When you have a love/hate relationship with ski hills and associated trails, you need to draw inspiration.

We asked the Ultimates where they got it today.

• Runner is Ken, he earned it! Volunteer …whoever decided on the pasta , it rocked my world!
• The Hergott family are DA BOMB when it comes to volunteer stations. Derek just makes my day when I see that guy and his big red beard!
• Michael Klein inspires me to be more handsome when I have no shirt on and Antoine Gauthier inspires me to look more like a Gazelle when I run. So sleek. I don’t know how he does it.
• All the volunteers at the water stations were amazing. Offering lots of encouragement and having plenty of cups of water and Gatorade at the ready. Joanne at the top of the big hill with music from the 80’s was great too. And a special shout to my wife Kik and friend Carolyn who volunteered at the top coming out of the trail chute.
• Hergotts are the best.
• The girls at the Top of North rocked it for me – they engaged with each runner (well walker at top of that beast) and helped us get over the hill.
• Val comes out every day, instead of crying at home, which is where I would be.
• Well, inspired me would not be the best word to describe what I could more accurately call helping me. But, for sure, it is Carmen Bouffard since she agreed to run after my bottle of pre-mixed drink after each loop, and to put it back for me on the table for the next. Thanks.
• I wanna shout out 2 volunteers – Joanne Bink was a super energetic cheer person (as usual – thanks Joanne) and Sandi Karl was really quick and efficient with refilling my water bottles. All volunteers were assertively helpful but these 2 stood out to me.

Plus a bonus question: what is your favourite part of the Chicopee course?

• I have a new love relationship with Chicopee – could hardly run at beginning and the challenge of the hill took me a step closer to working through my glitches – running sometimes heals you:) i now think I can finish.
• Dropping down into the single track sections – they were shaded, cooler, and serene, so beautiful.
• As strange as it may sound to some people, my favorite part is the long up hill we have to do between 400m and the 1st kilometer of each loop. Why? Because something is happening, it is different from the flat parts we are used to. You really work on this one, but you don’t only try to survive like on the big one in front of the Chalet. And you can let yourself go, not like on the singles track where awareness in mandatory or like on the downhills where you feel your quads hurting while breaking. But as many will say, yes, the favorite part of the loop is near the finish line where we sit, eat and watch!
• My favourite part of Chicopee today was running with Lumi.
• My favourite part of the Chicopee loop is the top cause all the ambitious peeps who climbed up there to cheer. I think to myself, “it’s great that you’re up here – but how did you make the climb in those Birkenstocks?!”
• Favorite part of the loop, the single track after the big climb under the chair lift.
  uphills are the most fun, breathing hard when going up is so fun.

• I guess my favourite part is the top of the second ski hill heading into the trail. It means that I’ve finished that huuuuge hill and can have fun in the long trail portion.

Like summer camp or the final season of Game of Thrones, everything has an end to come to.

For ENDURrun, that is three days from now. In this context, we asked the Ultimates how they’re feeling.

Rookies
Mitch – I already feel a sense of accomplishment but still a ways to go. I am taking it one stage at a time. The enjoy part usually comes after I cross the finish line :).
Mikey – It feels really good to be more than halfway through the week. There is a really good vibe with the entire group of runners, feels like we’re all in this together. Like a night at camp, maybe because it was getting dark last night at after the race. To maximize enjoyment of the 2nd half, I’m going to cheer on everybody else. I have the confidence from the 1st half to carry me through. I’m competing against myself more than anything. Sunday is Marathon #2 for me, so it’s time to see what sort of performance I can give with so much energy already used.
Reza – Really enjoying the hills.
Pat R – Was really cool to see the 80km placard last night! Spent some time studying terrain maps for the next 80k 😜

Alumni
Merlin – Ah, yes, this is always a bittersweet situation! – glad that half of the struggle is past, but sad that the “vacation” is half over! I plan to simply make the most of the remaining week, enjoy every moment. Thanks ENDURrun, for a wonderful week!
Rebecca – I am signing up for next year, probably Friday night! Best prophylaxis against post ENDURrun syndrome that I know!
Bob – I didn’t think I’d be hobbling in stage 3 or 4. It is questionable whether this old body will earn “one tough runner” this year. Wake up decision Friday.
Denis – It was a really good first half. I find the second half is the tough one, the alpine and marathon run are the make or break ones for me. Looking forward to the challenge and putting another year in the books.
Nikki – We still have two pretty big runs left, so it still feels a little daunting… Stretch, yoga, stretch, yoga…
Ron – It’s going great, getting stronger every day and plotting my run up to next years race….now back to eating!
Robin – Feel like in the middle of something, not the beginning anymore, neither the end. Times goes by very fast and it comes with the feeling that many miles have been covered, but it also feels like there is still a lot of running to do. That is how both body and mind are feeling right now. So, I don’t know which amount of joy there will be into the second half. There was pleasure with the people in the first half, some crossing of the finish lines with a sense of accomplishment, but also the slow filling of a mental reservoir now loaded with the memories of tough times and painful work during most of the stages. Second half may be quite the same. As always. And that never prevented me from coming back! That said, I don’t know how so many runners do to come be there every year. They either stay a little further from their own true potential, or they feed themselves more with the people’s support. For me, I will live the second half as it will be, hopefully with a lot of satisfaction, but I am prepared to face the stages even if they don’t come with much enjoyment. To stay focus until it’s over, I only let a place for the kind of joy that concerns the people with who I share the experience, and the kind of joy that helps build confidence for the stages to come.

From Lloyd Schmidt, Race Director

Already, 2019 has been a truly great year. It looks like a lot of hard work and commitment is showing in the performances this year, with so many PB’s and EB’s.

Lately I’ve been hearing lots of excitement about the track race, the great competition, and the event in general. And don’t those singlets look great?

By now I am seeing more socializing and the new participants already feel like old ones. Volunteers have been excellent, as always. Everyone is well fed, and yet hungry at the same time.

We shattered records for signups and total runners this year, and whether you ran 12.9k or are wearing gold, your participation and performance are valuable.

But despite the numbers, but won’t get as many Ultimates to the finish line as we had hoped. As we open registration for 2020, we welcome you to take the plunge twelve months out. Our time-tested advice: early commitment plus a full year of training blocks is the best recipe for getting you to the finish line, tired, but healthy. You will have the most supportive group to motivate your training. We believe in this formula and have a $100 earlybird promo to incentivize it. Join our facebook group or ask someone who is for the code. Until midnight on September 1.