2026
2024
2023
2019
2018
2017
. Running is really quite simple for me , to run long I have to run long and to run fast I have to run fast and to run long and fast I have to run long and fast and to run really long I have to learn to run slow and eat like a horse
5 X 8.4K laps at 5:30 am on a Sunday morning in Waterloo and it was a wrap on the Endur 2026 adventure. I wasn't really sure how things would glo I just knew I would get it done. Crossed the finish line in 4:55:54 an average of 7:01 / km or 8.6 KPH. I am pretty sure all my splits were slighlty under and hour. The first 3 laps I kept the HR in the 120's. Laps 4 and 5 the HR was in the high 130's low 140's. It really felt like a repeat of the 2024 Marathon crossing the finish line in 4:56:57.
My 2026 combined time was 19:36:09 compared to 2024 19:23:42, 2023 18:15:20, 2022 18:56:19, 2019 16:57:11, 2018 16:59:12, 2017 16:22:07.
2nd last stage completed in 1:00:46 a 6:04 pace. Beat 2024 time by 2 seconds, 1:00:48. Held the HR to the high 130's through the first 5K then let it climb into the 140's the second half. The start was a little tentative as a result of running all week but it came around a few laps in and I put forth a moderately hard effort...no walk in the park!
Stage 5 at Baden didn't disappoint, 1,000m vertical more or less 20 hill repeats. Its a 2.6K loop done 10 times. I thought I had a good hydration plan until things got allot harder doing the 8th lap. I was 3 hours into the run and had only consumed 1.5L of water , I was 0.6L behind. It was getting warm as the race progressed heading out on the 9th loop I upped the water intake and took an extra S cap. Consumed a GU and an S Cap at the start of laps 3,5,7 and 9. The 10th lap was a tiny bit better crossing the finish line in 3:54:49 a couple of minutes faster then my 2024 finish. So an OK day, felt harder then it should have been then again nothing has been easy...that why I do it.
17.8 at the start , 27 at the end...should have run faster and finished sooner!
Stage 4 went better then anticipated , it was a 4K look done 4 times. First loop was a little rough however things smoothed out quickly and I just had a dun laps 2,3 and 4. Walked the uphills and ran super fast on the down! Temps were s wee bit arm but felt better the Mondays Stage 2. Hydrated with water from the AS , no fuel. Finished in 1:56:01 A 7:12 pace a wee bit better then I thought.
30K stage 3 done in 3:49:34. It was 6 5K loops, total elevation came in somewhere around 600m, felt like a wee bit of climbing! Wasn't into the first loop at all , ran super slow. About half way through the second loop I felt more into it and by third it was trail business as usual. Watched the HR through the run , high 120s, lots of 130s and the occasional 140+. I wasn't able to reel in the pace very well in stage 1 and 2 more or less running my 6:30ish pace. I was really looking forward to a lazy 30K trail run and that is what I did.
A bit of a tough slug with better then expected results. The temps were low 20's but the humidity was super high and there was no breeze. The Sport and Ultimate were combined , it was a mixed field going out. It was super having everyone on the course. The only detriment was the chase wasn't there...it usually moves me along a wee bit quicker. It was a 2 hour cutoff , 8 Min pace required. After yesterdays half I had no doubts about getting it down.
Finished in 1:37:12 good for an average 6:29 pace/9.3 kmh. All the treadmill work done over the past few weeks has been at a 6:30 pace. I tried to pull back again but I couldn't...super odd turning out 6:30 ish Ks.