LAST MAN STANDING: November 2011

For a long time I had a yearning to visit Canada -- I don't really know why but it was there -- and after 40 years of running I had a yearning to run an ultra marathon. So I decided to do both at the same time, and visit my friends Margreet and Tim. Both who are accomplished endurance athletes and would be toeing the line with me.

I had had a pretty good build up at home, averaging 80km to 100km a week, with plenty of long runs and long solid tempo workouts under my belt. A slight abductor strain caused me to taper a bit earlier than I would have liked but this probably worked in my favour as I was fresh and well rested on race day.

Race morning was a very chilly -3 degrees so I was dressed appropriately in tights, thermal long-sleeve top and lightweight rain jacket. I also added a skull cap, wool blend gloves, and thin wool blend socks. You were allowed a drop bag to discard or pick up extra gear and nutrition.

As we were running in the dark for the first 2 hours, headlamps or flashlights were mandatory. This made the first 17km loop pass rather quickly. We had been warned about bears at the prerace briefing so I was pretty alert during this time.
Starting the second lap with daylight, I became aware of the spectacular mountain scenery that surrounded us, and the snow and ice on the back trail section of the course which I noticed my lightweight road shoes were not handling very well.

So at 30 km, I did a quick change into my trail shoes at the drop zone and I was away.

Between 40km and 60km I seemed to be in a euphoric state, running easily even singing tunes to myself, However this all changed at about 64km when a general feeling of fatigue began to set in.
Once I got to the last aid station with about 5km to go, I fuelled up on coke. I knew i was going to finish.

The last 3km were a roller coaster of emotions and I fought back tears as I remembered some of my running mentors from younger days who are no longer with us. Around a corner and into the last half mile into whistler village and I was home.

I made a few rookie ultra mistakes with nutrition and footwear but overall I was ecstatic with my performance and proved to myself that you can do a lot more than you think you can, you just have to believe in yourself.