Alpenglow 100km Race Recap

Pre-Race

I woke up at 5am for a 930pm race start. Classic wake up time for me but it would have been great to even sleep in one more hour. Now just 16 hours to kill until race start….great. A lazy morning I put together my nutrition, catch up with Ty, get my hair cut, pick up race packet and do an interview for a documentary they are making for the race. It’s now 2pm, 7.5hrs to go. I lay down hoping to nap. I fall asleep for maybe 30 min but lay down for 2 hours with my eyes closed. I come out of it feeling a little less tired, at least it’s something. I’ve been smashing carbs all day long, one last meal at 630pm. My parents come by the hotel room and we have one final run through of their crew duties. We then go to the shuttle pick up and go to the start line.

Race

My game plan going into the race was to be more aggressive, to test the body to see what kind of effort it could sustain over such a long distance. Right from the gun I set off at a strong but relaxed effort. I wanted to set the tone, I wanted to stick to my plan. The first stretch is a mile on road where this fancy car is leading us to the turn towards the trails. I run side by side with Charles and we chit chat as a beautiful sunset unfolds before our eyes. We make the turn up a service road and start a gradually climb. Charles sets the pace and I feel happy to match it. We quickly turn into the single track and I tuck in following Charles. Soon enough I feel like he slows down and I decide to take the lead. We flow up a nice single track, a gradual climb up switchbacks. Head lamps are now on as the night sets in. I am starting to get a small gap and not long after I hear another runner that has bridged up to me, it’s not Charles. We roll into the first aid together, refill bottles and keep going.

We had a short decent and then a flat 4km section to the first climb. I can hear another runner right behind me. We run in silence for a bit, eventually I break the silence. Alex is lives in Smithers but went to school at UVic and has explored many of incredible trails in Strathcona. It’s nice to have someone to talk with and makes the time go by. We hit the start of the first climb. We run a lot of it side by side. I mix in some hiking, refill at a stream. Eventually things get steeper near the top and I get a little bit of a gap. I’m hiking well and feel comfortable. I crest the top and start down the technical ridge. As I’m taking in some nutrition I step on some soft ground that gives way to a hole. The ankle turns, I keep running and asses. It’s not bad, luckily there wasn’t a lot of weight in that step and I’m able to quickly shake it off. There’s a steep descent and I start to get a calf cramp. I slow my pace down, I take in two salt pills and more water. This is too early to be cramping. Luckily it works itself out quickly. I reach the aid station on Mckirdy Meadows alone. I lap my watch and see sub 1:28 for this last section. The splits I had estimated ahead of time were 1:42 for this section, things are going well. I refill bottle and set off on the descent, 35 min until the next aid station.

Feeling that I am in a good spot but with the calf cramp scare I focus on being smooth and efficient going downhill. Rhythm and flow. Part way down the descent Alex catches back up to me. I tell him that if he wants to pass to let me know and he tells me that he’s good for now. A little time passes as we descend, we see Gary out on course as he cheers us on. Eventually Alex asks to pass and I move over to let him go. I have the urge to try and stick with him for the descent. I remind myself we have a long way to go and I’m already faster than ball park splits I had written. I’m in a good spot and don’t need to push on this first descent. I let him go as he runs off in the distance.

We reach the aid station half way down the descent. Bottles refilled and I get a split that I’m 2 min back. Lots of racing and running to go, we are not even 30km into this. I keep going downhill eventually reaching this nice flowy and rolling section that takes me to the first crew aid station at the base of Swift mountain. My legs feel okay but not as good as I expected. Maybe I cooked them a little on that first climb? I dial back the effort a touch. My head lamp dies about 1.5km from the aid station. No worries as I’m picking up a spare from my parents and rely on the waist light to get me to the aid station.

I roll into the Swift aid station, 37km down. Gary asks me “what do you need? Drop bag?”. I reply “Mom and dad”. I look around and don’t see them. They’ve got my nutrition for the next couple hours. Okay time to troubleshoot. I pivot and fill up my bottles at the aid station. One with Naak drink mix and the other water, I stuff my belt with Naak gels. In these moments you need to simply roll with the punches and do what you can. Respond and don’t react, adapt the plan. I didn’t see Alex in the aid station. I take off to tackle Swift mountain hoping to be able to bridge up to Alex on the climb.

