Alberta Bound | Ultramarathon #107
2023: A Year Of My Own Triple Crown of 200s (so far)
Background
I absolutely love the long distances as you may know by now if you have read any of my prior blogs. When Sinister Sports announced they were putting on Canada's first 200 miler I was very interested and put my name into the application process of the lottery. Sinister Sports puts on Sinister 7 and the Canadian Death Race which have been on my
bucket list for a while now ever since getting into ultramarathons. I just have never gotten around to doing them. Secondly since moving to Texas it has been even harder logistically. I thought that perhaps the motivation I needed for a trip back north was a big epic race adventure. Sure enough, I happened to be placed into the lottery process and was fortunate enough to be pulled from the vetted list of applicants. With that I had a trip back home to Alberta planned into my 2023 fall calander. This provided a great opportunity for me to visit my parents and my hometown at the same time.
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| The Divide lottery selection notification. 2022-Dec-09 |
August 2023 provided my 4th ever DNF at Habanero. It left a sour feeling in my mind, and I was ready to get back to grinding out finishes at ultramarathons. The motivation of running in the Rocky Mountains was reason enough to have stoke, my recent DNF only further increased the motivation. I am a mountain ultrarunner at heart even if I am currently trapped at sea level here in hot humid South Texas. After all I was born and raised within sight of these majestic mountains in Western Canada. We moved to Texas just over 5 years ago now, not long after I had begun my ultrarunning journey and so there is many places I have yet to explore (on foot) in my home province of Alberta. The Divide provided a very unique opportunity to get to explore some of these areas, coupled with a nice visit back home.
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| North to Canada we go. 34 hours(+) driving time from Sugar Land, TX. |
Pre-Race Travels
September long weekend came around and I said goodbye to my family. Sadly, with x3 kids in full-time school and x1 in 3-day a week PreK they were not able to join me on this trip. I mean we could of made it work, but we decided against it this go around. I had booked myself off work since I had enough days off banked to not have to work (even remote work). With this plan in place I headed directionally north from Texas super late on Saturday night/Sunday morning and starting making miles - because you know I drove ultra-dirtbag style with all my running gear packed in my vehicle and a few casual clothes to pair up in case. The trek of 34 hours & change of driving time ended up taking me nearly exactly 48 hours total time with all my stops for mainly fuel and sleep. I had bought a nice stash of groceries prior and some my food store was plentiful. On the way to Canada I stopped and did a few shakeout runs, as I usually do when driving long distances, in a few different states: Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana.
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| Obligatory Texas fuel stop: Buc'ees. |
I arrived at my folks place in Innisfail, Alberta in the evening on Tuesday September 05th which was exactly 7 days before the start of the race. This gave me plenty of time to rest and relax without the worry of having to work remotely in the meantime as mentioned. However, I also took on the project of running on the streets in my little hometown while visiting my folks, so perhaps my rest/taper week was not perfectly ideal (Prior blog post:
HERE).
The Divide
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| Photo: Brenda Meding. |
After a final run in Innisfail in the morning on Sep-11th, then I travelled with my parents down south to Castle Mountain Resort where the race was hosted. It is only about 3-hour drive from my parents' place in Innisfail, so it was short trip (relatively) after an early lunch that day. I arrived just in time for the check-in, spot tacker set-up, and bib pickup. There was also a complimentary pre-race dinner for the runners followed by the mandatory pre-race information session. I met a few old friends there and also met up with the other 2 Texas runners I knew at the race: Regina Massingill (@massingillregina) and Kathleen Hanley (@ultra_kathy). Naturally, Andrew Marvin (@marvinndal) was also there as he seems to be hanging around all the 200 Mi races these days. It was great to catch up with some of my old trail running friends from the Edmonton Trail Runners as well. It turned out I knew quite a few of people that were either in the race itself or crewing and/or pacing. Back to the hotel in Blairmore, a quick 35 minutes from the start line for some rest for the night. I laid out my gear as everything was ready to go. A few hours of sleep and before I knew it The Divide had finally arrived.
