Squamish 50k

For the last few months, I've been training for a 50 km trail run that I signed up for in Squamish, B.C. This never would have happened if it weren't for my good friend, Graham. Graham is an avid ultra runner - the one who inspired me to train for and run my first 50k race last November. Shortly after that race, we were trying to find an excuse to hang out (Graham lives in Bellingham, about 2 1/2 states north of me). Graham suggested we sign up for a 50k in British Columbia that he'd heard good things about. I agreed, and he made it clear to me that I had to sign up online at 7am on a particular day, the day race registration opened. We both did this and he was right, the race sold out in about an hour.

Picking up our race packets the day before as 50 mile racers were finishing

Fast forward about nine months to last Sunday, and we find ourselves waking up at 4:20 am on a friend's boat in the harbor near the finish line of the race. We catch a school bus full of runners to the start about 25 minutes away. About 1/3 of the runners in the race were running the 50/50, which means they ran 50 miles yesterday and woke up to run another 50 km today. I always find these experiences humbling.

The start at Alice Lake

The race starts promptly at 6:15 am, and Graham and I begin shuffling. For the next 7.5 hours we run up and down hills in beautiful Pacific forest. We trust the views would have been spectacular, but couldn't see much more than 200 yards on account of the forest fire smoke.

Although I'm sure Graham could have gone faster, we ended up running the whole race together. After 7 hours and 44 minutes on the trail, we finished together with a well-coordinated simultaneous heel click over the finish line.

At the finish line

As per usual, the race organizers didn't want anyone complaining that they got shorted. The race ended up being a little over 32 miles (whereas a 50k would be 31) with nearly 8,000 feet of elevation gain. We finished just inside of the top 100 in a field of over 350.

I felt surprisingly good at the end. Tired, but the knees and other joints seemed completely intact. Good enough that in the week since the race, I've been on a few more runs. I imagine I'll do some more of these races, but not sure if I have the desire to up my training to prepare for the next level, a 50 miler.