5 replies to this topic

[Iconian]

Hi All,

I am doing the Canadian Death Race in August 2012 which is a 125km trial run run by The North Face...  www.canadiandeathrace.com

Is anyone in Australia, or even better - Melbourne, doing this?  I'd like a chat about what training you are doing and where you are doing it?

Cheers,

Iconian

[Bellthorpe]

What a poor choice for a run. If anyone did die during the race, the press would have a field day.

[MrUniqueName]

I'm thinking of maybe having a crack at this in perhaps 2014... but we'll see what the next 2+ years has in store for me and my training Looks great though!

[Iconian]

Hi,

Just letting you know a little more about this race. I did it on 4th August and DNF´d at the last checkpoint due to blisters 103km in of 125km.  Shattering!  My first DNF and I´m hoping my last!  I was going on (and am still on) a round the world trip for 10 weeks after the race using the death race to kick it off and then reward myself after.  I had the medics check my feet at the last checkpoint and I was ´high risk´of infecting my popped blood blisters if I continued which didn´t appeal to me whilst going on holiday for 10 weeks.  I lost 4 toe nails too for good measure

For anyone thinking of attempting this race ensure you train with water crossings and in mud!  I lost count of the water crossings but I´d say it would´ve been close to 30 so your feet were wet for most of the race.  And that was only up to 103km!  There was also mud that couldn´t be avoided so add that to already wet feet and blister problems only get compounded.  If you tried to get creative and dodge the water, in most cases it resulted in mud anyway, so it was hard to avoid.  The funniest thing is it was meant to be a dry year!  For the record I used Injinji socks and Brooks trail shoes in all my traning and didn´t get one blister or lose any toe nails.

The course is very tough on it´s own accord with two main summits and minimal parts of the course on the flats.  The most dissappointing part of the DNF was my legs felt fine 103km.  Ultra Black Diamond poles worked a treat.

I may be moving to Canada later in the year and if I do I am definitely doing it again, but this year the full 125km!

Things I learnt if there is a next time:

- Train using water crossings and get your feet in the mud.  Both cannot be avoided in this race.
- Bring extra shoes and socks.  As I was travelling afterwards with a backpack, the thought of hauling around 5 pairs of runners didn´t appeal to me.  That killed me.  I was speaking to some solo finishers the next day and they all changed there shoes and socks at every checkpoint (5 checkpoints).  I didn´t do either at any checkpoint.
- Poles saved my legs.  This was the first run I had used poles and my legs have never felt so good 103km into the race.
- If wearing a visor, put sunscreen on your head.  Worst sunburn I have ever experienced!

For the record, the race was very professional orgainsed and everything went smoothly from registration to the after party.  The race is in a small town called Grande Cache in Alberta, Canada and the whole town embraces it.  The scenery was beautiful.  Grant Guise smashed it in 13hr 27min continuing pretty good form out of TNF100 beating second by the best part of 2hrs!  He was still an hour off the race record though.  About 133 of the 369 solo entrants finished in a combination of pulling out due to injury of missing checkpoint cutoffs (24hrs for 125km in tough terrain is harder than most other races around) which is a touch over 35%!  Most entrants do it as a relay though.

Good luck to anyone that takes it on!

[ItHurtsAt33km]

I spent 4 years living in Northern British Columbia, Canada - not too far from where the Death Race is held.

I never did the event, but it's interesting to hear about it from someone who has competed.

I tried to enter as a team back in 2010, however the team category fills up about 12 months ahead, so plan!
Individual entries don't sell out (as far as I know!)

I recall that a few weeks before the event the organizers arrange trips along the route on mountain bike, and I also rememember they warn you about bears!

I would HIGHLY recommend a half marathon called "Emporer's Challenge" in close proximity to Grance Cache in a town called Tumbler Ridge. http://www.emperorschallenge.com/. It's always in August.


I did it twice - my first 2 ever at this distance. 13 km up a mountain and 8 km back down! Even in summer there is snow on the top and you just never know if it will be a hot day, or a blizzard. I gues that's why they call it the toughest half marathon in the world! . Beware though - spots fill quickly and accommodation sells out. The town of Tumbler Ridge is only 5,000 people and it's on The Eastern flanks of the Canadian Rockies - about 200km North West of Jasper - and somewhere that no tourists have ever heard. Now I've shared my secret...

No PBs to be had here though....

PS, you have to sign a disclaimer acknowledging the risks of bears...!

[Iconian]

Yes, true on all accounts.  We had a similar disclaimer we had to sign about wildlife encounters etc.  There are 2 training camps held which cover the hardest legs and I believe they are done on mountain bikes (or part of it anyway).  It wasn´t really feasible for me to do that living in Melbourne though!  I was talking to someone mid race about weather conditions in years gone by and in 2011 on the first summit poeple were pulling out due to heat exhaustion and on the second summit 60km down the track they were pulling out due to hypothermia!  Don´t take this one too lightly!  It was hitting temperatures of 30 degrees when I raced (hence the sunburnt head) but snow was still on most summits in the area.  Awesome scenery!

Regarding solo registration, it did sell out pretty quickly too.  Solo entries gets first crack at entering then it opens up to relays about a week later from memory.  Then there is a lottery pool further down the track for some lucky teams and soloists who missed out the first time.

Thanks for the tip on Emporers Challenge.  I´ll check it out when I get over there.