666. The number associated with the devil and as it turn’s out, also with my finish streak in Quebec.

Borealys is a brand new trail race created by the UTMB and the Harricana race directors. It begins in the beautiful village of Mt. Tremblant and then runs alongside the Devil’s river before ascending and descending the mountain itself from 3 different directions. Dubbed the Odyssée 100K, the race is actually 80km with 4000m of elevation gain, making it “equivalent” of 100k in UTMB’s eyes. I instantly knew that I had to sign up when I saw the announcement of this brand new race in Quebec. It would allow me to collect my UTMB stones as well as offer a new challenge, instead of going back to the canadian championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne this year. With the two races being only 6 weeks apart, I knew that I couldn’t do both.

Post-Gorge 100k

My usual race prep was interrupted with what felt like endless challenges. I expected to get back to normal training a few weeks after Gorge Waterfalls 100k in April but, I struggled with energy levels. I felt beyond drained which led me to check my bloodwork showing my ferritin levels had dipped as well as my vitamin D. Now thinking back, I had terrible poison oak all over my arms and legs after Gorge which led me to take antibiotics and that also probably contributed to feeling so terribly. As I focused on supplementation, yet another challenge stood in the way. The day after Gorge I couldn’t wear shoes, my right achilles was swollen and tender. This is relatively new for me so I was worried about turning it into a chronic issue going forwards. Luckily, I noticed that my achilles pain was very shoe driven with it being insertional tendinitis, so I treated it myself at work and completely overhauled every shoe I was wearing to get rid of the compression on my posterior calcaneus.

It was disappointing to say goodbye to my trusted race shoe of the past 2.5 years to switch from the Hoka Tecton X2 to the Tecton X3. Suprisingly, the X3 is a completely different structured shoe with a fabric backing and built in gator. It took a while to trust the ankle stability but to me it was worth it to save my achilles.

Sulphur Springs Relay

At the end of May, 6 weeks post Gorge, I had a relay race at Sulphur Springs this year which meant a 20k loop. I didn’t have a lot of faith of being able to run fast at all. Luckily I was saved by the torrential rain and mud which meant a slower pace was reasonable on the day – 1hr46min (5:27/k pace). That was max speed regardless of the conditions that day.

Summit 700 50k

Come July, I finally started to bounce back. Clipping off decent elevation in training and some bigger long runs as I normally would. On July 11th, I raced Summit 700 50k as a tune up. I was so excited to go to the race since it would be Josh’s first race back since 2019. I chose Summit as the perfect tune up for Borealys being 5 weeks out with a similar vert profile, ending with 3 summits of Blue Mountain. It was the perfect day with a solid first climb up Osler Bluff ski hill achieving “Queen of the Mountain” status. I tested out my new tecton X3’s on the technical caves section as I worked to try to reel back in some of the men in the field. I made effort to push every single runnable section and to walk as little as possible. After we descended my favourite little downhill 1940, we set out to climb the last 2 ski hills of the day in the scorching sun. I doused my head in water at every aid station possible. I led from the gun to tape in a new female course record of 5:31 (old CR 6:20) also winning Queen of the Mountain (fastest first climb). It was the perfect day, and I recovered incredibly fast… all good signs 5 weeks out from Borealys.

Summer Training

The week after blue I was back out on the trails for more hill repeats to get ready for a big day in Quebec. Unfortunately for Ontario we had the worst air quality in the WORLD that week, which limited how much I could really get outside. On wednesday, Jeremy and I hit up Tew’s hill for a few long hill repeats but quickly called it a day as it was legitimately orange outside. Luckily, after a terrible 3 days our weather cleared and all systems were a go. On Sunday, I went up to one of my favourite sections of the bruce up in Halton (the badlands!) for a 4 hour run. Super solid only 8 days post 50km race.

So nice I did it twice – Blue mountain that is! Just 2 weeks after Summit700, I headed back out to Blue Mountain for my traditional “training camp.” This training camp entails a Friday long-run on the Flesherton Bruce loop into another long-run Saturday on the ski hills and an option to add additional hills Sunday morning. I created this mini-training camp for myself back in 2023 to get creative about finding ways to train for the mountains while living in southern Ontario.

