Contender: Susan

Posted by & filed under 2019, Contender.

Hi friends, old and new! So excited to see everyone in August!

We are so excited to welcome Susan Moizer back to the field for the first time since 2014!

What are you most looking forward to about ENDURrun 2019? The running of course but also seeing all my wonderful Endurrun friends!

What motivates you this year? My motivation this year comes from having to take the past 4 years off due to injury. I want to prove to myself that age is just a number and I can do anything I set my mind to.

What are you nervous about, if anything? I really don’t want to crash!

Can you share any details of your training? Lots of strength work incorporated this year. Also 15 pounds lighter than the last time I raced. This has certainly made running way more efficient. Trying to be consistent with my long runs and speed work.

How will your ENDURrun 2019 compare to previous years? My hope is to PB on each stage but one never knows what can happen.

What are the key pieces of advice to Rookies that you’ve learned over the years? Have fun. Train on hills and trails. Train for the downhills. Oh and have fun! 😉

For someone who has never been to ENDURrun week, what should they expect? Expect a camaraderie like no other. You may show up not knowing anyone but you will quickly become part of wonderful running family.

Contender: Jeanette

Posted by & filed under 2019, Contender.

I’m a newbie – a nervous, excited, grateful newbie.

Jeanette Thompson is a local runner and RW member who has gained a lot of racing experience over the past few years and took the encouragement from fellow runners to take the Ultimate plunge in 2019!

Tell us a little bit about yourself: I have several marathons under my belt, but definitely nervous about the unknown test of mental and physical grit that will be required to run 117.8km – BEFORE – the marathon. As the weeks to the start of Stage 1 diminish, my excitement to get out there and race alongside some pretty incredible local athletes is building. We are lucky to have such a strong racing community in our region. As I grind out my training plan, I’m grateful for each day that my body and mind continue to let me beat it up in this, my most intense training yet!! Let’s do this!

What exposure did you have to ENDURrun 2018? Following online/volunteering

As a Rookie, what advice have you been collecting? Sources: Gained some insights from previous event participants either through direct messages or meeting up for a run. Facebook group. Event page/website. Pretty sure I’ve read through the training tips 6 times. Advice: Having a specific training plan would have been greatly appreciated, but there doesn’t appear to be one. The most common answer I received when checking in with people I know that have run this event was to just build on a marathon plan and ensure to do some back-to-back training.

What are you still hoping to learn by August? Take advantage of running the courses. Continue to increase mileage/hill training and stay injury-free leading up to the race.

What are your ENDURrun 2019 stories? “Everyday, do one thing that scares you!” – Baz Luhrman – This quote plays on repeat inside my head. It has always inspired me to push past my fears and test my limits. That, and being inspired by ultra runner Rhonda-Marie Parke, motivated me to sign up for this race – my big scary goal. I’m excited to tackle this huge goal race and look forward to finishing! Hanging out with some great runners I know all week is a pretty sweet bonus.

What are you most looking forward to about ENDURrun 2019? Testing my limits, but mostly a nice cold beer at the end!

What are you nervous about, if anything? The unknown. Fortunate to be able to train on the courses.

Can you share any details of your training? With no official training plan to follow, I asked some veteran runners of this event a ton of questions about training. With their advice and following them through their training for the event, I created a two-year training plan which essentially built on my existing marathon base and training plan. Beginning in 2018, as part of my marathon training, I began incorporating an extra 13-16KM back-to-back run on Sat at a moderate pace and signed up to run multi-stage races (Mississauga/Road to Hope). I also aimed to strength train 1X per week. This year I added on to that base/build with the Hanson’s training plan, speed training, strength training 2X per week, running the courses ect. Now to stay injury-free, listen to my body and not peak before the race. Fingers crossed!!

What is your runner profile? I started running about 6 years ago by training for a 5km mud run. I quickly got hooked and built up to a half marathon. With a half marathon in the books, I joined the Running Room Kitchener to extend my training to run ATB. And well, once you’ve done 30KM, you might as well train for a marathon, right? I’ve been lucky to help some first-time marathoners crush their goal races as an instructor at RR and most recently helping my work team complete a 10-week, 0-to-5KM program and they all completed their goal race!! Better than completing my own goals is sharing that passion with other runners. There’s nothing better than being a part of a new runners’ journey as they push their limits and, with encouragement, hard work and some luck, ultimately succeed!

