The sport of Ultra Running is gaining in popularity more each year in North America and often deemed as the ultimate challenge for those who just love to run!
Ultra Running is devoted to covering the sport of long-distance running any distance past the marathon of 42.16 km or 26.2 miles. The shortest standard distance that is considered an ultra-run is the 50-km distance, or 31.07 miles. Other standard distances are the 50-mile, 100-mile, 100 km, and a series of events that last for specified time periods such as 6-hour, 12-hour, 24-hour, 48 hour, and 6 days.
Shorter distances can be labeled an ultra-run if they merit as something unique from a typical run, such as a race that might involve considerable difficulty involving challenging terrain, or perhaps a route requiring some navigational abilities.
Such is the case of the Rider vs Runner race coming up this Saturday at the Souris Riverbend Wildlife Management Area near Nesbitt, MB, held in cooperation with the Distance Riders of Manitoba's Endurance Riding Event. Runners compete against horse and riders over a 23-mile course with river crossings, steep climbs and descents, and narrow pathways through forest and meadow. Anyone who's hiked this trail remembers the steep climbs with approximately 2,000 feet of gain/loss.
"No doubt you probably haven't seen too many of these races," says Co-Race Director and Manitoba ultra runner, Jeff Bond. "As far as I know, this is the only person vs horse race in Canada. There's a few in the UK, a few in the US, but nothing quite like this. Most of the other ones tend to be on road or on a kind of really wide-open trail, whereas this one's all single track, lots of steep hills for climbs and descents and six river crossings. And yeah, it's a 23-mile course that we're competing directly against the riders on horses!"
Bond has over 30 ultra running races under his belt, training regularly in the Souris Riverbend following the same trails as the Distance Riders of Manitoba equine riding club.
"I've been fortunate enough to use them as training and I just approached them one day and I said, 'You know, I've had this idea that's kind of been rumbling around in my head. What do you think about kind of pitching people versus horses just to try and get some more use out of the trails, but then also make it kind of interesting and novel. And they were like, yeah, that sounds really cool!'"
"This race is unique to us, and I don't know of any others across Canada. And all the proceeds go to the horse group just for trail maintenance and trail signs," he adds. "This is just kind of a project that's fun! It's in our backyard. I've been doing training over in these hills for many, many years, training for ultras. So, it really just kind of fits in that way. And it's a tip of the hat and throwback to how ultra running started in North America."
Ultra Running began with a man named Gordy - in a horse race!
The Western States 100 Trail Ride, called the Tevis Cup Ride, is the oldest modern-day horseback endurance ride, covering 100 miles of rugged terrain from Lake Tahoe to Auburn, California, in a single day. The race began in 1955 and has continued ever since. However, in the early 1970's Gordon Ainsley found himself challenged to run this horse race on foot.
In 1971 and 1972, Ainsley completed the race riding his horse Rebel. But on his third attempt, in 1973 his horse, Rattlenose, went lame and was pulled out at 29 miles. There is a rumor that he completed that race on foot. But some say that is just a rumor. Nevertheless, Ainsleigh registered for the race in 1974, but without his horse.
It was a grueling challenge for the 6-foot-4, 203-pound man and he was up against 198 horseback riders. He certainly didn't win it, but he completed the race on foot having run for 23 hours and 42 minutes - just 18 minutes shy of the 24-hour limit.
Four years later in 1978, the participants running in the race had grown to 61 joining Ansleigh at the starting line in the Western States 100. Thirty of them would finish the race including, Gordy Ansleigh.
For the Rider vs Runner race this coming Saturday at the Souris Riverbend Wildlife Management Area the riders number about a dozen, and there are a maximum of 20 runners allowed to register, keeping safety in mind. All participants have 6 hours to complete the race; the fastest time wins the cup!
Bond says in two of the past 3 years, the runners have come out on top being the fastest to complete the challenge! What will this Saturday hold? It's anybody's race!
The sport of Ultra Running is growing around the world!
"Ultra Running continued to grow and grow to the point where ultra running in North America is the fastest growing sport," says Bond. "There are races all over the place and many, many distances. Ultra running's anything over a marathon distance, so distances of 50 miles up to 250 miles are out there!"
Bond says the Rider vs Runner race near Nesbit is a real fun one for all the competitors. "Yeah, the people who come out for many of them, this is their favorite run of the year, just because it is unique. As a race director, we try and do everything we can to make it enjoyable for the runners."
"We've got aid stations and we've got volunteers," he adds. "So as they're running around, there's snacks, there's drinks. And then at the end we all go and sit in the river with the riders and the horses!"
Please listen to more with Jeff Bond below!
For more on this event, visit the Rider vs Runner website HERE and their Facebook page HERE!
(all photo used by permission by Jeff Bond from the Rider vs Runner Facebook page)