I didn’t get my replacement headlamp but fortunately I’ve got a spare battery for my headlamp and I change it as I head out of the aid station. The first section is cruisey before hitting a steep black diamond mountain bike trail. I try out a Naak gel, it goes down well. I try to figure out the flavour. Maple syrup and something else? I’ve had the Naak drink mix at races before and haven’t enjoyed it but decided to give it another go since that is what my option was at the aid station. A few sips and nope still not a fan. I force a few more sips before the next aid station to get in more calories.

The next aid station I dump out the Naak and get them to fill it with cola. They crack open the cola, fill the soft flask and foam bubbles out the top. There’s 1/4 of liquid on the bottom. They pour more cola in, a little more liquid and a lot of foam. I get a little impatient and take the bottle less than half full. I can’t just stand here and wait for foam to settle. I take off as the true climbing begins up Swift. This next section was just over 5km on a service road that you can move really well. I push that pace here in an attempt to close the gap. I put music in and take off. A little hiking and a lot of running up hill. I quickly get to the next aid station, no sign of Alex ahead despite long stretches of service road.

I refill bottles, cola and water. Grab more Naak gels then depart for the push up to the turn around at the top of Swift. It’s an out and back so I’d be able to see where Alex was. This next section is very steep and gets very technical near the top. As I’m hiking up my headlamp for some reason turns off. I press the power button and nothing, it appears dead. I take out the battery, put it back in and the battery light indicator showed full battery left. I press the power button and it lights back up. Less than 5 min later then headlamp shut down again. I repeat the same steps but this time the headlamp doesn’t turn on nor does the battery level indicator display anything. I take out the battery and replace it a few times hoping that it will magically start to work. After a while I give up. The terrain is incredibly steep as I’m doing all of this and my poles are tucked under my arm. I decide that I’ll rely on my waist light to get up to the top and the try again. Going uphill is slow so I didn’t need as much visibility but descending you’re moving faster and being able to have more visibility is very useful.

The entire time climbing up I look ahead hoping to catch a glimpse of Alex’s headlamp. As I fumble through the technical terrain I approach the last steep pitch to the top. I haven’t seen his headlamp and I’m on the last steep pitch. He must be at the top about to head back down, we aren’t far apart at all. As I crest to the top for the turn around I only see the volunteers there cheering and waiting for me. No sign of Alex. WTF? I ask them if I’m the first one up and they say yes. I’m in first place? Extremely confused I turn around and start making my way off the mountain. I again attempt to turn on my headlamp, take out battery, replace, press power. Nothing. Whatever is going on it’s not working. Looks like I’ll have to make do with the waist light. Far from ideal as it only really illuminates right by your feet. This made going down extremely difficult. Especially because a headlamp you could see flags in the distance and be able to pick your line a lot easier. Fortunately I’d been up Swift twice before the race so had a sense of where to go. As I traversed a rock section my feet slip out from under me, I fall on my ass. Ouch! I take a moment and continue gingerly down the mountain. Realizing that I’m currently in the lead my focus turns to where is second place? Eventually I run into Charles going uphill in second place. I glance at my watch and realize that I’ve probably got a 45/50 min lead. I’m in a good spot.

I get back down to the aid station. I refill with bottles and head down the service road. This part of the course is really fast. I feel comfortable as I open up the stride. I pass several people on their way up exchanging cheers. My waist light blinks. Low battery. Luckily the sun is starting to rise. What will happen first, the sun rise of the waist light running out of battery? Luckily the service road isn’t technical and I switch the waist light to the lowest illumination level.

The waist light survived, it’s light out and I get back down to the Swift aid station. My parents are there waiting to crew me. I hand them my pack, they refill the pack as I do a shirt change and wipe my face down. I get some miso soup but it’s too hot to drink and I take off for the next section. Back to some flatter flowy trails, I’m running decently. I take a sip of my drink mix and not long after the stomach starts to feel off. Okay maybe no more of that. I take a gel and same thing, the stomach feels worse. I feel my energy start to fade. The legs feel heavy, the feet suddenly start to hurt. This is the runnable section. Keep running. I feel like I’m hitting a wall. My stomach is revolting, my energy dissipating. I’ve still got a long way to go. Focus on getting to the next aid station.

