For someone from flatland, urban Ontario, I love a nasty, gnarly, tough ultramarathon. There’s something incredible and sort of otherworldly about being part of a race in another part of the world. I’ve raced in Argentina and Croatia, and Northern Ontario, but I like to balance these more “out there” experiences with races closer to home. Sometimes, I (mistakenly) forget just how nasty, gnarly, and tough our local terrain can be. I made such a mistake with the Monster.
I had a pretty long racing season this year. I started with the UTMB Valhöll 80km in May, followed by the First Blaze 50k along the Toronto section of the Bruce Trail in July, and finally wrapped up my season in September with “Ontario’s Shortest Ultra”, or the Monster of Mazinaw 43k put on by Happy Trails Racing in Bon Echo Provincial Park.
Race Prep
I’d been in race prep season since about February, so I had a solid base coming into the Prep for Monster of Mazinaw. My coach organized a great training block for this race, and despite having to do the prep during the hottest part of the summer, I felt pretty well prepared for race day.
The Course
For the 43k race, runners complete what’s essentially one big out and back, with some smaller (really technical!) trail loops in the middle of the overall out and back. The terrain was rocky, full of brush and tall grass, oh, and absolutely none of it was flat.
Race Day
Race day was a warm, party cloudy day in mid-September, but unfortunately I slept really poorly the night before and ended up feeling pretty rough for the first part of the race. It got a bit warmer than I’d expected, and even though I was able to stay on top of my fuelling and hydration, I couldn’t shake how tired I was feeling for the first half of the race. Generally I really pride myself on being able to tough out a difficult run or challenging race (again, the price of being a flatlander who yearns for the mountains) but this was maybe one of the most challenging races for me mentally. I asked to drop down to the 30k distance at one point, but the volunteers weren’t sure if that would count as a DNF, so I soldiered on. And ultimately I’m really glad I did. It was a hard-fought finish, and a time I’m not particularly proud of, but I finished 8th woman and 21st overall, solidly right in the halfway point in the rankings. For me, racing’s not about ranking or finish time, but as someone trying to take the sport semi-seriously, it was helpful to see that even on one of my worst days racing, I was still able to deliver a solid performance.
This was a really challenging way to end the season, but as always, the Happy Trails volunteers and organizers were amazing. Everyone was so kind, cheerful, and helpful, and even when I was feeling low they were encouraging and caring. I love racing Happy Trails events and I can’t wait to do more of their races next year… though admittedly I think I might need a break before facing the Monster again.
