I have been trading sleep for long runs for the past seven years. Cozy and warm in bed, I somehow manage to get up when the alarm goes off. With a young family, I don’t like being away from them for too long. The morning is a perfect time to run since my family is usually asleep for the first hour or so. Although I don’t indulge in sleeping in, I make sure to have at least one coffee before going out the door. There are necessities that one just can’t go without.
Outside of Limehouse on the Bruce Trail – Seybou (left) and Jordan (right)
Runner’s World magazine states that long runs should be a staple of every runner’s plan. I do my long runs on Saturday or Sunday and usually spend 2-3 hours on the trail. I try to run with friends as well – the miles fly by when you have someone to chat with.
Ruins at Limehouse Conservation area
I documented this morning’s workout to give my reader’s a sense of what my long runs are like. The three and a half minute video below follows my friend Seybou and I on the Bruce Trail at the Limehouse Conservation Area.
Seybou on the right, Jordan on the left – running on the Milton Quarry bridge, on the Bruce Trail
The first time that I met Seybou, he advised me to stay off a section of trail that he had just run trough. Not wanting to change my route, I ran the 500 metre section anyway – having to slog through ankle high, icy water. It was the Christmas holidays and the river had flooded this part of the Hungry Hollow trail in Georgetown, Ontario. With freezing feet, I ran the last 2 km home while reflecting on Seybou’s toughness. I was only familiar with a few other runners who would willingly trek through ice water and continue their run. I knew that Seybou and I were going to be friends.
Seybou on the Speyside section of the Bruce Trail, near Highway 25
An amateur runner, Seybou finished the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) in 2017, a race that many consider the Super Bowl of ultra running. Also a strong road runner, Seybou has finished the Boston Marathon three times, competing in person in 2018 and 2019 and running it virtually in 2020.
Seybou’s impressive running resume continues, he ran the TDS race by UTMB in 2015, the Ultra Trail Harricana in 2016 and the Canadian Death Race in 2017.
Chris Henderson in his natural habitat. Bruce Trail, Limehouse, ON.
Chris Henderson has been the most positive influence in my life for ultra running over the past 7 years. I met Chris by chance on the trails in Georgetown, Ontario in 2014 and we’ve covered hundreds of running miles together since. When I met Chris, I was training for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon and I had just started learning about ultra marathons. I thought it would be amazing to run an ultra one day however I had no idea how to do it. A natural teacher, Chris showed me the way, giving me invaluable advice on training, nutrition and racing. Chris is the Head Coach of our local Halton Hills Blue Fins swim team. I benefitted greatly from the easy and inspirational way Chris works with athletes.
On the trails today with Chris. Chris on left and Jordan on right.
An accomplished ultra runner, Chris finished 2nd overall at That Dam Hill, 24 hour race in 2018 with 106 miles and 3rd overall at the Dirty Girls’ 24 hour trail race in 2015.
In the two and a half minute video below, Chris shares his best advice for ultra runners along with a short story on his best racing experience. A quick warning, my GoPro died so I shot the video on iPhone. The video is very choppy however the audio quality is very good.
My watch showed 5am – I should have wanted breakfast however beer was all that I could think about. After 23 hours on the course, I finished the Quebec Mega Trail 110 km with my friend Matt. Instead of receiving a medal, I was given a glass beer mug and told that I could fill it up in the chalet. We were at the base of the Mont Ste. Anne ski resort. I asked Matt if he wanted to have a beer and he nodded yes without a split second of hesitation. Matt joined me as a pacer at 9pm, the previous evening. Both beer lovers, Matt and I had been talking about our post race brews for a long time. I had planned on finishing the race a lot earlier than 5 am though. No bother, I hobbled inside and sat down with Matt for a well deserved, celebratory beer.