Paul Vanoostveen joined me for the Blue mountain ski hills to prep for Borealys too. A 4.5 hour longrun into 8 summits of Blue the following day made for a stellar training weekend. Josh and I enjoyed some brews and the scandinavian spa to celebrate. With only 3 weeks to go, it was time to start tapering down training.

Pre-Race

At least now I knew how to overcome these feelings. I got out my workbook for my mental skills training and reflected on my goals and motivations for the race.

First and foremost I reminded myself of the three pillars that we set to create a performance that I would be proud of:

1. Confidence
2. Joy
3. Presence

As long as I could check each box at the end of the race, I would be happy with my performance. I thought through what I would do if I stressed out about my position and reminded myself to focus on my own performance, how I felt in that moment and doing what was right for my body at that time. And finally, I wrote out some automatic wins for the weekend that had absolutely nothing to do with performance.

1. New epic trails ahead
2. Being part of an big inaugural race
3. Exploring Mt Tremblant – I LOVE SKI HILLS
4. Fun times with the crew
5. Racing with Paul again and enjoying building friendships in this trail community
6. Most vertical gained in a race to date
7. Making it to the start line – after all that fatigue and injury – a finish is never a given
8. Using this as training for an epic hike with Josh in the Dolomites soon

We arrived in Mt Tremblant 2 days before race day. I had a crew of Josh, Evan and Tyler all excited to explore the village. Paul V was also staying with us for the weekend. I quickly ran out the door to shake the drive out of my legs just to be met with the most perfect rainbow over the finish line. Somehow I also ran straight into Jordan Bierema who lives in Hamilton, my training grounds… small world. I didn’t know it yet but, we would end up seeing a lot of each other on race day.

The following morning I ran along the race course, which happened to pass 200m from the air bnb that we were staying at for that weekend. Crazy! I ran through my mental race prep in my head and aloud as I ran along the course, imaging what it would feel like tommorrow morning. I packed my kit, and grabbed my bib. It was hard to fall asleep knowing there would be a 3am wake up call.

THE RACE

Start – First Aid (12km: 1:08)

We walked 1km down from our air bnb to the race start. Officials checked some of our equipment and then Paul and I took off for a short pre-race shake out. We weaved our way to the front of the start corral. I wore my insta360 GO3S for this race, praying that I wouldn’t lose it again like in Gorge. You’ll see some screen grabs from the video it took throughout the next blog.

At 5am we were off through the village of Mt Tremblant. A majestic deer was there to greet us as we turned off the paved paths onto the trails. A few KM later our headlamps illuminated the very trails that I scouted the day before, passing by the boys. I was thankful that the majority of the first section was quite runnable on paved paths or packed rail trail type terrain. We ran alongside the Devil’s river for much of this section – I was thankful that it wasn’t a mestachibo type trail alongside the river. I was out in 5:30/k pace.

I came through the 12k aid station in 1hr8minutes in a close 4th place only 6 minutes behind the leader. 5th and 6th were right there with me. The top 7 of us were all really close: 1:02, 1:04, 1:08, 1:08, 1:09, 1:10, 1:11. As I left the first aid station it was a pleasant surprise to run into fellow Ontarian Jeffrey Paul. We passed each other at Gorge earlier this year as well!

First Aid 12km- Second Aid (18km 1:48)

There would be only 6km to cover before the next aid station but I knew that would be an important one to stock up on fluids before the first big climb of the day. This section would be one of the most technical sections of the day with rocks and roots on descending switchbacks. I quickly realized my preparation on this style of terrain was lacking. One female came flying by me, who would go on and place second, and I knew I had to just get through as best I could. I had some negative thoughts but I reminded myself that regardless of my placing my life wouldn’t change and instead I needed to focus on enjoying this epic journey that I was about to embark on. This meant enjoying the views, focusing on my nutrition and having some fun. I wasn’t loving my shoe choice on this technical terrain as my ankle and shoe moved in two different directions. After that, my big toe nail pinched between these wooden boards you see. Ouch that hurt. Another nail in the coffin for that shoe choice. I had a female that I could hear just behind me as we exited that trail section.

