After a long wait of well over 10 years, I finally became a Canadian Citizen back in April 2024, and quickly registered for the Survivorfest 24-hour event which would be hosting the national 24-hour championships, as well as providing the opportunity to qualify to represent Canada at the World Championships the following year. As a new Canadian in my early 50s, I was extremely proud to have finished in the silver medal position with a distance of 184km - enough to be considered for selection for the following year.
For the past 12 months, I have kept my eye on the national rankings for 24-hours. The deadline for qualifiers for the Worlds was June 8th, and that date has been in my mind for several months, hoping and praying that I wasn't bumped off from that bottom spot of female runners that had already ran the qualifying distance.
Having already ran 184km last year, I didn't feel the need to run Survivorfest again in 2025 - the work was done, all I needed to do was prove fitness, and my original plan was to do this by running the 100km at Blackfoot Ultra at the end of May. But then news came through that the deadline for qualifiers had been extended by one week, and anybody that wanted to try for the team would now be able to use Survivorfest as a qualifier for the Worlds. Selfish as it sounds, I was extremely disappointed with this decision. I was convinced that after 12 months of waiting, other runners would now register for Survivorfest and put in a superb performance that would be far superior to my miserly 184k. Obviously, I'm all for the strongest runners being selected to give Canada the greatest chance of team success, but at the same time, it was terribly disappointing.
There were two ways I could handle the situation - give up entirely on that ambition to finally represent Canada on the World stage, or put up a fight to give me every chance of still being considered and maybe even selected for the team. I spoke to Andy and to Coach Paul, and we made the decision to drop down to the 50km at Blackfoot, and register for Survivorfest in the hope of exceeding that 184km and reaching at least 195km which not only gave me a better chance of making the team, but also the national record for my age group. I'd already got the endurance and fitness for the 24-hour - the only thing I didn't have was time on the track, but I still believed it might just be possible. And so it was that come June 14th, I found myself once again lining up on the start line at the Strathcona Athletics track, ready and prepared to run as far as I could within the next 24 hours.
 |
| Before the start - wet and soggy! |
The weather this year was once again wet and breezy, but thankfully it wasn't quite as chilly as the previous year. There were 42 people registered to run loop A on the track and this did make things quite busy for several hours. There was lots of weaving in and out of people which takes up time and energy, but I tried not to get too concerned about it as I was so focused on hitting 195km and breaking that record. I was also trying desperately to run solo as I didn't want to be accused of having pacers or any outside help during the record attempt - this was harder than anticipated, and watching the live footage afterwards, there were occasions during the race where others were quite clearly running with me, despite me trying to separate myself from them. Sometimes I would be acutely aware of others and I would deliberately stop at my crew tent or go the toilet to allow that space between me and other runners - this did upset my race a little in terms of pacing, but it was something I needed to do just in case I did get close to that age group record.
My plan was to run no quicker than 9.30 miling, and ideally around 10 minute miles, and for a good 100km or so, I was doing consistent 400m laps of between 2.21 to 2.25 minutes. I was feeling really good with high energy levels, the legs were cooperating, and I honestly believed that the 195km was within my reach. My nutrition was going really well, and I was managing to consume enough calories from my drinks, and by eating Mars Bars, crisps, smoothies and gels. I even managed small amounts of solid food, tucking in a small bite sized turkey roll a couple of times during the lunch time period that really hit the spot. Andy was doing a fantastic job of keeping me going, and I was in a really good place both mentally and physically.
 |
| Just keep eating! PC FOMO FOTO |
The weather didn't really improve, and for the first 6 or 7 hours, drizzly rain was falling and it was somewhat breezy. When people were sitting in behind me, I was getting a little annoyed as I knew I was likely sheltering them from the elements, and I was really wishing they would just go past me to give me a break from fighting the wind around the track. It was getting to the point where I knew I needed to block everything out and go into my own world, so I grabbed my headphones and plugged in some tunes to help to drown out all the activity around me. I don't usually run with music, but for the next couple of hours, those familiar and favourite tunes of mine helped so much, and it truly felt like I was whizzing around that track and making a huge dent in the number of kilometres I still needed in order to hit my goal.
One of the things I was trying to do this time was not focus on how far I had ran, nor how long I had been running for. My strategy was to run for 30 minutes, or for 5km, whichever came first, before having a drink and some food. This made the hours go by so quickly, and the miles were being ticked off without too much effort. For the most part, I was slightly ahead of my pace from the previous year, and I kept asking Andy how slow I could go to still hit 195km - every time I asked, I needed to do 13.30 miling to hit my goal - I was still running a steady and consistent sub 10 minute mile, and it felt good.
 |
| Just keep going! PC FOMO FOTO |
At one point, my good friend Barb came to crew whilst Andy nipped off to find some food. It was great to see Barb if only for a short time, and I hope she knows how much I appreciated her being there. Coach Paul also swung by briefly and so too did my friend Julie, and it's always nice to see familiar faces there supporting what you do.
At around the 15 hour mark and with around 65km to go before hitting my goal, something felt off and I had the urge to just sit down for a couple of minutes. I still had plenty of time - heck, at this rate, I might even break 200k! - but no sooner had I sat down, that old familiar nausea swept over me, and I started to throw up. I sat there for about 10 minutes waiting for the tummy to settle, and then I started to walk around the track in the hope that I could turn things around. Andy was still trying to get me to drink water and electrolytes, and I was also trying to eat rice pudding and banana just to get calories back inside of me - unfortunately, whilst I wasn't sick again and I felt like I could eat, my mind had gone into mental lock down and it wouldn't let me eat anything despite my body craving fuel.
I'm not sure how I did it, but I kept on going for the next few hours, managing a run/walk strategy for a couple of hours longer, before resorting to the zombie walk that I have become accustomed to in these situations. My energy was definitely lacking and I so wanted to stop, but with just 5 miles to hit the hundred miles, Andy said to get to the 100 before calling it a day.
 |
| Thank goodness for that! 100 miles done :) |
That last 5 miles seemed to take forever, but finally, at 21 hours 27 minutes, I hit the 100 mile mark and called the end to my race. Silly as it sounds, although I was stopping, I would still win the ladies race - my nearest competitor was on 75 miles and there was no way she would be able to close the gap with just a couple of hours remaining. Although I stopped earlier than planned and well short of my goal, I did at least make it through the night, and I did get to see the sun rise the following morning which was quite spectacular.
We went for a snooze in the car whilst waiting for the race to end, and then went back for the presentation at 9am. I still feel like I didn't deserve that win, but then I did run further than all the other ladies on the day, and that's what the 24-hour event is about - who can go the furthest in the time given. It was also a pleasure to share that podium with two awesome ladies - Krysta in 2nd place, and Jessica in 3rd.
 |
| 1st placed lady, with Krysta 2nd and Jessica 3rd (stand in Laura) |
Whilst the race didn't quite pan out the way I honestly believed it could, I am still happy that I ran as well as I did. My nutrition still needs a little bit of work and this time, I honestly believe it was carbs that I needed more that anything - maybe I'll grab some mashed potatoes next time! My pacing though was ok and it felt manageable for a long period of time.
Obviously I didn't increase on my 184km that I did last year, but then nobody else was able to go over that distance either. That means I am still ranked sixth on the Team Canada list and I haven't been bumped off. I still intend to throw my name into the hat in the hope that maybe I will be selected for the team, but it does depend on who else puts their name forward - you don't have to run a 24-hour race if you have a world class performance in another distance such as 100 miles or 100km. I will know for sure in a little over a week's time and if I don't make the team, I do have a contingency plan which I am sure will bring just as much fun. Watch this space!
Comments
Post a Comment