GRP #112 SULPHUR SPRINGS Canada's Oldest Ultra Marathon / GottaRunPodcast

The Sulphur Springs Trail Race is a 20K loop course, in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area just outside of Hamilton, Ontario that has been running for more than 30 years, making it the oldest running Ultra Marathon in Canada!  Distances offered include 10k up to 100 miles. 

This year, the race seeks to become Ontario’s first Western States 100 qualifier - which would be a huge accomplishment - so we reached out to the trio of Race Directors from Straw Dog Racing which includes Steve Connor, Mauro Campanelli, and Russell Thacker, to get their insights on the legacy of this iconic spring race and how they are approaching the challenge ahead.

Here is Straw Dog Racing…

You can follow Sulphur Springs Trail Race on Instagram here  - https://www.instagram.com/sulphurspringstrailrace/

If you enjoyed our show please leave a rating and review.  We would really appreciate it.

Check out GottaRunRacing website here and use promo code GRRPODCAST for discounts - gottarunracing.com

Check out our YouTube Channel here - https://youtube.com/@GottaRunRacing

Check out GRR Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/gottarunracing/

Check out GRR Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gottarunracing/

Check out GRR Twitter here: https://twitter.com/gottarun_racing

Support us on Patreon here : https://www.patreon.com/gottarunracing

 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi everyone, this is Michele Graglia. This is Marianne Hogan.
Hi, I'm Adrian McDonald.
I'm Katie Asmund. Hi, this is Anthony Gasols.
Hi, my name is Meg Morgan. Hey, it's Jordan Trofe. This is John Ray.
This is Ryan Van Duser, and you are listening to the Gotta Run Racing Podcast.
Hey everyone, welcome back to another Gotta Run Podcast. We are your hosts. I'm Jody. And I'm Norm.

(00:24):
And if you're new to this podcast, welcome.
What's happening in the world of vaulting running well today has
been an epic day for world records
we have a new world record by camille heron she has set the new women's record
for six days of running 901.7 kilometers 560.3 miles. Oh, is that all?

(00:53):
Right? In six days. She broke the record by about only 18 kilometers.
And when was that record set? That record was set in 1990.
Oh, that's good. I thought it would be much older than that. Yeah, 1990.
Wow. This was all part of the Lululemon Run Further campaign,

(01:16):
which saw several female female runners taking on the challenge.
And I think there were a few other records broken as well.
And personal bests, of course. And you can follow it all on Instagram or threads
because it's been documented.
But congratulations to Camille. That is unbelievable.
I wonder how many hallucinations she had. I wonder how many pizzas she ate.

(01:41):
And the list goes on. Well, we just ask her directly.
She answers our texts. Yeah, yeah.
Anyways, what else is happening in the Ultra World community that we're going
to be talking to today on the podcast?
Yes, very exciting. We're staying close to home this episode.
We are chatting with the race directors of the Sulphur Springs Trail Race,

(02:03):
which is a volunteer-led Ultra, takes place on a 20K loop in the Dundas Valley
Conservation Area. Yeah.
It has about 500 meters of elevation cane per 20K loop and offers trail runners
of all skills something to enjoy.
With a mixture of groomed trail to moderately challenging single track,
rolling hills, steep clines, and descents.
The distances offered at this event include the 100 mile, 100K,

(02:27):
50 mile, 50K, 20K, 10K, and 100 mile relay. Do everything. Everything, basically.
All nestled in the beautiful setting of the Niagara Escarpment,
this trail system has been the site of the Burlington Runners Club race for
more than 30 years, making it the oldest running ultramarathon in Canada.
They've had some familiar names compete in this race over the years,

(02:49):
including one of Canada's best marathoners, Reid Coulsat, as well as Victoria
Brown, who holds Sulphur's 100-mile record for women at 19 hours 52 minutes.
She holds many other records, including Canada's first female,
to run 100 miles under 15 hours.
This year, the race is seeking to become Ontario's first Western States qualifier,

(03:12):
which is a huge accomplishment.
So we reached out to the trio of race directors from Straw Dog Racing,
which includes Steve Connor, Mauro Campanelli, and Russell Thacker,
who we'll be chatting with today. And I'm really looking forward to this one.
Without further ado, here is Straw Dog Racing coming up.

(03:37):
Welcome, Straw Dog Racing Food, to the podcast. Mauro, Steve, and Russell, welcome.
Thanks for having us. Before we chat Sulphur Springs, let's get into each of
your background about running specifically.
So, Mauro, when or how did you start running? Okay.
Right at 50 years old. So it was about 12 years ago, almost to this day, laying on the couch.

(03:59):
I said, I'm 49 and a half. I've got to do something.
Before that, before 12 years ago, I did not run one kilometer,
not one single kilometer. So it got me off the couch.
Age did get me off the couch. And from there, five, 10, half,
full marathons and joined a couple running clubs.