Luckily that technical section was short as I headed into the second aid station in 1hr48minutes. Listening out for the crowd to help me determine placing I heard, “quatre, cinq.” Dang french. I thought back to elementary school french class, Un, Deux, Trois, Quatre, Cinq, Six… ok that must mean fourth and fifth female. I turned to a male that was beside me and said, “quatre cinq means four five right?,” he turned to me and said “how did you know I speak english.” We both laughed.

Unfortunately for me, I had to quickly duck into the portapotta at the aid station thanks to day two of my period which was heavier than expected… another thing to worry about all day… great. Once I emerged I didn’t see the female I came in with. After checking the splits apparently there was another female only a few seconds behind us when we came through. So that portapotty set me back 2 places which would be one of my only regrets that day. I hadn’t really thought about something like that before, but I knew tactically I wouldn’t do that again going forward. Any further breaks would be in the bush so I could see what was happening in the race.

A conga line appeared at the water tables for this aid station yet again wasting more time. I had to stop though, it would be 15km to the next aid with 975m + of elevation gain.

Second Aid 18km – Third Aid (33km – 3:46)

I made sure I had 1.5L and exited out of the aid. Standing there was none other than Jordan Bierema. I had found yet another Ontarian at an aid station that day. I waited a few seconds for him to get his bottles situated in hopes that we would run the next section together. He introduced me to his buddy Brett and we joked about how terrible we all ran on that last technical section. They mentioned that there was a conga line on one section of the trail for them and I laughed that I was the one creating a congo line for my group of runners. Jordan did not stay with me for long, that would be a theme of the day, but Brett and I chatted for a few km. It was a welcome distraction to be able to have a full conversation in english after difficult translations from french to english all morning. Before I knew it, I was off in no man’s land heading into the first climb of the day.

Beautiful trails awaited us with these cool rock slabs, beautiful views, and very bruce-trail type terrain. I was thankful that this section looked nothing like the previous section as I found my legs again. We climbed almost 1000m in this section with the majority of it taking place on an exposed ski hill that looked like a tractor drove through it. I saw a female ahead of me and one just behind me, both using poles. I settled into my well trained power hike with my hands on my knees and worked to destroy that uphill. I felt strong. I knew had gotten THAT part right in my training.

At the top of that climb awaited the third aid station Pic White at 33km. I went through in 3hr46min. Looking back at the splits the women were: 3:12, 3:26, 3:40, 3:43, 3:45, 3:46, 3:47, 3:48. I was in sixth but I still didn’t know it. No french counting at this aid. I could feel that a woman was still not far behind me after that climb but I didn’t dare to look. I quickly filled my bottles to 1L, grabbed some watermellon and was out of there.

Third Aid 33km – Fourth Aid 43km (5:02)

Excited for what I knew would be a net downhill section of the course, I was off running towards the boys for what would be the first crewed aid station of the day. I reminded myself of my three pillars of performance and focused on confidence with downhill running and footing.

A stunning view it was down that hill where we cut back and forth a few times. There were a few more technical trail sections mixed in there but, they didn’t bother me much. I was starting to feel a bit hot and was looking forward to grabbing ice from the crew.

Fourth Aid 43km – Fifth Aid 53km (6:44)

Before I knew it, I was into the crewed aid station at Base Nord 43km in 6hr44min. Evan greeted me on my way through the building with my 360 camera to get some behind the scenes footage. Josh and Tyler waved me over to our section and we swapped gear. I was happy to see the boys which gave me a boost in motivation as it always does. I asked a few times, “what place am I? “Still not knowing. The boys looked at each other, “uhm 5th or 6th.” I was in fact holding a steady 6th with 7th just 6 seconds behind me. We swapped bottles, grabbed my delicious BRIX gels along with an ice bandana and I was off. I also asked the boys to text me my placing as I go through the next aid station. It would be easy to read I that notification through my watch as my phone was part of the manditory kit.

I had guessed that the next climb of 670m would be technical and in the trails based on how it looked on google earth. I had guessed right.

