Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

The Blackfoot Ultra was one of the first ultras I did, having moved back to Canada in 2018. I raced the 50-miler, and ended up winning the ladies race in around 7 hours 50 minutes which was a complete surprise to me. The following year I decided to up the distance and registered for the 100k - unfortunately, the weeks leading up to the race were full of lots of emotional stress, and I ended up DNF'ing after 75km. Since then, I had gone back and volunteered pretty much every year, but this year, I decided that I wanted to give the 100k another go, so I registered as a racer instead. My original plan was to use the 100k as proof of fitness for team selection for the World 24 hour championships, but when the ACU extended the qualifying period to allow more people to qualify by running Survivorfest, my race plans got all shook up. I ran the Lakou BYU and with Survivorfest coming just 2 weeks after Blackfoot, I dropped down to the 50k instead. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn...

Although specialising in the 800m and 1500m on the track as a youngster, I've never really been a huge fan of shorter races - in theory, the shorter they are, the faster you are meant to run, except that never really worked for me. My average marathon pace back in my younger days was only 10 seconds slower than my 5k pace, which meant I was either a really slow 5k runner, or an exceptionally fast marathon runner, neither of which was actually true.  My PR in a true 5km race is 18.42 - that was many, many years ago, and I cannot even get close to a sub 20 these days. But then I don't train for speed, which makes my slower times far more acceptable these days.   One of my goals for this year is to hit my 50th parkrun - I'm currently at 42, and I anticipate hitting that glorious 50 milestone sometime in late autumn, when my racing season is complete. I also have a goal of setting a new parkrun PR - this means running faster that 21.46 which I did back in 2023. So far this ye...

I was first introduced to the backyard ultra format during the Covid era back in 2020 - back then, I had never done a backyard, but due to my experience and relative success at ultra distance running, I was selected to represent Team Canada at the satellite team world championships - 15 of Canada's best headed out to Kelowna in BC to take part, and I ended up with 36 yards in my first ever BYU. Since then, I have gone on to do 5 more - my next best being 30 yards once again in BC when representing Canada at the World Team BYU Championships - but other than that, I have found that the excitement and anticipation of a backyard ultra has dwindled for me, and no longer find myself striving to run for an unknown length of time with the aim being to qualify for the national team for a third time.  So how come I ended up at the Lakou Backyard Ultra? Well, the simple answer is because it is one of the best backyard ultras that I have ever done, it is on my doorstep with being in the Edmont...

One of my mini goals for 2025 is to run a sub 45 minute 10km. My first attempt was made back in February when I ran the Hypothermic 10k - conditions weren't ideal for a fast running, and I ended up finishing in 46.59. I was happy enough with my performance on the day - a winter race in Alberta is no joke, especially when you have to deal with extreme cold and snow/ice underfoot - but I knew I could go faster in more favourable conditions, so was on the lookout for another 10k at some point.  I had completely forgotten about the St Albert Road Race until I saw it being promoted in my social media feed. I had competed in the 10-miler there back in 2022, and having spotted that they offered a 10k, I thought this would be the perfect race to try again for that sub 45 minutes.  The day before the race, we had lovely spring-like weather - beautiful sunshine, warm temperatures, and no wind whatsoever. But when race day dawned and I glanced outside of my bedroom window, there was a li...

It's been a few days now since I completed Hill of a Race for a second time, and my legs have been very tight and achy from all of the ups and downs. As a result, I haven't really ran much this week, and even when taking the pups out for their usual walks, I've really struggled to keep up with them as my legs have screamed with pain with every step I've taken. I don't recall taking this long to recover last time I did the event and I'm not really sure what I've done differently, but then it doesn't really matter - I still have 3 weeks until my next race, and I'm pretty sure that all will be back to normal by the time I toe the next start line. This morning, I did do the parkrun in Edmonton, and despite the legs still feeling a little fatigued and tight in spots, I was pretty happy to run an average 7.32 minute miles which was much quicker than expected. I deliberately held back as I knew I would likely struggle at a faster pace, so to finish in 23.38...

The past week has been bitterly cold in the Edmonton area, and whilst being hopeful that the warm-up was coming, we've been met with extreme cold warnings on and off for a few days now. I'm one of those people that still prefers to run outdoors regardless of the weather, assessing the risk and knowing my own limitations before deciding whether it's a good idea, or whether pounding the road to nowhere or climbing to the summit of the topless hill is the preferred choice. It usually results in me heading outdoors, which is probably a good thing to some degree, especially as I have a tendency to sign up for winter races that are usually scheduled for February! This past weekend, I had signed up for two completely different races, one at each end of the scale - the Hypothermic Half 10k in Edmonton, and the Frozen Ass 50k in Calgary. This would be my third time doing the Hypothermic Half since moving back to Canada, but this year, I registered for the 10k rather than the half ma...