Goal Description Completed?
Finish: Yes
Check my Strava, I’m not writing all of this down
I really didn’t do any specific training for this, as most of my focus was to do well at the Caribou Marathon (mixed results there, took 3rd and BQ’d, but didn’t BQ by enough to get back in). So, some background on why I chose this race. So I did The North Face Endurace Challenge Wachusett 50 miler, in order to score the last 4 points I needed to enter the UTMB lottery (you need 15 points from 3 races across 2 years, and for reference, a hard 100 miler = 6 points, an easy 100 miler or hard 100k = 5 pts, easy 100k / hard 50 miler = 4). TNF Wachusett should have scored 4 but they didn’t submit the paperwork to ITRA, so I didn’t get the 4 points I thought I would. This left me scrambling looking to find a race to get the points. I found the Bromont 80k listed on the website, and the dates worked and I saw that it was worth 4 points. Then I saw there was a 160km option. This meant I could get my points, and keep alive a 4 year streak of finishing 100 mile races. I also don’t like going way out of my way for something that isn’t the “main event” so I went and signed up for the 160km race (which would happen 3 weeks after the Caribou Marathon in Maine). So leading up to the race, most of my training had been on the roads, specifically geared towards marathoning. I only had one big hike over the summer (a Presidential Range Traverse with /u/nastyhobbitses1 [+1]) and very little trail time. Definitely set myself up well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jli_hgcbQK8
I packed up all the gear I thought I’d need on Wednesday and Thursday night, and Friday I took a half day from work to drive up early. The leaves in Northern NH, VT, and Quebec were incredible, especially around the Franconia region. I arrived at Bromont around 5:30 and collected my bib. I then set up my tent. I thought there was a dinner provided but I was mistaken, so I cooked some ramen I brought with me using my cat food stove (which I have never cooked with before https://andrewskurka.com/2011/how-to-make-a-fancy-feast-alcohol-stove/). I had two packs of ramen and a beer before going to bed. I slept surprisingly well, given my poor pre race camping experience at TNF Wachusett. I only woke up once or twice during the night. I think having a real pillow made a big difference.
I woke up around 6 in the morning and began organizing myself. I found there was coffee available, and was given a grilled cheese with bacon. I got dressed, dropped of drop bags, packed up gear I wanted to bring with me, forgot to eat the cliff bar I meant to have for breakfast, and then got to the line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzwsN9-9dd8
Ultra starts are always kind of funny. Everyone sort of lurks far back from the line, not wanting to push pace from the start. There was a bit of flat easy terrain, just over a mile, before hitting the mountain. There were three big climbs and downhills (+400 ft, -400 ft, + 900 ft, -900 ft, +600 ft, -600 ft). This was a combination of ski trails, mtb trails, and hiking trails. Some switchbacks, and some very steep portions (like straight up a black diamond trail steep). I wondered how mountain bikers just didn’t straight up die on some of the downhills. Also, back in here, we wound up on a steep hiking trail that one of the race volunteers called the magic forest. It was so steep that there were knotted ropes tied off from trees so people could hand over hand pull themselves up the trail. These steeps were no joke. I made it to the 10 mile aid station and drank some coke, ate some brownie bite things, and refilled my bottles with water / gatorade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEyP9z6m0yM
After the aid, there was short drop down a road and then onto some smooth winding grass trail which was a nice respite. We hit a minor aid and then started climbing again. Up and over a hill (total climb +800ft), and then steeply down the back side. This whole portion was overgrown with lots of briars and stuff on the trail. Also lots of leaves on the trail so seeing your footing was difficult. It was all maple sugaring lines and what not. I think this was my least favorite section of the race, despite the fact that the terrain wasn’t as steep as on the mountain. Some flat trail, then road / trail road / trail and then to the second major aid, Chez Bob. Here I managed to use the restroom and down about 800 calories of ensure from my drop bag. I then refilled my bottles and headed out again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKAVeSJq670
So for the first 6 miles of this portion, it was mostly dirt road which was really nice after what felt like endlessly quad pounding steep descents. Looking at my splits, I was actually running most of this, so that’s good. It also started raining, so I pulled my shell on. Thankfully, it wasn’t cold out, maybe mid 60s, so not bad. Roads continued to a minor aid station and then hit trails again. I think most of these trails were slightly more mild than before, though I’m sure there was some climbing. More switchbacks and what not and then to the mile 30ish aid station. This was at the bottom of a ski lift. I collected myself and headed out again. I should point out that I think somewhere in this section was a “surprise” aid station. It was like a weird popup trailer thing and there were some older folks hanging out. There was some soup here which warmed me up and was wonderful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MitQCT9tVnc
The mountain climbing and technical single track came back with a vengeance. Climbed something labeled Pic de Chevreuil and missed a turn. It was foggy and wet so harder to see marks. I met the forest gnome just after the turn I missed, so it was definitely worth it. Managed to get back onto the course without too much fuss and then had yet another quad killing downhill, right into another climb (Mont Bernard). Some more up and down, and then a particularly long way up some switchbacks then down, then a “small” climb again and finally some moderate easy trail miles into the Lac Gale aid station. This was definitely the most energetic aid station which lots of signs written up leading into it and a man banging a large empty water cooler jug as the runners came in. I don’t remember what I ate here, but I did drink some coffee. I got myself together and headed out, nightfall approaching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96clJkAm7DM
This section was short, and fairly mild, minus one buttfuckingly hard section, again with ropes off trees. I hauled myself up, wonder just how bad it would be at mile 91 instead of 41. I had to have my headlamp on to see where I was going, but didn’t get lost. More quad busting down some wider smooth trails then onto roads for the last mile into the start finish area. This course hits the start finish at miles 46.5, 50, 96.5 and 100. I came in and had to get organized. I dropped my camera in my car as I realized I wasn’t taking many pictures and I didn’t want to break it. Also, pictures in the dark wouldn’t be great. I had to weigh in here, and was within 1 lb of my starting weight, so no issues there.
