No, I’ve never done a marathon.  I must have told that line to 15 people in yesterday’s race.  After crossing the finish line in 5 hours and 15 minutes, I realized that not only was I in uncharted waters with never running a distance close to this one but also having traveled across an entire countries coast (in 3 days).  To top it off, I was a countries length away from my real home with nobody there at the finish line to help me at the finish.

Crossing that line I was stripped down to bare emotions.  I laughed, I cried and was a little proud.  It took some food and dry clothing to get my composure back.  

You have to understand the day and the week that I had.  The week of driving was full bore with some short stops that put a lot of stress on my body.  Adding to the stress was I didn’t have a cell phone so I had to rely on a calling card/payphone to make any reservations.  My computer was acting up so internet was iffy.  Outside communication just wasn’t happening.  Begs the question, how did people use to travel?

This was however, my full responsibility because of poor planning.  Staying the night in Vancouver, in a real bed in an actual room, really helped get my brain settled.  Almost…

Friday, the day before the race, I drove to Port Moody in search of a place to stay.  The only room left that was in my budget was a smoker’s room.  I thought having a bed would be better than nothing so I got it.  Stink, stank, and stunk!  Not a great sleep.

Race day, I woke up reeking of smoke but kept trying to feel optimistic of what was to come.  The way I approached the race was that I had to run 10 x 5K.  Breaking it down into a manageable distance that I knew I could do really helped calm the nerves.

This race was no Ironman from the week before as there were only 162 people present.  No music, no expensive equipment, just old fashion stop watch timing.

The people were different too.  Gone were the skinny hard bodies and they were replaced with rugged, huskier frames.  At the start line I did find some skinnier dudes.  These would be the ones who would win the day.  Apparently I was told there were at least 6 Ultramarathon gurus running.  Whatever that means!

My plan was to just run.  I knew that if I could keep eating and drinking the whole way I could make it.  If that put me in the top 5, 10 or 100 I’d be happy.  

Ok, race report time.  The weather was cold and rainy as we began the start.  It started off quite fast as the "good" guys lifted the pace.  Of course, I went with them.  The first 8K was the hardest for me.   Because of the previous nights sleep in smoke it made breathing a little difficult, so my HR was super high.  The terrain was also super steep.  As I learned, walking is ok so I had to walk a lot of the places due to the sheer grade.

In most long distance races, there are aid stations along the race course.  In marathons they usually have 13-20 along the route.  Here there were 6.  As I learned, you carry water with you.  I started out with nothing but the clothes on my back.  Getting to the first aid station I realized I needed to get a bottle of some sort so I could drink it along the way.  I ended up getting one at the second aid station which I carried throughout the entire race.

The weather had changed from rain to snow back to rain to hail and even a little sunshine.  By 10K I was soaked.  I do love running in the rain but this was a bit much!

Ultras are a bit different as you are allowed to pack a “drop bag” which is stuff you might need further on in the race.  I packed mine with fresh socks a shirt and some gels and powerbars.  This was left at roughly halfway through the race.

From the second aid station on I started to feel better.  At this point I had covered 15K (3 x 5) and now had water.  The terrain was rolling but not as treacherous as the previous sections.  By this point I had chatted to a few of the racers.  This is a much more social environment since your not hammering the entire time.

The middle of the race is a little hazy (except for getting my drop bag where the volunteers changed my socks, so nice!) so I’ll fast forward to the second last aid station or @ 36K mark.  We had just run 2K down hill and now had to turn directly back up and go up the way we came.  This was the cruelest thing ever.

My legs at this point were still holding together.  Getting to the last aid station was such a relief as I knew I only had 7K to go.  Mind you that is after doing a marathons length of distance.

At this point I began catching people who had passed me (usually in the aid stations as I had to fill my bottle).  There was one guy who I finally went by in this last section.  This was also one of the toughest on the course.  It was either up or down.  Running downhill fried the legs and running up killed the lungs. 

Getting nearer and nearer the finish I just wanted it to end!  There was a volunteer blocking traffic and I asked her how much further as it felt like there couldn’t be much more.  She said about 20 minutes.  I nearly died.  After running for over 5 hours, I didn’t want to hear that.

I hung in there.  I mustered up the final push needed to get across that finish line.  Not even the stairs you had to climb to get to the finish could stop me!

My legs were toast by the end.  I quickly through on some clothes and went to the lake that was nearby to ice the legs.  It’s going to be a rough couple of days!

After a 3.5 hour drive I am now in Shawnigan Lake (just outside Victoria BC).  I’m going to be staying here a couple of days before I begin my quest to the East and home!

Thanks for reading!  Happy (Healing!) Trainin!

 Cliff