The wooded Bow Valley is a world apart from the hot rocks of Flagstaff, Arizona, but that didn’t stop ultramarathon star Jacob Puzey from winning the 5 Peaks Enduro race on Saturday (Sept. 12) at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Coming off a second place finish at the six-day TransRockies stage race in Colorado, Puzey was invited as a special guest of 5 Peaks to explore the Bow Valley’s vast trail network, along with 2013 ultrarunner of the year Rob Krar (who was unable to race). Puzey had a blast on the trails, but truly loved the local trail culture.
“The community – that’s why I’m here. There is a network that feels like a real family,” Puzey said.
Puzey finished the 16-km enduro run in 1:04:45, while multi-sport superstar Cal Zaryski finished second in 1:08:48. Michael Gfeller finished third.
“I liked the mix of single and double track. It’s less rocky than Flagstaff. The course rolled and there were challenging climbs,” Puzey said.
Puzey began cross-country running as a teenager, and soon began smashing records at the college level. He discovered trail running by accident, when he won a 50-km race in Oregon while training for a marathon. He now owns five ultra-marathon course records, and is a member of the Altra trail running team, which was started by one of his former college teammates. He still runs track and road events, but his attention is leaning towards trail.
“It’s rare to meet an egotistical trail runner. Not to knock track runners or road runners, because I consider myself just a runner, but sometimes it gets to be too much in some of those settings. People are so focused on times and splits, they don’t just get to enjoy the atmosphere. It’s hard not to be in awe in places like this,” Puzey said.
The sport has exploded in his time as a trail runner, and Puzey relishes his chance to meet new runners on 100-mile journeys.
“It’s a shared humbling experience. It’s like being shipwrecked, or in a foxhole. You get to rely on one another a lot more. It’s a lot less cutthroat,” Puzey said. “This is my dream – to do what I’m doing. To meet new people and explore new places. If I can remain healthy and ride this out, that is my dream.”
Canmore’s Liza Pye was the top female trail runner in the enduro race, winning in 1:18:28. Pye has been out of action with a broken arm for much of the summer, however she has poured her mountain bike training time into trail running.
“I haven’t ridden my bike, so that’s why the running is going so well. It’s awesome to be back on the trail running scene. It’s such a nice community. It’s almost like the broken arm was a blessing in disguise,” Pye said.
She pushed a strong pace in the Enduro run, and will be at it again next week in Revelstoke as part of the Glacier Grind race.
“I thought it would be fun to push it a little bit. It’s a bit of a warm-up,” Pye said.
Maegan Carney of Canmore finished second in the enduro race (1:23:38), while Kristin Halsey was third.
Marcy and Darren Schmidt of Canmore crossed the line together in the half marathon distance, finishing at 1:53:31. Brett Bernakevitch finished second and Scott Nicol was third in the men’s category, while Heather Jamniczky and Cathleen Bell were on the podium in the women’s category.
In the sport event, Mark Knoll of Calgary finished on top in 29:37, followed by Matt Sinclair of Canmore and Edouard Lecrivain of Calgary.
Mirka Navratilova was the top runner in the women’s sport race, followed by Sara Dettling of Calgary and Kris Cannon, also of Calgary.
Visit resultscanada.com for full results.