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| Pre-Race portrait. Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Karen Palashniuk. |
Race Day(s)
September 12th, Tuesday morning I awoke from my light sleep to my alarm. I left the hotel and made a quick pitstop at Tim Horton's on the way back to Castle Mountain Resort for the start of the event - which kicked off at 08:00 local mountain time - a nice casual start time, not too early. Sunrise occurred just after 07:00 but sunlight was taking its time to creep over the towering mountains surrounding the resort. I was busy checking over last-minute things in my pack and staying warm inside the lodge charging up my iPhone and the Garmin InReach Mini 2 tracker I had to full charge. My parents arrived around 07:30 to see me off and take in the start line festivities. We got a nice photo together to commemorate the start of The Divide. They wished me luck and informed me they would see me tomorrow at one of the checkpoints. At 07:55 all 89 of the participants lined up to take on the 201 miles that lay in front of us. I got my Garmin watch queued up with the course to follow and before I knew it, we were counting down from 10.... Off we went following the race director on his ebike for the first 2 km down a flat section to the initial junction in the trail. He stopped there pointing everyone in the proper direction and giving out high fives and words of encouragement.
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| Pre-Race with my parents at start arch in Castle Mountain Resort. Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Darrel Comeau |
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| The Divide 200 start. Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Darrel Comeau |
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| Segment 1 - START to CP01. distance: 7.9 Mi |
The first 10 km of the race flew by as we ran in a lead pack of literally about 15 people all together. The chit chat was nice and casual conversation that made the time go by as everyone tried to settle into the race. Eventually we popped out of some denser trail into a very brief open section where the first checkpoint was posted. Matt Sheppard (Sinister's expert course marker) was there manning the aid and helping pouring water and Tailwind as the entire pack of people came in at once. The other couple volunteers that were there assisting Matt seemed shocked that everyone was grouped up so closely. I got my water topped up and then tipped toed over the rocks of a very small stream that led us back into dense overgrown trail once again. One checkpoint down, only twelve more to get through.
It was not long after the this first aid station that the climbing began.
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| Segment 2 - CP01 to CP02. distance: 14.8 Mi |
Segment 2 turned out to be one of the tougher portions of the race, which we were warned about in the pre-race briefing, but lucky it was early on and really your legs still feel fresh enough that it was not a big deal as long as you were pacing yourself. Sometimes this is hard to do in the beautiful aesthetics of the Rocky Mountains and with the adrenalin running through at the beginning of an event. Anyway, we did a very steep steady climb out of that first checkpoint for a good while but eventually we popped out higher up on the mountain and came above some of the trees getting closer to the top of the ridge. The views just opened up and it was amazing. A couple hours into the race and my need for the views of the Rockies was already being satisfied. It was so awesome. I was running around a couple people spaced out a little bit as we came up onto one of the photographers near the top ridge just prior to the border of Alberta & B.C.. Looking up ahead of me and I could see the ridge extending around to my left and still continuing higher - I guess that is where I am headed - up we go!
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Heading up to La Coulotte Peak. We ran on the entire ridge in the background after wrapping around over to it. Some of the coolest ridge running I have done to date. Check out those incoming fall colors starting to pop!
Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Karen Palashniuk. |
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| Taken not too far after the picture below - in fact is probably that ridge directly behind me in that photo. |
The climbs on this segment were all steep, which meant the descents were just as equally steep too coming down the other side once we finally reached the end of the long ridge running section. The day was beautiful, a little cloud cover, but not too much wind at all, it was essentially perfect running weather for mountain running. I recall that checkpoint 02 was a bummer only because the thing I recall they did not have coke at this spot, due to how remote this aid station was. The volunteers were great and enthusiastic and ensured the runners all topped up fluids and took food with them as a long segment lay ahead.
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| Segment 3 - CP02 to CP03. distance: 20.1 Mi |
I left checkpoint 02 a little sad not having a sip of coke but still stoked about the adventure ahead. Segment 3 was a very remote and wild area of the course. The draw of the first major checkpoint ahead where crews were allowed was a nice mini milestone to get too (even though I did not have crew), just a mere 20 miles through the wilderness to go. There was a nice long break running on double track OTV & Jeep roads with gentle descents for miles underneath the looming Castle Peak as we traversed North through the Castle Wildland Provincial Park. The break on the climbing legs was nice. There was a lot of climbing in this segment too, but it did not come until we got to a trail called the Whistler Mountain trail climb. It was a well flagged hard right turn that immediately went straight up. The ascent from there was basically 6 miles climbing up 4,000 feet of elevation gain to Whistler Mountain and then a short ascent over to Table Mountain, which was the high point. My climbing legs began to show their fatigue here for the first time and I could feel my momentum slowing down on this long grind. I was passed at one point by a group of 3 people working together climbing strong. Closer to the top I was caught by Joanna Ford, an ultrarunner I knew from Calgary years ago. We chatted briefly as she passed me but I just could not hang on during the climb. I kept her in my sights and used her in the distance to try and keep my pace up, using her as motivation to continue on strong. Eventually we did peak out on Table Mountain and I took a moment to take in the view as the end of the first daylight hours were also winding down at this point too by this time I got to the top to overlook the campground and Beaver Mines Lake far below. A quad busting descent that lost all 4,000 feet or so within only 2.6 miles all the way down to the Beaver Mines Lake campground we were just overlooking. I chased Joanna all the way down and into the checkpoint 03 where there was a large group of spectators, crew and general race volunteers there greeted us. Nearly exactly 12 hours of race time had now elapsed, and I had just beaten the sunset by mere minutes. As a sat and enjoyed some coke (finally) from the aid station I also got my dropbag and changed out my socks, since all the tiny pebbles and dust from the scree was needing to be cleared out of my shoes/socks. That is always a good feeling to put on new socks.
