Race recap for our 15th year!

Surely, we thought, this year we were going to have a beautiful, dry day to run the trail..... nope, rain again.... but none of you seemed to mind, so moving on!!

Despite the light mist in the air, we hear from many of you that the course was beautiful, runnable and very fast this year, and it showed with some very fast finish times! We saw people posting PRs of all distances despite a big pile of snow still being on the last ski hill descent. Maybe it was the Grim Reaper cheering you on that helped you get those personal records.

15 years of trail running

We can't think of a better way of celebrating 15 years of inclusive trail running than with 400 determined runners. You all found it in you to get your distances done, grab some socks and a special limited edition 🅿️☠️🅿️ race medal and survive the taunts of the Grim Reaper. We're so fortunate to have such a great trail running community and it is an absolute pleasure to continue to put on this event and see you all achieving big things.

A nod to our sponsors

Did you see Richard out on course in his Hammer Nutrition jersey? Looking great Richard!

We cannot begin to tell you how important it is to have great sponsors like Hammer Nutrition Canada on board. To have their 5 star products available to you as runners gives us the confidence that you are being fueled by hands down some of the best products in the industry for endurance athletics. Even if you just grabbed a flask of lemon-lime Heed for the refreshing flavour, you were getting critical elements like sodium, potassium and fuel from the dissolved carbs which would have kept you feeling energized and prevented cramping. We love working with Hammer Nutrition Canada because we want to see you finish your race and Hammer Nutrition Canada products can keep you moving toward that finish line.

We caught up with Richard, our Hammer Nutrition Canada rep after his big 50k finish. He looked great and we asked him how it went.

Fueling was tip-top! I had Heed and Perpetum for a steady all-day burn from my fuels. - Richard Bowers

Richard had so much fun with you all that he wants to extend the 20% off coupon to our 🅿️☠️🅿️ runners for 2 more weeks! Until May 16th, take 20% off all fuel, electrolyte, recovery mixes and energy bar purchases with code richard20 plus get free shipping on orders over $99. Did you like the gels and sports drink on course? Grab some over at HammerNutrition.ca.

Thanks as well to Sue's Soap Creations for the donations of some beautiful, hand pressed soaps. If you got anywhere near the prize table you would have smelled the amazing fragrance from the Dragon's Blood infused limited edition 🅿️☠️🅿️ soaps. Sue is a proud small Canadian business owner and I guarantee you will not regret getting your hands on some of her soaps. Visit Sue's Soap Creations.

Our big 15th anniversary surprise was that all our finishers got a hand crafted medal from Evan's Tree Work in addition to their socks. It didn't take long for folks to start using them as coasters which is exactly what they're meant to be. A huge thanks to Steve for producing these sustainable awards. His hand crated wood furniture is a great addition to any home and he has all sorts of fun little wood phone chargers and gifts as well. We've got another big surprise coming up but do check out his line of wood furniture over at EVANSTREEWORK - Etsy Canada

Emma Ross from Sojourn finishes her first ever 12.5k race!

Lastly, a huge thanks to Sojourn for the use of their their store location for our pre-race kit pickup and the amazing gift cards we're able to add to our podium prizes.

If you were following along, our Sojourn 🅿️☠️🅿️ Trail Running Ambassador had the challenge we all had this winter: never ending snow! Then once the snow cleared, the trails were too damaged to sneak in some last minute trail runs. When we asked Emma how she got her training in to be prepared for all the hills of 🅿️☠️🅿️ she told us that she lives at the bottom of a hill and she just ran the hill as much as she could. We couldn't be more proud of Emma for adapting to the situation and finishing her longest ever race! Her approach is a good lesson for us all that not letting perfect get in the way of good can still get you the result you want in the end. Thanks so much Emma for bringing us along on your race journey and thanks to Sojourn Outdoors for for the great $25 off coupons that were available to all our participants! Don't forget to use them before they expire on May 15th. Shop online or in-store. Hit up Sojourn in Barrie this summer for your outdoor adventure gear needs!

Our Mountain Goats

One of our favourite celebrations are our Mountain Goats. These are runners who finish, through determination, as our final runners within the allocated time. These finishes are often very emotional as the day has been long for these athletes - so we reward them for being determined and persisting.