(04:20):
My wife was the one that said, you should join a running club.
And I said, nah, I don't think I would like that.
And here I am kind of right in the middle of as many running clubs as I can
find, triathlon club, biking clubs, and now race directing.
So I guess she knew better than I did. That's for sure.
I think people that come to it later in life actually tend to stick to it a

(04:41):
little bit more. That's just my perception.
Yeah. There's less time to stick to it. That's for for sure.
The clock's ticking. That's right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And Russell,
same question. I'm trying to think.
It's got to be creeping up 15, almost 18 years ago.

(05:01):
My sister, who inspired me to run, my older sister, she ran the Boston Marathon,
and I was really interested in that.
I came from being a grossly overweight, two-pack-a-day smoker,
traded one addiction for another kind of thing i anyway
so she started the boston marathon and i thought i'm gonna do
it so i ran my first half which was the chilly half

(05:23):
i think way back a long time ago and it
was a horrible experience i was completely under trained i was cramping and
then she said well you need to get with a coat and she brought steve connor's
name up to me so i have been an Orange Army faithful of the Connors Run Club
and did a serious amount of road runs and everything else.

(05:45):
And then I sort of realized that I was never going to be a fast runner.
I've never broken four hours in a road marathon.
And then I got talked into doing my first ultra, the Niagara 50K.
Ran that with Morrow, actually. Had an interesting afternoon and I've never looked back.
I've been been an ultra runner since since then and and trail running and and

(06:08):
then i found trail and trails really become my home i i love everything there
is about trail running i've been off again sulfur i've run sulfur numerous times
and yeah and then kind of got a phone call one day saying hey.
Brc is looking for you know somebody to race direct and i said well i'm not
willing to do it on my own so next phone call was tomorrow and morrow says well

(06:31):
i'm not doing it on my own and And then, you know, and then sort of Steve and
Mauro and I all came together.
And Steve, same question to you. How did you start running and how many years ago was this?
Yeah, thanks. My running background goes a little further back.
I'm not as old as those guys, but I have a longer breadth of running experience now.
I ran track when I was in high school, did triathlons when I was in high school,

(06:54):
but I swam varsity. I was a varsity swimmer at Western.
And really, once I finished school, a sports chiropractor, I was like,
how can I include some of the passions that I have with my professional career?
And so I thought, okay, I'm going to start coaching running because there were
just some, there was a gap where people weren't training people for around the bay.

(07:16):
That's really how it all started. but I've been coaching marathoners,
ultra marathoners, half marathoners for 20 years now, since 2003.
I still run. I still enjoy running. I've run marathons all over the world.
So do triathlons, not as much as I used to, but this is just,
this has been become a natural extension for all three of us.
Uh, we have some synergies, we have some strengths and we have some,

(07:39):
some deficits in what we can bring to the table.
So the three of us have kind of come together, not by accident i think again
russell sort of alluded to it we were approached by brc and my first call was
to russell and then we both called morrow and and you know it just sort of it's
sort of like we think we have some something that we can put together as a group and make this,
this whole race direction thing even better because we're coming at it from

(08:03):
so many different levels of types of experience as runners but we're all really
in it for the safety of the runners The experience of the runners and the preservation
of the beautiful trail system that we enjoy so much.
So that was kind of my early start.
BRC, just for our listeners, is the Burlington Runners Club,
which I assume has been around for more than 30 years.

(08:26):
Yeah, they have. I don't know more. Do you know how long they've been around? No.
No, I don't. Sorry, I don't. No, it's okay. It's definitely longer than 30, though, right?
They started the race, so they've had it ever since day one.
So your math would be accurate.
Well, we also like to check out some of the races you have done in the past.

(08:46):
And Mauro, you took on the Yamacraw 50K in Kentucky. Is that right?
That's right. Yeah, I actually did both the 20K one year and then the 50K after that.
And that was a lot of fun. You train on hills here in Ontario,
and you prepare yourself for a trail race down in Kentucky and Tennessee,

(09:08):
and you're doing 42K on nothing but hill climbing, and I'm ready. I'm good to go.
And then you hit down there, you hit Tennessee or Kentucky, and it's like,
man, you're not even close.
You're doing like three to five miles just straight uphill
and and we have nothing like that here so
anyway you know it was a lot of fun and went down with

(09:29):
a group of people and it was a destination trip and uh it was it was great great
fun i mean the people we went with were were amazing the trip itself no one
was injured no one got injured everyone stayed healthy the entire training it
was beautiful i mean and and and the scenery for that race is is second to none
it's It's really nice down there.

