WATCH: Canada’s Anne Bouchard races 120 km in the Andes

Quebec ultrarunner Anne Bouchard, 49, has a string of accomplishments on her resume, including wins at the Sinister 7 100-miler, the 2021 Bromont Ultra 100-miler and the North Face Endurance Challenge 50-miler. In 2021, she set the fastest known time (FKT) on the GRA1 (the Quebec portion of the Appalachian Trail)–a 650-km route with 24,000 feet (7,315 m) of elevation gain–in 11 days, 8 hours, 21 minutes and 41 seconds. She manages to rack up these accomplishments while raising two teenagers and working a 50-hour-a-week corporate job.

In a new film from Altitude Sports, it’s easy to see how she is able to accomplish this; Bouchard is the picture of stoicism, determination and focus. Earlier this year, brand documented her journey to El Paso Austral, a new 120K mountain race straddling Chile and Argentina, in a short film. The film gives viewers an insight into what goes into preparing for a demanding and competitive ultra-trail race, and also into the psyche of one very focused, very determined trail runner.

Typically, as in this case, Bouchard looks for hard races she can combine with her international business travel. She had to go to Santiago for a business meeting, and once her work was complete, she traveled to Bariloche, Argentina, in the country’s Patagonia region, for the race.

At the race briefing, things are not quite as she expects–there are updated GPX files available for the shorter distances, but not for the 120-km distance that she is racing. So she must improvise. Initially, she is angry. But the following day, she realizes it only adds to the adventure, and she becomes excited for the race. It’s a great example of the myriad challenges one may face, even before a race begins–and of a pro runner adjusting their mindset to reframe challenges into opportunities.

We see Bouchard preparing her food and her drop bags, working on tight muscles with a lacrosse ball and then resting with her “legs up the wall,” while visualizing the course, in the hours before the race starts. Then it’s go-time. 

We see the starters, with Bouchard positioned in front, her headlamp at the ready and The North Face’s Summit Vectiv Pro on her feet. It’s 9 p.m., so the first major portion of the race is run in darkness. (This is usually done to allow slower runners to finish in daylight.) There is captivating scenery to be enjoyed in this race, but Bouchard won’t see any of it until dawn, when she will have covered a good portion of the race and a great deal of elevation gain and loss. She takes off at a blistering pace.

The crew is not able to arrange to follow Bouchard on the course; this is not UTMB, where fans swarm celebrity runners and videographers on e-bikes document every moment. They wait anxiously at the finish line for her to appear.

After the race, walking stiffly, Bouchard spends time reflecting on the experience, and on her experience of ultrarunning, comparing the different compartments of her life to her body’s organs. “My kids are my heart,” she says, “and my running adventures are my lungs.”

So how did she do in the race? You’ll have to watch the film to find out.