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| views from Table Mountain peak. |
After a good stop to refuel I equipped myself with my night lights (kogalla adventure light) and was ready to head off into the darkness. This segment was a straightforward half marathon between two campgrounds. I remember leaving just ahead of Joanna out onto this portion of the course and we ended up leapfrogging each other a few times, before she eventually stayed in front heading into the next checkpoint.
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Segment 4 - CP03 to CP04. distance: 13.1 Mi
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| Segment 5 - CP04 to CP05. distance: 11.4 Mi |
Arriving at checkpoint 04 it was cool and chilly now in the middle of the night (definitely not the Texas evenings I had been used to over the years). The crispness of the air quickly cooled me off as I sat in the chair as volunteers brought me some warm food: soup and perogies. Another familiar face then came up to me as I was there at the aid station, it was another Calgary ultrarunner friend Leo Fung. He was there volunteering helping out runners. I had not seen him in a couple years and so we chatted as I ate my food. We just randomly discussed all sorts of races and whatnot as he is a bit of a serial ultraracer (much like myself). Eventually though I was getting cold, not just chilly, from sitting there. I refused to put on a coat because that would just make me comfortable and want to stay at the checkpoint. I headed back out into the night solo as there were a couple other runners at the aid station at this point but no one was ready to leave with me.
The section leaving this checkpoint at the campground started off by having to follow the road for a couple of miles. And by following the road I mean we ran in the ditch beside the road since it is a narrow, no shoulder, secondary highway type of road. This meant this portion of the course was actually pretty uneven footing and we just kind of followed a cattle trail through the ditch. I trudged on throughout the night aiming to push on and not have to take a sleep break.
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| Segment 6 - CP05 to CP06. distance: 16.4 Mi |
My next mini goal continued to be to drive through and make it through and into the new sunset at CP06/09 (the only double checkpoint). From there I was going to decide on my impromptu sleep needs, but usually if I can make it through the entire first night I am good throughout that second day as well (...usually). I recall a little bit of sleepiness occurring here as I marched on towards the first light of the morning, but the inspiration not to slow down and get cold balanced out the mild want to sleep at this point in the race. Finally, the new day was here and slowly the sun creeped more and more over the looming mountains providing more and more light. I had about 2 more hours to go to reach the major checkpoint near Coleman, AB. The last little bit was a stretch of road that led into aid station. Before I knew it I say my dad up ahead on the road waiting for me to arrive and snapping a picture. It was a great feeling to see a familiar face again after a long night running. My dad then jogged with me the remaining 1 km or so back to the aid station, as he had come up the road a little bit to meet me since they were expecting me (my parents had been following the live tracking and knew about where I was). I took a nice long reset here at this major checkpoint getting in multiple helpings of perogies and soup and a few refills of coke to help replenish me. My parents took a couple pictures and my dad helped me add some preventative tape to my right foot as had some hotspots beginning to form.
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| My dad helping me tape up my feet at CP06 (84 Mi & 26 hours into the run). Who needs the volunteer medic's help when you have a retired family physician to assist you? Photo: Brenda Meding. |
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| My dad pacing me out of CP06 into and through the town of Coleman, AB. This was the start of the Northern 40Mi loop of the course. My dad did this multiple times as my parents met me a few times throughout the race. Sharing even a 1 km at a time with my dad was a neat memory to have from this race. Photo: Brenda Meding. |
I headed out from CP06 and down slightly into the town of Coleman. My dad ran with me for a bit out of the checkpoint as my mom drove ahead and waited for my dad at the town. Coleman is a very small town, and I followed the flagging that led us to the North edge of the town where we rejoined the trails headed up into the mountains again.
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| Segment 7 - CP06 to CP07. distance: 18.7 Mi |
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Captured on day2 leaving Coleman, AB about mile 86 heading into the north 40 mile loop above Hwy 3.
Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Darrel Comeau |
After leaving the town for the trails I thought I would be set for the rest of the day ahead without any sleep. My energy was renewed after refueling combined with a nice visit from my folks at the checkpoint. I was wrong. It was a mere hour from Coleman when I was climbing up and I started to stagger a little. The sleepies had just came over me. I made a quick decision to simply lie down on the side of the trail in the shade and used my hydration vest as a pillow and had a quick trail nap for about 20 minutes. I got up and continued on my way, hoping this did the trick. However, another hour or so done the way I had to take another 20-minute dirt nap. I was trying desperately to avoid a long sleep session during the day and the second dirt nap seemed to do the trick to keep the sleep demons at bay. I ran by myself without seeing many other runners ahead of me to catch and latch onto, nor did I ever see anyone behind me. I was kind of just stuck in the middle by myself in my own pace progressing forward. This segment was a long grind all the way around to the very far North end of the Divide route rounding around the prominent Crowsnest Mountain and Seven Sisters Mountain which marked the center of this northern 40-mile loop of the course. Those 2 peaks made for great views on my left hand side (mostly) for the better part of the entire second day. After a long grind of 6.5 hours solo run miles I got to the CP07. This was for sure on of the most remote sections of the course as well. The volunteers brought the cheer and uplifting enthusiasm as always when you come running into an aid station, even in the middle of the wilderness.
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| Segment 8 - CP07 to CP08. distance: 13.7 Mi |
A short stop here and I was off again trying to maintain my momentum during the daylight hours and using the September warmth to push on while I could. From CP07 we started climbing up the mountains again headed West towards the AB/BC border following Racehorse Pass Trail. I approached along the base of a mountain and all of a sudden I lost the flagging in front of me, as we had veered slightly from the main trail now. Kind of lost for a second I starred down at my Garmin watch to ensure I was still on course, and I realized I was, but needed to turn and go straight up this climb....but there was no trail present in my view, only a scree field at the base of this mountain. I wandered for a minute but then committed to going directly up this scree field following the .gpx route my Garmin was guiding me on since I could not find the "marked trail". The scree field was a combination of mini boulders the size of fridges down to your softball sized rocks. It was a steep gradient all the way up and I kept glancing at my watch to ensure my heading was still correct. The scree/boulder field was only maybe 300 meters but it was steep enough to make it seem like much more than that. At the top of the rocks I then glanced at my watch and it showed a 90 degree hard left turn, and once I glanced around I now saw the pink reflective flagging of the course only about maybe 100 feet to my left. Once I reached that flag (on the very left edge of the scree field) I noticed that there was a very faint trail that had come up directly to this point that just skirted the edge of the entire boulder section I just scrambled up....oh well...I just kind of chuckled to myself, "my line was cooler!" (but probably took more effort).
Back on the route I know continued through the thick bushed following this very unused trail but well-marked. This was the Great Divide Trail again now, but still did not appear to be used a lot. A few scambles through the trees and another good climb before I finally peaked out on a ridge. Looking at the map we were still in Alberta and now heading back South paralleling the provincial AB/BC border. The trail eventually popped out into an opening on Window Mountain overlooking a lake below - what a view! So glad I got to this point on the course in the early evening but still in the daylight. I took a moment here to admire the view, snapped a picture and then followed the switch backing trail down the mountain rocks all the way to the edge of the lake. Crystal clear blue mountain water is always a neat sight to see and it reminds me of how lucky I am to travel into these remote areas not a lot of people get to experience.
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| Window Mountain Lake from above. Taken at about mile 106 on day2. |
The lake was a clearly a backpackers dream destination. There was a set of bear lockers there for food stuff and primitive camp areas around the lake. It is very remote but very well maintained area. Back down from the mountain now the trail followed the valley continuing South paralleling the AB/BC mountain range to my right. There was only a couple more hours left of sunlight for my second day, so again I was trying to make the best of it. I was still following the Great Divide Trail which took me all the way to near the Allison Creek Falls area which was the end of the segment (CP08) not too long after sunset. This may have been my favorite segment of the course as it was so remote and scenic along the Great Divide Trail.