(09:49):
That's right. It takes place in May, right? So I guess the horse is still changing.
That's right. Yep, exactly. Spring, yeah. Coming. Yeah, no, it's spring. Yeah, yep.
And speaking of challenging, Russell, I think the one that stuck out for us
when we were looking at yours was the Barkley Fall Classic. Talk about that.
I'm going down there again this year for attempt number, I think this is going

(10:11):
to be five or six. I can't remember.
I've done the marathon finish. You think in terms of running ultra and you think
50k is sort of the lower end of the ultra scale, but Barclay,
and Morrow's done Barclay as well, and I will attest to what he's saying.
You think you're trained and then you get out there and obviously the attraction
for me was the movie and then I followed Gary through all of his attempts and

(10:36):
I am mildly obsessed with Laz, so yeah.
I love being down there. There's something about that race that it will challenge
you like nothing else you've ever tried running.
You're on Rat Jaw. You're on Testicle Spectacle. You get to go through the prison.
So you get all the sideshow freak aspects of the big race without having to

(10:57):
find the pages in the book.
But as Mauro alluded to, Chimney Top is a mountain that's in the race.
And it is a sustained climb with three or four false summits.
And you're climbing and almost on hands
and feet this year was horrible it was rained so it
was just sliding you know normally you're trying to avoid

(11:19):
the briars and people were diving into the saw briars
to grab onto them for purchase because if not you're you're gonna go on a butt
slide for about a mile but it's a great it's a if you're really just a little
bit crazy and really willing willing to put yourself out there,
that's a race that you've got to get into.

(11:39):
It's a, you got to run it. I wish he hadn't said that.
The fact that you go every year, it tells me you're a lot crazy.
I feel somewhat immortalized too, because if you go to their Facebook page,
it's, there's a picture of a guy who's bent over and he's going like this.
And that's actually me somewhere in the middle of Radjo.
I love it. And now Steve, you have an extensive running resume.

(12:03):
We couldn't pick one to ask you.
So what is your favorite experience of all your marathon careers or even Ironman?
I will point out that I don't have the ultra experience that these guys have.
And that's kind of one of the assets that they bring.
And, you know, my, my strengths are different than that, but I haven't done

(12:23):
marathons all over the world. My favorite by far has been London.
And that one for me was, I think the best part of it was how busy it was.
I've never been in a race that busy. And I've done New York,
I've done Chicago, I've done Tokyo, some big races, Berlin.
But the London race, like you were hitting elbows right through 30,

(12:44):
40K. Like it was just unbelievable.
And so I had a smile on my face the whole way. And it's the number one charity fundraiser in the UK.
UK and so you have a
lot of charity sections where if someone's wearing
a white shirt they may be supporting a certain charity and
if you're near that person that crowds go crazy when they see

(13:05):
that person and so it was just deafening and
an overall amazing experience now what I will suggest to
any of your listeners if you do the London Marathon I went
and made the mistake of going down the finishing chute that was in the center you
had the right and the left in the center i thought whatever just
put on the center i missed on one side prince harry and
then the other side princess kate handing out medals now apparently

(13:27):
they keep them on the sides because safety
they can they can get them out of there quickly they won't put them in the middle
so if you're about about to cross the finish line you still have some wits about
you in london pick right or left but maybe a chance you need some royalty and
they'll put the medal on you right there but you won't see that in the middle
uh in the middle running shoot oh my gosh but couldn't Don't you go back on course? What's that?

(13:50):
Do a U-turn. Don't you go back on course? Go to the left or right finish.
Just keep going back on course. If you had the legs, maybe you could.
I will interject. The one thing that Steve was talking about with the crowd
of London, which I think was one of the most incredible things about London,
was there is a start line picture of Steve, or is that on London Bridge or whatever?

(14:12):
But there is a sea of humanity. and Steve is wearing his Connors orange jacket
and also, and you can pick him out of all of these humans.
You could see Steve and this, I think it's one of the best pictures,
running pictures I've ever seen.
Yeah. Yeah. Russell, that was, that came from Steve Killeen.
He found that on their Twitter feed.

(14:32):
And he just like, he's like, Hey, that's our coach. But that was about 24 kilometers into the race.
So like you couldn't like, it was like a puzzle, like a where's Waldo puzzle.
And yeah, it was pretty amazing to still be that close and congested at that
point. It was still one of my favorite experiences.
I can't believe you're rubbing elbows at that K mark.

(14:52):
That's crazy. Yeah. That's crazy. Cause we did New York and it was congested,
but it kind of spread it out near the end.
Yeah. Yeah, and we did New York in 2005 when it was only 36,000. We thought it was crazy.
Now it's over, I think, close to 50. I can't imagine.
Well, I don't know if it was waves back then, but in London when I did it just

(15:13):
a few years back, it was three different starting points, 20,000 people at each starting point.
And at 3K, you're now 40,000. You all started at the same time.
And at 5K, it's now 60,000 people.
So you didn't have waves where you spread out at all. Now, maybe the last five
or 10 kilometers, you started to see some of that spread, but that first 30, you saw no spread.

(15:36):
That's like when I did the Disney marathon and the Dopey, I was in wave F.
And I left and 45 minutes later, I was still hearing fireworks going off because
they were still letting people go on the course. So that's a lot of people.
Well, let's get into Sulphur Springs Trail Race. Who would like to tell us a
little bit of the history because this is Canada's oldest ultra marathon.

(16:00):
So who can give us a little bit of the background of the race?
I think that's a moral question.
Jody, Sulphur Springs goes back 32 years now. It started 32 years ago with the
Burlington Run Club, and they decided to create the race after having their
regular runs through Dundas Valley.
So their regular weekly runs prior to, and not just the year prior,

(16:23):
but for years prior to the initial race was through Dundas Valley,
and that was their training area.
It was just natural that for the Burlington Run Club to create this race right
where they were training.
The course itself has taken two, probably three or maybe even four evolutions
in terms of the course itself and the distances.