My finisher’s mug from the Quebec Mega Trail 110 km
After seven years in the sport, I have noticed a special relationship between trail runners and beer. The conversations about beer during races, drinking beer the night before and immediately following a race. Some runners even down a beer or two during longer races. Top female ultra runner Camille Heron set the record for the fastest 100 mile trail race ever at 12 h 42 m 28 s while drinking a beer and a half and eating tacos.
I’m not alone in noticing the trail runner and beer relationship, two brands have launched beer specifically for runners. San Francisco based Sufferfest beer was founded by trail runner Caitlin Landesberg in 2016. A favourite among the US ultra runner community, Sufferfest beer has an IPA named FKT and a stout called Head Start. Ontario based Rally Beer Company recently launched a golden ale with electrolytes and black current. Formulated specifically for athletes and marketed to runners, Rally Beer is sold in LCBOs across Ontario.
All of this begs the question, why do runners like beer so much? As a starting point, cold beer is delicious when you’re hot and sweaty after a run. Beer also helps mark the occasion after a race or a particularly challenging training session. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that a couple of beers helps dull the pain after longer races.
It will be interesting to see how trail running’s relationship with beer continues to develop. From Milton, Ontario’s Orange Snail’s Pace brewery based run club to the Beer Runner Podcast. I’m sure that we’ll continue to see close ties between beer and trail running.
Tim Tollefson has won the Javelina Jundred 100 mile trail race with an excellent 13 h 28 m. One of the few high profile races to take place this year, the Javelina Jundred is an ultra trail world tour race held annually in Fort McDowell, Arizona. The course is made up of five, 31 km (19.2 miles) loops and has three on course aid stations. Tollefson is not a stranger to Javelina Jundred, he won the 31 km race in 2018 with a time of 2 h 54 m. It’s impressive that Tollefson’s rough average loop time of 2 h 41m for this year’s race was faster than his 31 km race in 2018. Check out Tollefson’s results here.
Scottsdale Arizona’s Nick Coury came in second place with 14 h 9 m and Phoenix Arizona’s Nicole Bitter came in 3rd place overall and won the women’s event with 15 h 17 m.
In an October 15, 2020 Instagram post, Tollefson expressed how excited he was to run an in person race for the first time in nine months. Tollefson had big plans to race in some of the majors including Western States, Leadville and UTMB.
Tim Tollefson is one of the top trail runners in the U.S. He placed third overall at UTMB in 2016 and 2017. I like Tollefson’s gritty spirit. In a September, 2019 interview with Trail Runner Magazine, Tollefson was asked about his feelings towards his 2019 and 2018 DNFs at UTMB. Tollefson replied “Any time you show up, give your best and walk away healthy and with good relationships, that’s a win,”. It’s great to see Tollefson winning races and I’ll be following along closely for his future races.
Courtney Dauwalter won the U.S. Big’s Backyard Ultra on Tuesday October 20th, running an amazing 455 km (283 miles). Big’s Backyard Ultra is a unique yet simple race. Runners have one hour to complete a 6.7km loop. Participants continue running loops until the last person is standing, there is no set finish time.
The U.S. race was part of a larger, international Backyard Ultra race. According to Runner’s World magazine, 20 countries participated with backyard ultras of their own. Belgium’s Karel Sabbe was the overall winner of the international event with a staggering 502 km (312 miles). Interestingly, Sabbe and Dawaulter had similar race strategies. They both snuck in 10 minutes of sleep every lap. Sabbe’s countryman Merijn Geerts came in 2nd place in the overall race with 496 km (308 miles) while Dauwalter finished 3rd, according to the official race results. We will never know if Dauwalter could have beaten Sabbe and Geerts. Race rules stated that a country’s race could only continue if there were two runners left. In the U.S. race, Harvey Lewis hung in with Dauwalter until lap 68. Lewis, a 44 year old public school teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio started lap 68 with Dauwalter however he walked back to the start line, shortly after starting.