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| Segment 9 - CP08 to CP09. distance: 8.2 Mi |
With the sun now down I had a decision to make, should I take a nap or press onto the CP09 which provided a much nicer support and had the dedicated sleeping cots for the runners. Asking the volunteers I was informed it was "only" just over 8 miles back through Coleman to CP09. At my 200-mile pace I calculate everything in 3 mph pace as basic simple math that gives close estimates, and so I figured I could push on for 2.5 more hours before a sleep. It was an easy segment to run relatively speaking being a gently rolling hills and not a lot of elevation at all in aggregate. I did feel quite sluggish at one point and had a quick 7-minute nap resting on my hands in my knees. This was enough to keep going and get me through to Coleman and beyond into CP09. I arrived and it just after midnight or so if I recall correctly, so I loaded up on the warm food: more potatoes, perogies, and soup provided by the awesome volunteers. I then utilized the sleeping tent they had set up, that was being warmed by a propane heated fire. I took off my shoes and socks to let me feet breath a little and changed into some dry clothing from my dropbag before curling up into a few blankets that they provided for the cots. I piled on I think 3 blankets to keep me warm as it was now quite chilly once you were no longer moving. I think it was dropping down towards freezing but not quite there, and conversely inside the tent was not bad at all. I was feeling quite tired and opted for a strategy to have a longer sleep. I set my phone down beside my head and set the timer for 4 hours. I figured I would either sleep good now that I have been moving for 41 hours (except for the 3 short naps) and wake up when my body was ready or perhaps being so zonked out I might use up the entire 4 hours, which would pay dividends to how my body would feel. This being my 7th 200 Mi (or more) race now I kind of know my strategy in this regard. After about 90 minutes I awoke - this is essentially my duration of 1 full sleep cycle. I thought I might have slept longer but the chill in the air, even inside the tent, was evident. It had cooled off even more dropping down to freezing temperatures. I got up slowly staying wrapped in my blankets I was using and ordered some more warm food from the volunteers assisting us. I moved from my cot over to the chairs by the propane firepit and got my new socks ready and got out some warmer clothes as I knew it would be a challenge to stay warm for the remainder of the night before the sun came back out.
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| Segment 10 - CP09 to CP10. distance: 24.8 Mi |
After finally getting ready and set with my pants, jacket, gloves, and even beanie I set off into the cold darkness. The trail quickly diverged from the road once out of the aid station and immediately started climbing which made my progress slow right off the start. I stayed warm moving at a slow pace with the layers I did choose. The sleep did the trick and actually help "reset" my legs which were full of fatigue. I really felt fresh in terms of my leg muscles. My mind was still in a bit of fog as it gets in these multiday ultras, but the rest definitely helped a little bit.
The long segment between CP09 all the way South down to CP10 was the longest section of the entire route, just shy of a full marathon of no support through the backcountry: a true test of ultrarunning.
After about 3 hours of moving slow and steady the sun for my third day into the event was now creeping up over the mountains. I sat down and took off my running pants and extra upper layers. It was nice feeling to shed those extra layers, although I still had to carry them with me in my vest.
The journey through these mountains were amazing. Every time I saw a gap between mountains the trail would wind through and around that valley and into the next. It was just a long series of endless views of the southern Rocky Mountains. Such an experience and it was fueling my desire to push on.
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| Views on day3 in awe of these Rocky Mountains. |
Day 3 turned out to be long getting through this extra-long segment but eventually I made it to CP10 after about 8.5 hours of forward progression - right on that 3-ish mph pace I was referring to earlier. The last couple of miles included two small creek crossings just prior to the aid station. This was the last ai station on the AB side of the mountains where my [mobile] dropbag was at and so I was able to get a nice fresh pair of dry socks anyway.
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| Segment 11 - CP10 to CP11. distance: 13.7 Mi |
Heading out from this checkpoint the goal was simple - get up and over the North Kootney Pass and head into Brtish Columbia. Not quite sure why this was so significant but in my mind, this was a huge mental barrier knowing that once I was in BC that I was essentially there. In reality though it is still a staggering 40 miles from getting back to that finish. I guess ultrarunners think differently when you have run many 100s and 200s before. The climb heading up the pass was straightforward and a plain and simple grind all the way up all 6 miles of the climb. I had reached this portion of the course in late afternoon and so I had the sunlight with me to complete my way over pass itself. I had been running completely solo for the better part of a day now and not seen people except for the volunteers at the aid stations. I did encounter a race photographer about 3/4 the way up the Pass, as he had been there to capture runners for the afternoon he informed me. A couple of pictures and he continued on his way down the mountain on his bike.
