The Three Musketeers

Janet, Bob, and Rob

Yukon River Trail Marathon

I recently ran the Yukon River Trail Marathon for the 11th time, which at least gives me the distinction of having run the most YRTMs since it was created in 1999. But that distinction is only that it demonstrates what a really slow learner I am!

The scenery continues to be spectacular and even when I am beating myself up physically on the course I still enjoy the overall experience. This year I found it especially enjoyable because I got to see it from a different perspective. My friend Janet, who has also run it many times was unable to participate last year when a number of major changes had to be made to the course to accomodate the City of Whitehorse’s desire to have the start/finish area moved to Shipyards Park which is just over a mile downstream from the original location. Janet had to catch an early afternoon flight back to Vancouver and was concerned about making it if she didn’t do the early start at 7 a.m.. However, she wasn’t confident to do it by herself with all of the course changes. I suspect she also wanted to be with someone she knew she could outrun in case we encountered a bear (something that runners who started later did see). Whatever, her motives I agreed to start early with her.

There was also a U.S. runner that was an experienced marathoner but had little experience with trail running that took the organizers advise to start early. Every year the organizers tell runners who aren’t familiar with the course to add at least an hour on to their usual finishing times, and inevitably they are proven right. Yukon River Trail Marathon prides itself on being one of the toughest marathons in North America so it was smart for Bob to take them seriously and to opt for an early start.

I got a lot of satisfaction out of being able to help them out and Bob joked several times at aid stations about having a personal guide as part of the marathon package. When I was able to show him the various vistas along the route that are absolutely stunning his reaction was very rewarding. In fact at the end of the race, which he finished right on my heels just like he had been for much of the way, he was telling everyone that would listen that it was the most beautiful course he had ever seen!

Being there to advise him of which sections of the trail were especially trickly, and to help him up the two times he tripped and fell (a trail runner’s inevitable fate) gave me more satisfaction than if I had pushed a bit harder, dropped him and finished a few minutes earlier in the quest for another age group trophy.

I think that is why I am looking forward to the Everest Marathon so much. It isn’t the race aspect, or even the bragging rights that come with adding the world’s highest marathon to my list of marathons completed. Thats all fine but really that doesn’t explain why I am so excited about this marathon which is still more that 4 months away, with several important races to get ready for before then. This time it is the chance to raise funds for a worthwhile cause that is the big  attraction and why I am so focused on this one event.

Mind Games

A friend gave me a copy of an article from the New Scientist July 16th edition entitled “Climb Everest and your brain will work against you” (www.newscientist.com/news). Its funny how people are anxious to share horror stories about Everest that they have encountered when they hear about the Everest Marathon.

The article says “at high altitude, even the fittest mountaineer’s ability to move freely can vanish in the thin air. But it’s not the fault of your muscles. In fact, this drop-off in athletic performance in low-oxygen conditions may be most in the mind”. The author goes on to describe an experiment that was done at the Pyramid Laboratory-Observatory on Everest, at 5050 meters. The study found that the brain accounted for around 5% of the reduction in force-generating capacity at sea level but 20% at high altitude. It has said the reduction wasn’t as bad as an earlier study because “the exercises where shorter”.

My first thought was “Whoops, that study was done at a lower elevation than the start of the Everest Marathon”.  I also wondered what the results would be if they were studying runners in the marathon rather than people doing knee extensor muscle exercises in a lab. Maybe we should offer them 70 plus guinea pigs! Then I remembered the old saying about a marathon. It is two separate races. The first twenty miles is physical, but the last six miles it is all mental. We are used to the mind trying to get the body to stop. Everyone who has ever hit the “wall” knows that you can get past it.  So maybe at high altitude the mind resists the effort sooner and more forcefully but it will be interesting to see if this is another type of wall that one can break through if you want it badly enough.

A different kind of race

Having run 127 marathons and ultramarathons I’ve experienced a lot of different challenges.

 I dragged a sled full of survival gear through a Yukon winter night when I did the Yukon Arctic Ultra 100 mile race.  I took over 5 hours to complete the Temple Bell Marathon in Thailand because I was suffering intestinal distress and had to keep stopping to throw up. I ran through the night in the Mayo Midnight marathon when I got so cold that I begged the volunteer at one of the water stops for the plastic garbage bag he was using. I wanted something that I could use as a coat to get warm. Instead he gave me the coat off his back…but that is how small town people respond to need. I keep going back to the Kneeknacker 50 km even through my best time is 8:15 and I always say at the finish “never again”.

I am a member of the Seven Continents Club, which means I am trying to complete a marathon on each major land mass. To date I’ve done 6 and am registered and wait listed for the Antarctica Marathon which I might not get to do until 2016 because of the space limitations on the ship. Running in Chile, Morroco, Scotland, China and New Zealand all had unique challenges.

I’ve run huge marathons like New York and Chicago where the biggest challenge is how to run without getting tripped up in the midst of thousands, and how to deal with the incredible long lines for the portapotties. I’ve run small marathons where it gets real lonely out on the trails because there are so few runners. Events where you are more likely to encounter a bear than another runner.  I’ve run the holy grail of marathoning in North America, Boston, a couple of times. It was an incredibly moving experience since the middle of the pack runners are treated like celebrities by the very knowledgable and enthusiastic crowds.  Having all those attractive young women screaming for you as you pass Wellesley College certainly didn’t hurt either!

