Full video of my run from Predator Ridge to Penticton, BC, on May 15, 2020. Start time 3:48am, finish time 7:48pm, 16 hours, 106 KM, solo.

This is a run I’ve wanted to do for years, but I was still very nervous about it! I keep forgetting how nervous I get in the days leading up to a run like this. It’s nice to lose sleep, and feel terrified every once in a while, and even more so when you tell everyone you know so you can’t back out… that’s been my secret. Over the last few years, spring has been running season for me, and this year had a North to South Okanagan challenge, and it was the perfect time to take on. In early May, after completed my training plan, I looked at the weather forecast and set the date. Once that inc hit the paper, it became real, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. In the days leading up to the run, it’s all I think about. It’s going to be long and painful… why do I put myself through this? The night before, I try to sleep, but I can’t. It’s always a terrible sleep anyway. I might as well just start the night before… note to self for next time.

I think this video tells it all, the start was great and running at sunrise never gets old. In the early hours, my pace and stride were on point, and my body was feeling good. At 20km good. At 30 km good. At 40km… things started to change, my feet were in pain as my arches were throbbing. I clearly had the wrong footwear, and have not been training for this kind of repetitive impact on hard pavement. As I entered Kelowna (after completing a Full Marathon before 8am) I needed to change my shoes, so I called in the support crew (my parents) and had them bring me all of my shoes in hopes that one pair would save me. At this point I couldn’t run on flat city sidewalks, I power walked my way through Kelowna and met my parents for a shoe change, and a few hard boiled eggs, in the Mission area of Kelowna, at the far side of South East side town. It was the 55km mark, I tried a few different pairs of shoes on, and hesitantly chose my ‘bare foot like’ Vibram runners. Within 30 minutes the pain was gone! I was on the verge of quitting, and these shoes turned that around in 30 minutes. This was my most valuable lesson learned, which I intend to apply to future runs: train on the terrain you plan to run on, and in the footwear you plan to run in.

Several months later as I write this post, I have a stand out memory around the 13 hour mark, a feeling relief and joy when I first saw Naramata after hours alone in the wilderness on the Kettle Valley Rail trail. With the sun coming down, the low light on the Okanagan Valley was looking beautiful. Stunning views and a slight downhill slope, almost outweighed the excruciating pain I was feeling at the time. I stopped for an early celebratory ‘Neighbourhood’ beer with friends Mike & Melinda, at their Naramata home, and finished the final 30 minutes of the run with a belly full of beer, in pain, watching the sun come down with a smile on my face. I met my wife Diana in Penticton at Okanagan Lake Park, took a celebratory photo, and officially ticked this challenge off my list. I hope you enjoy it.