Goddamn hard race. Unless you’ve done it, or crewed it, it’s hard to understand. Trust me though, it’s a test. Ask an H2H veteran and they’ll tell you the same thing. Only when I hit the finish line this time did I realize why I DNF’d in 2005 and 2006: I wasn’t prepared physically or mentally to handle the 100k distance, in that crap weather on that course.

On the way out, Jarhead said to me, “What’s your goal…?, and I mean what’s your ‘A’ goal…?” He knows me too well.

My ‘A’ goal was 8:30. At the 60k mark, I still thought that was doable but rounding a corner into a rain/windstorm at 65k slowed me to a crawl and the last 30k I was running on fumes.

Saturday morning came quickly. I got up around 2:15 (the race starts at 4am), ate some oatmeal and hammered back a cup of joe. I’ve gone back to basics with nutrition and I think this has helped my racing. Oatmeal, potatoes, oatbars (these are made by my wife and include protein), gels, nuun. I’m lacking variety but I’ve got the basics covered. That said, two mistakes I did make during the race were, 1) too much gel early on and 2), not enough fluid. I was so dehydrated when I finished and spent the next 3 hours with unbelievable nausea.

My amazing crew of Jarhead and Matthias rounded up all of the gear and we drove out to the start line in Maple Ridge. I can’t say enough about these two guys – their knowledge of the sport, their understanding of what you need, etc is excellent. Absolutely unbelievable on the course, anticipating my needs and kicking my ass when it was needed. In retrospect, and maybe in my mind, I expected the crewing portion to be more difficult, but it was really smooth. I’d meet them every 5k, they’d offer up food, meds, drink (and even a calf massage), and Jarhead would say, “OK, Dude, get running…” and I’d start again. I owe the two of them huge. (and when the 100miler happens, I know who I’m calling to crew).

The time between check in and the start of the race was so quick I don’t remember much. I saw Darin Bentley and who later turned out to be Jack Cook (national team members). Rumor was that Suzanne Evans was running as well as Denise McHale and Judie Wilson (national team members). These folks are fast. Right now, Darin is arguably the fastest 100km runner in Canada – I can’t believe that he ran a sub-8 hour on Saturday. There is no doubt that Denise is the fastest 100k female runner in Canada she’s proven it at the Worlds. She ended up running a course record 8:15 – as fast as the winner Hassan Lotfi-Pour ran it last year. She is the real deal. As an aside, M brought home a Chatelaine magazine on Sunday and flipped it open and there was a profile on Denise along with Tracy Garneau, another fantastic ultra-runner.

We were off right at 4am and I made a commitment to myself to take it easy the first 50k, regardless of what was happening around me. Darin took off and Jack Cook (who later pulled out) hammered out after him. I settled in to 4:50-5min/kms and fought off the “you need to catch that guy!” thoughts. It was tough to not get caught up in it all but there was no way I was DNF’ing a 3rd time so I tried to relax and just run. I caught up with Denise for a bit and we chatted about Jen (Denise ran against Jen at the Rock and Ice ultra). Denise is super friendly and asked if I had seen Suzanne Evans yet. I said no but promised to trip Suzanne if I saw her. She motored off and I resumed my 5min/kms.

I was on my own for most of the first 25k. Coming up the first big climb I saw Tim Wiens (who always comes in ahead of me). He was walking up the hill and I hesitated for a moment thinking that perhaps I should as well. The first climb is steep. I was feeling comfortable though, so I just kept running to the top. Reaching the top the rain started and what looked like snow and I just put my head down and ran, not hard but consistent. I kept telling JH and Matthias “I’m just cruising…”. It felt effortless which was a big relief.

The next 25k were unremarkable. I had a good pace going and and the great crew to keep me focused. I hit the 50k mark in 4:13 and felt reasonably well. My food intake had waned slightly but overall I was feeling decent.

Then rain started to come down. First in trickles, then it was just hammering. The wind picked up and I was doing silly things like trying to turn my body sideways like a sail. It was ridiculous. Running into the wind sapped my energy pretty hard. My feet were totally numb and at about 65k I was totally soaked. It was time for a change of clothes so I pulled off and we did a change. This was a bit of a rough spot for me and mentally I was raging a bit. Raging because I was slowing to about 5:15/km and that my quads/IT bands were acting up (My IT bands never completely healed up from the 300k we did and I was nervous that they would flare mid way through the race). Without Vitamin ‘I’, I would have been screwed.