Contender: Jack

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Hello my name is Jack, and I am an ENDURrun-aholic 🙂

Jack Kilislian is a pillar of the community, being the first entrant in 2019 (and most years), as one of the “crazy eights“, and for keeping our facebook group rocking all year long.

Jack was also the first to respond for this interview, so it’s fitting that the first contender profile goes to #teamskins.

Runner profile: Jack Running for 23 years. This year I’ve got my weekly mileage up to 100+ km per week, on a mixture of surfaces. Try to hit the trails as much as possible.
Training update: Training is going well. Lots of mileage this year, with a couple of weekend double-race simulations.
How will your ENDURrun 2019 compare to previous years?Not sure. Hopefully, one of my better results! How 2019 is going compared with 2009?
Advice to Rookies?Focus on recovery techniques during the week.
For someone who has never been to ENDURrun week, what should they expect?The best running experience ever!
What about ENDURrun keeps you coming back?The people and the food!
What are you nervous about, if anything?The marathon.

Note on Relay eligibility for 2019

Posted by & filed under 2019.

As with any change to The ENDURrun, here is some historical context.

The original purpose of our Relay competition was to introduce participants to the event, and engage those with an interest but reservations about tackling the entire 7 Stages. The hope that the exposure would ultimately translate into more Ultimate entries has proven to be fruitful as the two divisions have grown together, and we can trace much of the Ultimate growth to Relay participation.

Ultimate participants have been allowed to compete on teams since the Relay was added in 2004, simply to make more Relay teams possible, but also to allow Ultimate runners in on the extra competition. The rule has worked very well over recent years, but it has never specified the number of Ultimate participants that could join any single Relay team.

Most past Relay teams have included 0 or 1 Ultimate participants, but we did see 2 as recently as 2018. In July 2018, we announced that we would start enforcing a maximum of 1 in 2019; however, we will be revising that in our final 2019 rules. We want to take this opportunity to formally allow and cap the maximum at 2:

In 2019, each Relay team will have the option to include at most two Ultimate runners, for a maximum of one Stage each.

We are expecting this to encourage more potential Relay teams, and thereby continue to expose more runners and potential Ultimate entrants to the community. Each team is still allowed one free entry for one Ultimate team member, so if a team has two Ultimates, one will have to pay (or both pay half price).

Quick reference of Relay eligibility rules:

  • Any team: maximum two Stages by two different Ultimate participants
  • Any single Ultimate participant: maximum one Stage on one team
  • Any single non-Ultimate participant: maximum 6 Stages on one team

    • Check the official rules (2018 PDF) for substitution criteria.

    Stay tuned for the 2019 rules to be released in July, 2019.

    Big changes for Time Trials in 2019

    Posted by & filed under 2019, News.

    We are excited to announce changes to both time trials at the ENDURrun in 2019. First, some background.

    The ENDURrun concept and the Stage format took years to create. The primary goal was to find a formula that would test the Ultimate runner, but would also offer variety of course terrains, explore much of Waterloo Region, and not favour one running discipline over another.

    Focus groups weighed these factors and came to a format in 2003 that you know and love (and hate). For reasons of continuity and historical comparison, our format has remained the same since inception. Most changes have come from items beyond our control, such as the paving of Wilmot Line and the trail availability at Chicopee.

    We knew from the very start that the ENDURrun did not include all of the elements we wanted. Elements that made the cut include road and trail, flat and hills, time trials and mass starts, and morning and evening Stages. Elements that did not make the 2003 version include a track race, a double day Stage, and perhaps a 100% technical trail course. All elements worthy of being included in the ENDURrun.

    The changes for 2019

    The simple truth is that road races are not as easy to get as they used to be, and as the Region grows and demands on our roads increase, finding new road courses is difficult, and not possible in 2019. Moving some parts of the ENDURrun off the roads is a new reality for us. To find suitable trails and tracks for our two “sprint” Stages is a big win that we are very excited about.

    Summer 2019 construction on Sawmill Road in Woolwich Township will render our Stage 2 and 6 courses unrunnable this summer. So we are taking the opportunity to make two long-considered changes:

    Stage 2 is moving back to Cambridge – on the Grand Trunk Trail

    Ever since the long-term construction on the Mill Run Trail forced us to change the course for 2011 and abandon Cambridge for 2012, we have been itching to get back to this great city. The 2019 course will incorporate one of our favourite sections of the Walter Bean Trail, and become an out-and-back entirely on trails. It will maintain the individual Time Trial format. We are very excited about re-introducing this element of geographical diversity.

