Ultimate XC Quebec – Are You Tough Enough?

Race: Ultimate XC – Quebec Edition
Date: Saturday June 21st
Location: Val Morin – Quebec
Sport: Adventure Running!
Website: http://www.ultimatexc.com/quebec.html

What has 4200+ pieces of pink & black polka-dot flagging tape, 12674ft UP! and 12577ft DOWN! ~10km of swamps, ~20km of bushwacking, 42K of ankle-twisting “sorta-trail”, a 300ft icy-black-water beaverdam swim, trail that goes straight up forever..that brings you to your hands & knees scrambling? (and to quote the race director – Only where mountain goats go!) ….Mountain goats? …did I mention the bugs?

That would be the 42km Ultimate XC – Quebec Edition 2008! I have since come up with some revised names for this crazy race….the words that come to mind reflecting on the words I used while becoming one with the mountains & the bush would be …Insane-Bushwacking-Mountain-Scrambling-Swamp-Tromp!!…Maybe that’s what XC means in French?

🙂

If you are looking for something out of the ordinary this race is for you! I’m pretty sure the only reason there was some trail at times, was because the 40+ guys and gals ahead of me carved the way for me to see where to go next!

There were 59 of us crazies including my “Rough & Tough Coach” Bob McGrath, that signed up to take on the Marathon distance of the ~400 racers overall. The newest Ultimate XC Quebec Edition had a 42K, 21K, 10K and even a 2K kids race. The race took place in the tiny town of Val Morin, ~40min North of Montreal in the Laurentian Mountains. The town folk were just incredible and everything was very well organized including race-kit-pickup, right down to all the great folks manning the aid stations & cheering us on! This was indeed a great event and the Town of Val Morin rallied around us with open arms. They even opened up the local daycare for children of racers…and it was FREE! They shuttled my little ones off in golf carts & they were lovingly cared for by some nice ladies while mommy battled the Laurentian Mountains.

Hands down this is the hardest run I have ever done. I was as prepared as I could have been for this race – even with the announcement 3 days before the big race that there would be a “300ft swim across a beaver dam” …so we were allowed a bag drop!! Wow – a swim – who puts a swim in 3 days before race day? That would be crazy-man Dan “I Am Your Worst Nightmare” Des Rosiers, who I had the pleasure of meeting. I let Dan know I had CDR coming up in August as we chatted, and he proclaimed with confidence “This is harder than the Death Race!” as he grinned and winked. I nervously laughed – Bob said “Don’t laugh he’s serious!” My laughter was just a cover for my fear – I didn’t want anything to deter my focus and I did not want my fears to show…There were only a few things to concentrate on – hitting the cutoff, eat & hydrate –that’s it. Finishing would come later!

All my gear was ready the night before, I had put some treats in my drop bag thanks to Pro-Crew-Gal – T’s advice and was ready for any weather. The weather the previous 2 days was miserable and rainy which I was kind of thankful for as I prefer to run in semi-miserable cooler weather compared to brutal heat – but these are things beyond our control. Lucky for me, we had the trail gods on our side and we had perfect weather!

As Dan was addressing us minutes before the start one of his comments rang through my head “You have to be at the 2nd aid station in 2hrs”…this was news to me …the only cutoff I knew about was 4hrs at the halfway point, now I had another cutoff to meet! Bob calmly said ‘Don’t worry, just focus on what you have to do, get to each checkpoint and go from there…” Well I made decent time with all the obstacles Dan threw into this race and got to the 2nd aid station in good time, & the halfway point aid station in 3hrs22min – success! – now all I had to do was keep moving forward and finish…

Bushwack, bog, bushwack, mountain-scramble, bushwack, swamp, swamp and then more swamp!…My feet got used to the wet-muddy-cocoon they were in for the entire race – there was more mud & swamp in this race than trail I’m sure of it.. I passed one guy who lost his shoe in the mud! Thankfully that didn’t happen to me! I was quite looking forward to the swim at this point just to get out of the swamps!…I amused myself with images of Shrek in my head and hoped to see some wildlife like a moose or deer but all I got was a snake cross my path! The swim was insane! Many times I would look at my watch and think maybe 10 more km to go before the ‘refreshing’ swim…but it came up faster than I anticipated…I was stunned as I just didn’t know what to expect! I laughed and just walked right in to the murky pool…grabbed the rope and pulled myself across, kicked my legs and SQUEALED the entire way! I just could not believe I was doing this…There was a nice young guy the other side watching and laughing with delight at myself and 2 other gals behind me crossing the water…my drop bag was at the next (and last!) aid station which wasn’t too far down the trail. I grabbed my bag and made the split decision to not change my clothes or shoes (which I’m certain saved me some time as Bob’s words rung in my head “no messing around with your drop bag – can you afford to lose 15-20min?”…I decided I couldn’t…) I grabbed my chips, chugged my coke and the folks at the station were not only amazed that I didn’t change, but even more in awe of my hidden treats as they commended me in French with big smiles and laughter…(thanks “T”!) Off I went down the trail running and munching and feeling quite amazing – until BAM…LEGCRAMP…wow this I was not ready for…I thought I was done. I fell to the ground in pain, the tears welled up, I beat my fist on my quad, tried to stand then fell again. I went through this process, which felt like a half-hour, but really I think it was 5min at most. I finally stood up, shook my leg and it was like a miracle to me as the pain was gone and with relief I forged onward into the bush….

There was a point where I started to doubt myself somewhere between 6&7hrs…I think I was alone for so long that I had myself convinced I was lost and going backwards down the wrong trail even though the pink tape was still there… I was out for about 7hrs now & I could hear the band at the race start/finish and felt I was getting closer, but the trail kept taking me back UP the mountain and then farther away and the fear started to set in…maybe I really am lost? Will I make it under 8hours? Then my water-bladder was empty & I just took the last of my 14! gels…..I felt weak, but somehow I kept my legs moving. The trail started to head back down and finally there was a nice old guy and a cameraman hidden around a bend with big smiles telling me “only 2k to go!” and to capture my most miserable moment on the trail – but I think I managed to smile – only because I was so happy to see someone..”2k…seriously?” I thought they were joking with me… that’s it? I can do this…I can do this…

What can I say? Dan put together a brutal course! I knew it was going to be tough…just how tough it was going to be and how tough was I going to be were the questions…Did I have what it took to finish? Dam straight! It was tough but I was tougher, and I had to dig deep to get through it…The mountains & the bushwacking broke me down, but it didn’t beat me! 7:26:27!

I had a chance to see Dan again after the race and thank him for the extraordinary experience, and commend him on a brutally difficult race! He said “I told you so! Now you are ready for CDR”! Lets hope so!

Thanks for the ride Dan & thanks for everything Coach! There’s no way I would have finished this unbelievable race without your guidance 🙂

**A special mention for my wicked-stick-to-any-slope Inov8 Roclite 282’s – for without them I dont think I would have made it up all the steep inclines…there were times when I said to myself “I thought he said there was NO rockclimbing!”…Dan you’re a funny guy!**