Becoming Unbreakable

I’ve spent much of this year focusing on two related, yet varied, goals: learning to run faster and learning to run longer. I had hoped that I could sharpen myself on both fronts and come to race well both at short and long distances.

I’ve happened upon a new event, being offered for the first time in Canada this August, which is neither about testing my long-distance aptitude nor my maximal speed, but an uncomfortable but attractive middle space. 5 Peaks Adventures is hosting the first ever Unbreakable race at the Calgary Olympic Park on Aug. 23.

The race is short. Actually, the race is nearly as short as you can run in any race, travelling only 250m, less than a single lap of a track. However, runners will receive a proverbial kick in the teeth as they much gain 150m within that space. Runners ascend at an average grade of 37 per cent. The directors make no mistake when advertising Unbreakable as the steepest race in Canada. A minimalist course with maximal pain.

Unbreakable is fashioned after the Planica 400. As the steepest race in Europe, the event runs from the base of a mountain up the Planica ski-jump in Slovenia.

Unbreakable takes the same tact and will see runners begin in small waves from the large bowl at the base of COP and head directly to the top of the K90 ski jump.

My summer has already been filled with numerous ultramarathons and I still have to face off against a 188K stage race in three weeks. By the time I return to Calgary in mid-August I will have competed in more than a dozen long distance events. I’m very much looking forward to getting back into a phase of maximal speed training and, body (and wife) permitting, some 5K and 10K races.

The Unbreakable event presents a diversion and transition from the difficulty of mountain events to the extreme intensity of shorter races. This will be a great event for runners of all types as its novelty eschews any particular style of runner. No matter your focus in training, this event will eat you up in a single swallow. However, those who climb to the top of Calgary on the K90 can enjoy the feeling of becoming unbreakable.

The 7 p.m. start time means cooler temperatures for those bursts of energy heading up the hill and a festive after party, equipped with a beer tent waiting back at the bottom.