It goes from runnable to steep AF to very gradual climb up to the next aid. I lean on my poles to get me up the steep section like a life jacket keeping me afloat. I get to the gradual climb portion. It’s a constant battle between my brain and body. Negotiating myself to start running, fighting the urge to walk. Admittedly I’m barely taking in any nutrition but I can feel my stomach start to settle. I think to myself “what is working for me?”. Cola that had been sitting well for me. I get to the next aid station. Fill two flasks with cola and carry on for the final push up McKirdy.

This is where it starts to get steep again. There’s no running and again I lean into the poles. I sip the cola, it sits well with me. As I climb I try to convince myself that I’m getting more energy. I tell myself you’re getting in calories, your energy will come back. I keep leaning heavily on my poles to the point my triceps are starting to cramp. This section felt painfully slow, I was still bleeding a lot of time. If another runner felt good here they could pick up my dead body and run away with this time. Still 20km to go to the finish. Every crevice of my body hurt. I wanted the race to be over but still had a long way to go. Eventually I get to the aid station at McKirdy meadows. I fill with more cola and chug a flask on the spot there. I ask where the next runner is and they said probably an hour behind. One final push up and then pretty much all downhill. I can hold it together.

I make the final push uphill and am rewarded by the most incredible views as I traversed the ridge. The highest point in the Canadian Rockies, Mt Robson was absolutely stunning. Once at the top of the ridge I start the descent. All downhill to the finish, easy stuff right? Or so I hoped. The legs and feet were hurting. Terrain I should be able to fly down felt challenging to descend. I thought to myself if I’m hurting right now sure as heck anyone who is chasing me will also be hurting 85km into the race. The km’s slowly ticked by, I wanted the pain to be over. The last 11km were flat rolling followed by a gradual descent. I was able to run the flat section decently well, I felt like I had more energy than before. The cola was working and I also got more gels in me. This made the last part not as much of a slog.

Eventually one last aid station. Quick refill and 6km to go. Down the cruisey single track I definitely didn’t push the pace. I didn’t need to inflict more damage than was necessary on my body. I let gravity do the work. I hit the final road section that was 1.8km long. A long line of cones marking the way to the finish. It looks so far away still but I knew the end was insight. Gary rides his bike up next to me, we chit chat about the race. It makes this road section go by faster. Eventually I make the turn to the finish line becoming the winner of the inaugural Alpenglow 100km.

Post Race Thoughts

It’s always an honour to win a race. To sum up my feelings about this race I feel content but not entirely satisfied. I know I didn’t perform to my full potential on the day. I feel like I left a lot of time on the table and know that I’m capable of sub 11 hours on this course. I’m really happy with the trouble shooting and adapting that I did through out the race. I knew there would be challenges and curveballs but didn’t expect there to be so many.

I’m happy that I went for it from that start but I feel like I started a bit too fast up the first climb and second climb. If I could I would slow down 5 min there, 5 min up the second climb and I feel like that would have gained me over 30 min on the last 30km. The other factor here is I don’t think I was getting enough nutrition through the middle 30km section as I was essentially winging my nutrition. The combination of pushing hard and not getting enough nutrition taking its toll on the last climb.

It was really nice to be able to run with someone else for part of the race. I learnt that Alex ended up dropping out to GI issues somewhere on Swift. It’s too bad that we couldn’t have battle later on in the race as I’m sure that would have helped to push me in the final stretch.

Alpenglow is an awesome event. The community of Valemount is absolutely incredible. Everyone is so kind and welcoming. I made some new friends and special bonds. The scenery in Valemount is off the charts and the race event was flawless. The course has a little bit of everything. Flat & flowy, gradual climbs, steeps climbs, technical descents, fast descents, you literally get it all. I highly recommend the race! I I have a deep desire to come back to both explore the area and to execute a complete race start to finish on this course.