Here was a brief 6ish K loop to make for an even 50 miles. I left the aid station and about a mile in realized I hadn’t refilled my water bottles. Not a huge issue, because it was a really short distance and it was cool out, but it was mildly annoying. I was solidly into power walking territory at this point. The loop was mostly flat mtb trails that wound back and forth very tightly. Took me about an 1:15 to complete this.
I’ve described what the trail and course was like in the first half, so I’ll try to keep from repeating that, and instead try and focus on mood and experience. The second half of the course was mentally anguishing. This was the toughest race mentally I think I’ve ever done. Maybe Georgia Death Race was harder mentally, but probably not.
It’s dark leaving the aid stations. Markers which were clearly visible during the day are on the very edge of visibility with my headlamp. If you look at the start of my second loop, you can see where I wandered off course within the first quarter mile of the second loop. After moving for a bit I wound up in a train with a bunch of dudes. Managed to spot flags together and keep each other on course, yelling to others when we wandered off. My largest complaint with the race organization is that I wish they had used reflective markings. Would have made this a non issue. We were all walking together which was good, I had people to talk to. I think there were five of us in total in this train.
The train split apart and I wound up keeping pace with a guy named Stu for awhile. One of the few other non-Québécois in the race, coming from New Brunswick, I think. I was glad to have someone to glom onto, and talking helped keep me awake. We hiked together through the shitty maple sugaring section, checking ourselves to make sure we didn’t deviate from the course. I hated this in the daylight and it was even worse at night.
At the Chez Bob aid station, I ran into another dude I had been running with earlier, and I was surprised that I had managed to catch up with him. We chatted a bit and eventually he headed out in front of me. I drank one Ensure here (the plus version or something, 350 cal) but didn’t really feel like I could handle another 800+ gut bomb. I drank some soup and things too. Stu beat me out of the aid station as well, so I headed out solo. 70 miles in, 30 to go, and 21 hours in. I had 15 hours until the cutoff, so knew I could move plenty slowly, but I was getting ready to be finished. The finish line seemed both so close, and so far away. I walked into the night, onto a section that was mostly road.
I was alone for quite awhile, hiking along between 15 and 20 minutes a mile. I actually drifted to sleep while walking a couple of times. I’d nod off and then come to a few yards down the road from where I was. Furthest I probably traveled while asleep was probably close to 30 yards or so. I started scanning the side of the road for a dryer patch, and one that I was far enough to the side that I didn’t think I’d get hit by an errant car. I found a patch of what looked like land based lilly pads that seemed dry and cushiony. I noted the time was around 5:15 in the morning, and I knew my phone alarm from the night before would go off again at 5:30, enough time for a little nap.
My alarm went off just as another runner went by so I got up and started hiking again. Eventually I settled in with a runner from Quebec and we chatted for awhile, talking races and what not. We saw the sunrise as we were walking along a road by a lake. Finally we got to the aid station from which pacers were allowed (~123 km). He kept moving while I used the restroom and sort of regrouped. I headed off alone again, but this time in daylight, with more road / trail climbing.
I kept checking my watch to see how far I had made it, each time thinking “I must have gone at least 2 miles” and each time only having moved about half a mile. It was mentally deteriorating, so I stuck my watch in my pack’s front stash pocket so I would look at it as often. So now I’d think “I must have really moved since I last checked, I mean it’s not on my wrist so I’m not checking it as often” but I would still have only moved half a mile. I was convinced the tracking had stopped or that something was wrong, but I’d press the the start/stop button and realized it was still working and it was my brain that was off.