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| Trudging my way up North Kootney Pass heading into B.C.. Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Ryan Schultz |
The last quarter of the pass turned extra steep just to put the kicker on journey up and over. Climbing up this last portion of the Alberta side it was a bare rock field and so the wind started to pick up on this very last portion. There was a permanent marker on the very crest of the climb sticking out of the rocks, just to the side of the trail. After some closer inspection I saw this had the provincial labels on it, signifying the division between AB and BC. I took a quick selfie video for my IG stories to celebrate this milestone (
The Divide 200 | 2023-Sep | AB.BC border crossing - YouTube)
Now cresting over the actual peak it was super windy and so I after my video I wanted to continue on and started dropping down the other side where the I would be protected from the wind again. In my head I just assumed that this might be the exact opposite of what I just climbed up, which would mean a long descent on double track road all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. This turned out to be very far from reality. At the very peak the trail sort of disappears and I looked at my watch and confirmed on my iPhone Gaia app and followed the line which lead me down to a super steep treeline cut filled with a scree field. It was narrow, maybe 20 to 30 feet wide and it was steep, like -30% to -48% (according to my STRAVA). Being now 165 miles into the run steep descent were not exactly pleasant on my quads and also my feet in my shoes. The scree field was maybe a quarter of a mile long but it took me a while to navigate it, slowing shuffling down careful trying not to trip and dive face first into the rocks, and grabbing small trees and shrubs as I went to assist in breaking my speed. Finally reaching the bottom of the rocks I thought wow that was intense, now where is the trail. It just got more interesting as we then went straight left into the thick bush, where there was no obvious trail. We simply followed the flagging across the mountain slowly traversing down and across with spurts of straight down. The very tricky part of this section was the fact within these trees it was all loose pine needle covered ground that shifted and move with your footsteps. Following the flagging and the minimal trail (from the prior runners ahead of me) was ok but your footing was never even and quite unsure due to this nature of the soil. This section through all of these trees was maybe another quarter of a mile, maybe slightly longer, and took a little longer than the steep scree field for me. I recall glancing at my watch to view the .gpx and just verify I was still on course, even though I was clearly following the flags in front of me. I guess I could not fathom this type of "trail" this late into a race, but then again it was warned that The Divide was a remote and wild course. Finally, after this initial 0.5 mile, maybe more, we were guided into more of a traditional singletrack trail (clearly it was rarely used as well, but at least more defined). From here it was long straightforward descent down into the valley. I was moving well despite my sore quads and overall tiredness. I was racing darkness now to get to the checkpoint before being forced to bring out my lights for the third time.
Arriving at checkpoint 11 I was greeted by my parents who made the trek out to this remote spot just to cheer me on. A very nice surprise was the fact that they brought me a warm Tim Horton's coffee as well. This was welcomed as it was just starting to cool off. I sat for a little while and chatted with them as I fueled up and drank my coffee and some coke as well. They asked how I was feeling and just general encouragement, as parents often do. It was nice to have some familiar faces even though they were not crewing me, but having there to chat with was just as good throughout the race.
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| Segment 12 - CP11 to CP12. distance: 9.8 Mi |
The next section was a boring flat segment that was relatively short in comparison to the rest of the sections. Nearly pancake flat 10 miles to the larger aid station (CP12) where a sleep station was again an option. Running down a remote forest service road for the entire portion. If you were able to run and have energy this was definitely a section to make up time and move. Sadly I was not exactly in that realm and simply kept moving forward in a combination of slow jogging with walk breaks which equaled to my steady 3 mph pace. Finished off my coffee and turned on my kogalla lighting and then headed onward for another solo 2.5 hours.
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| Segment 13 - CP12 to CP13. distance: 17.4 Mi |
Arriving at CP12 I had already decided that I needed a bit more sleep before the big push back over the pass back into Alberta. Being the middle of the night again it was chilly but not quite as bad as the night before. I sat around and ate some warm soup and potatoes as I chatted with Matt Sheppard whom was there manning the aid station. We discussed his "trail" coming off the peak down in B.C. and how much fun he had cutting that route through there. After some fuel I lied down and got some more rest. A descent amount of time had passed before I stirred and awoke. I tallied about 80 minutes of sleep here at CP12. I got up and had another bowl of warm soup and noodles before readying myself to continue on. From CP12 over to CP13 was another flat section of the course. We continued down this valley on the same forest service roads. They seemed to go on forever. My pace my painfully slow and it felt like the mile count was all but standing still. My sleep helped but still running completely solo in the middle of my thrid night now it was a challenge for sure. There was a couple of cars that did pass me in the other direction, which were crews driving into CP12 to meet up and support their runners, however this was the only sign of life I saw in the middle of this night. A long trek of nearly 30 km to CP13 took me just of 5 hours before it finally came into view. I was tired. The finish was now only 1 segment away, but this looming mountain pass stood in my way still.