    Venue: Moyers Blair Landing, 780 Fountain St S, Cambridge
    Map: 7.5k out-and-back

    An interesting note is that both records were set on the previous course, which with Cress Hill, other rolling hills, and about 5 kilometres of trail, was considerably more difficult than the 2012-2018 course which featured exceptionally flat country roads including some gravel. This 2019 course is somewhere between the two: more turns and elevation, but still considerably flatter than the original version.

    Stage 6 will become a 10,000m track race

    This is the big change. The format will be three heats, with all cumulative Ultimate and Relay times after Stage 5 sorted together and broken into thirds, with the faster third starting at 7:00, second at 8:00, and third at 9:00. No competitors within 1 minute of each others’ cumulative times will be separated. Accounting for withdrawals, we estimate that each heat will see fewer than 30 competitors. As we have previously announced, no Guests (including Ultimate withdrawals) will be included in Time Trials. Timing and location are TBA, but we expect the track to be rubber. We will work with you on coming up with track rules and etiquette.

    We expect participants to see positives and negatives in this, depending on their own preferences. On the plus side, more people will run earlier in the day and there will be greater access to water stations, making this event overall cooler than it was previously. We are excited to take another 10 kilometres off roads, which drops the road share of the 160 kms to 50% for the first time. This will also introduce a new social element to the Stage, where more participants have more access to watching and cheering for other competitors. On the flip side, some might be wary or inexperienced about running on a track, some may be running later into the day than they would have previously, and with 25 laps, lapping other runners will be inevitable. (Taking the second lane for an entire curve is an extra 3.3m).

    For those who are initially less than thrilled, consider this: Some ENDURrun participants do not like various aspects of the trails, roads, hills, locations, times, etc. Some are not true marathon runners. Does anybody consider this to be ideal weather? But this gets at the point of the ENDURrun challenge – to test the complete runner. We aren’t making gratuitous changes for the sake of change – this is a small but fundamental update, well considered, and we believe that the satisfaction of the challenge and the pushing of comfort zones is part of the One Tough Runner ethos.

    Note that everything is always up for review each year and the success of the track race will certainly be considered.

    Other Stages

    We don’t expect any changes to the other Stages (1, 3, 4, 5, or 7).

    Terrain of Stages for 2019

    Current status of wait list

    Posted by & filed under 2019.

    Since we sold out, lots has changed.

    People have joined the wait list, people have withdrawn, and spots have been filled.

    To keep you informed, we are going to use the top of our raceroster page to outline the latest wait list length and spots available.

    With every change, you won’t be actively notified, but you can always check this spot for the latest.

    As of this post, there are 3 withdrawals and 0 wait list, meaning the next 3 Ultimate entries can join directly.

    Welcome, Guests! Our Guest event caps for 2019

    Posted by & filed under 2019.

    Here is everything you need to know about Guest in 2019!

    For some background, a Guest entry is a single Stage entry to a week-long event. Those considering the Ultimate often join us for a single Stage to get a feel for the event, the community, and the course. we highly recommend it. It’s a high value just based on the cost-to-food ratio alone! It is also a good way for any community members to stay involved if, for example, they are not entered in the Ultimate event in any given year.

    2018 ENDURrun Stage 5: 25.6km Mountain Run

    Since our week-long Ultimate event has experienced significant growth since 2018, and given our sell-out for 2019, we are going to need to make some changes to Guest participant with caps in 2019.

    The Guest event participant caps for 2019, by Stage: 30 – 0 – 10 – 20 – 10 – 0 – 40

    Our top priorities are to maintain the participant experience, while continuing to keep the event open through these flexible entries.

    In terms of participant experience, we will almost certainly have many more runners across all events than ever before, and so we will check the growth of the entire event through Guest. These caps will deliver the maximum number of runners that we believe we can support to our standards in 2019. Most significantly, we are removing the Guest option from the two Time Trials, Stages 2 and 6. Those two in particular are taxed by participant levels and we see this as a necessary step in 2019.

    Our parallel priority is to continue to provide this opportunity, and so we have set healthy caps that will allow for a reasonable number of runners. For context, the 2018 Guest signups as a percentage of 2019 caps are: Stage 1: 57%. Stage 3: 50%. Stage 4: 60%. Stage 5: 60%. Stage 7: 68%.

    The end result is that we could still see more Guests than ever before, but only to these determined levels. These caps will be enforced. We are happy to announce this more than five months out from the event.

