Keji's Backyard Ultra

 Keji's Backyard Ultra Run

BACKGROUND

This event used to go by the name of "Sonofa Gunofa Run" and took place in Five Islands Provincial Park in NS. After a few years of Covid cancellations in 2020 and 2021, the event rebranded and changed from a ~5.7km loop with ~160m of elevation to a ~6.7km loop with ~40m of elevation and conformed with the established "Backyard Ultra" norms. 

So what is a Backyard Ultra? For those not in the know, it's a new race format that seems to be getting more and more popular in the past few years - it's a great format for people to get PRs in distance travelled.

Here are the RULES, if you're interested.

In essence:

• Runners must complete a loop within the hour
• Each loop starts exactly 1h after the previous loop
• Runners must be in the starting corral at the top of the hour to start the loop
• Loops must be 4 miles 880 feet in length (6.7056km )
  

PRE-RACE

I have been looking forward to run this event for three years - and I had high expectations. We booked our site to the Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site earlier in the year. I did a bit of research on the park and the "runability" of the loop, etc. 

Kate and I dropped Nora off to her grandparents for the weekend, stopped at a grocery store and planned my race-day fueling, ensured we had all of my running gear, and made our way down to the Nova Scotia Valley - a 4 hour drive from Moncton. 

On Monday morning, I had checked the weather forecast at the park. It was looking like 18C and some overcast - a great day to run 80km to 100km perhaps? Thursday night I checked facebook, and somebody had mentioned that it was going to be hot and humid. Forecast was now closer to 28 -32 range, and ~40% humidity. 

Yikes.

This event format is quite unique in that it does not benefit a runner necessarily to run fast. As a rule, it was my goal to end each loop in ~52 to 54 minutes, giving me between 6 and 8 minutes to drink water, stretch, change shirts if needed, etc. 

In the past, I had done a similar event (Personal Peak Virtual Backyard Ultra) whereby I ran approximately 54 minute laps, and totaled 61km. This was the benchmark and the minimal distance I tried to beat on this day.

RACE

Kate and I setup my chair and stuff near the start finish line, near the garbage bins - in a small spot in the woods - a few other runner Ryan and Rob join me (I forget their names multiple times during this event until I got it right)

**Not remembering people's names/landmarks/times was a theme throughout the day, and was an oddity. If you've read any of my other blogs, I tend to have a generally good recall of people, events, things, names - but it wasn't the case on this day**

The race briefing started about 10 minutes before the event, and I was hoping he would wrap things up quickly so that I could go pee. Nope. Race brief and race start immediately after. 

1st Loop 

After the first 100m, I was in about last place (slowly walking up the hill) and then moved onto a slow jog down Jeremy's Bay Campground Road (an actual road) and made my way up the field to the point where we took a right turn onto the [Meadow Beach Trail?] at about 2.7km. Took a time check (~17 minutes) and followed a group. 

I tried to identify other landmarks on this run, and aimed for specific times at those landmarks - this would let me know if I needed to slow down or speed up.

Bridge - 22 minutes

Bench - 27 minutes

Turn away from river - 35 minutes

Turn onto Slapfoot Trail - 40 minutes from start/finish

With only 5 bathrooms for the whole field, I felt that I had to run quickly on the first loop to get in line for the bathrooms - not ideal given my lap goal, but it's lap 1 and I'm still feeling pretty fresh. I ended up running behind somebody who I felt was in the first 1/4 of the field, but also took it easy. We ran in silence for about 1km, and then we began chatting. This person was Jason White - he and a buddy planned on running +300kms on this run, his Instagram handle is @singletrackmind__ and I told him that there was a beer from Graystone Brewing in Fredericton that's named the Single Track Pale Ale.

We end up running the first loop in around 46 minutes. I ran straight to the bathrooms (there was a lineup). Came back to my chair, drank a bit of water, replaced my shirt which was already soaked and donned a singlet. 

Good to go, move into the Starting corral for the 2nd loop with plenty of time to spare. 

**The race director would whistle when there was 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute left in the loop, to warn folks of how much time was left**

2nd Loop

I needed to go much slower than the first loop, but my issue was that my memory was fleeting. I could not remember the benchmarks that I had set during the first loop. This was probably due to the poor sleep I had had the previous night.

At what time do I want to get to the trail head? At what time do I want to get to the bench? River? Slapfoot?

I hit the trail head at about 18 minutes this time - this was probably still a bit too fast, but at least I'm not exposed to the sun. (which at ~10:20am was already starting to beat down on us) The road section, whilst extremely runnable was also completely exposed to the sun, and had very little shade. I tried to run this section as fast as was conservatively possible - then hike/fast walk to the bench. ~31 minutes.

A bunch of people had passed me at this point, and I was not sure whether I was running too slowly, or too fast. I had no concept of where I was on the course, nor how much time I would have at the end of the loop - I started to panic a bit and ran the rest of the course. By the midway point of this loop I needed to go to the bathroom once again - this time for a #2. I sped up again and finished the loop in about 50 minutes - ran to the bathrooms - came back to drink some water - and back to the start finish line. 