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| Segment 14 - CP13 to FINISH. distance: 11.9 Mi |
I slumped into a chair at CP13. There were 2 volunteers here whom were super gracious and helpful. Got me some fluids and then even offered me some coffee after seeing how exhausted I was. Since I did not have my own cup (for warm fluids) the one volunteer cleaned his own mug and offered it for my use, so awesome and nice. Sometime the best coffee is a function of your surroundings, and this cup of coffee was heavenly for that regard. I sipped on this liquid black gold and decided I needed a quick power nap to recharge me. The volunteers mentioned they had a sleeping bag and spot on the ground, but I was simply content with slumping into the chair and closing my eyes. I just needed a simple recharge as it was my personal low time for my natural circadian rhythm. The quiet hum of the generator provided a nice calming white noise as I dosed off. After 20 minutes, maybe a tad less, I opened my eyes and felt much better. I graciously finished off my cup of coffee, and then filled up one some to go snacks and goodies to take with me.
It was now closer to sunset, but the tall mountains were going to provide protection from rising sun. I set off on this last 12 mile segment with one climb remaining, just a simple 2000 feet up and over the middle Kootney Pass and back into Alberta and the finish area of the Castle Mountain Resort - sounded simple enough. I thanked the two volunteers who were camping out in the middle of nowhere to support us on this crazy run. Forward I marched eastward back towards Alberta.
The trail again was obviously not super well used even though it did exist. Another note here is that the flagging was great (just as the remainder of the entire course was). The trail was very often very over grown and the tree branches bowed over the trail from both side creating a tunnel. The problem was the tunnel was only about waist to shoulder high and so you had to bushwhack your way through these branches or commit to bending super low in order to pass through. One last challenge on my way to the top of mountain pass up and over the divide. BY the time I found my way most of the way up the mountain the sun was up and slowly rising providing more and more sunlight even though I was still in the shade on this side of the pass. The forth day had was officially here as I crossed over the 72 hour mark in my race. At nearly exactly the 200-mile mark I crested the pass and was greeted by the warmth of the sun starring me directly head on now as I crossed back into Alberta. Only a few short miles all the way back down into the valley and into the resort to finish up my run. All of my climbing was now behind me. Just one last long 3-mile quad pounding descent. I gritted my teeth and focused on the trail just in front of me as to not trip as the trail was scattered with small ankle twisting rocks the entire way down. Those 3 miles took a long time but the draw of the finish was present. I was close now.
Finally, I could no longer see the valley bellow me as the trail slowly flattened out, I had reached the bottom and a simple jog back into the finish where it all started was all that stood in front of me. Very soon I caught sight of my dad waiting for me on the trail again. A nice surprise to have my dad run with me again. He ran beside me for this last 1 km or so as we came back into resort area where the lodge was. My dad then took off sprinting away to meet me at the finish, as I followed the flagging around the large parking lot. I popped out of the parking lot and passed one of the chair lifts rounding the last corner into the lodge start/finish arch. I was done.
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| Arriving into the finish on Friday after 74.5 hours. Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Ryan Schultz |
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| Finished greeted by my parents. Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Ryan Schultz |
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Receiving my inaugural finishers buckle & coin from Sinister Sports race director Brian Gallant.
Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Ryan Schultz |
After receiving my buckle, I sat down and chilled out in some provided chairs and chatted with my parents recapping the day(s). I ate a double burger cooked up by the finish line volunteers and then ordered a second one, and promptly finished that off as well. Brian came over and visited a little as well and thanked me for coming out. I informed him how cool of a route he had curated and the toughness of the event, comparing it to prior 200s I had done.
200 Mile races are such a journey. Every time I do one of these it feels so rewarding as soon as you are able to cross that finish line. The bodily pain and the grind of simply continuing to move forward is always dragging you down just begging for you to stop. It truly is a big mental hurdle to complete these events. I am proud of myself for this especially after my non-ideal taper week (prior blog post:
HERE). The Divide 200 provided immense ridgeline views and true self-sufficient mountain running in very remote wilderness. I am very thankful to be able to run and move my body in a way that allows me to take on these adventures.
Thanks
- A big shout out to Sinister Sports Owner & Director Brian Gallant as well as his entire team of volunteers that put on this event. Logistically this was a tall ask being such a wild and remote area. This first year of the race was limited in number of runners and so having the amount of people and effort put in just for the 89 runners that toed the line was truly awesome. Thank you Brian & team.
- Matt Sheppard of Sinister Sports (Manager of Field Operations) for all your hard work in helping to curate and mark this race course. I saw the social media posts of all the days and weeks leading up to the event. I am sure you put in big mileage and time-on-feet just to get this race to kick off. Thank you for the great flagging out there!