(16:47):
Distances over the course of the 32 years have ranged from the 10K that we have
with a couple of different other variations that we don't have have today.
And that's the couple that I'm talking about are the 25K. There was a 25K up
to a few years ago, maybe a bit more than a few years ago.
And one year and one year only, Sulphur Springs hosted a 200 mile race.

(17:09):
And that was very impressive. And there is a little bit of a demand,
a little bit of a request to take a look at that again.
Yeah, we were going to ask you about that a little bit later.
So we'll save our question for then.
I'll get you a promo code for you guys but what what registration is number
one and two there you are all right.

(17:30):
Careful what you ask for right yeah there you are yeah let me get 100 miles
under my belt first so morrow how long has straw dog been directing software spring.
This is our third year now. We came in at 2022. And if you recall 2022,
back, it was almost March when the COVID restrictions were somewhat lifted.

(17:54):
Back in March, we started organizing the race back in December of 2021.
When we were approached, we were down to five months to get the race going up
and running when we were engaged in discussions with Burlington Run Club.
So we had five months to go and put it together.
And during those five months, as I mentioned, when we first started,

(18:16):
the restrictions weren't yet lifted at that point in time.
But come March, that's when they started being lifted.
But at any given time, they were touch and go as well. So there's always the
possibility that there was going to be a lockdown again from March to race day.
Registration was coming back. This was a sold-out race for the prior five years prior to COVID.

(18:41):
Sulphur Spring had sold out every year for five years.
Then COVID came along. And that sellout being anywhere from 1,000 to 1,100 runners.
COVID came along and got ended. And in 2022, we managed a registration of 985
runners, which was very, very impressive for the first year back.

(19:04):
And like I said, we were only in the game for five months and COVID had only
been lifted for a few months.
And a lot of people were still hesitating over the start lineup.
Up, okay, the start line, what's going to happen with the race if the province
kind of locks you down again.
And, you know, there was a lot of questions
of that nature that we had to entertain and kind of be ready for.

(19:28):
We had to ensure that people understood if there was going to be a lockdown,
this was the refund policy.
Three months out. This was the refund policy, two months out.
We were trying to be fair with everybody as well as the vendors and suppliers
were trying to be fair with us as well.
So we just wanted to give back to the runners and make sure that we were fair with everybody.

(19:49):
And I mean, at a certain point where you're under like six weeks or maybe even
closer to four weeks where you've got to make that commitment to everybody.
And if that COVID lockdown is going to happen within four or five weeks of race
day, it's sad to say, but I mean, we're committing to to our vendors and our
suppliers, and the refund's not going to happen.

(20:10):
So it was a challenge on year one, for sure.
So this was 2022 race year was our first year.
Since then, we've entered into contract with Burnies and Run Club,
and we're in for another three years after that.
So this is our third year of doing the race now.
Very nice. Well, Steve, I think you have the most fun job description of this

(20:32):
trio, which is looking after the runner experience.
I'm curious to know what you've brought to the race in the last three years
that might be different from what was done previously,
because we know from social media now,
we get to see what all the races offer and runner experience is probably really

(20:53):
up there in terms of what people look for when they're choosing an ultra in
particular, right? You're right. You're right. Absolutely.
This is something that as a sports chiropractor, I
kind of bring that element to the table in that i know my
best advocate for my services in that field is
making someone better i make them better they're

(21:14):
more likely to refer a friend or someone else that they see in distress or someone
else they see that with that injury they're going to send them back to us so
in trying to build on a legacy that sulfur springs brought for years from brc
and let's let's point out how amazing amazing that club was in the early days.
It was 100% volunteer run race.

(21:34):
And so one of the challenges coming out of COVID that the volunteerism found
was that people who have been doing these things for seven years,
eight years, 10 years, they said, I think it's time for someone else to step
up and carry that mantle and start to volunteer.
We came in without the assets that we had had before, but with a lot of knowledge

(21:56):
of people around us, and they were all runners.
And all those runners came with ideas and said, how can we make this better?
So we started to say, okay, well, if we're going to build on the legacy that
Sulphur Springs brings, what can we do? We, we had to start to look at safety.
We had to look at how we're wanting to make sure that people are motivated.
We look, we, we made some simple changes that seem simple at a time,

(22:18):
but we're, we're really pioneering some testing things where we said, okay.
The 100 milers often finish alone on Sunday. Our 100 miler would start on Saturday at 6 a.m.
They finish at noon as their 30-hour cutoff.
You've had people finishing anywhere from 8 in the morning to noon on the Sunday.
Well, most people who have done 50K have gone home. 50 milers have gone home.

