TWO TERRACE residents participated in a challenging cross-country race July 13, and survived to share their experiences.
Susan Moldenhauer was accompanied by her trainer and friend Willie Muller who both ran, uphill and downhill, for over seven hours through mountain valleys outside Vancouver—a total of 50 kilometres from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove in North Vancouver.
The annual lottery race’s name is “The Kneeknackering Northshore Run” for good reason, according to Moldenhauer, explaining that she recently lost another toenail.
“There are stairs, rocks, roots, uphill, bridges, downhill, hikers, tourists, dogs, up, down....it’s relentless,” she explained.
The annual race follows the Baden Powell Trail in mountainous North Vancouver and has 8,000 feet of climbing and 8,300 feet of descent, said Moldenhauer, adding that the payoff comes in a feeling of elation at getting across mountains, even if only to find another waiting, and also the accomplishment at pushing oneself to the max.
“For me, the third quarter was brutal. I had a fueling issue and struggled for nearly 1 1/2 hours trying to get back on track,” she said.
The results? Moldenhauer topped her previous best set in 2011 by 28 minutes at 7 hours and 21 minutes, good for 9th in her age category. Muller ran the course in 7 hours and 5 minutes.
Moldenhauer said it was Willie’s first “ultra” event and that he is hooked. They worked together to prepare and were both exhilarated by the experience.
“It was March 5 when we found out that we were selected. Immediately Willie had our training plan all mapped out near Terrace,” she said.