Carl Wright - 50k (left)

Sabrina Truttmann - 25k (center)

Monique Ibey - 12.5k (right)

You wore your shirt where?!

No sooner had we packed up the race and an email came in from Julius Radi that he was at a Metallica concert in Toronto, wearing his 🅿️☠️🅿️ shirt! The design featuring the Grim Reaper kind of fits right in.

Great race, should be proud to have a signature event in this great community. - Gyula (Julius) Radi

Thanks so much for the review Julius and thanks for sending us this picture of you bragging about your big 🅿️☠️🅿️ finish with your swag. Speaking of, practice up those runfies as we'll be kicking off our annual #BragYourSwag contest in the next couple of weeks. It's your chance to get a FREE entry into 2026 by showing off your 🅿️☠️🅿️ gear during training, races or even just chillin on your deck this summer! We love seeing all the adventures you all go on. More details coming later.

Sue Sitki's photo galleries are live!

In case you haven't had the chance to check yourself out in full runaction (made up word of run + action) the race galleries are up and using your bib number or facial recognition it's pretty easy to find your beautiful self. Here's a dozen of our favourites that Sue helped us pick out.

Congratulations to our top finishers

Big day out on course for these folks who dug deep and came tearing down the ski hill with flames coming off the backs of their feet. Not literally but, wow, some fast times.

Top Female 50k: Paula Morley, 5:12:12

Top Male 50k: Ed Heung, 4:30:08

Top Non-Binary 50k: Chris Prouse, 6:34:22

Top 50k Runners

Women

1st - Paula Morley, 5:12:12

2nd - Valerie Robb, 5:24:20

3rd - Becky Schultz, 5:32:29

Men

1st - Ed Heung, 4:30:08

2nd - Clifford McCarten, 4:32:04

3rd - Chris Cheeseman, 4:42:08

Non-Binary

1st - Chris Prouse, 6:34:22

Top 25k Runners

Women

1st - Tanis Bolton, 2:14:13

2nd - Natascha Piciga, 2:33:27

3rd - Tara Sgroi, 2:48:30

Men

1st - Drew Graham, 1:57:26

2nd - Jeremiah Groen, 2:09:23

3rd - William Bradbeer, 2:10:25

Non-Binary

1st - Karen Yeats, 3:03:36

Top 12.5k Runners

Women

1st - Manon Valiquette, 1:11:44

2nd - Jacinda Riley, 1:21:16

3rd - Kelsey Lander, 1:22:25

Men

1st - Tyler Lahti, 59:21

2nd - Neil McCallum, 1:04:26

3rd - Gianmarco Mastrantoni, 1:06:32

Non-Binary

1st - Dana Hum, 1:45:56

Volunteers rule

We couldn't do this without volunteers. Every single person who helped us put on this event did it for the love of the running community. That's a beautiful thing when you think about it. A bunch of strangers gave up a Saturday so that you could achieve amazing things because they knew that one day, somebody would be supporting them in a similar capacity. All our volunteers get a guaranteed entry to next year's race which becomes a big deal when the race sells out in an under an hour.

The Last Fun Bits

Did you find the 🅿️☠️🅿️ carved into logs on course? No? Yea - we didn't either. Creative chaos director thought they were obvious but when we ran the course to pick the flags up, we found like.. one. Oh well.

Check out this young go-getter! Sho Brooks was our youngest 50k finisher! This amazing young 19 year old looked like he was ready to do another loop! It was also his first 50k so congrats to you Sho!

Lots of love for all the family support. To those who stood out in the Canadian spring rain to cheer on moms and dads - we noticed.

Thanks to those who took their muddy shoes off before entering into the Heights. It's a beautiful venue and it goes a long way for us to keep the "trail" outside.

That's it from us on the 15th year of 🅿️☠️🅿️. Huge thanks to some special folks behind the scenes including, the Chip Timing team, Trish's parents Mary and Phil, the Oakley family and of course The Heights of Horseshoe who host us every year. We wish you all the best in your summer racing and we'll see you next year!

With all our trail running love,

Race Directors, Rhonda Marois and Trish Mintz

Creative Chaos Director, Chris Mintz

Operations Director, Terry Marois