(22:39):
Even the 100K runners have gone home.
So it's us, the three race directors, and some family members,
maybe some support crew.
So we shifted our 10K and 20K over to Sunday. it
so the the 100 milers they're getting
chatted up through all the 10k and 20k runners i'm
saying as they're coming up the hill and they're about to start their last lap
you know you're gonna pass jim you're gonna pass you you're gonna pass raquel

(23:01):
on the way back make sure you you know give them encouraging words and when
they come back and they're finishing the 100 mile and there's a there's a whole
shoot to go through now because the 20k runners are just they're 20k they're
They're elated, they're having a donut, whatever,
but they're, they're in awe that they,
that loop that they just didn't found so tough.
People started Saturday morning and they did eight of them.

(23:24):
So as far as runner experience, it enhances the 20K runners because they can
see how amazing these other people are that we all think are crazy in some ways,
but they're real people.
They have these goals and dreams and they're achieving those.
And we also see the hundred milers saying like, wow, I was running up that last hill.
I didn't, I thought I was going to have to walk it, but everybody kept coming
by me. saying like, let's go, let's go.

(23:46):
You got this. You're doing great. And so they come up and they got big smiles
on their faces. Right? So that was one change we introduced.
The second thing we introduced, the Lantern Rouge Award, which celebrates the
last finisher within the time allotment for the ultra distances.
So the 50K, 50 mile, 100K, and 100 mile races each get the last finisher.

(24:07):
It doesn't have to be male or female. We know that whoever finishes last in
those within the time limits gets a special award,
tying them from the back of the group to the front of the group,
saying, we understand you are just as committed as a person who left a few hours
ago with the winner's prize.
You need to be celebrated just as much. Again, building this out from a runner's

(24:29):
experience, we've brought in sponsors who are committed to helping our runners
have a great day, like Arcteryx Toronto.
They've been fabulous. Again, they've assigned us people from within their division
of trail running who really want to grow their brand and brand recognition within the field.
So we are actually working with them very closely to make sure that their needs are being met.

(24:51):
We're also building out an experience from the runners saying,
okay, well, if we want to be involved with the runners, we need you to help participate this way.
And so we've got several sponsors that build out that way.
And I think, you know, I could list 10 more ways, but those are just the initial ways that came on.
And we've got such great feedback social media
activations we've got people who are posting it

(25:12):
with this the the highlight of their summer in we're
in may we're we think we were doing a lot of good things but we also have new
ideas we're going to implement this year i'm sure we're going to talk about
some western states up soon but it's continuing to grow and build towards something
even better as far as a runner's experience that keeps us up at night and saying

(25:32):
like, why don't we try this?
One thing I'll point out, one of the great facts about having three race directors is,
If two people think it's a good idea, it's a go. If one person thinks it's a good idea, it's a no.
Right? So we do have that instant veto power where we're like,
no, waste of time, or that's not going to be handled well, or whatever. It's kind of nice.

(25:57):
You're right. I think we should get a third race director. There you go.
There you go. I recommend it.
I will point out, too, that at the beginning, the first year,
moral point, we had sort of a five-month window. We were engaged,
I think, in December, you know, in the late November, early December as to our
interest about running the race.
And quite honestly, other than our three individual experiences,

(26:21):
none of us had really done any race direction, official race direction.
And I was extremely proud just like
how much we learned and and again the
value of three was we immediately were
able to pull from people we knew in the industry and people we knew that have
been to other things and got ideas and said how does this work but we did it

(26:42):
all on the fly I will honestly tell you you know operationally people come and
say hey you know this is the This is such a great event.
I've had such a tremendous day. You guys did such a wonderful job.
And I'm running around thinking this is an utter show because this went wrong, that went wrong.
But then again, as a participant, you don't know what we had organized or planned

(27:05):
and our ability to adapt at the real time to maintain.
And I think that's also one of the big things we go towards that runner experience
is we really wanted to create a festival.
I mean, that's also been the big trend in the running events.
You look at some of the larger events in the States that they come off more

(27:25):
like, hey, this is not only is it just you don't just show up,
you do your run and you go home.
It's like, hey, stay, enjoy the environment, draw from the energy of everything
that's happening and go home with your heart full, right? Not just your feet sore.
And you did say, Russell, that you are the operationals guy,

(27:46):
which probably means no sleep for a month before the race.
Well, definitely for 74 hours. And last year, I wanted to take a medal because
I did complete 100K in the parking lot.
So I actually covered 100 kilometers in walking back and forth on the Martin Road parking lot.

(28:08):
Oh, my God. And from Friday, from Friday, I arrived Friday at 12 something and
I left at Sunday at three in the afternoon.
And yeah, I think we had four hours sleep. So it is, but you know, it's funny.
Mauro sent an article recently to the, our group chat and it was about the sort

(28:28):
of race director. Why? Why?
And I really took that article to heart because it talked about just being on the finish line.
There's lots of arguments the three of us have and disagreements.
And there's days where I'm like, I don't know why I'm doing this. This isn't worth it.
And then you stand on the finish line and I get to hand somebody their first belt buckle.

(28:48):
I'm crying along with them because I've watched them go from,
or, you know, I've talked to them at two or three in the morning and they're like, I'm done.
I can't do this. I can't, there's nothing left in me. I got nothing to give
and you kind of coach them through that and you get them to stand up and you
get them to put their feet on the trail and walk down and you see them come
in at the end and that's everything to me, right?