It started pouring rain as well, piling on another layer of misery. It was still somewhat warm out so hiked along in just my base layer until I got to the 81 aid station (finally) and put on more layers. At the aid I drank a lot of broth and snacked a bit, and then started for mile 91 aid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBv-SWSHuXs
Last time I did this section, I thought I remembered it being fairly flat. I was very wrong and had completely misremembered. There was a lot of climbing and brutal downhills. My quads were just totally shot. Descending became extra tricky in the wet with the course getting muddy now. I made full use of my poles on the steeps, but I did actually manage to trot the more mild downhills. My quads were in pain every step I did that, and my abs were burning too for some reason, but I really wanted to be done. Even with running as much as I could, I still way overestimate how fast I was moving each time I checked my watch, because each time I came up disappointed. I think I was just very impatient this race, always hoping that I’d be closer to the end. 19 miles is so close from one perspective, but then I also thought about how I was moving so slowly, that it was still more than 6 hours until the finish. I was beyond the point of dropping now (barring some terrible accident), but I was just so so unhappy to realize I had still had most of a work day ahead of me of trail time.
I finally got to the 91 aid. 80km runners were catching up with me now, and the aid station was really busy. I had felt blisters developing since about mile 75 in spots I didn’t expect so I took off my shoes to inspect. I had new blisters forming under my big toes, big ones one the insides of my heels, some forming on my achilles and giant torn up ones from calluses on the outsides of my heels. I popped one on my inside left heel and immediately regretted it. Then I covered my feet in lube and regretted that as well, because I realized then that if I had wanted to bandage them it wouldn’t stick. I figured if there was nothing to do at this point to make it better so I put my shoes back on, and laced them up tighter, hoping that would help them from sliding around. I knew / hoped the pain would eventually fade, so I started off again. I was very stiff from having sat at the aid, so I sort of shuffle walked out of the aid before I was really moving again (back to a blistering ~18 min mile pace).
There was a climb late in the loop that I remembered being really hard the first time, but now I was thinking that I must have done it in the night, and not have really realized it. Then I got to it. Now the course was muddy and slippery, and I was tired and weak. I hand over hand climbed up 2 or 3 sections using the ropes. I was probably just pretty dead to the world at this point. I don’t remember this section at this point anymore. I know it was daylight, I know there was both hard trail and easy trail, but I’m not really sure what happened.
Coming into the start finish for the last aid before the small loop, I realized that I might be able to break 32 hours (I had been thinking for the last 8 hours that I was on pace for 32.5). I decided to go for it and came up with a plan. I’d drop my pack, my shirt, and everything at the aid before the last 6k loop. It was flat and runnable, so I figured I could walk run most of it. I got to the aid, pinned my bib to my flip belt, took of my shirt and pack, took a soft flask in each hand and headed out for the loop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c10H2eAvh2M
“Ultra Brain” must be a real thing. On the last little loop, the 80 km and 160km runners head out on the west side of a small lake headed north, and then turn slightly left into the woods, while the 2km and 6km runners stayed to the right just around the lake. Also note, the 80/160 was flagged with pink flags. So I was running along the lake, and I saw signage marking a split and I saw pink flags to the right, so I followed the flags. And I kept following them to the right. And realized some 80 km runners were also following them. And eventually realized I was in the home stretch. I had missed the course. So I continued along trying to flag a volunteer to ask what was happening. Eventually I got back to the start finish and evaded the timing mats and talked to the RD. Eventually I got back on the course at the start of the lake and headed around again to the split and took the pink flags to the left which I didn’t see before. I’ve never seen a course mark non-overlapping distances with the same color. This is a huge oversight in my mind.
Anyways, now my sub 32 hour goal was going to be a lot harder. What was easily achievable run/walking 15 minute miles would now have to be at a much faster level. So I ran. I ran through winding switchbacks, and rocky terrain. I felt the blisters under my toes slide off. I passed 55km and 80 km runners. I even saw the runner who I ran with at sunrise and waved. And I pushed. Because my watch crapped out during the last time I ran this loop, plus running an extra 2km around the lake, I didn’t know exactly how far I had left, or what my exact time was, instead checking the time of day, and trying to finish before 3:30PM. So I pushed on, legs burning, feet aching, to get this goal, which was absolutely meaningless.
Finally I came out of the woods and back to the portion of the lake where I realized I had made the wrong turn. So I ran on, now less than half a mile from the finish. And there was a big crowd around the finish. These festival races with lots of distances and runners and people camping makes for a fun atmosphere. I finally I was across the line. 31 hours and 50ish minutes. I think the finisher rate was 44/75, which is better than the 50% of the last 2 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_WnrqXJ4HY
I collected my medal and buckle (my fourth!), and then wandered around. I showered off and that felt amazing. And the I collapsed in my tent for maybe 20 minutes. I finally got my stuff all packed up, and drove back south about 2 hours. I then took a canoe with a friend about a mile along a river to camp out in a cabin. Ate pizza, drank beer, and crashed out. We then had to paddle upriver the next morning in the rain. Got some breakfast in town and then drove the rest of the way home.
That was a very hard race. Huge thanks to all the volunteers, who were so accommodating to someone coming in not able to speak their language. And all the runners out there I was with. I think I really like racing in Quebec.
This post was generated using the new race reportr, a tool built by /u/BBQLays for making organized, easy-to-read, and beautiful race reports.