There are many runners and many races, but only one ultimate test of running.
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A quick tour of six Stages of results
If you’re like us and can’t sleep – on the eve of the marathon – we here with some reading/sleeping material. Let’s take a look at some of the numbers that have been published this week.
First is a conspicuous absence: Maureen, 10x finisher, was absent this year. But don’t fret – she’s already signed up for 2024 and we can’t wait!
We’re looking at an impressive week from Rebecca Kruisselbrink, who has won every Stage, including a new Stage 5 record. Rebecca joined an exclusive club last year and has the pole position to add “ENDURrun Champion” to her bio on Sunday.
We have a closer race in the men’s field, with Aidan Rutherford winning 4 of 6 Stages so far and entering Stage 7 with a lead of 8:30. This is Aidan’s third Ultimate and fastest so far. The flip side to this coin is that while Rob has been chasing his own goals, ghosts of past times, and a few challengers over the years, Aidan is the most formidable yet! 2023 is the first time Rob has not been leading into Stage 7 since he first joined the field in 2015.
Some of the closer battles we see in the table are Vicki and Val for second overall and first master (4:54 gap), and the 8-10th place men (Merlin, Holger, Mark M) separated by 4:38. These gaps work out to just over 2 seconds per kilometre so far.
Speaking of Mark M, we don’t know the secret but this has consistently been one of his fastest years, currently only 14 seconds behind his cumulative best ever result out of 10 previous Ultimate finishes! Wow! (Vicki and Jack are also sitting on the record of 10 finishes going into this year’s final Stage).
Other notable cumulative finishes in 2023 are Sara (9th), Denis (8th), Rob (7th), Holger and Dee (6th), Val, Merlin, Ian, Rebecca, and Ron (5th)!
We’ve seen lots of Holger over the years, but this 6th Ultimate is his first since 2014! So great having you back in the field Holgi!
Third time’s the charm!? Derek has started the Ultimate twice before, but in 2023 he’s looking strong and poised to finally claim the One Tough Runner title!
Shoutout to Jonah, Diane, Mark R, Tammy, and Katelin, who have consistently bettered their Rookie times (from 2022, 2019, 2022, 2016, and 2023 respectively)!
Bruce is the top Rookie and while we don’t publish this age group, after Stage 6 he is over 2.5 hours better than the current 60+ record (Andrew Moizer, 2019). Sarah H has led Rookie wire-to-wire.
We’re running out of time so let’s speed up. Ian and Mitch are having great weeks – coincidence they trained at ENDURrun Sport? Wayne has raised over $2000 for Terry Fox! John signed up way back in 2019…did ENDURrun exist back then? Amanda has participated in some form or another since 2011! Sonja’s first two Ultimates were 8 years apart, then her second and third are six years apart. See you again in 2027!?
Last but least, we can point to three Ultimates who started the week with the intention of finishing, but were left unable to continue due to a variety of injuries and illnesses. It’s been nice seeing you out later this week and we hope to see you back Tyler (2022 alumnus) and Rookies Kristen and Tim!
What is in store for tomorrow? Check back with live results as we expect runners to finish by noon Sunday. Now get some sleep!
ENDURrun 2023 media
Stage 3 is done, with no changes to overall, rookie, or masters leaders over the past few days.
With Wednesday being a morning off from the grueling week, we want to take a moment to highlight the media we create and the people who make it possible.
We have two primary photographers covering all Stages, Julie Schmidt and Ryan McGovern. All of our photos are posted ASAP to our Flickr page where they are free to download.
Julie and Ryan are pictured on the far left and right of this photo.
For video, we have a team of people working to get a finish line video to Will Spaetzel each day, who edits the video and posts it to our RunWaterloo YouTube channel (not ENDURrun YouTube). Some days the video is tagged in the results, but for example, the Stage 2 Time Trial video is not in an order easily compatible with the results, so it is posted without clock just for entertainment purposes.
And then the wildcard in our media team is Mike with lonedrone. He has been taking drone photos and video from many of our races in 2023, but we haven’t actually posted it yet!
Here’s just a tiny sneak peek that doesn’t scratch the surface of what Mike is capturing from the air.
