Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

 One of my running goals for 2026 is to compete in at least 3 road races. I'd already completed the Hypothermic Half Marathon back in February, and with the Calgary Marathon coming up, I only needed one more road race to hit my goal. I contemplated doing the St Albert 10 miler which was about a month out from the marathon and would be a great test of what my marathon goal would be, but then I spotted the Jasper Half and being a week later, it still fitted in well with a good marathon buildup, plus we could combine it with a weekend in the mountains. After registering for the race, we tried to find some pet friendly accommodation in Jasper, but given that the fires destroyed some of the tourist accommodation, there was a lack of availability for the race weekend. We thought we might camp but campgrounds don't open until late May, and whilst there are plenty of hotels in Hinton, few of them would accept three dogs. After a little more searching, Andy was able to secure an Airbnb ...

It was my third time at Hill of a Race, and I have to say that those ski hills don't get any easier! This year, the race fell on Easter Sunday. Usually we'd be winter camping over Easter weekend, but with a weekend in Jasper coming up, followed by two weeks holiday with a friend visiting in May, we opted to stay at home and do a few things around the house instead.  I find it hard having time off from work and just being stuck at home. Time is so precious and I don't like wasting it, and with nothing else planned, I found myself registering for the race just a month or so out from race day. I wasn't exactly in hill running shape, and I have been feeling terribly slow and unfit after a winter of ups and downs with the weather, so my plan was to just go out there, spend a few hours amongst friends, and hopefully get in at least 10 laps of the ski hills in the six hour period. Andy dropped me off at Rabbit Hill on race day morning, and thankfully there was still some snow ...