Canada’s Newest Winter Ultra – Actif Epica

Last weekend I had the opportunity to take part in a winter ultra called Actif Epica in Southern Manitoba and it lived up to its name, as it was truly epic. The race is defined on its website as the following:

“Actif Epica is a one-day, do-it-yourself outdoor active living celebration that will involve communities along the Crow wing Trail (part of the TransCanada Trail) in southeast Manitoba. Set against the backdrop of a 130km and run voyageur-style ultramarathon in the cold weather and brutal winds of a Southeastern Manitoba winter, five festival sites will glow with the warmth of community spirit, the strength of human ingenuity and the beauty of having fun whatever the temperature. Actif Epica is a human-powered event, bringing communities together in a DIY celebration of human ingenuity in a cold (very cold) winter environment. The inaugural edition in 2012 attracted 32 racers and over a thousand co-event participants.”

This year’s event attracted 42 racers of which 13 were runners, this was a major increase over the 3 runners that braved the winter course last year. It shows that extreme ultras are catching on, albeit slowly but this was mainly a word of mouth event so this bodes well for next year once the running community learns a little bit more about it. To add to the excitement, Actif Epica has partnered up with Arrowhead 135 and the Tuscobia 150 Ultra Marathon to create a triple crown called the Order of the Hrimthurs Award. This was bestowed on those that complete all three grueling events in the same race calender year. This year in fact there were five possibilities, as three American racers attempted to secure the inaugural awards, along with 2 Winnipeggers in Hal Lowen and Dan Lockery who completed and excelled in all three events.

The event itself starts in St. Malo, Manitoba and finishes at the historical Forks in downtown Winnipeg, while winding its way up the Crow Wing Trail through four different communities along the way. Traversing over wind swept snowy farmer’s fields and roads the racers trudged along with a determination befitting the heartiest of Voyageurs of old as we all fought the 40 to 50km hr winds and temperatures ranging from -20 to -30 at night with the windchill. All this while being burdened down with either bikes and gear or running packs filled with survival equipment. The resilience of both the runners and cyclists in these very trying conditions was a sight to see and I was so proud to be part of it, to push myself to the limits and beyond and persevere.

I will not say that I finished quick, but I did finish in a better than expected 21 hours and 52 minutes which was good enough for a tie for seventh among the runners (Dale and I were also the last two racers to complete the course which was ok by us). In my opinion, it had nothing to do with finishing first, this race is all about battling yourself and the elements to push your body to do what most will not even attempt. We travelled over some harsh winter terrain and battled terrible winds and temperatures to put ourselves in a position to cross the finish line and to me that means we are all winners. Even those that did not finish, to put your toe on the start line and attempt something like this event is a true test of resilience and fortitude and it shows that you left nothing back as you pushed till you could push no more. That is epic in itself and I tip my cap to you all.

My thanks and gratitude go out to the race directors for this event, Ian Hall and Dwayne Sandall; the roving medic, Tom Kolesnik; the many travellng support volunteers Alex Mann, John Ford, Lindsay Gauld, etc and of course the numerous check point volunteers who did a fantastic job keeping all the racers going strong. Can’t wait for next year.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0reDaudJFI[/youtube]