Dauwalter continues to build an amazing resume. She was the women’s winner of the Western States Endurance Run in 2018 and Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in 2019 – two races that many consider the championships for trail running. What’s even more impressive is that Dauwalter beats men on a regular basis. She was the outright winner of Javelina Jundred and Run Rabbit Run in 2016 and the Moab 240 in 2017. She joins the company of the likes of Ann Trason and Pam Reed, two amazing female ultra runners who consistently bested men in some of the sport’s top races. Ann Trason has won the women’s Western States Endurance run 14 times, placing 3rd overall in 1992, 1993 and 1996 and 2nd overall in 1994 and 1995. Pam Reed was the overall winner of the Badwater 135 in 2002 and 2003.
The win at the U.S. Big’s Back Yard Ultra helped settle unfinished business for Dauwalter. She came in second place overall in 2018. At 35 years old, Dauwalter has a long ultra running career ahead of her. I look forward to following along with Courtney Dauwalter’s amazing ultra running journey.
I get that feeling every Sunday morning, I need to publish a blog post. Sometimes the writing flows easily and sometimes it’s painful however I always feel great once I’ve published. I’ve discovered that writing is a lot like running in this respect. I always feel better after a run even if I didn’t feel like running. Today’s blog post is special – it’s the 52nd article that I’ve written. I’ve officially hit the one year mark with my blog! I’m proud to have written one blog post per week for almost a full year (I missed one week at Christmas).
My blog has a fresh new name – Ultra Living. Ultra Living encompasses all of the themes and topics that I cover in my blog. From ultra running news, to recaps of my adventures, to insights and lessons that I’ve learned through ultra running. A fresh new look accompanies the new name. I’m going to continue to work on the aesthetics of the site over the next month or two.
I’ve enjoyed learning about the most interesting topics for my readers. I’ve included my top 5 list below. Last week’s post on David Goggins at Moab 240, 2020 was the overwhelming #1 post with over 4,200 hits.
I look forward to writing more news posts. I like staying up to date on the races and projects of the top endurance athletes. I also plan to write more about running insights and tips. I would welcome any feedback from my readers, I’m always looking for suggestions and appreciate any feedback. It’s been a fantastic year of writing and I’m excited about keeping my blogging streak alive for another 52 weeks.
“Be willing to go to war with yourself,”. Words of wisdom from David Goggins, one of my favourite ultra endurance athletes. Goggins has been going to war with himself this weekend at the Moab 240, in Utah. Runners traverse desert, canyons and 2 mountain ranges over the gruelling 240 mile loop. Adding to this challenge, athletes need to manage extreme heat during the day and freezing temperatures at night. After so many race cancellations this year, it’s exciting to follow a major event like Moab. Goggins is currently in 2nd place after running 194 miles over 2 days straight. 45 year old Goggins trails 36 year old Michele Graglia by 20 miles.
David Goggins’ entry photo from Moab 240, 2020 – Photo credit: @destinationtrailraces on Instagram
I discovered Goggins’ book, Can’t Hurt Me last year. I really like Goggins’ no nonsense approach to life’s challenges. Goggins recounts overcoming his abusive childhood, becoming a Navy SEAL after several unsuccessful attempts and his experiences running some of the world’s toughest ultra races including Badwater 135 and HURT 100. Goggins is inspirational however he is also extreme, he ran the Las Vegas marathon on broken legs in 2005.
Goggins has unfinished business with Moab 240. In 2nd place for most of the race in 2019, Goggins got lost and ventured 15 miles off course during the second night of the race. This proved to be a costly error, dropping Goggins down to 75th place. Undaunted, Goggins fought his way back to 9th place before having to seek medical attention for pulmonary edema at the 200 mile mark and ultimately pulling out of the race. I would love to see Goggins finish in the top 3 at the Moab 240 and I’ll be keeping a close eye on the live results.
