I am reading your report...... :wink:
seriously, if you're going to come all this way, there are much better races to do...
"You're an ultrarunner, normal rules don't apply to you." (Doonst)
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~Epictetus
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~Epictetus
klewlis wrote:Stephan wrote:A little late but well done, sounds like a tough one.....there's a reason why I am reading your report......
seriously, if you're going to come all this way, there are much better races to do...
I am educating at this point, this year I will complete 100Km, then after that the world is my oyster. I am really excited about this.
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