Bad Beaver Ultra (BBU) is a three day semi-supported stage race in the Gatineau Park
Preamble - Day 2
Standing at the start line at dawn in the campground at Lac Philippe with 17 other endurance junkies wondering how the heck I am going to complete 71km of trails, hills and roads when my quads are trashed already. Liam counts us down from 10 and we set off down the access road towards trail 54. Every step my quads yell at me "what are you doing ...."! Guy, Benoit and Mary take off ahead down the road and I settle in to a trot beside Jean-Mathieu trying with every step to loosen my legs.
WHY?
Multi-day stage race when I have had trouble walking after one ultra? Running in the heat when I much prefer cold? A lot of non-technical trails whereas I love technical?
In July 2014 I ran my first 50km ultra at Blue Mountain, Collingwood in 6hr28min and ever since I have been addicted to ultra trail runs. I learnt a lot in my first ultra: chafing can bring you to a crawl, gotta keep eating, don't start too fast. Since then I have kept on learning - getting better at 50km events, then finishing my first 80km: North Face New York in the pouring rain in 2017 and last year finishing the 160km UT4M in the French Alps realizing I can go without sleep for two days. I have kept improving by figuring out my weaknesses and working on them: endurance, leg strength, nutrition. You would think that after completing a 100 miler that the same distance in 3 days would be "somewhat" easier. However, a stage race has always scared me a lot as I haven't recovered quickly from training or events in the past, often hobbling for a week or two before being able to run smoothly. BUT, I have a never ending need to push my limits, which is why I signed up for BBU in January of 2019.
Gear Preparation
The number of hours I spent figuring out what I would carry on my back for 150km was crazy!!! Should I take my sleeping bag or an emergency bivy? What food will I actually eat and how much of it? Eventually time ran out and I had to decide but the sleeping bag I only chose over the bivy after the pre-race night in the tent!
Day 1: Lac Philippe Loop
Rolling trails, starting fast, coconut oil nope, blowing up, hurting mentally, get 'er done
- 51km
- 913m D+
- 6hr 9 min
Lusk Lake near the end of Day 1
After a good night's sleep, especially after switching to a sleeping bag from a bivy, I chow down on oatmeal with dried blueberries, almonds and coconut oil. The start is at a reasonable time, 7:30 and we head off towards Taylor lake on the dirt road. My intention is to run at a relaxed, breathing easy pace: zone 1. The kilometers pass quickly running with Jean-Francois, 10km in 1:05, with a hug to my son Leonard and kiss to my girlfriend Patricia at the first water station, 20km in 2:10, 30km in 3:18. The deerflies are absolutely insane around us but not biting too often. I let JM go ahead at 25km but still see him at the P19 checkpoint There is not much rest during a semi-supported event as all we get is water at the checkpoints and then head off again. The temperature is starting to climb. We did a 9km loop out and then headed back on the same trail so I got to high-five some BBU gals and guys. At 35km I get to the P17 last water checkpoint - my quads are hurting now and my pace has slowed.
This is where the fun starts though and the steep climbs on trail #52 begin. I have been eating nuts, chocolate trail mix, chips, and a miso, coconut oil, ramen soup. The soup worked in training but now I keep on burping coconut and and the noodles I chose haven't really softened. The next 9km back to Lac Philippe seem to take for ever. I am overheating, my energy is lagging and my quads are screaming on the downhills. My mind starts to wonder away from the moment and how I am going to complete do 3 days. I remind myself to focus on the now and keep on moving. There are not many people on the trails, the other runners, the volunteers and Gabe the photographer seems to pop up out of nowhere
I get to technical trail 54 and despite the steep climbing at a walk I enjoy it much more as it is the technical trails I love. I get to km 48 and the trail opens up with mainly downhill. The quads are better from the variety of steps and more walking and I manage to run smoothly towards the finish. The last kilometer on the road is very hot and I feel for those coming later who will have even more heat.
Getting into camp I am greeted by cheers from the volunteers and the runners already finished. It feels good to take my shoes off, sit down and sip a cold drink.