(29:11):
I live for handing out those belt buckles to the ultra runners,
particularly the 100 milers, because it's near and dear to my heart.
But yeah, it's a tough event.
It's a tough weekend. We're always pushing ourselves because we're looking for
that next level experience that we're, we have a, we have an acronym we use for that next level.

(29:33):
You can say it, you can say it. Oh, next level shit. It's basically,
it's, it's always, Steve's always saying it's got to be next level shit.
Like what are we going to do?
And you know, and one of the other things too, is there's also other things
that like sustainability, that was something else we really wanted to,
you know, we wanted a festival, but we wanted sustainability.
So like last year we had that green finish line line idea
of uh and just to get rid of the orange cones and go

(29:56):
with the cedars that get donated back to the forest and i mean just those little
little things that people go well why you know i didn't you know that's a really
great idea and why you know that's a so it's just trying to be that little bit
different than a race we want ours to just have that little extra that next level shit.

(30:17):
And not to leave out morrow you're you're the numbers Berserker's.
Volunteer and social media guy. So to me, that says you are definitely working year round.
Not that the other two aren't, but based on that, you're definitely working on this year round.
Yeah, but you're right. All three of us do work on it all year long.
But the very first thing that we do come the Monday or Tuesday after the race,

(30:41):
we wrap up the numbers from the year and make sure that everyone's paid and
everything's closed up and we're done.
But to say that we're We're not working on 2025 already, and we are.
I mean, no two ways about it.
I mean, here we are probably about two and a half months prior to the 2024 race,
but we're always talking about next year because we may be a little bit late

(31:04):
for this year in some of our ideas,
some of our approaches to sponsors, as well as our current sponsors.
We're talking at them today.
How much larger can we get? How much happier can we make our finish line? our finish line.
We're always talking that. In saying that, there's everything from making sure
that the race budget is adequate for the run club who we report to,

(31:30):
making sure that's correct and making sure it's accurate and making sure that
we abide by it all year long.
A budget is a budget and we've got to kind of make sure that we stay within the lines.
And that's kind of what I do. On the volunteer side of things,
we changed some things around this year.
We added from the the operations side, Russell and Steve, we all agreed that
we needed an additional aid station this year. So we added in a fourth aid station.

(31:53):
And in saying that from a volunteer perspective, that adds in a whole new line
of volunteers required. So we have.
At Sulphur Springs, we have about 70 different volunteer activities.
And of those 70 volunteer activities, we have 160 required volunteers throughout race weekend.
So that's 160 people, less if there's people willing to do a couple shifts,

(32:16):
but that's 160 six-hour shifts is what it is.
And this year is going to be that much more simply because we need a lot more
experienced volunteers this year.
We've got to make sure that we're taking care, properly taking care of our 100K,
100 miles that are going to be out there, greatly increased numbers.
So we've got to make sure that we're taking care of those guys out on the course,

(32:39):
as well as when they get back to start finish line.
So that's going to be a whole different level of volunteers that we're going
to need, as well as a whole new level of vendors and suppliers.
So we're taking care of that. And I've got some good volunteer captains that
are looking out for their specific areas, taking care of social media,
taking care of the trail marking, taking care of the aid stations, start finish line area.

(33:04):
So we've got some real good volunteer captains that are helping us out along
the way as well. I'm very proud to say that they're on part of our team. That's awesome.
That's over a thousand volunteer hours, if I'm doing the math right.
Yeah. To count everybody up. To give you some perspective, we went from 8,600
milers last year, Morrow, to 250 hundred milers this year.

(33:25):
Oh, wow. 250 of registered? Yeah, sure.
Hey, guys. If you like what you're hearing so far, then check this out.
Calling all trail runners to come on out to Mansfield, Ontario this May.
The Lost Treasure Trail Race features both the 5 and 10K on the beautiful trails
of the Mansfield Outdoor Center. better.
As the story goes, the American outlaw Jesse James buried a barrel full of gold

(33:50):
coins stolen from a train on his relative's property somewhere in the hills of Malmoor.
You'll earn your very own coin medal when you cross the finish line.
Registration is now open. For more info, go to GotToRunRacing.com.
Now back to Jody and Norm.
There's almost that many, and I think there's almost that many 100K.

(34:11):
Yeah. So the number, Russell's right. The numbers for the, if you add the numbers
for the 100K runners plus the 100 mile runners, last year, we only had about 150.
And 150 for this, for our race is quite a large number, okay?
For 100Ks plus 100 miles.
This year, those two distances are seeing 500 runners this year.

(34:32):
Wow. Congrats to you guys. That's amazing.
So 500 runners, and that's just in the 100K and 100 mile. Now,
we've got to make sure that we take care of those guys.
We got to make sure that they're successful and we're going to make sure that
they're getting belt buckles and medals when they cross that finish line.
And we hope that, you know, that we have the highest percentage of finishers
that we've seen ever before. Yeah, we're getting closer to that question.