But all of these are very different from the Everest Marathon where I’ve made the commitment to try to raise funds for Nepal. Asking people to donate is not something that comes easily to me (I much prefer to be on the giving end); and I had a career as a civil servant that meant that my job was to stay out of the limelight and let the elected politicians get the attention. So being interviewed by the local paper, and smiling politely for dozens of photos that were never used is not something that I would normally want to do. However, I do believe that raising funds for the rural people of Nepal is worth subjecting myself to some public scrutiny. Hopefully it will result in some donations that will make a difference.  But it may be the fund raising and not the altitude that makes this my most challenging marathon.

Lasting memories

I was walking past the local RCMP station a few days ago when one of the Officers who I don’t know very well came running out of the building to talk to me. There have been a few logistical issues with the police over the Run The Rock Marathon. So when I saw the Officer hurrying towards me my first thought was “oh no, now what”? It didn’t make me feel any better when his first question was “so how are preparations for the marathon going”.  I started into a sales pitch about how will things were coming along, and that we were pleased with registration to date. But he quickly corrected me. He was talking about my preparations for the Everest Marathon. I had put a short article in our local newsletter to try to generate donations from Island residents, but was surprised that he was interested. Turns out that he had done a major trek in Nepal. We proceeded to have a lenghty chat about his experiences trekking in Nepal and he offerred to show us his pictures and share his advice on medications etc.

Nor is he the only one that I have encountered that wants to talk about Nepal. Actually, there have been a number of people who, when they hear that I am going to run the Everest Marathon, want to share their stories about visiting Nepal.  Have met so many people that want to talk about their experiences that I am learning some interesting things. The practical stuff, like prepare to be sick and have the appropriate medications is helpful. But what I am really finding is that despite the pollution in Kathmandu, and the grinding poverty that exists everywhere in the country I have not found one person who wasn’t profoundly moved by their trip to Nepal. When asked what it was that was so fantastic about the country the answer is always the same. “Its the people”.  I really look forward to experiencing them first hand, and I am really pleased that I am able with your help to do something that will have a positive impact on their lives.

Getting crowded up there

Part of my mental preparation for Everest is reading everything related that I can get my hands on. Recently read Michael Kodas’ “High Crimes: The fate of Everest in an age of greed”. Makes Everest sound like a wild west boom town. One passage was particularly relevant. He writes ” Certainly there are hundreds of thousands of dollars raised on Mount Everest for worth causes. But it is just as certain that there are plenty of scams as well. Charities are unlikely to complain that some of the money raised in their names is paying for climbing trips. Something is better than nothing, and criticism might cost them what donations they might have received, not to mention alienate other supporters with bad publicity. Donors, on the other hand, might be surprised when a charitable donation pays for a relatively wealthy mountaineer’s down suit rather than to put a few hundred poor children in shoes.” He also says that ” Among the people trekking only as far as Base Camp, the number of people raising money for charities is staggering. ‘Charity challenges’ are effectively walkathons on steroids”.

I don’t know whether to be more offended by his superior Mountaineer attitude towards trekkers, or by the idea that people would finance their adventure on Everest through fund raising for a charity. I won’t take offence to his superior attitude since I doubt very much that he would be able to run a marathon at Base Camp altitude. I also know that there is a lot of abuse in the name of charity. I have seen it first hand with marathons where some charity runners get automatic entry to major marathons if they raise a certain amount of money. I’ve also seen where some of these charities pay the costs of runners to attend “destination” marathons if they raise enough money.

It was my own concern about runners that benefitted from charity fund raising that lead me to Everest Marathon fund raising. Not only is the event raising money for self help projects in Nepal, but participants pay all the costs of a trekking holiday. Actually, it would be cheaper for us to do a guided trek to Everest Base Camp with a commercial firm. I also wanted to ensure that I was raising funds for a reputable charity. Nepal School Projects is a registered non-profit society that has passed all the many hurdles to get tax exemption status. It also is recognized by Canadian International Development Agency that will match all donations given to NSP. 

While I know that the scams, and cases where the fund raisers personally benefit, have made the public skeptical about Everest related fund raising. I can state that every penny that I raise will go directly to Nepal School Projects and I will do a full accounting after I finish fund raising.

July 9, 2011 – Descent from Black Mountain

July 9, 2011 – Eagle Bluff

Yukon River Trail Marathon

Everest Marathon organizers training advise was to concentrate on uphill and downhill workouts with a competitive event about once a month. Since I usually run a marathon a month committing to a competitive event every month isn’t that big a reach. I also know a great marathon to practice my hill running skills on challenging trails. The Yukon River Trail Marathon in Whitehorse certainly qualifies (check out www.yukonmarathon.com for the course description and profile). As one of the original organizers this event has always been a favourite of mine, and it has become recognized by Canadian Running as one of the top trail races in Canada. Having done the race 11 times already and being busy organizing a new marathon on Texada Island (Run The Rock Marathon) for August I wasn’t really planning on doing Yukon River again this year. But I don’t feel too beat up after the Kneeknacker and I need the challenging hills to prepare for Everest so I’m Yukon bound again for August 7th.

Won’t have to worry about Yak on the trails, but watching for bears should help me to hone my observation skills as well. Who knows maybe I can even do some promoting of my fund raising efforts for Nepal School Projects.

Nepal School Projects

I recently received a short report from NSP that provided a summary of their activities from its inception in 1975 to 2010. My interest in supporting this group’s efforts was reinforced when I noted that during their 25 years of operation they have supported the construction of 45 schools, 6 sub-health posts, 263 drinking water systems that benefit 5197 households and 46,123 people, 3,568 permanent latrines; 79 apprentices were trained, 1237 acres of landslide damaged fields were rehabilitated; 70 km of landslide damaged trails rehabilitated; 15 micro hydro projects; 8 wire bridges, and 630 biogas installations. Impressive list!

Our contributions, when matched by CIDA, can go a long way to help make a difference.