Québec Méga Trail 160 KM: My Race Report
The start is in Baie St-Paul at 8 p.m., in the inner courtyard of the Hôtel Germain. Big party vibes, tons of friends have shown up to watch the start, the atmosphere is festive. On the start line there’s me, Vincent and Dave, launching ourselves into the distance. After training together over the past few months and talking about the race every single day on Messenger, it’s finally time to get down to business. We’re more than 200 runners taking on the challenge of 160 km and 6,500 metres of positive elevation gain.
Vincent - Dave & me
First 4 km on the road, we’re rolling along nicely, the forecast is mild. Humid, but not too bad. We chat with a few runners. Another Vincent, #2, a friend of a friend and now a friend, is taking on his first 160 km after completing a great 100 km race in the United States earlier this year. We cross paths with Anne Champagne, who looks like she’s got the knife between her teeth, and what a lovely surprise to see Phil & Cath waiting for us on the road with a sign reading “1 mile in, 99 to go”.
Thanks for the reminder.
We ease into the first climb, the engine’s already starting to heat up, I settle into my pace. Dave has an ambitious yet achievable goal of bringing the distance home in 24 hours and climbs a little faster than Vincent and me. After a DNF at Bromont last October, I’ve decided to play it more conservative and not burn any matches early in the race. Surprisingly, Vincent also decides to take it easy to start, so we stick together for the first segments. We even cross paths with a runner who holds a Guinness record for a marathon run holding an ironing board. To each their own personal projects during the pandemic.
KM 10: We’re following along the road, on a nice runnable trail, when Vincent twists his ankle on a rock. It pinches, but he’s able to keep running and there’s no increase in pain over the next few km. Let’s keep an eye on it.
KM 20: We reach the first aid station; JP and Anne-Marie are waiting for me for a quick pit stop, they’ll handle my first two nighttime aid stations. Dave is ahead and in good shape, according to them.
KM 33: We start the climb up to the Massif, it goes pretty well. After a stop in the woods, I catch up to Vincent, whose ankle is starting to hurt really, really badly. He’s struggling to walk even leaning on his poles. He says his race is over and that he’ll stop at the next aid station. I stay with him for a few minutes and tell him I’ll ask for an ATV for him at the aid station if it’s at all possible. Our paths split here.
KM 39: Massif aid station, sock change to protect my feet early in the race; I try to do it all quickly, Dave pulls even further ahead of us. I thank JP and Anne-Marie one last time for the overnight support and set off again (too) quickly. I realize I didn’t even take the time to grab any of the solid food the organizers had on offer at the aid station, but oh well, no time to backtrack, I’m ready to take on the rest of the night and the Sentier des Caps. From this point on, I know most of the rest of the course since I ran several segments in training over the past few months; it reassures my mind and I dread what’s coming a little less.
KM 52: Arriving at the Cap Salut aid station, it’s been at least an hour and a half that I’ve had trouble eating, it’s very humid, my stomach is a bit upside down. I reassure myself by being able to hydrate well, but I’m in a low patch. It’s 3-3:30 a.m. and I wonder how I’m ever going to finish this section all the way to km 80. The aid station has nothing solid to my liking, I settle for 2-3 bananas and a bit of Coke. I get caught by 2 runners, including Vincent #2, who seems to be doing pretty well. Leaving the aid station, the two of them pass me pretty easily; I keep struggling with my stomach and I’m not able to run on the more runnable sections. The low patch continues.
KM 58 (ishh): I hear voices behind me and see 3 headlamps approaching. Right up close, I catch a snippet of conversation: “my ankle hurt so bad, but the guy at the Massif aid station gave me a miracle taping job and told me I was good to keep racing.” I shout: VINCENT! It answers back: AYM! My mannn!
Vincent has come back from the dead; I forget all my worries, my mood changes instantly, the smile comes back, and so do my appetite and my legs. We move along as a little group, telling each other about our last few hours of racing; we catch up to Vincent #2 and cover a stretch together to Cap Gribane.
KM 66: Cap Gribane aid station, all good, we eat a bit, Vincent gets his taping reinforced and we head out, destination Saint-Tite-des-Caps. We’re rolling nicely, most of the segment is downhill, but we’re really looking forward to a change of scenery. The Sentier des Caps looks a little too much the same for our taste. Once on the last 2 km before the aid station at Saint-Tite, we see Dave in the distance, who really is thinking about stopping his race since he spent the whole night alone telling himself stories. We try to pick him back up a bit; at that moment I’m convinced he’ll set off again with us for the rest.