There was not a lot of time to spare.

3rd Loop

During the 3rd loop, I tried to remember my landmarks and associated times. 

Run on the road for about 18 minutes 

Fast-hike on the first section of the trail for about 10 minutes and let a whole bunch of runners pass me. Chester Dana (also from Moncton) passed me just before the benches, and I thought I would start running with this group. We started chatting a bit about the day, I noted that I passed the benches at 32 minutes this time - which was a bit faster than where I wanted to be, but ultimately was easily doable.

We ran most of the rest of the loop, walking during the minimal "uphill" sections, and easy jogging the rest of the way. It was during this loop that I started to cramp up a little bit for some reason - just a little in my hamstrings - but I was not happy feeling a slight niggle this early in the day.

I was still having some issues remembering the landmark times that I wanted to hit, but I trusted that this gang of pretty solid runners knew the pace zones that they wanted to hit - so I did not bother myself too much with the landmark/timing aspect of it. 

We finished this loop in about 52 minutes; I ran over to Katie who was cheering me on at the Start/Finish and I gave her a look (like a big sigh = holy hell it's hot out here). At the end of the 3rd loop, it was coming up on noon hour, and there's no place to hide from the sun. I took a salt tab, drank a bunch of water, and had some salted sunflower seeds for nutrition. 

4th Loop

The 4th loop was carbon copy of the 3rd loop.

18 minutes to the end of the road, fast-hike from the road to ~bench, hit the bench at 31 to 32 minutes, start running with whomever had passed me at the time, and run to the finish in about 52 minutes. 

It was during this loop that I started to get thirsty and perhaps a bit dehydrated, I think I may have ran with Chester, maybe not? I can't quite remember the details. All I remember is that it's about 5 minutes from the turn away from the river to the Slapfoot trail, and about 7 minutes from Slapfoot to the Start/Finish.

With 8 minutes to spare, I decided to change my shoes from Salomon trail shoes to Hoka road shoes - my feet were starting to hurt slightly, especially my big toe. It was at this time that I wanted to run with my portable water bottle - so Kate filled it up with water. 

Katie said that she was interested in hiking some trails today, and asked if I needed her on the next loop - I thought I was doing fine and said that I had everything I needed and that she did not need to stick around for the next loop.

Back into the corral. 3 whistles...2 whistles... 1 whistle. 

5th Loop

I don't know what happened on the 5th loop, but the heat really started to get to me. I was weaving on both sides of the road to try and get as much shade as possible - by 1:00am the sun was absolutely beating down on us and it was tiring me out considerably. I tried to run, but it was very difficult - still, I was not in last place. 

The road was hot and exposed, and by this time I no longer wanted to push in the heat. By my first checkpoint (turn into the trail) I was already 4 minutes behind previous laps (22 minutes). Instead of hiking the next section of the trail, I felt like I needed to run/walk it, as my pace was not a great indication of finishing the loop in time. 

I met up with Ryan who was also struggling from the heat and ran with him for a short amount of time. He was hurting a bit more than me, and at some point I told myself that I needed to push on, because I was not sure that at this pace, I would be able to make the end of the loop. 

There was a few people at this point that were running for about 1 minute, then walking, then running, then walking. I got passed, and passed the same guy about half a dozen times, but I think we both ended up running this loop in time. 

I was near the end of the loop when I heard the 3 whistles (indicating 3 minutes left). Went over to my campsite, drank water - refilled my water bottle, grabbed a pack of skittles and back into the starting corral. I thought about not starting again at this point - but then I told myself that I felt better than others were looking - and that if I quit now that our race results would reflect the same thing. 

Pride told me: No, you're going back out there.

6th Loop

By the 6th loop, I was feeling awful - cramped in my chest and legs. I couldn't tell whether my heart rate was 80 or 150 when I was walking. 

Most people started running down Jeremy's Bay Road, and they just got smaller, and smaller, and smaller, and smaller - I thought eventually I am going to feel like running a bit. I looked behind me and I think there were 2 or 3 runners behind me at the 1km mark. I started chatting with this woman (can't remember her name) and she was probably on her last lap also. 

About 1 more km, and after a brief run/walk, I am walking down the road, alone. I look behind me and nobody is there - I am in last place on this lap. Some people might have turned back, maybe I imagined them?

I hit the trail head crossing at 24 minutes. Mental quick maths told me that I will need to run this trail section as fast as last lap to finish on time. There was a runner in front of me by about 150m, and I told myself "I think I can catch up to this person"

I start slowly running on the trail section, and I can sort of see him through the trees, he is not far from me. Then I take a walking break. Back again on a quick trot. Then again a walk. I can't seem to sustain a run - my chest and back are cramping up and I'm very warm, but my focus is basically this sole runner and nothing else. 

