Reid Roberts and Jeff Hunter are planning on having an easy, restful Sunday. That doesn't mean they'll be putting their feet up.
When you're an ultra marathon runner, your idea of chilling out is a little different than most.
Roberts and Hunter will be tackling the longest distance in the Dick Voneugen Birthday Fun Run. They'll be in their shoes from 7 a.m. to about 4 p.m. and will be seeking to finish an 80-kilometre course that starts and ends at the Otway Nordic Centre.
"It sounds funny, but it's going to be quite a relaxing run," said the 42-year-old Roberts. "You get out there and just kind of enjoy it. You're not going to be thinking about strategy and completing it under a certain time. And the other thing is, it's a relatively easy course in comparison to some of the races that we've done. The first 30K is going to be quite tough but after that it's pretty mellow I guess you could say."
An ultra marathon is any running event that exceeds the traditional marathon length of 42.2km.
Roberts, a teacher at D.P. Todd secondary school, will be running an 80km-or-longer course for the third time. Last June, he did the Scorched Sole Ultra, an 86km race through the mountainous terrain surrounding Kelowna and finished second to Hunter. Later in the year, Roberts ran the 80km distance in the HURL Elkhorn in Montana and posted a top-10 result. He also broke the previous course record for a masters runner by two minutes.
For Roberts and Hunter, the Voneugen run will be a tune-up for the Sinister 7, a July 7-8 ultra in Crowsnest Pass, Alta. In that torturous test, they'll try to conquer a 148km route that will take them through 17,600 feet of elevation change.
Roberts has always been a strong runner. But, five years ago, he never could have imagined doing such distances.
"If someone would have told me, 'Go run for 24 hours,' I would have said, 'You're absolutely crazy,'" he said. "But it's becoming more popular and more people are starting to hear about it. It becomes a little bit more believable, I guess."
Hunter, 36, is more experienced than Roberts as an ultra marathon runner. On his resume are four Canadian Death Races (125km) and two Scorched Soles. Most recently, in May, he did an 85km race in the Farwell Canyon area of the Chilcotin.
Being an ultra marathoner, he said, requires training the body and the mind.
"You have to do them together," said Hunter, who experienced his first Canadian Death Race in 2007 and has done about 15 races over the 80km distance in his career. "You get your body used to running longer and longer and you get your head used to running longer and longer. When you get the cycle going, all of a sudden you're running a 25 and then a 28 and then a 30. The distance grows and you get so that mentally it's not an issue at all. When you get beyond that three- or four-hour run, nutrition and hydration becomes a real key point."
Roberts and Hunter will be joined on their Sunday run by Tony Fiala.
The Voneugen run -- mostly on the local trail network -- will also include 50km, 42.2km, 25km, 19km and 7.5km distances. All have different starting points but will conclude at Otway.
Voneugen, a Prince George Sports Hall of Fame member for his long-time organizational involvement in running, is on the verge of turning 80. When he was in his 40s, he started a tradition of running his age on every birthday -- July 24. His distances got longer until he reached 60. That year, he started counting back down. As time marched on, he became less able to keep up with his self-imposed requirements and his annual trot faded away.
Hunter took the lead in reviving the Voneugen run and said there will be multiple runners in each distance on Sunday.
Voneugen himself will take part as a 'rolling aid station.' He'll meet the runners at the various checkpoints and will take care of whatever needs they may have.
Roberts said the event is a nice tribute to a local legend.
"Every race you go to, there's [Voneugen's] famous horn," Roberts said. "You hear this horn going off and you might still be two or three K away from the finish line but it's a trademark -- as soon as you hear it, you know exactly who's on the other end of it.
"He's just so excited to get people out running and that's what excites me," Roberts added. "It's not about him, it's about people out running and experiencing this so that makes it pretty special."
Sunday's run is being sponsored by Queensway Auto World.