(34:53):
But shamefully, neither one of us have run Sulphur Springs.
We're going to rectify that in the next two years for sure.
But we did come the year that you had the 200 miler because we were cheering
on our our team running free athletes.
When we used to own our store, we had some athletes that were participating in the race.
And I was able to, I think I ran three loops. That's 60 K of the course,

(35:16):
but I tell you not, not easy because that final hill coming into the final finish, pissing me off.
I can't imagine doing a 200 miler, but what happened to the 200 miler?
That was only just one year, right?
Yeah. It was only the one, I think the race director, I think it was Tim that
year and his wife, they, there was just a sort of, Hey, why don't we try a 200 miler?

(35:40):
And, and 200 milers are becoming more, more, I wouldn't say popular,
but they are becoming more prevalent in the ultra scene.
I think as, as people kind of like your ultra running was one thing,
and now you've got, everybody's just pushing the envelope more and more.
Right. So, so they tried and I remember being there, I remember showing up on
the Friday and just like seeing, cause it was, I think it was, that was the 2019.

(36:05):
Right. So that was the, that was the raining year.
So like some of these guys had a macerated feet kudos to them for finishing
that race, but, but it is a deceptive course to your point.
I mean, it's people think that, oh, it's a nice trail, but you grind that out
a couple of loops and going up to Sisters and there's some even some very gradual

(36:26):
net downs that if you're not careful and you don't kind of stay within yourself,
you're going to trash yourself to the point you're not.
You're just going to be in trouble real soon. You have a section called the Sisters?
Yeah. So the the lollipop. So there's a bunch of I think it's the Headwaters
Trail that comes across Martin Road.
Looks like a lollipop on the map. Thank you.

(36:47):
And there's a section that's affectionately known as the Three Sisters.
So it's kind of, again, three hills that continue to climb.
So they also have a lot of other euphemisms that have been thrown out.
We have the exact same thing in Hockley.
It's called the Three Sisters? Sometimes they're sisters, sometimes they're
something else. Something else.
Yeah. Well, actually, ours is the Three Sisters and the Mother.

(37:10):
You found the mother, didn't you? but in that
200 mile there didn't someone come from germany to
run that one did he actually come from germany specific to
run that race in 2017 that's my understanding i
think he was the guy that won too right 51 hours yeah
yeah because it made it it made big news it made it city tv

(37:32):
news or something like that it was it was a big deal at the time
i remember seeing on the news going wow wow that's incredible
well so give me a give you some
perspective how are you harvey lewis his
first hundred miler he ever did sulfur springs no
way very good yeah that's amazing so
wow again when you talk about a 2025 idea you

(37:54):
know i don't know you know somebody of harvey's
caliber i mean i'll right now he's probably moments away
from running barkley but because that's happening in in
the next probably likely in the next few weeks that'll
drop but yeah this is the sulfurs sulfurs
had some pretty notable people and i think we have
somebody coming from australia this year do we not more yeah so yeah we've got

(38:17):
we've got uh new zealand china there's four or five people from china coming
uh believe it or not and whether they they coincide with family trips or not
it's regardless, the word is out there.
We've got a few from Europe, you know, word is out there and,
and, and, and, and through the States, you know, I try to, I try to talk to

(38:38):
these people a little bit through messenger and ask them, you know,
where did you, you know, how did you find us? And where did you find it?
And they will tell me that, you know, a lot of it's through social media and
they're, they're searching around and they'll just search Google and,
and, and we'll, we'll come up on, on their searches.
So it's pretty impressive that we're, we're, we're worldwide now,
Now, you know, I mean, seriously, we really are.

(38:59):
And, you know, we put our name out there and we're putting our feet to the fire.
So we're holding, we're holding the candle as well.
Well, obviously the big story is you're, you're going after the Western States qualifier this year.
So how long has that been on your radar? Is that from day one was your mission guys?
Who wants to take that one? Steve owns this one. Okay.

(39:21):
It was his brainchild. I have to, it was really was his brainchild.
Yeah, that was something that was started maybe by me, but it was a group decision
to sort of say, okay, are we going to put ourselves out there?
What we decided to do was first I reached out to Tropical John Mettinger from
Western States and said, look,

(39:42):
we would love to be considered, but how can we be considered as a Western States qualifying race?
And he laid it out there and said, look, Western States is a great race.
We're always looking for geographical representation.
So I said, we had a good discussion, realized there was no Ontario races.

(40:03):
There are races in Canada that you can qualify for Western States,
but there are no races in ontario where you can and so we said okay why don't
we why don't we decide like okay maybe i decided before these guys did but i
decided we're going to go after this and so,
what we had to do next was just because we
wanted it we had to sort of take a pulse for

(40:24):
the trail community do they want it because part of the qualification process
to prove to western states and tropical john mettinger that we are serious and
that we should be considered as a qualifying qualifying race was to demonstrate
that we have at least 100 finishers in the 100 mile or under 30 hours.
And because of our elevation gain for the 100K, our 100K race also qualifies

(40:47):
as long as we're under 18 hours.
So if we have either 100 in the 18 hours,
100K finishers in under 18 hours, or 100 mile finishers in under 30 hours,
then anybody who qualified within those parameters parameters would be given
a ballot for the 2025 Western States race. That's the agreement we came upon.

