The Canadian Death Race is a 125-kilometre race in Grande Cache, Alta. — an incredibly difficult race, with 17,000 feet of climbing. It includes a river crossing where participants must pay a coin to the Grim Reaper for passage across the ‘River Styx,’ as in Greek Mythology.
The event has solo and relay divisions. Comox Valley trail stud Graham Forsyth competed solo, running a phenomenal race to finish in 14:29 and eighth place overall.
Closer to home, several locals competed at the Finlayson Arm 28k, 50k and 100k races, which start and finish in Goldstream Park near Victoria. Right off the hop, runners cross the Goldstream River in calf-deep water. The races include many difficult climbs, including Mt Finlayson and Mt Work.
In the 50k course, the first local was Jonathan Noel who hammered the course to finish in 7:12, placing sixth overall. It was a sprint finish, with Stephan Smit coming in 30 seconds back to place seventh. Gillian Clayton had an incredible debut at the 50k distance, running 7:44. She was the second fastest woman and finished 14th overall. Mandy Johnson ran a gutsy race to finish in 8:56, taking seventh place on the women’s podium. In the 28k race, Neil Collins ran 4:28 while Cathie Collins ran 4:46. Splitting the difference was Coco Elgood, who ran 4:36.
There are too many results to report, but congratulations to all participants. Full results are available online.
The next local running event is the Perseverance Trail Run, Oct. 27 in Cumberland, a fundraiser for the Cumberland Community Forest Society. The race includes 3k and 11k distances, and always has a great atmosphere as many runners wear costumes.
FMI: perseverancetrailrun.com.
More information on upcoming local running events is available at cvrr.ca