Two ultramarathoners from the qathet region have completed one of the toughest trail runs in North America.
A media release from the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run asks the question: What on earth would motivate anyone to run 50 kilometers?
That’s a question Mark Grist and Ean Jackson pondered as they stood nervously at the start line.
The release stated that Run Wild magazine has recognized the Knee Knackering run in Vancouver’s North Shore mountains as one of the 25 toughest races in North America. The event bills itself as Canada’s “knarliest” ultra. The release stated that the course profile looks like a saw blade.
Starting near Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, participants climb and then descend about 5,000 metres (16,300 feet) as they run the Baden Powell Trail to the finish line in Deep Cove. Anyone who doesn’t complete the distance in under 10 hours is disqualified.
“I’ve spent half of my life participating in the Knee Knacker,” stated Grist. “The race has become part of me. I don’t think so much about the difficulty...the pain. I just think, oh... it’s the first Saturday of July...time to run another Knee Knacker.”
Jackson, the more senior of the friends, has a slightly different perspective on why.
“I’m not competitive, but I want to stay a couple of finishes in front of Grist,” stated Jackson. “If it kills me, I want to be the person who dies with the satisfaction of being able to say I’ve completed more Knee Knackers than anyone else on the planet.”
After this year’s finish, Jackson is now tied for that goal with 28 finishes.
The trail itself is narrow and uneven. Some sections, such as the boulder field on Black Mountain near the start, are so steep that participants climb on all fours. Just beyond halfway at McKay Creek, runners skirt a steep drop-off on loose gravel where a wrong move would see them plummet into the dense forest below. A late spring meant snow and mud were additional challenges this year.
Given pandemic restrictions, the race had been cancelled for two years. Leading up to the event, neither Grist nor Jackson was confident about their chances of finishing. Both runners benefited from knowing the course (Grist had completed the event 23 times and Jackson 27), but injuries, work and life circumstances contributed to a less than optimal training regime this year.
The qathet region has been well-represented at the Knee Knacker since its founding 33 years ago. Darbykai Standrick won the event in 2018, and Sibylle Tinsel, Ken Legg and Carrie Walsh have all finished the race at least once.
Last year, Jackson and Legg jointly claimed the unofficial “Forrest Gump of Powell River” title by becoming the first people to run every street in the city.