Camp Life at Lac Philippe (credit Gabriel Rivett-Carnac www.gabesimages.com )
Stage Race Camp Life
In most races you see a few friends before and after and maybe stay at a chalet with some if it is out of town. For Bad Beaver Ultra we had three nights were we just hung with like minded people chatting and eating. Lots of laughs, learning (what the lightest gear is!), and support. One of the reasons I love trail running is the community of people and at a stage race it is even more evident.
Day 2: Lac Philippe to Camp Fortune
Running smart, 10hrs with JM, staying in the moment, facing our fears, finishing on fumes
- 71km
- 1600m D+
- 10hr 4min
Loon calling at 6am on Lac Phillippe
Trail 54: legs, bugs, dawn
Jean-Mathieu was very scared about day 2 as he ran BBU last year, started fast chasing others and blew up spectacularly by 30km and then was toasted for the rest of the event. I wasn't sure my legs could go 10km let along 71km so although we we running the flats, we scaled back to a walk on the uphills holding 40min per 5km. We celebrated our first section completed: finishing the technical trail 54 and reach the end of Lac Philippe, despite a half dozen mosquito bites each from the dawn feeding frenzy. We continued on together chatting, the other slowing to a walk when the first did but still moving at a good clip. It helped to restart running after a short walk though to stay away from the mosquitos! The sunlight rising through the trees was beautiful, though we warm temperatures to follow we might be swearing at it later! Heading away from Lac Philippe I mentioned that we just needed to hear a loon, and is if in response one called out seconds later.
Trail 50, 36 and road running P11 to P9
Breaking the long day into small sections and staying in the moment really helped as we cherished each passing milestone, the next one being turn-off to trail 52 at km 9 that we ran on on Day 1. The legs still hurt but didn't get worse. Although we both know the Gatineau Park trails very well the unmanned water drop at km 14.5 at the intersection of trail 50 and 36 seemed farther than we remembered. I had run dry as I had only taken 600ml of water to start but with the cool weather it wasn't a problem. Trail 36 is a bit hillier but that just made it more obvious that we needed to walk, and we set a challenge for ourselves of not tripping and falling on the way to O'Brian Parking lot. Having someone to chat with and to encourage you makes the kms disappear much more quickly and soon we passing the turn-off to Carbide Wilson Ruins and then running down the last hill to the checkpoint at O'Brian.
I stopped in for a washroom break just to be on the safe side as I have had upset stomach from holding it in on other events and then we were off down Meech Lake road. Roads scare me on ultras, but with walk breaks over the hills, and being in the morning with shade it wasn't long before we were heading onto SugarBush trail at P9 - another high five with Jean-Mathieu.
Penguin climb with Jean-Mathieu
Amazing volunteers: Patricia (gf) and Leonard (son)
Celebrating our successes: arriving at P13, Meech Lake checkpoint km 48
Penguin, Ridge Road, Wolf
Next up was where Jean-Mathieu blew up last year: Penguin! But this year he had legs and energy and we scrambled up without much difficulty. Any Ottawa-Gatineau residents will know the iconic rock to the left which is much bigger in real life. Pacing really helped and we didn't mind the hills. In fact variety is what makes a trail ultra easier to complete: too much running on roads, fast downhills, steep uphills tire one set of muscles and switching terrain is easier on the body.
We shared food as we ran: I offered my salt and vinegar crushed chips which he normally hates but loved on the trail and he handed out some pemmican which hit the spot.
From Penguin we ran down trail #1, Ridge Road past familiar spots, including a turn-off that was only 1km from our end point for the day, but we were only at 33.5km and 4.5 hours into the day. Champlain Lookout was a special place for me as Patricia and Leonard were manning a station there, and although my spirits were high it boosted them even more. Music blaring in the middle of the woods helped the legs move with less effort past the pink flags placed along the length of the course. We could hear Leonard's music at an intersection long before we saw him!
I was scared of Ridge road out to Wolf trail as it was a faster section and I was afraid of my quads seizing up. However, although we moved quickly along the flats and downs we walked the ups and my legs held out nicely. The legs were sore, but no worse than at the start of the day and we held our pace until Wolf trail #62 at km 42.