The first section of this climb started gradually on pretty open trails. I was able to keep a steady run versus power hiking. I was proud of that. I even passed a few men as they were walking the section. I found a new running partner that I would spend the next 2-3 hours with on and off. I somehow never did get his name as we were speaking broken english to each other. As we hit the steep part of the climb he was using hiking poles as I power hiked a few steps ahead of him. I was using every tree possible to help claw my way up the mountain. Every time a section flattened out I used every ounce of will-power that I had to get back into a running stride. Push. Push. Push. I thought. I started to feel sleepy for the first time in a trail race. I thought about my options and realized that I hadn’t taken coca-cola from the boys at that last aid station. That was a mistake. But, I had taken an extra bottle that could fill at the next aid. That was the plan, and a new motivation to move forwards.

At 53km the Edge aid station appeared through the a clearing in the trees at 6hr44min. Edge would be one of the high points of the course with awesome views. I filled my bottles and grabbed my coca-cola. A course marshall stood there smiling at me waiting for a chance to interrupt my train of thought. She said, “I need to check your manditory equipment when you’re done.” Wow. That’s a first. I’ve carried all of this equipment for so many races and had never been checked. I fiddled to grab the different items and another female came up to the aid. She better check her too, I thought. And so she did. It was quite fair and equal which I was happy about, not wanting to lose any time or positions. I decided I had time to stop in the porta potty one more time just to avoid having to stop again later, looking at the time left.

Fifth Aid 53km – Sixth Aid 60km (7:59)

A short 6.5km section awaited. I happy sipped on my coca-cola and BRIX feeling a reinvigoration of my spirits. My new found energy was short-lived as I walked through a lot of the trails in this section. Every longer ultra I find my body has some kind of 50k set point. Once I hit 50km my body thinks that it is done for the day and I have to battle with my mind and muscles to keep moving forwards. Eventually it bounces back and this time was no different.

I trudged along with my new found french companion trying to figure out the math for our current estimated finish time. “I went through 43k in 5:02, so the second 40k will probably take 7 hours,” I proclaimed. “I estimated it’ll take 1 hour for every 10km plus an additional hour for every 1000m of vert, which puts us at like 11 hours,” he said. “Yeah that’s actually pretty accurate, but I’m not feeling so good,” I replied. Just a few more hours to go. Around the same time a text finally came through from Josh.

That section’s one pretty big blur of power hiking on moderately technical trails but you can tell it was a bit of a struggle bus as Jordan who I unknowingly passed at the crewed aid station, had caught back up to me after being 5 minutes behind. He passed me somewhere near the next aid station.

Sixth Aid 60km – Seventh Aid 65km (8:55)

I walked into the Nansen aid station at 60km and volunteers were quick to help me. One man took my bottles from me to fill and told me to grab some salty foods and he would come find me. I was so thankful for the time that would save as I grabbed another handful of chips while he gave me my bottles back filled. “You’re 5th female,” he said. “Am I?, Ok thank you,” as I ran off guessing. I definitely did not pass any women in that section. Had someone dropped at an aid station somewhere? All I knew was that I was either 5th or 6th. Either on the podium or one step off it. All I had control over in that moment was pushing as hard as I could to the next aid station and so I did. I had no idea at the time but that female who was just behind me at the crew aid station was only 1 minute behind me now. I had 13 minutes on her at the last aid showing that I crushed that climb from 43-53k but lost it in the technical sections. Obviously these skills could use some work.

Out onto some pretty cool rock slabs, I was reminded of the beautiful trails I raced in Squamish. It was another section with some pretty wicked views as we climbed 526m back up to the peak at Edge Aid station (the second passing).

Seventh Aid 65km to Eighth Aid 70km (9:26)

As I ran into Edge Aid (2) I noticed the volunteers were busy on the opposite side of the table helping those going through 53km. I quickly decided to grab my own water off the table. I made sure to refill my coca-cola again to help give me the boost that I’d need to reach the next crewed aid station. I laughed as once again I had caught up to Jordan as he was filling his bottles. We ran out of the aid within 30seconds of each other towards even more stunning views. This may be my favourite view of the day.

I knew that this section was going to be a steep downhill with most of it exposed meaning more of an open ski hill type section. I had been running every section like this strong all day and was excited to open up my legs. The first kilometer was this really fun bouldery downhill and I passed Jordan this time as I was handling the pounding on my hip flexors better than he was. Looking after the fact, I was in sixth at that aid with that same female only 2 minutes behind me; I had gained one minute over that last 5km.

