Running a marathon is one of life’s most amazing, body crushing joys. Having run three, I can still recall the pride — and also utter pain (kilometre 40 is a bitch!) — of crossing the finish line.
For some runners, however, covering 42.2 kilometres is only the beginning of their challenge. For this impressive group of athletes, running a particularly difficult course is also part of the fun.
Cue Mountain Equipment Co-Op, which is organizing a “quad-crushing” full and half-marathon on November 1 on the rolling roads in Gatineau Park.
“It will be the hardest marathon in Canada,” says race organizer Chris Chapman.
What makes it so difficult? Well, for one, the insane hills as the elevation gain and loss during the race is over 1,200 metres. So not only do you have to cover 42.2 kilometres horizontally, you also have to run a series of hills that will make you go up and down for more than 1.2 kilometres.
No wonder that this event has been called one of the six hardest races in all of Canada.
Interestingly, Chapman notes that runners should be more worried about going downwards than overcoming the race’s brutal climbs.
“The biggest challenge will be the downhill not the uphill, and I think a lot of people will overlook this,” Chapman tells Apartment613. “Running downhill is much more debilitating on your body because it is not use to it.”
While the difficulty of the race is particularly hard, it also offers aspects that are common to all road races: It will be on pavement, timing chips are provided, aid stations will be available every 3 kilometres and post-race food will be offered.
This year’s event was capped at 300 runners, but when that sold out it was increased to 350 and finally 400 participants. While the November event is now completely full — Chapman says race organizers cannot handle a bigger group this year — there are plans to expand in the future.
“Next year I think we can double it,” says Chapman, when asked about the number of participants.
In the meantime, if you want to become involved but missed out on the registration, the event is still looking for volunteers.