As I had tossed my miso soup I had replaced it with some of the leftover mashed potato from last night's dinner and it sure hit the spot. But as I got to Wolf trail I pulled out my special treat: nectar of the gods, otherwise known as maple syrup. I felt like Asterisk taking the magic potion!!!
We set another goal of not tripping down the technical Wolf trail and with only a slide to my butt on a steep section we gave each other high five's to reach P13 at Meech Lake standing.
Knowing what to listen to in your body and what to ignore in an ultra is a tricky thing - we are pushing our bodies and minds to new limits so we do have to push through discomfort, but there are times to make adjustments and I find the art of a successful ultra run is learning when and how to do so. Coming down Wolf I felt a blister on a toe, so I sat down at the checkpoint and bandaged myself up - very small blister but we still had 23km to run. I had also been loosening my shoe laces both days by a cm at a time as I had had swollen ankles for other ultras and wanted to prevent it this time
The next 5km was rather nasty in terms of elevation gain with 150m up and then down in 5km. We didn't mind the up, but the down on trail 40 but a beating on our legs. We walked for a bit just before the downhill to the Meech Lake boat launch at P12 to save our legs for the upcoming run down the road. A cool off of the head and face in the lake and we were headed out back to P11 at the far end of Meech Lake.
There was shade most of the way down the road and I was mighty glad for that as full heat would have sapped the energy. I found myself getting a bit ahead of Jean-Mathieu on the road and would look back to encourage him to keep him. I have often found roads in ultras to be a weakness but this year I was solid. We still took a few walk breaks but still managed better than 8.5km/hr down the road.
From there we climbed up through the woods, on and beside the Fortune Pkwy to the 2nd last checkpoint at Fortune Lake at km 59, 8hr 15min in.
Gorgeous ferns on Trail 36.
Sweating at Fortune Lake (credit Gabriel Rivett-Carnac www.gabesimages.com )
Up Burma, down Western
We were now in mid afternoon, so although most of the time we were running in shade with filtered lights the temperature was still a factor. Climbing up trail #3 Burma I had to spray water on my head and face regularly to keep cool. I was also drinking water with electrolytes at a much faster rate than the 600ml in 13km to start the day. I was also getting low on energy, though kept on eating. I would some food in my mouth when walking up a hill, chew on it for a bit, then keep it in my cheek while running until the next hill when I would start chewing again.
We got up to Champlain Lookout checkpoint where I got custom music from Patricia again, a good head shower, before we headed out for the final 6km down trail #9 Western to Camp Fortune. Now, I had heard from Mary, who ran it last year that she had to walk a lot of it - and she was ahead of us running like a gazelle. I had trouble keeping up with Jean-Mathieu as I was running short of everything: legs, energy, cool body temperature, vision (ok not really). I kept pushing for 3km then told him I had to back off the pace and he should go ahead. He would have nothing to do with that and lead me into camp. We had a moment 100m from the finish where we thought we had gone off course but then finished up 10hrs after our start.
It took me at least an hour to cool myself down, for the feet to stop pounding, the legs took longer to work somewhat well. I was extremely satisfied with my run, as we had paced ourselves, and I had by the end pushed myself right to my limits. Jean-Mathieu was thrilled to have finished almost 3.5 hours faster than last year!
Day 3: Camp Fortune to Old Chelsea
Fast with Eric, tight calf, BEAR, deer and FINISH!!!
26km
900m D+
3hr 8min
not my splits -->
Eric on King Mountain looking out at the Ottawa River
Small buck on Black's Lake hill
Familiar trails, Bear, Deer!
We all got tended to by the amazing medics who volunteered their time, knowledge and resources for Bad Beaver. Mine was simply covering up the blister on one toe although tricky to protect. Others had shins, ankles, bug bites (fresh British blood!) that needed tending to.