A good chunk of this section was grassy ski hill and I had so much fun high stepping it. The last mile into the aid station was a wide gravel road so I put my old road running legs to work. I was pretty much in no man’s land once I passed Jordan. As I ran down the road, I caught up to a male in front of me and noticed he was wearing a relay bib. Damn. I hadn’t even considered that some of the women I’ve seen at aid stations or even on that first climb could have been a relay team. Now it made sense not knowing what place I was.

Eighth Aid 70km to Finish (10:58)

Back to Base Nord for a second time that day, the boys awaited me. I had estimated it could take up to 1.5 hours to finish this next section as we had one final big climb to go. I fully stocked up ready to crush the final section taking 1.5L of fluids, a bottle of coca-cola and an ice bandana. I was so focused on getting out quickly that I forgot to grab my last bag of 3 BRIX gels. I grabbed another handful of chips as I passed through the building towards the final section of the course. The announcer surprised me with a special shout out as I left the aid… completely in french of course.

Immediately we were into the final climb of the day, another 635m gained straight up the ski hill. It was then that I realized that I had forgot my gels but, knew I had two extra gels that I always stashed in the very back of my pack. I was so thankful for my new ice bandana as we cooked in the open trails. The hill seemed to never end as we climbed higher and higher. Even so, I felt strong and doubted that anyone could catch me now. Looking after the fact, that female who followed me so closely all day was now 7 minutes behind me, increasing my lead by 5 minutes. I had crushed that downhill.

A few sneaky technical sections awaited as we travelled pretty steep uphills towards the final peak of the day that was Pic White. Knowing the finish line was beside the gondola, I was excited to see the ski lifts knowing that all I needed to do was follow these down the finish.

At about 4km to go, Jordan came sailing past me down a rocky techinical downhill section. That guy! I followed him as closely as a I could but quickly he was out of sight. About a mile to go we finally emerged back onto runnable grassy/ rocky ski hill. I passed a few men and sprinted my way through the village.

10:58:56. 6th Female, and 1st age group 35-39.

6 seems to be my number. I should probably get that tattooed on me by now.

• Quebec Mega Trail 50k 2022: 6th Female
• La Harricana 65k 2023: 6th Female
• Borealys Mt Tremblant 80k 2026: 6th Female

Technically I was 9th last year at QMT which somewhat breaks that curse but, that was the Canadian championships which is always going to be a much more competitive field so that doesn’t feel like it counts. Funny enough, Jordan ended up in 10:56:25 just 2.5 minutes ahead of me by the end. That was a fun side quest all day leap frogging with him.

In the end I’m so proud of that day. I could somewhat tell from the gun that it wasn’t going to be an A+ kind of day. But a solid B+/A-. I’m actually so proud of that 6th place finish even though I was only 9 minutes off the podium because it proves how consistent of a runner I am. If you put me on a start line I will show up in great shape every time. I hope that I can continue to build my skills as a trail runner and move up in the field. I also put 16 minutes between me and the female behind by the end so clearly I’m so strong at finishing. Hey, 4th place was 50 years old so there’s still time for me. As long as I’m continuing to have a blast out on the trails, you bet I’ll keep showing up. I had a lot of fun this build running more often with other elites, something I’ll make an effort of doing more of going forwards.

Thank you to my crew Josh, Tyler and Evan who consistently show up for me every year in Quebec. Maybe I’d be no where near 6th without them. They helped me keep the nerves in check with lots of laughs all weekend. Thank you to my amazing husband Josh and overwhelming love and support, always. Thank you to Paul for agreeing to match his race calendar with mine this year – it was so fun to have another Ontario elite out there crushing it at both Gorge and Borealys.

Thank you to BRIX for their support as my nutrition sponsor for this year. I look forward to many years ahead of maple syrup goodness. Check out their products including gels, energy chews, waffles, and electrolytes. You can save 10% off at check-out by using code #TANIS10.

Thanks for following along the journey! I’ll be working on a YouTube video for this race as well in the next month or so – keep an eye for that!

Next up: a wedding in Portugal and hiking the Alta Via 1 in Italy before putting in one last training block this year for JFK 80k.

Grind on.