The idea of running 225 kilometres over six days in the cold of Yellowknife, N.W.T, scared Andrew Cameron. He wasn’t sure if he could do it.
To the Ottawa resident, there was only one thing left to do. He signed up for it.
“The idea that I might not be able to do it made it perfect for me,” said the 29-year-old adventure racer. “I threw myself out of my comfort zone.”
Not only was the Rock and Ice Ultra not as bad as he thought (it was only -28 degrees, “a favourable year,” Cameron said), but he came in second in the snowshoe race with a time of 33:24.
Cameron — who ran the course with snowshoes while dragging a pulk or toboggan with everything he needed for six days behind him — was one of 28 people competing late last week.
Although the wind analysis engineer has done many adventure races before — biking, trekking and paddling — he had never done close to this distance before.
Cameron, who trained for the race by running up and down the frozen Rideau River, returned to Ottawa Monday morning.
“My legs don’t have a huge amount of zip in them right now,” he said, but “I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to see a northern part of the country in the winter. It was a privilege to play around in the snow up there.”
