The Toughest Running Race The Island Has To Offer
The Kusam Klimb is a 23km race that begins in the Sayward Valley and climbs up and over the pass between H'Kusam Mountain and Stowe Peak. It descends down into the Stowe Creek area and then wraps back around H'Kusam Mountain into town. To start the race you climb 1500m of elevation in 5.5kms…. Which is pretty gross sounding even after having done the race…
We arrived in Sayward, grabbed our race packages, and nervously waited for the race to begin. We eventually got going at 0700. I took it easy on the road run up to the start of Bill's Trail thinking to myself that I had a long climb ahead of me and that I should pace myself. However, I should have run much faster in order to beat the crowds to the narrow and steep single-track. Once we arrived at the trail many people started walking, which was frustrating. Trevor and I weaved passed a few people, but then just got stuck. We also stopped for a couple minutes so that Trevor could use the washroom, which caused us to lose our place a little. Eventually I started to lose Trevor, but for a while I thought I could see his red shirt behind me. It turned out to be someone completely different and I came to the conclusion that I just had to keep motoring along solo and maybe he would catch me with his long legs on the descent.
Much to my surprise the climb passed by fairly quickly. I knew how to gauge my progress from the hike we had done up H'Kusam, and was quite happy with myself. I had fun chatting with some other racers on the way up and was thankful for the gloves I had brought that aided me in pulling myself up on some of the ropes and through some of the trees. At 0900 I arrived at Keta View Rock and was again able to start passing a few people. The trees thinned out into alpine and we were finally able to see our surroundings. I realized that I had been too out of breath to eat any gels or drink water and quickly had some.
I was thankful to see the lake at long last and actually got to run at a decent pace for a bit. I knew that there was only one more incline to conquer before it was all downhill. At 0920 I made it to the snow-less summit pass and took a quick glance at H'Kusam Mountain before heading down into Stowe Creek. The one disappointing thing about racing is that you are moving much too fast to really take in your surroundings without tripping and falling.
At this point the trail became very steep again and required very careful footing and rope work to descend safely. I had one decent tumble, but was thankfully not hurt. Here I ran with a couple of guys also from Victoria, one of which was an ultra marathon runner, and we joked and chatted while keeping a decent pace sliding down the mountain.
At about 1000 I reached an old gravel road and ran passed a check point full of crazily dressed mexican volunteers (this race is full of wonderful volunteers and supportive locals). The gravel road was a nice change from technical single track, but it wasn't long until I was sick of the loose rocks and pesky cross ditches. I was also starting to notice my pack rubbing on my neck and arm pits, which was becoming slightly painful.
After running on road for what seemed like an eternity, I finally hit another check point and headed back into the woods on a more overgrown road. It was slightly more technical, but easier on the joints. I was assuming that I still had around 6 or 7kms to go, but I passed a lady that said there was only about 4kms. That was music to my ears.
Finally I whipped by the final check point that had a couple volunteers dressed like hockey players. They informed me that I had 2kms to go so I kicked up the pace. I hit a fairly steep paved hill and passed a couple people. Finally, the end was in sight. I gave it the last bit of gas I had and finished the race in 4:08:48, which was slightly better then I thought I would do. Trevor finished in 4:38:37. The average finishing time was about 5:30.
This is a fantastic race with amazing community support. It is challenging and scenic. I would definitely do this race again.