I remember the last time I ran the Death Race. It was hard, but not as hard as expected. The training was harder than the actual race.
That was not true this year. A heat wave descended on Grande Cache for the weekend. It was stifling, and not the best conditions for running. The weather really changed the conditions of the course. Alberta has had a drought for the summer, but it had been raining recently in the area. So there were places that were wetter, and places that were drier.
In some races they weigh the runners to make sure they aren’t over- or under-hydrated. Since running makes you stupid, our support people were also thinking intelligence tests should be administered as well. I tried to keep myself from over-exerting myself. I took any reasonable chance to sit down if I could. Fortunately some volunteers stationed around the course were willing to give up their chairs. I never stayed too long, but I think the short rests helped.
The food provided was very disappointing. It almost looked like they had raided a grocery store. There were very few energy bars. I was more likely to find melted chocolate bars. Most critically, they had very little salt snacks. When it is that hot, you need salt! At least there was a good supply of Gatorade.
The day started out nicely, and I thought that if the temperature stayed that way for the entire time it would be perfect, but of course that wasn’t meant to be. By the time the first leg was done, it was already warm and I had blisters forming. I had also passed a girl who had collapsed.
Last year, the second leg had rain. This time it was hot sun. The climb up Mount Flood was slow. But coming down, and going through “The Slugfest” was much easier. There was no sliding down mud slopes into creeks; It was solid footing. Also, my feet didn’t hurt this year. Last year, my right foot was in pain almost immediately and it only stopped when I changed shoes. But I figured out what was wrong a few months ago; My shoe had been on too tight. I actually wore the exact same shoes this time and had no problems.
Near the top of Grande Mountain you could see lightning off in the distance. I would have failed the intelligence tests as I was trying to figure out if the long aluminum poles I was using were a good conductor of electricity. The rain that followed did help a lot. But plummeting down a mountain side wasn’t exactly safe to begin with. And for some reason, near the end of the leg, a bystander darted out right in front of me as I was coming down the hill. She wanted to grab a pack of cigarettes on the trail and I nearly hit her.
The third leg was the pinnacle of the heat wave. I ran it at the hottest point of the day. As advertised, the valley was a heat sink. Fortunately there were no bears this time. However, I had sunglasses at the start of the leg, but I appeared to be missing them by the end…
At the transition to the fourth leg, I drank two bottles of Gatorade, had an eDisc and a salt tablet. It was a few too many electrolytes, and I couldn’t run for awhile. Fortunately, leg four is well known for Mount Hamel appearing immediately; I was going to walk anyway. And because it was so dry, there was no longer a stream running down the trail. There was a gaping crevasse in the middle instead, but that was easy to avoid. I got to the top just as the sun was setting. The nearly full moon wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped. I ran down the other side with the headlamp going. This was when things got better. It was now cool, and I was going downhill.
At the Ambler Loop station there were a pair of ambulances. Many people were getting pulled off the course. I stopped by them and got some medical supplies put on my foot to help stop the blisters that had formed, or were going to form. Then it was a run down a hill to the start of leg five.
Leg two is the hardest, but I think I hate leg five the most. It comes at a time when your legs are tired, and they make it full of uneven ground. In the night, with only a headlamp, you can’t tell if it is a leaf, root, or rock you are stepping on. You will trip if you run. I have to walk. And once you start walking, it is very hard to get back to running.
Hell’s Gate was lit up nicely with bright lights, so I could see a bit of the landscape. It looked very nice. I think I cheated a bit here. While the boat was crossing, I un-kinked my water tube so I could gulp instead of sip, and I ate an entire powerbar. In other words, I took my sweet time to get going again. But none of this counted against me, because the clock stopped until I decided I was ready to go again. I’m not sure if that counted as cheating. I continued on, and once again got mixed signals about distance as I ran. 13km. 8km. 9km. 5km. Hopefully I’ll figure it out someday although I think the last two distances quoted were correct. I gained a huge blood blister on the sole of my right foot. It seemed to come into existence over the fifth leg because it wasn’t there when the doctors looked over me.
I crossed the finish line at a little over 23 hours. It was tough but I had done it. And it was provably tough. Only 33% of people who had signed up, finished. Jack Cook, who had finished first the last three times was unable to complete.
I beat Jack Cook!
The rest of the weekend was spent napping and eating. I didn’t have the energy to go see the festival. We didn’t even stay until the end of the closing ceremonies before driving home. I did discover that I appear to be allergic to the official race shirt.
Since then, I’ve been concerned about the nail of my left little piggie with roast beef. It looks like it is trying to make a break for it.