Race #1: Meet the Minotaur

There was a time when I thought running from street light to street light without stopping was as challenging as it gets.

Now I am choosing races that push me to my limits (and possibly to my death).

Meet the Minotaur SkyRace is like no race I have ever competed in. But it checks all the boxes: Big and scary. High Vert. Hard as hell.

This year I wanted to do something different and challenging. I only learned about the mountain race last year after seeing a few posts on social. Then, of course, training with Susan in Crowsnest, one of the race directors, I learned a lot about it.

Susan assured me, promised me, swore on her sunglasses that I have what it takes to finish this race. I’m not so sure. The race scares me to death and that’s exactly why I want to do it. There’s a 12-hour time limit to run 32.5k with roughly 2900 metre elevation gain. It sounds like a lot of time but for an average runner it is not. (Many runners I know DNFed last year.)

The cutoffs could be tight if I don’t get my butt in shape. You can see from the course profile (below) that there is a lot of climbing from the get go. I am slow to start on a good day so I will really have to work out my race strategy to meet those cutoffs.

But it really isn’t a running race so my plan is to work on my strength, mobility and climbing/descending this winter. Honestly the list is longer .. I need a lot of work.

I’m taking some training tips from those who have run the race before. Michael from Canmore told me if I am good on scree, I will make good time on the downhills. Part of his training was to run up and down some of the steep mountains like Door jam over and over.

And Calgary crusher Joanna Ford, also wrote a few posts on her training for Minotaur. She’s run the race every year since its inception in 2016. Read about her training and races here.

With the race is only 23 weeks away, I have to get serious about my training. It’s going to be a long haul but thankfully a few trail pals are also attempting Minotaur for the first time. (There are a few spots left so if you are interested in this high vert, high adrenaline race, register here.)

What races have you signed up for in 2023? Have you set a big scary goal? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.