- Thanks to my parents who not only came down to cheer and spectate but helped me logistically by setting up the hotel for the night prior to the race and the night of me finishing. They came out and saw me 3 times I think on course, like once per day and it was always a great lift in spirits to see them. Thank you dad for running/pacing me even for only a tiny bit into the checkpoints - you have always been an inspiration to me by running around the golf course and still seeing you do that into your 70s give me lifelong fitness goals myself.
- Of course, not of least thank you to my wife & daughters who allow me to take on these crazy ultrarunning goals and inspire me to do my best. They were unable to make this trip to Canada this time around, but I was able to facetime and catch up with them and share in my experiences with them once back home.
Results & Statistics
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| The Divide 200 overall route and my stats. source: STRAVA |
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| The Divide 200 elevation profile. source: STRAVA. |
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My time breakdown of the 14 segments. source: STRAVA |
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| Course views. Photo: Fleeting Reality Photography | Ryan Schultz |
Gear Used
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| most (if not all my gear) I utilized for my Divide 200 adventure. This was taken packing up from my parents before heading South to Crowsnest Pass and finalizing my drop bags for checkin. |
There was a requirement for some mandatory gear along with the usual recommended gear as might be expected for mountain races. However, they were not strict on the mandatory gear and did not even check it at any point.
- Jackets - rabbit Treeline rain jacket, rabbit Let ‘er Zip hoodie, rabbit Swish PRO (Hawks edition)
- Gloves - rabbit (BOCO)
- Lighting setup - kogalla RA Adventure Light (waistlamp) & Nathan Sports Halo Fire (headlamp)
- Shirts - rabbit LS rabbitELITEtrail team kit, SS rabbitELITEtrail team kit, rabbit UPF Deflector 2.0
- Shorts - rabbit 5" shredders 2-in-1 trail
- Pants- rabbit runners
- Headwear - rabbit (rnnr) rabbitELITEtrail team kit, rabbit (BOCO) beanie
- Arm Sleeves - rabbit
- Eyewear - goodr (Nuclear Gnar version)
- Shoes - Altra Olympus 4.0
- Socks - rnnr, Drymax (I used a few pairs combined, I think 5 maybe in total?)
- Hydration - NATHAN Trailmix 12L race pack with x2 20oz soft flasks, & Katadyn BeFree™ Water Filteration System™ (1.0L soft flask). I also carried a x18oz handheld for extra fluids when leaving the aid stations.
- Anti-Friction Lube - Trail Toes
- SPOT tracker - provided by Sinister Sports at event - Garmin InReach Mini II
- Device with GPX track of course - Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition
- Cell Phone - apple iPhone 8+ (also with Gaia GPS app)
- Emergency Bivy - SOL emergency bivy
- Gear/Drop Bags - Victory Sportdesign (utilized x2 drop bags: Coyote II)
Other
The Divide 200 (Hosted by Western Ultra Racing Association with logistical support by
Sinister Sports) just opened up its application & lottery entries for the next year's version of the race (Sep 10-14, 2024). I highly encourage any adventure seeker, long-distance enthusiast, and ultramarathon junkie to put this one onto your bucket list of races. This curated route through the Southern Canadian Rockies is super remote and is a true test of mountain running.
The Great Divide Trail traverses the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia, wandering through the vast wilderness of the Canadian Rocky Mountains for more than 1100 kilometers. It is one of the most spectacular and challenging long‐distance trails on the planet. The Great Divide Trail is wild and not always even an actual trail, sometimes merely a wilderness route, inspiring modern-day adventurers to walk the same paths of the original Indigenous people and explorers to the area. A journey on the Great Divide Trail promises to be demanding but on the GDT you'll discover a superlative wilderness experience in one of the most magnificent settings on Earth.
The GDT. Is the trail well marked? The GDT is officially signed in portions of Sections A, B, D and G, but elsewhere the GDT is not officially signed. Much of the trail within national and provincial parks is well marked but not identified as the GDT. The route is actually made up of several separate trail systems joined together by ATV tracks, roads, and wilderness routes. The GDT varies from being a well-developed, signed trail to an unmarked, cross-country wilderness route where navigation skills are required.
The GDT FKT: Great Divide Trail (AB & BC, Canada) | Fastest Known Time
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Thank you for following along my blog and adventures in ultrarunning.
Next up for me: Big Tex Backyard Ultra (hosted by Trail Racing Over Texas) on 2023-Oct-21.
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Awesome job, great write up. No bears?
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