That first look gets me every time. I can’t help but smile as the coulees first come in full view while I drive down Hwy 3 approaching the City of Lethbridge.
It’s only when I start run/climb/hike/crawl up that 20th hill in the sweltering heat, the smile leaves my face. Ducking coulees!
I don’t know what it is – the challenging terrain, the never-ending coulees, the heat, the snakes (OK definitely not the snakes, the landscape etc – I just love running in the coulees. (I’m choosing to gloss over my first Lost Soul 50K finish in 2014 when I puked at the first line.)
I’m hooked.
So it was an almost no brainer to sign up for the Coulee Cactus Crawl (or is it Cactus Crawl Coulee? I keep getting the freaking name wrong.) This year the race was in its 25th year. Usually the race is 32K – solo or on a team but the race organizers upped the ante on the race to 40K.
Perfect, I thought. I could get in some decent Lost Soul training. But my foot and chiropractor had other plans. Team it is!
Ben & Not Jerry
I still wanted to get in a solid training run. As well I wanted to see how my legs would respond to the coulees after all the concentrated elevation training that I have been doing over the last few months.
I begged Ben to be on my team. I would run the first three legs (25K) and he would finish off with the last two legs (15K). Thankfully he was on board.
Surprisingly I knew several people at the race. Barry and Fab were both running solo for training at Sin 7. Of course there were at least six or seven runners from Red Deer. (I can’t seem to shake them.)
We were given a rating and description of the legs: Leg 1: Tough, Leg 2: Rating: Maybe a little tough; Leg 3: Tough but most beautiful.
I stopped reading after the ratings. I knew someone in front of me would know where to go. Besides that’s what the little red flags were for. I love surprises in a race and bonus kilometres is always fun.
The infamous Gary Glover 
Ribbon marker 
Or is this Gary?
The race started at noon and it goes without saying … it was going to be a hot one. Not to mention, there was smoke in the air from the northern Alberta wildfires.
I was careful to drink lots all week and on Saturday while I drove down to Lethbridge. Ben and I were both very chill about the whole thing. We just wanted to get in a good run and finish strong.
Leg 1 – Tough
The race began near the Elks Community Recreation Area and headed south along a paved pathway along the river, under Whoop up Drive (I know what a ridiculous name for a street), across the boat launch entrance before starting up to the coulees and then more zig zagging.
I seeded myself in the middle and allowed the crowd to dictate the pace. I ran pretty well but it got hot real quick. My mouth was dry and I coughed quite a bit over the first kilometre. A few kilometres in, my coughing calmed down and focused on getting to the first check station.
The heat was awful but I was feeling pretty good. I kept drinking water every few minutes. I did not want to get dehydrated.
Leg 2 – Maybe a little less tough
A quick check in with Ben and I took off on leg 2. This one involved gentle climbs and was very runnable. But I had to walk quite a bit on the runnable bits to try to cool off. Despite battling the heat, I felt pretty strong on the climbs. (Maybe it was the new shoes I bought a few hours before the race started. Thank you Runner’s Soul!)
I finished the second leg a few minutes slower than the first leg. I told Ben that I would take my time on my final leg because the heat was really getting to me.
Leg 3 – Tough but most beautiful
I don’t know really what to say about this leg. It started with some discussion with Deb about whether or not we were going in the right direction (maybe I should have read the leg descriptions). It ended with Barry pouring water over my neck and telling me not to push myself. A lot can happen over eight or nine kilometres.
I was feeling so-so until about five kilometres into the leg when the so-so feeling went to shoot-me-now. I slowed considerably on a few hills. Barry caught up with me and we chatted as we walked a few kilometres. It was great to have some company when you’re feeling miserable.
I was pretty much done at this time and I was SO HAPPY that I elected to run the first three legs as opposed to running solo. Best decision ever.
The Rest of the Race
Ben took off like a bat outta hell. He was probably so anxious to get going since I took so darn long on the last leg. (I’m surprised he didn’t send out a search party.)
He had a strong two legs. I think we finished around six hours and change. Fun time. Other teams probably had better systems but we were pretty chill about the whole thing. All about the fun.
Ben and Barry recovering after the race with tacos and water.
Great to chit chat with other runners and get in some solid training. My foot only slightly bothered me. All the easy running and walking during the third leg must have helped.
This was just what I needed to kick start my long runs (again). My first big race of the season is coming up in two months. I can’t wait.