Updated – April 11, 2021
After noticing a large amount of interest in this post, I thought that I should include the final results of Moab 240, 2020. True to his nature, Goggins continued fighting and narrowed the gap with Graglia to only 2 hours in the last 49 miles of the race. With Goggins hot on his tail and 28 miles to go, Graglia decided to take a nap on the side of the road for a few minutes. According to Trail Running magazine, the nap gave Graglia enough energy to hold off Goggins and for Graglia to power his way to the finish. In the end, Graglia won the event with a time of 61 h 43 m and Goggins came in second place with 63 h 21 m.
If anyone was concerned about Goggin’s condition after running Moab 240, here’s a video that he posted three days after the race. A word of caution, the video is motivating but it has enough f-bombs to make a trucker blush.
Running, the great stress reliever. I used to run everyday, some times twice per day during final exams in university. Running has hugely helped me deal with the stress of the pandemic as well. We are all spending more time than ever at home with our families. I love my family more than anything however I have certainly appreciated getting some alone time during my runs. I have hardly ever missed a run during the pandemic. Injury concerns couldn’t keep me from training – I’ve run through strains that I developed in the spring and summer. I don’t think I’m the only one, I have noticed an increase in the number of injured runners over the last few months. I don’t have any scientific data to reference. These are just my observations, mainly from following avid runners, amateur and professional on Instagram.
Virtual races might be one of the culprits for my perception of an increase in running related injuries. I ran the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (GVRAT) this summer which challenged runners to finish 1,000km in 4 months – from May 1st to August 31st. An unprecedented, 19,000+ runners signed up for this race. Each participant needed to run an average of 5 miles (8km) per day to complete the GVRAT. This isn’t an extreme number of miles for an ultra-runner however the race significantly influenced my training choices. I spent less time on my bike and ran longer distances when I didn’t feel like it since I needed the running miles for the GVRAT. I also found myself keeping up with the Jones’s. A number of runners that I follow on Instagram were putting up huge training weeks of 100+ miles. My usual 80km training weeks didn’t feel like they were enough. I felt pressured to run more, even though I was working through a knee strain. Luckily, I backed off training enough to work through my strain but it was not easy to do so.
I don’t view my experience as negative – it’s emphasized the importance of running my own race. It’s always tempting to go out fast in an ultra marathon and keep up with the front runners. You don’t do yourself any favours though by running faster than you’ve planned. I’ve always been happy with my racing experiences when I’ve stuck to my pace plan. If there are any sports psychology PhD candidates reading this – this topic would make an excellent thesis.
The air is crisp and there’s a hint of woodsmoke in the air. There are beautiful colours all around – green, red, orange and yellow. The trees are still full however it won’t be long before the leaves line the trails. The sun is shining and slightly hazy. I’m taking it in with a smile as I lace up my shoes. The fall snuck up on me this year. I was enjoying summer running and before I knew it, it was mid-September.
I leave my house and I’m running free and easy. The cooler weather keeps my heart rate down and I can push the pace. I’m running in shorts and a T-shirt, I’m not ready to break out my long sleeves and tights yet. I haven’t brought any water with me and I’m not worried. I’m running for an hour today and I won’t be drenched in sweat like I would have been a month ago. It rained yesterday and the earthy smell of the trail reminds me of the fall races that I like so much. I ran the Midnight Moose 100 miler on September 20th last year in Gatineau park, Quebec. With conditions much like today, I set an aggressive pace and finished the race in 2nd place overall, my best finish ever. I’m also brought back to my first 50 mile race at Haliburton Forest, Ontario in 2017. I had taken a year off from racing after a bad experience and a strong finish at Haliburton got me back on track.
More beautiful colours in Muskoka, Ontario – September 2020
I’m pacing the final stretch home and it’s gotten darker than I’m used to. I’m reminded that I’ll need to start packing a head lamp for my evening runs. I run into my driveway feeling more energized than usual. Fall in Ontario really is the best time for running. I can’t wait to get back on the trails and enjoy this incredible season.
