Last year, Canmore’s Adam Campbell proved impervious to Colorado’s notorious high alpine thunderstorms.
This year, dangerous rock fall, crushing altitude and spooky hallucinations challenged the 36-year-old through nearly 27 hours of racing.
For the second year in a row, Campbell finished third in the Hard Rock 100 mile ultramarathon in Colorado, known as one of the most extreme and dangerous races on the planet.
He finished the race in 26 hours, 49 minutes on Saturday (July 11) on a reversed course which included 10,360 metres of elevation gain (the equivalent of scaling Mount Lady MacDonald 10 times) and average elevation of 3,300m.
“I found it a lot harder mentally. Last year I had an even day. This year I had worse lows and had to dig deep into my bag of tricks,” Campbell said.
For the first 59km, Campbell and ultra-running’s most famous athlete, Kilian Jornet, matched their stride across difficult mountain terrain. Campbell, a former world cup triathlete, had a plan to stick with Jornet as long as possible, but was surprised when the altitude affected him at 4,000 metres at Handies Peak. He had no problems with altitude in 2014, and actually spent more time training high this year.
“I got to the highest point and the altitude crushed me. I got a headache and it completely crushed my legs. Altitude can be a little unpredictable,” Campbell said. “Maybe the pace was quicker. I went out more tired than last year. Who knows? The body reacts in interesting ways.”
He fell back to sixth position, and spent the next six to seven hours trying to recover, covering 32km in the process. He didn’t focus on his spot in the race, but his personal motivation, relying on self-talk to keep his legs moving. As a former Canadian duathlon champion and world cup triathlete who used to room with Olympic medallist Simon Whitfield, he’s learned plenty of motivational tools to reach optimal performance.
“Mentally, it’s draining. You have to find new reasons to push through it. I got some food, reframed my race and slowly turned things around. These races, you have to take care of yourself. You can use other racers for accountability and they prod you a little bit, but you run your own race,” Campbell said.
Oppressive snow, sleet and rain fell continuously in the Rockies. The weather changed every 30 minutes, and with 170 stream crossings, Campbell was constantly wet, and risked hypothermia. Every time he approached 4,000m elevation on course, his body stopped responding, and fear gripped his body at two specific spots on course.
“I got quite cold at one point. It was two degrees and raining, and I was post holing through the snow,” Campbell said. “Through the town of Ouray, you run through an old mining route. It was really rocky and there was a lot of hail. The rockslide was considerable and I could hear the rocks moving up above me. With a race like this, you’re constantly problem solving.”
But Campbell preserved, relying on excellent technical mountaineering abilities. That allowed him to gain ground on his opponents and move up the standings.
“Any time I was in the high alpine, running on ridges, I was moving well through that terrain,” Campbell said. “It’s really hard on your system. It’s not the healthiest thing to run 100 miles. Your body responds in weird ways.”
Twenty-two hours into the race, Campbell’s mind began to play tricks. He started hearing voices, spotting phantom runners on peaks and, at one point, mistook a stump for a cougar.
Yet the beauty of the terrain inspired Campbell to keep moving. He embraced the terrible weather as a motivation, something that heightened the entire experience into a truly epic adventure.
“No other races are this challenging and this beautiful. There are lots of hard and competitive races, but this one is unique. It has a wonderful history and mountaineering side. This race would never get sanctioned anymore, but it’s been grandfathered in,” Campbell said.
He managed to move back into third spot by the time he crossed the line, and spent the rest of the day soaking up the atmosphere. Athletes have 48 hours to cross the line (most finish around the 40-hour mark) and Campbell watched in awe as others finished their race.
“The exhaustion and the ability to dig deep is incredible,” Campbell said.
After the weekend, Campbell returned to his job at an environmental engineering firm in Calgary, and had a good story to share with his co-workers. Although he’s thought about becoming a full-time ultra runner, he’s quite content to have a steady job.
“One thing that would have been good this year would have been to get there early and train at that altitude. But that’s difficult as I do have a full time job. I’ve had to make some compromises, and I have a job I enjoy,” Campbell said. “I get to race the best mountain runners in the world on the weekend, come back Monday and put on the suit and tie.”
His own body is still recovering from the day, but not the way he expected.
“I don’t get that sore from it anymore. It’s more of a deep fatigue. I’m hungry for a week and my body is in starvation mode. My feet and hands are swollen.”
He’ll likely challenge the course again, as he has a deep love for the Colorado landscape.
“You have to find races that inspire you. If you’re not inspired by where you are or what you’re doing, you probably shouldn’t be out there.”