The last piece you need to know, if you aren’t familiar with Run Waterloo and it’s results page, is that photos and videos are linked directly in the results. Once the media is ready, you can find it by clicking the icons at the top of the page (for the complete album/video), and next to your name in the results (for photos tagged to you, and your finish, as available).
Note that not all photos are tagged immediately, so browsing the album is still a good idea 🙂 Give it a try!
Anyway, those are some of main visual storytellers that you will see at various Stages this week. If you appreciate all this free content, don’t be shy to smile, view and share it, or even just say thanks during or after the race! We appreciate all of our volunteers and wanted to shine a light on this team today.
See you tonight at Stage 4 – hills!
Stage 1 recap and Stage 2 start list
And they’re off!
On an unseasonably cool day in Waterloo, Ontario, runners hit the beautiful paved trail system along the Grand River Trail at RIM Park/Walter Bean Trail/Grey Silo Golf Course for a half marathon. August is not the typical season for half marathons, but of course, nothing about ENDURrun is typical.
Congratulations to all participants in today’s race. You can find the full results at results.runwaterloo.com/endurrun, including cumulative views that will become much more interesting once additional Stages are added.
Congratulations to Rebecca Kruisselbrink for taking top spot today, and to Aidan Rutherford for joining the coveted Golden Club. Bruce Grant is both the Masters and Rookie leader, distinctions which are shared with Vicki Zandbergen and Sarah Haslam.
Photos from today are coming to our Flickr site very soon.
Runners now have less than 24 hours to rest and recover before Stage 2: a 15k time trial format along the (also) beautiful Grand Trunk Trail section of the Grand River Trail in Cambridge, Ontario. Runners start one minute apart in reverse order of the standings, with relay runners slotted in. It makes for a wild and condensed finish order!
Runners will start at approximately these times, plus/minus 5 minutes. Runners are expected to be ready 5 minutes before their projected start. Note that we are starting the first runner at 8:10, not 8:00 as previously reported, because the washrooms open at 8:00.
bib athlete projected start division
111 Katelin Ditner 0:08:10 Ultimate
15 Derek Hergott 0:08:11 Ultimate
18 Jack Kilislian 0:08:12 Ultimate
114 Sarah Haslam 0:08:13 Ultimate
106 Sonja Bissegger 0:08:14 Ultimate
113 Jodi Kalman 0:08:15 Ultimate
118 Deirdre Large 0:08:16 Ultimate
115 Tammy Hergott 0:08:17 Ultimate
107 Sara Blanchett 0:08:18 Ultimate
108 Amanda Booth 0:08:19 Ultimate
16 Ronald Irwin 0:08:20 Ultimate
24 Mark Roest 0:08:21 Ultimate
117 Diane Lacombe 0:08:22 Ultimate
25 John Shep 0:08:23 Ultimate
112 Sharon Ditner 0:08:24 Ultimate
9 Tyler Dalton 0:08:25 Ultimate
105 Joanne Bink 0:08:26 Ultimate
8 Tim Coleman 0:08:27 Ultimate
204 Michael Hobson 0:08:28 Relay – White Shorts
201 Andrew Blackledge 0:08:29 Relay – Brave Any Distance
4 Denis Allen 0:08:30 Ultimate
101 Valery Hobson 0:08:31 Ultimate
102 Vicki Zandbergen 0:08:32 Ultimate
202 Stephanie Bangarth 0:08:33 Relay – Go Bananas
12 Merlin Frey 0:08:34 Ultimate
19 Holger Kleinke 0:08:35 Ultimate
10 Jan de Visser 0:08:36 Ultimate
28 Wayne Young 0:08:37 Ultimate
20 Mark McDonald 0:08:38 Ultimate
17 Jonah Istifan 0:08:39 Ultimate
116 Rebecca Kruisselbrink 0:08:40 Ultimate
23 Tim Proulx 0:08:41 Ultimate
27 Mitch Wilson 0:08:42 Ultimate
14 Bruce Grant 0:08:43 Ultimate
3 Ian Grzegorczyk 0:08:44 Ultimate
203 Andrew Aguanno 0:08:45 Relay – Runners Choice Waterloo
1 Robert Brouillette 0:08:46 Ultimate
2 Aidan Rutherford 0:08:47 Ultimate