I know that there won't be anybody behind me to pass and motivate me, so I need to be the self-starter at this point. By the bench I caught up to him and followed him as he was walking (37 minutes). We walked together for a little bit of a while, and I let him lead us. This was a runner from Digby I believe, and I also can't remember his name.

I felt uncomfortable with the amount of walking that we were doing, so I passed him and ran for about 5 minutes, and back into a walk. We sort of passed each other, and worked with each other for a while, until he got away from me.

I hit the Slapfoot trail at 53 minutes, and I knew that it took me about 7 minutes to get from here to the finish line, so I knew I needed to start moving or not officially finish the loop. 

I started slowly jogging UP the trail section with a bit of elevation - as long as I kept moving at a respectable clip, I would be able to make it to the end of the loop on time. 

In the distance I hear three whistles - there is still some ways to go before the end, but I thought 3 minutes of running is mental, not physical. I had the Digby runner in my sights off into the distance - I wanted to keep him in my sights, at least until the descent. 

At the end of the loop, there is a nice, short descent, where I could open up and get a decent pace in without too much effort. 

- Two whistles - 

It's go time: I hit the slight descent, and open up my cadence and the legs turned over quickly, in what would be a pretty good pace when I'm feeling good. 

- One whistle - 

I cross the Start/Finish area with less than a minute to spare, and walk over to my chair and slouch. Katie is telling me to stay and run another loop, but I am completely demoralized, hot, thirsty, cramped. I am done, done.

 

DNS

I stubbornly sat in my chair and waited until Jodi told the runners to start loop 7. I was officially out, and did not even run a full marathon. I just sat in my chair for about 5 minutes, head in hands, and incredulous at the fact that I came so short of expectations. 

Unbelievably disappointed in results.

Lessons/Post Race

After the race had concluded, Kate and I went over to the beach to soak my feet in the water - we had a discussion, and I expressed how disappointed I was for finishing so early and coming so short of my goals - I needed to process this and what it meant for my next event: Capes 87km (in August). 

After I showered, I returned to the race Start/Finish line to drink some beers and perhaps hang out.

I sat with a group where we chatted and, drank a few adult beverages, and discussed the event.

It turns out that I was not the only person who fell far short of expectations, and this made me feel better about myself. I stayed at Jason and Lee's (aiming for 300km) crew station, where they made it apparent at how underprepared Kate and I were to deal with the heat, nutrition, and other things. I am very new to this running thing, and with Covid cancelling all events in the past two years - I feel like I had to make some mistakes to re-learn a few things. 

After the Fredericton Marathon, where I put 100% of my attention and focus on a positive outcome - and I had success - I sort of went into a lull in focus, recovery, and training. This event fell in an awkward timing between training and recovery, and I was not been completely focused on doing well at this event; I treated it like a long run that was part of my Capes Training. So much mental and emotional energy was placed elsewhere.

One thing I have never had to deal with in the past was overheating - I have never done a summer event in the past where cooling off is vital to success. Most of the events I have done were either Fall or Spring race weekends, or Capes in 2019 but that being off the Bay of Fundy, had some moderate temperatures.

I watched a recap of the Western States 100 - which occurred on the same weekend - the way they deal with heat and humidity, they had ice vests, etc. there are a lot of things that I could learn from adopting tactics like that in the future. 

I also listened to a podcast specifically about heat exhaustion/heat strokes, and it made me feel a bit better. 

For one, this was the hottest day of the year, and so it was impossible for me to have completed any sort of meaningful heat training up to this point in the year.              

I have some homework to do for next time: Better prepare and learn the course map, try to get some heat training done, and maybe do something about the bad sleeps (I think the poor sleeping affected my resilience a bit).

As my friend Chris said; in hindsight, you ran basically a full marathon in very difficult weather conditions. And I think that's a decent summary of the day. 

Lastly, nutrition. My nutrition consisted of skittles and salted sunflower seeds. I will be scrapping that, and also re-introduce Keto dieting during trainings.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Jodi and Karine for the fantastic event, I thought it was well organized, and Karine made sure to encourage all runners as they finished their loops. This event had to be deferred in back to back years, changed names, changed locations - but overall I thought they were transparent and kept people in the loop. The course length may have been 100m longer than regulation, but it was nice and runnable. I wish the weather would have been more forgiving. 

Even though I didn't know too many people out there, being one of a handful of people from NB, I would like to thank the runners and crew from NS who let us hang out and get to know you. 

A big congrats to Chester who was crewless, but nonetheless ran a masterclass 16 loops/~112km. You're going to crush Capes. See you at White Rock. And to Steeve Reeves the winner of the event.

Finally, I would like to thank Katie for being my support crew once again - sometimes I am not the easiest person to deal with, but she supports me regardless of mood or crazy adventure I put myself into. I think she learned a few things about crewing, and enjoyed herself as well. 

Next up for me is 87km at Capes. 

Till then.