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Death Race Canada’s ultra test

The North Face Death Race offers unique ultra experience and gruelling challenges in Alberta.

After 13 hours, 27 minutes and 37 seconds of battling it alone through the Alberta wilderness, Grant Guise crossed the finish line of the one of world’s toughest ultra races on Aug. 4 with a grin across his face as if he had just cheated the Grim Reaper. The New Zealander had just won the punishing 125K The North Face Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache, Alta.

Guise finished nearly two hours ahead of his closest competitor, teammate Jeremy Ritcey, a Canadian who trains in Hong Kong. Ritcey finished in second place in 15:16:40, with third place going to Eric Young of Falcon Lake, Man., in 15:58:44. In the women’s race, Julia Boettger of Germany took the win in 16:13:04, followed by Calgary’s Deb Russell in 16:35:25 and Nelson, B.C.’s Lisa Leblanc in 19:25:50.

Two mixed relay teams broke the previous course record of 11:15:16 set in 2006, with team Redline Overlords finishing in first place in 10:35:56 and team Wild Mountain in 10:58:30.

The relay is broken into five legs. Leg 1 (19K) starts with a downtown jaunt, but is considered the Jekyll and Hyde portion of the race, according to race founder Dale Tuck, a.k.a. Dr. Death, because its easy start deceives many soloists and ultimately leads them to their doom. Leg 2 (27K) has the most technical and toughest terrain with steep ascents and descents and an elevation change of 5,000 ft. Leg 3 (21K) is suited to the team’s best downhiller with an elevation loss of 1,000 ft and a slew of loose rocks that threaten to destabilize footing. Leg 4 (36K), with an elevation gain of 5,000 ft, requires a strong hill climber to reach the top of Mount Hamell. Leg 5 (22K) is often run in the dark and racers must carry one gold coin, passed on by each team member, for safe passage across the Smokey River on a jet boat.

This year’s race featured a few unique participants. Manitoba barefoot runner Bob Nichol, who ran on the relay team “Up The Mountain With No Shoes” with wife Nicole and friend Dan Chevier, who ran Leg 1 barefoot and Leg 4 barefoot until the Hamell portion, wearing minimalist shoes along the summit. The team finished in 21:54:21. Soloist Dag Aabye, a regular Death Racer from Vernon, B.C., was the oldest entrant in the race in the 70-79 age group, but pulled out after completing Leg 2 in 8:51:52.

Among the elite runners was The North Face’s Tracy Garneau, who started the race on a two-person relay team with teammate Nicki Haugan, but decided after Leg 1 to run the entire 125K distance. Fate would intervene, however, as reports came in that Garneau likely suffered heat exhaustion and had to pull out in Leg 4. The skies were clear with temperatures rising to the mid-20s by mid afternoon. It’s not unusual to see as few as 25 per cent of solo entrants actually finish the race, with a third not even showing up on race day, says Tuck. This year’s race had 288 male soloists and 81 female soloists entered, with 133 male finishers and 32 female finishers.

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