    The remaining spots are available directly in Race Roster a few clicks into the registration process. Screenshot from March 2, 2019:

    Further points:
    – Guest runners earn a finisher medal only at Stage 7. No other Stages involve medals of any kind.
    – Guest is separate from Relay; if you want to take the Guest experience up a notch, you can still run just one Stage while finding six friends to fill out the rest of the team!
    – Ultimates who withdraw but still choose to run as Guests will not be admitted to Stages 2 and 6.

    Pictured: Dorothy Skonieczka and Bryan Yeung. Bryan ran two Guest Stages in 2018, and both are back for Ultimate in 2019.

    New prize money in 2019

    Posted by & filed under 2019.

    Our first Ultimate sell out gives us an opportunity for changes and improvements in 2019. Prize money is an easy one.

    For 2019, we are increasing guaranteed individual prize money by 35%, recognizing masters with prize money for the first time, and introducing some new prize money challenges as well.

    2019 Ultimate Prize Money

    men and women
    Overall: 1st – $600 | 2nd – $300 | 3rd – $150
    Master: 1st – $300
    Sprint Champion: $100
    Trail Champion: $100
    Stage Winner: $20 x 7

    Notes

    Overall and Master prize money do not combine. Four individuals will win those four prizes.
    If 3rd overall is a Master, they receive 1st Master prize money, and the 4th overall runner will receive 3rd overall prize money.
    Sprint Champion has the lowest combined time of Stages 2 and 6.
    Trail Champion has the lowest combined time of Stages 3 and 5.
    Stage Winner is for Ultimates only.
    Sprint, Trail, and Stage prize money does combine.
    For example, the most a single runner could earn is $600 + $100 + $100 + $20×7 = $940.
    Relay prize money will not change in 2019.

    Inside the mind of an Ultimate champion (with photos)

    Posted by & filed under 2018.

    At ENDURrun, we try to celebrate our champions.

    We did a fun photoshoot with our winners Robert and Valery today, and asked them some questions along the way. It’s so easy for us to publish their stories because the humble drive they share certainly resonates with the community.

    ENDURrun winner photoshoot 2018

    Robert Brouillette is a prolific ENDURrun champion, having won this event for four consecutive years, with the 3-6th fastest times ever.

    Who has helped you achieve this?

    In 2015 I had the help of the Health & Performance club to train with 3 times a week, with lots of support from the members and guidance from coach Sean who has trained ENDURrunners before me. For the next 2 years I trained with an elite teammate. This year I trained on my own but still did some training with a bunch of different friends around the area.

    You won by over an hour, again. How do you find motivation in battling historical times?

    Even though I’ve comfortably won each year I find excitement in challenging my own self and Charles Bedley’s ghost of the past who holds cumulative and stage records. A lot of my times are within a minute and some just seconds of EPB’s and records so every stage needs to be a solid effort.

    Were you happy with your performance this year?

    I am surprisingly happy with my effort this year even though I didn’t continue the trend of getting faster each year and ran my second fastest cumulative time ever. This makes me happy because I ran a respectable performance even though unfortunately I had some personal life things that impacted my training this summer building up towards the event.

    Did you have any idea in 2015 that this was possible?

    In 2015 when I ran my rookie year of the event I was confident I would do well because I’m fortunate to have the athletic qualities needed to race back to back, recover quickly and run high hard effort mileage “comfortably”. I could see this from my training and how my body responded to this type of running style leading up to my debut.

    What does four consecutive wins mean to you?

    The wins show that the unique race format of the event allows me to show my strengths of multi-day racing and do well enough to defend my title. In the past years it’s been more about stage records and overall cumulative time goals rather than placing that I’ve needed to focus on.

    What were you most pleased with? (It looks like your Stage 3 was a big breakthrough this year.)

    It’s always a pleasure to win regardless of current fitness, other competitors and event conditions which all change year to year. Running my 2nd fastest overall time ever and top 4 all-time is cool. I’m most pleased with a new stage 3 Bechtel Park 30K XC PB beating one of the event record holders stage times by 3 seconds. A close second would be how I ran a strong consistent marathon on the last day after 120K of racing in my legs.

    Any plans for 2019?

    I have already signed up for next year looking to defend my title once again and hopefully with some better training behind me, have a better shot at some records.

    Do you hope to be more challenged in 2019?

    In my experience over the year I’ve found that regardless of who’s in the race I always give 100%. However, it’s possible having a physical runner ahead of me or chasing right behind me rather than a ghost runners (chasing time records from the past) might give me that little bit more of an edge to push harder.

