Ready to get your run on? After weeks of snow, ice and plunging temperatures it is refreshing to see more and more people out walking and running—and not just the diehards who are out there no matter how cold or treacherous it is.
Communities across Canada host all kinds of races this time of year using different modes of motion—running, skiing, snowshoeing, or anything that takes you from point A to point B. You could have dressed in green and taken part in the Original St. Patrick’s Day Road Race in Calgary to test your post-winter fitness level. Or head to Burnaby and run a course that circles a lake giving you opportunity to take in the wilderness environment. Maybe the unique Moonlight Run in Lethbridge that takes you through the river valley is more to your liking.
I am fascinated by what drives people to take part in harsh endurance races. Remember the Eco-Challenge? Teams raced 24 hours a day over a 500 K course involving trekking, mountain biking, kayaking and mountaineering. It was a brutal event that was widely followed and led to the rise of adventure racing around the world.
Then there’s the Yukon 1000. Marketed as the world’s longest canoe race, it is a 1000-mile odyssey down the Yukon River. Racers are equipped with a GPS tracker and satellite phone in case they need a helicopter rescue because, as the race organizer says, “It is really, really remote out there.” Racers have nine days and 18 hours to complete the course.
You could give the Marathon Des Sables a try. This arduous race requires the mental and physical strength to cope with tough terrain and scorching temperatures through the Sahara Desert in Morocco. The demands of the race include carrying all your own food and sleeping gear in your backpack for the 150-mile journey.
If that’s not enough of a challenge, there is the Jungle Marathon that takes place in the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. The hot, humid environment combined with wild animals and poisonous plants tests the tenacity of participants as they navigate swamps, river crossings, steep climbs and trails. It is 260 kilometers of rigorous racing along with the knowledge you never know what sort of creature might cross your path next. There’s no prize money at the end.
Each athlete has their own motivation for aspiring to an adventure few could do. I remember reading the story of BethAnn, a woman who took on the Great World Race: seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. She said her life was now all about wanting to conquer obstacles since being diagnosed with cancer. Always an active person, one month following surgery she entered a 5 km race, and before long marathons, triathlons and Ironman competitions were completed. “I try to be an example to others to show that anything is possible and to never, never, never, give up no matter your difficulties,” she said.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another. That’s a statement used to describe a situation in which unfortunate things seem to happen in quick succession. The phrase was offered up recently by someone explaining what has been happening to a family they know. In the last few months they have dealt with one struggle after another, only to have something else happen. As I listened to her description I couldn’t help but think it sounded like some people I could name as well. We all can, because life doesn’t bring only sunshine and butterflies. Life is complicated and unpredictable.
We are each required to run the race set before us. Many things on the course are of our own making. Others are inclines, reversals or turns we never would have chosen. But that’s not what determines how successful the run is. It may look like the race is easier for some--tougher for others. Yet those who seem to be running with a bit more ease are doing so not because of the set of circumstances on their marathon course, but because of what they draw on. They are the ones who find the tenacity, perseverance and strength to do it, but they also recognize a very important variable: they can't do it alone. Some try, but then encounter the most remote and harshest of conditions. We need others to help us along. Our faith, family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, instructors, coaches and whoever else we include in the line-up help us through each corner, curve, spin and spiral.
While I admire those who have the guts to take on adventure racing, when it comes right down to it, the toughest race of all is the one called life. The key is assembling the best team along the way as we continue to run. That’s my outlook.
