I did a trail marathon earlier in June and that went well so I decided to go for an ultra. I was either going to go for the Finlayson Arm 50k or the Whistler Alpine Meadows 55k (WAM). I ended up choosing WAM due to it being close to Lillooet and put on by Gary Robbins (an amazing ultra marathon runner himself). I have done the 25k version of this course and it was great. I have also done Sky Pilot in Squamish.
I trained throughout the summer, trying to integrate hiking and other things into my training. Darryl and I have done a few scrambles and mountaineering objectives at a faster pace/as day trips to make them harder. The longest run I did prior to this run was 35k 11 days before the race. I wanted to run 37.5k 2-3 weeks before and then taper, but I did a 100k hike over 6 days and it messed up my timeline a bit. While training I made friends with vertical and trail and tried to have some of each in every run, not just simply road run.
When race day rolled around I wasn’t sure I was ready. I had been watching what others were doing and everyone seemed to be doing more… I had never come even close to running this distance and I was scared. All my 30k + runs seemed hard and I never felt like I had enough gas to keep going. Regardless of this I got up at 0330, choked down breakfast, and then brought myself to the start line.
I packed a ton of food. I never know what I might want to eat so I pack a lot in general. Also, there were only three aid stations for the whole race, so I wanted to be pretty self sufficient. To see the food I packed I will post a picture below. I try to eat 200-300cals an hour. I also had a 1.5L bladder of plain water on my back and two 500ml bladders on my chest with Nuun tabs. My plan was to just refill the chest bladders and aim to drink 300mls an hour. For safety gear I had: a light breathable jacket, thin rain shell, buff, gloves, emergency blanket, knife, whistle, sunglasses, cell phone (there was service for most of this run), waterproof cellphone case, water purifying tabs, and a lighter.
After a quick race briefing from Gary Robbins we set off into the darkness with headlamps at 0600. The run started with a short section of road and quickly hit trail. We all slowed to a walk as everyone filed into the single track. Not long later the trail began to climb. I looked up at one point to see nothing but endless headlamps up switchback as far as I could see. I didn’t run here. I walked. With haste, but still walking. I didn’t want to burn myself out too early.
I climbed and climbed into the emerging daylight. It was kind of a bizarre feeling. One by one all the runners turned their headlamps off, and after a couple solid hours of climbing, we emerged into the alpine. The air all of a sudden felt biting. There was a cold wind and rain was still falling. People around me started to ask if the climb was ever going to end. I had done this climb once before so I knew the end was coming soon. I started to see evidence of the summit- some buildings and a large inukshuck. I knew that most of the vertical in this run was coming to a close.
At around 13k and 3 hours in I hit the first aid station. It was a sight for sore eyes. There were warm pancakes being grilled up, along with all other kinds of food, and a toasty propane fire. I tried my best to warm my ice cold hands so I could text an update to my family and friend Lauren. I refilled my water and took a look at the food. Nothing looked appealing, and I felt ill. I grabbed a pickle and headed back out. I was a bit worried being so cold and wet knowing that I had a few hours and 20k in the alpine between me and the next check point. I put on both my jackets and pulled my hood tight against the whipping wind.
After another few hours I arrived at the second aid station. It was at 33k and I had been going for 6h35mins. I came around a corner off the trail and saw my friend Lauren! I was overjoyed. I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it or not. She congratulated me and told me I was amazing. I actually felt pretty good at that time. A volunteer came over and refilled my water bottles for me. Someone handed me my drop bag. It was stuffed with food, but I still felt poorly. I was only just keeping in a couple gels and small amounts of energy bar every 50-60mins. I took a bagel out of my drop bag and ate that. I gave everything else to Lauren. She also gave me some mini eggs that I happily shoveled into my mouth.
After around 15-20mins I set off again. I felt great. The little break was all I needed. The next 15k of the course was on technical single track. There was a slow climb to start, but I was running almost everything. About an hour into this section I stopped seeing many other racers. My pace appeared to drop significantly according to my GPS watch and time slowed. I was getting a bit disheartened and bored.
Eventually the trail started to head in a more downhill direction and I began to see other racers. My pace quickening and I started to pass people. I was still bummed out at how much time it was taking me to do these 15k though…. At the 9h mark I hit the final aid station. My watch said I had only gone 44k and I thought this aid station was at the 47k mark… turns out it was at 49k and I only had 6k to go! I was elated. I hardly took a break. A kind volunteer lady refilled some of my water and I took a handful of M&M’s and some candy.
Off I went again for the final 6k. I felt good at first, keeping a good pace on a wide gravel road. Then things started to slow again. My left knee started acting up and everything started to hurt for the first time in the race. Uphill hurt my knee and downhill hurt my hips. I just wanted the race to be done. Slowly I passed Green Lake and could hear sounds coming from the finish line. It was really happening. I was really going to finish!
I got to the last section of road and made the final turn into the field with the finish line. I sprinted and set my eyes on Gary Robbins standing on the other side of the finish line arches. I leapt into his arms and thanked him profusely for such an amazing race. He thanked me for providing an exciting finish. Seconds later I looked over to see my friend Lauren snapping photos of Gary and I. I rushed over and gave her a big hug. I was SO THANKFUL to have someone there for me at the finish. I actually felt pretty good afterwards. I was probably just euphoric from finally completing such a long time goal. I ate like a glutton and watched others cross the finish line. What an amazing race for the books. I hope to do it again, but maybe a longer distance or the Triple Whammy!