    Do you think an Ultimate male will ever go sub-2:30 in the marathon?

    Currently the top 2 ultimate marathon times are 2:32 and 2:35 with my best at 2:36 so in order for me personally to ever have a shot at a stage record or cumulative overall time record I would certainly need to be around 2:30 and under to give myself some cushion room. The marathon is actually one of the easier stages for me physically and time record wise as I find stage 5 (16M XC) and stage 6 (10K TT) to have the hardest records to beat.

     

    Valery Hobson won the Ultimate for the first time in her third attempt. She had a rare opportunity to share the Gold Jersey with her teammate and competitor Robyn Collins, and in the end, prevailed in a tight and grueling contest.

    When did you think this was possible?

    Stage 5. The races had been fairly close up until then but I was always just a bit shy of winning despite running my heart out. lol Chicopee is a different beast altogether. It’s not like any of the other stages and I truly believe that if you don’t make a concerted effort to train hills and trails you have no clue what you are in for there. When Lloyd held the timer out for me and we watched the time go past one minute thirty…..the tears started flowing. And because the gap became over 7 minutes, it made me think maybe it truly was possible.

    What does it mean to join the Gold Jersey Club?

    Wow. It means I’ve achieved something very special and unique. Not many people can say they’ve done it….and to be honest, it’s not like I’m 30 years old and have tons of years ahead of me to train and get better. I’m almost 50 and my times are not going to keep getting faster. I know that. I’m not going to keep getting better….it’s physiology. I can’t escape the fact that my aging body will likely not be able to withstand this level of racing for much longer. It was now or probably never. It’s such an honor and privilege to say I am part of the Gold Jersey Club

    Who has helped you achieve this?

    My running has definitely improved since joining H+P 3 years ago. My team and the friends on the team that I run with and train alongside have certainly played a huge part in my personal success. The running community as a whole is such a supportive and encouraging community. We all have our own goals but push each other to be the best we can be. The ENDURrun family is also a tremendous force in encouragement and support. There is a camaraderie and spirit there unlike anywhere else. And of course my family who continually support me and encourage me to be the best I can be.

    You are a rare case of in three Ultimates, always bettering your previous times. How do you do it?

    Hmm…..I am a bit competitive. Especially with myself and I always strive to do better. And as I mentioned, training with H+P has definitely helped. Being able to train with people who push you and make you try harder and encourage you to do better helps for sure. I also seem to have a decent ability to recover quickly….which helps with back to back training days and racing days.

    Describe the battle at the top of the leaderboard in 2018

    It really could’ve been anyone. Vicki is a seasoned and experienced and strong runner and of course Robyn has been running so exceptionally well, if there was no Stage 5, I likely wouldn’t have won. I was just trying to stay as close to her as possible all week not really thinking it would end the way it did. It was so great to share the podium with my teammates….and Rebecca in a strong 4th place. 🙂

    What were you most pleased about ENDURrun 2018?

    From a personal achievement standpoint: the OA win obviously….more specifically, the last 3 stages. Chicopee was the turning point, my 10k was a PB the following day, and I was extremely pleased with my marathon. I had no idea I’d run such a solid time. From a general standpoint: the family of runners and friends and family and volunteers….all the parts of the week that make it such a special and wonderful event.

    Why are you signed up again for 2019 already?

    I made a promise to myself. If I ever win ENDURrun I will immediately sign up for the following year as a gift BUT, I will run it strictly for fun. After 3 years of running my heart out and giving it my all….I want to experience it from a different perspective. I want to remove all pressure and expectations. I think it’s the best gift I could ever give myself as a reward for my win. I’m looking SO forward to 2019!!!

    Did you know you’re the oldest ever ENDURrun champion?

    Oh wow. No, I did not know that. Oi. I think this is what I am most proud of. To win the gold jersey at any age is such an accomplishment, but knowing I did it as a master with the big 5-0 coming around the corner is icing on the cake.

     

    This project started last year when we went to Chicopee with Robert and Vicki. This year’s photos were from Bechtel Park, and we also added the interview component as well. We plan to continue to make this a tradition that honours the male and female ENDURrun champions.

    We have 8 male champions in 16 years, and 11 female champions in 15 years. Only about half of the time has the previous winner returned to race the following year. We are super lucky to have both Robert and Valery proudly declaring their intentions already, no matter what they plan to do. They are great ENDURrun ambassadors. You look great in gold!