Throughout the race, as it actually is a race, the two leaders Benoit and Guy had alternated wins for the first two days. Throughout the second day we enjoyed looking at the checkpoint splits to see their progress. For the 3rd day Benoit had a 19 minute lead over Guy, so Guy took off like a rocket from Camp Fortune. Jean-Mathieu was also putting the pedal down and I joined up with Eric, one member of a two-person team whose partner had to drop out on day 2. My left calf was very very tight and so I was nursing it a bit but still pushing harder than the previous two days as it was a 26km run.
Down Ridge Road,#1 to Franks #17 - fun running fast on the technical trail. The calf didn't get worse. The down trail #23 to Black's lake. Eric and I continued to run together walking and running at the same times, although I would put a bit of time on Eric on the descents and him on me on the flats. It was really neat to realize we had run 130km and could still push the pace.
On Black's we had a surprise which required a full stop though. A small black bear, likely two year old was walking on the boardwalk with no interest in moving aside. I tried to video but messed up with my iPhone and then we ran around the bear using the woods. Shortly after that we met up with a deer and then some of the other ultra participants who we didn't expect to see yet and learned that they had gone off course - that is hard - it is already a long way, but needing to go extra requires digging deep!!!
Pink's out and back on Trail #15 and then up to Penguin
From Black's we passed the 2nd water station of the day and ran the gorgeous Lauriault trail - this is one of my favourites in the park and on this day was no exception - some views, fast flowing downhills, hemlock forests. Calf still sore but holding up. Eric's bandaged foot is holding as well. Then up to Mackenzie King Estates. We are seeing more hikers and tourists now - hope our 3 day odour doesn't make them faint! We run down trail #15 to Pink's where Leonard, Patricia are helping at the water station. Quick break and then the loop of Pink's. I start to run low on energy so pop down some leftover pasta from last night which gives me a nice jolt of energy. Finished Pink's - go left and not right around the lake again! Cool head off under water and then head out for the last section. Trail #15 has climbing back up. We cheer on the other runners as the head down to Pink's. I am surprised that my body is holding up and still able to work hard. We get to Swamp Road and see a couple of runners up ahead. I manage to once again run down the road well to my surprise and then we start climbing to the top of Penguin. I am getting hot again but the discussion about whether that is Mary ahead keeps me distracted.
Finish in Old Chelsea with Mary and Eric (credit Gabriel Rivett-Carnac www.gabesimages.com )
Penguin to the Finish
We let our legs go down the steep descent hoping they won't give out and catch up to Mary just before the bottom. She has run amazingly all weekend and will finish over an hour ahead of me for a total time. At this point in an ultra we don't compete for the finish but run in together to celebrate our success. The last two km I am running low on energy but we cross the bridge to the visitor's center and finish banner.
Nineteen hours, 21 minutes on the trail for ~148km.
I DID IT! WE DID IT!
There and at the finish party at Doozy Candles we cheer hard for each finisher as they arrive. Every single person in this event is an amazing athlete and it was an honour to share the trails and camp with them! I couldn't have done this without them :)
Reflection:
What I loved:
- Having Patricia and Leonard out on course manning water stations
- My fellow runners - incredibly supportive community
- Hanging out at camp with the runners, volunteers and organizers. Talking about everything and nothing, reliving the day.
- Running with Jean-Mathieu the entire 2nd day and Eric the entire 3rd day
- The organizers: Ray (who even lent me a pack), Sereena and Liam
- The medics - they are the best!
- Gabe the photographer and his lovely family including an adorable few month old
- The volunteers, many of whom are ultra runners themselves and a number who have run it in previous years
- The food from Les Fougeres at camp - so yummy
What worked:
- Oatmeal with nuts, berries and coconut oil for brekky
- Conserving legs and energy by switching up between running and walking.
What didn't work
- Coconut oil, miso, noodle soup - it had worked at lower intensity in training but not in a race situation - was burping up coconut oil all day
What to improve on:
- Nutrition - esp. near the end of a race
- Aerobic engine with intervals.
What is next?
- Gheez! give me some time to process this one. But, given my track record an even tougher adventure is in order.
- Up next week though is a day fastpack of and attempt at the FKT for Fundy Footpath in New Brunswick with Leonard.
http://3beaversracing.com/bad-beaver-ultra/