KM 80: Halfway aid station!! My official crew for the rest of the day is there, Simon, who’s going to jump in as pacer at KM 103, and Marie-Ève are waiting for us all set with everything we need: shoe change, socks, t-shirt. We take the time to take our time, it’s almost like a spa. We set off again as 3, me, Vincent & Dave, under a nice rain to tackle the last segment before reaching Mont St-Anne.
(mandatory mid-race blood pressure & weight check)
KM 87: Just before officially entering the Mestachibo, we run into a muddy/sludgy/impassable trail that’s been completely torn up by the horde of 50 KM runners who came through a little earlier. It takes us a lot of time and energy to get through it. On the descent before the bridge, Dave is about twenty metres behind and Vincent has had enough of seeing me behind him; he tells me to go ahead and give it everything for the rest since he knows his ankle isn’t getting any better. I listen to him and set off alone up front, it’s the last time I’ll see the guys all day. I take on the Mestachibo alone; it’s hot, but not too hot, I soak the scarf around my neck at every chance I get and I’m in good shape overall. It takes forever to get through, but I know what’s waiting for me since I’ve done it a few times over the past few months. I climb the Jean Larose stairs and cover the rest of the way to the MSA aid station. I cross paths with JP and Anne-Marie, who are out for a little stroll on the course.
KM 103: Nothing but joy to see so many familiar faces again, Émilie is there with little Paul, Kim, Enzo, and Dave’s and Vincent’s crews too. We take a good 15 minutes to completely change, eat some pasta; the sun is finally out and we attack the climb + ½ of the mountain. I’ve got Simon, my pacer, who’s going to pull me all the way to the end; I have no doubt about reaching the finish line at this point. The segment goes well, I know every step and every turn to take for the next 30 kilometres, we’re moving well, and the pasta at the aid station at the top of the mountain keeps my hunger at bay no problem.
(you have no idea how goooood that tooth brushing felt!)
KM 112: Descent of the north side to reach the Auberge du Fondeur; we hammer this runnable part, I’ve got legs today it seems. We pass lots of runners, but every time they’re on a different distance; I’m starting to doubt we’ll ever reel in a 160 km runner one day.
KM 124: Fondeur aid station, we spruce ourselves up and load up on pasta; the next time I pass this aid station, there’ll only be 10 KM left to do. We head out, a wave of fatigue hits, I’m starting to imagine animals or people in the trees/branches in the distance, but I hang on, I know there’s not much left to do. Simon has me do 1 min running - 1 min walking, or a good “let’s run to that tree over there,” to bring some rhythm and not fall into the monotony of the end of the day.
KM 139: We finally cross paths with a 160 KM woman runner, Mylène, who is usually far ahead in every race I’ve done at the same time as her. Her day has been a bit tougher, but she’s hanging in there too; we’re almost there. At the top of the Saint-Hilaire climb, we see Mont St-Anne in the distance and we know we’re close to the finish.
KM 150: Quick aid station, we grab what we need; we think we’ll be at the finish in 1h15-1h30, but we see the chance to bring the distance home in under 28 hours of racing, so we let ourselves get caught up in the game and hammer the last section properly. We run the whole section, it’s my 2nd fastest 10 km of the race!
Finish just before midnight!
Vincent finished the course in a little over 30 hours, and Dave was ultimately forced to stop at KM 124 with knee pain.
Acknowledgements:
-Émilie, who gave me her blessing to go throw myself into a 160 km race with a toddler less than 2 weeks old. We did it. I love you 🙂
-Nico, who lets me move up in distance slowly but surely, with quality and no fuss.
-My race partners Gab, Vincent, Dave, for sharing training days chewing the fat like there’s no tomorrow; the hours always go by faster in good company.
-Simon & Marie-Ève, deluxe pacer and crew, for taking care of me right to the end and for offering to dedicate your entire Saturday to me just a few weeks before the race.
-To me, for believing in myself after a touch of doubt following the DNF at the 160 km of Bromont last year. For allowing myself to take the time to train to become “a little bit better” day after day to reach my goals.
What’s next?
I’ll be back soon; I’ve spent the last few days scanning races in the four corners of the globe. We never learn…!