I knew that there were some hills to come and they would slow me, so I had to get out on the course and run. By this time Jarhead was on me quick. He would start with, “Let’s go, let’s go….” Drill sergeant. In my mind, I’m beating the hell out of him! Yet, I knew that the only allowable choice was to get back on the course and run. So that’s what I did.

Coming up to Exchange 6  (79k) I came through at 6:58. It is an uphill climb through the Sasquatch Inn. There still were only a few people milling about getting ready for the relay. I got through as quickly as I could but still in the back of my mind thinking that I need to save some for the last 10k. Until this point I really didn’t know where I would be placing. I thought top 5 but we got so spread out, it was hard to tell. The boys came back and told me I was running in 7th place to which I responded, “I don’t give a shit…, I just want to get this done.” Which, of course, is total crap. Of course, I wanted to know where I was sitting in the race. Ahead of me was Gary Polquin and Joe Huising both from Alberta. I’ve run against Gary several times and Joe beat me at the EB 50 miler in May. I didn’t know who was who until I came up on Gary from behind. He is a great guy and was having a tough go in the rain. I think his comment was, “30 below is fine, but this rain is brutal…” No shit. I wished him luck and kept moving. We traded places a few times but I managed to pull ahead and stay ahead until the finish.

The next 20km test you. There is a long climb on the front end and a quad crushing downhill at about 88k. It was the first time I had to stop and walk/run on the uphill. I was doing everything I could to run but, OK, I’ll admit that I had 800 metres of walking during this section. I managed to regain my pace for a while and met up again with the crew. JH kept saying, “get to the downhill and you can just float down…” When I got to the downhill I was in a “holy shit!” mode. My gps was showing 4:05/km pacing and I was flying down the hill. My quads and calves were screaming when I got to the bottom. I was panicked thinking that the cramps would stop me cold and shouted that I needed a calve massage. Matthias did perhaps the one thing that saved me from pulling the ’shute. Instead of massaging my calves he shook them hard. It totally relaxed them and I was able to pick up again. At this point my pacing was all over the place. I was up to 5min/k back to 6:30/k, down to 4:45/k.

The last 10 k I spent more time looking over my shoulder than anything else and I was in panic mode. I wasn’t stoked about my time but I was not going to be passed by anyone. I was waiting for one of 3 people to come up from behind (Andy Bachmann, Tim Wiens or Gary) for a race to the finish. Someone did come from behind fast and furious at about 95k and I screamed, “Are you in the relay!!!!”. He was laughing and said, “Don’t panic, I’m in the relay. There is an ultrarunner but he’s way back…”

The last 5k it just poured. I was thinking that perhaps the longer you were out there, there more you were exposed to the nasty rain and wind – it might have been a better strategy to get the first 50k done as quickly as possible. In any case, I rounded the corner to see the finish line and for the first time that day, smiled. I heard my name called and found out that I was 6th, saw my time and made no real effort to hammer across the finish line. There was only a handful of people at the finish and I was so relieved to see Jarhead and Matthias who took over and got me to the car. They must have been exhausted but they were on me with dry clothes and helped me into the car. We had a ferry to catch!!!

The next 3 hours were miserable. I have a history of nausea after racing, I can’t eat and spend usually some time with my head in my hands. This was the worst I’ve experienced in my whole 5 years of running (other than Gobi). I was puking my guts out – with nothing in my stomach. It took Gravol and a ferry burger to settle my stomach. I am only now feeling like I can eat properly.

Some post race thoughts:

- I spent some time looking at past H2H races and compared my time against others who I’ve ran against previously and I know are solid ultrarunners – finally I am making headway. I was gunning for 8:30 and it is doable. Getting to the 8 hour mark would be a real stretch and would take some serious mileage, and perhaps a few more years of training. I only have about 5 more years left to make it happen!

-These races are complicated and require the help of so many people. Thanks to JH, Matthias, Coach and the Crossfit gang for all of your support and training – I owe all of you.

-2009 was a great year and H2H lit the fire again. I am STOKED about ultrarunning. Training resumes Jan 1 and I can’t freakin’ wait!