The ultras in soccer refer to deeply-hyper fans who take it right to the edge, sometimes over. The ultras in running refer to those who take it that extra kilometre, sometimes a few extra hundred. Today’s annual Prairie Inn Harriers Island Runner Elk/Beaver Ultras will feature 100K, 50 mile, 50K and 40K races.
The 10K trail route around the lakes, familiar to runners and walkers in the region, is fairly flat and conducive to good times. So much so that past Elk/Beaver Ultras race winners have been national- and international-level athletes, including former Ironman Hawaii world champion Lori Bowden. The route also figures prominently as the run potion of the annual Ironman 70.3 Victoria, this year’s edition which goes May 28.
What possesses ultra racers to go the extra mile, then the next extra and then the next?
“It comes from a consistent need for movement,” said Donna Pawliuk.
The 42-year-old has twice won the 40K walk event in the Harriers Elk/Beaver Ultras event. And it’s not just a normal stroll. The race involves Olympic-style race walking, heel-toe, heel-toe.
“One foot must be on the ground at all times,” explained Pawliuk.
But that’s no big deal for a woman who in 2007 raced the 250-K Gobi March in the far reaches of Mongolia.
“There is an associative state to racing ultras events, where you feel every ache and pain on the knees, and there is the dis-associative state, which is a sort of out-of-body experience. And you toggle between the two,” said Pawliuk.
The racing, and toggling, in the 2023 Prairie Inn Harriers Island Runner Elk/Beaver Ultras begins this morning at 6 a.m.