(41:09):
And we sort of said, okay, let's put it out there. We kind of did it blindly with a leap of faith.
But we also knew we didn't have to get this Western States qualifying.
This was a goal of ours. But we really wanted to know, does the trail running
community in this area want that as well?
And the answering has been a resounding yes, as you can see.

(41:30):
We can talk about coming out of COVID in 2022 and having a hundred runners in
a hundred K and a hundred mile total.
And then the next year, 2023, we had, we had a 150, which is fantastic growth, right?
But to go from there to 500 was not something that we thought was going to be
as quickly received as it was.

(41:52):
We had, we had lots of people chatting, lots of people supporting saying,
let's do this. Let's do this.
People on social media, pushing each other. And we've had to adapt because of
the demand was so much higher than we even anticipated initially.
But we're very pleased to see that that interest was there from the trail running
community that matched our interest in being that club.

(42:12):
I will say this. It really surprised me, and it probably shouldn't have,
because the trail running community is a very different community than road running community.
Okay, a lot of my road running experience is different.
We got a lot of support from other trail races, other trail race directors who
said, yes, we want your race to be that race.
Okay, we want that for Ontario. terror. We want all of our runners to have that opportunity.

(42:35):
We've had people from, from happy trails racing. They've moved their Foxtail
up a little bit in the training season so that they've become more of a, a feeder for our race.
Yeah. They also dropped the a hundred mile too, right? They got the hell out
of that race so that, that people wouldn't be trashed for going to sulfur.
Exactly. So we've, we've seen, we've seen acceptance and excitement from,

(42:57):
from us. That's matched by the runners.
That's matched by the trail racing community in our area. that's matched by
BRC who wants this to happen as well.
And now the onus is switched back to us to make sure that everybody has the
potential to cross that finish line.
So we're doing lots of things now to try to make sure that that's the scenario.

(43:19):
We need, selfishly, that 100th finisher to get the status, but we would like
all 250 people to finish.
Not for any reason other than they deserve the opportunity to finish.
So we'll pray for good weather, but everything that's under our control,
we will do our best to make sure that they have everything at their fingertips,

(43:41):
every support element we have.
We're introducing a night trail run this season.
Again, building out the runner's experience, saying, okay, you don't know how to run trails at night.
We're going to bring guides in and we're going to show you how to do that on
Friday, April 25th. We have Phoenix Headlamps is on board as a sponsor now.
So we're going to make sure that they, people have demo headlamps to try the Nike Trail running.

(44:05):
We're going to do some of those things so that they can have a better understanding
of how the trail operates in, represents itself in the dark.
Because we just want to have more people.
Chance at a higher success rate. We have Scratch Labs Hydration, our nutrition company.
They've been on board with us all along, and they've been fabulous.
People have become accustomed with a great product being served on course.

(44:28):
We're not just throwing anything.
We want to give them the best possible products to make sure that they're finishing.
But they're coming on board. They have Reed Burroughs, and they're nutritionists,
in-house nutritionists. They're going to do possibly a series of videos.
We're trying to coordinate all that, a series of videos, instructional videos
of how to prepare for software, what products you might want to use and what
to expect and all kinds of things that can help improve our success rate.

(44:52):
So we're really hoping that we've done everything we can that's in our control
to get that Western States qualifying status.
And we look forward to being at that finish line when we've gained it.
And we're really excited about it. I hope you guys will be there for it.
Yeah, we want to talk about that actually. But first, from our standpoint as runners,

(45:14):
I can see how the Altra community has completely embraced your goal because
it took Norm seven years to get to Western.
Traveling. And he did all of those out of country.
Right. So the time, the money, the lonely weekends of him disappearing and going to run.

(45:34):
And then we still had to go to this race, whether he was injured or not,
to get his Western ballot.
So I can totally see why our communities embrace it. And I'm thrilled that they have.
And secondly, one of our questions was when we were looking at your race roster,
we saw that it was sold out.
And we're thinking, why would they cap it? Well, we understand now,

(45:57):
we have 250 people registered.
Yeah. Surely to goodness, the success rate is going to be there.
So you didn't really cap it. It's, you got enough people to tackle this,
that it should be sufficient.
So that, scratch that question.
Yeah. Well, no, I can speak to that a little bit. And then we started thinking,
okay, if we, if we look back historically at our finishing rates,

(46:21):
we can see that typically with good weather and be north of 50% for sure.
Sometimes 300 miles in a 60 65 on a
really great day with good conditions the 100k might even
be up in the 70 75 you know we
can get some really good days and events that pushes it up further
but so we said okay we need 200 registered
because you might get 10

(46:44):
to 20 that don't even start because of injuries or other
things or life gets in the way so then all of a sudden now
you're down down to 160 180 then you're
like okay well if we get 60 like what are we dealing with here so we set that
target of 200 and now coming off of like we said there was 150 between the 70
and the 70 and the 100k and the 80 and the 100 miler from 2023 we thought wow

(47:07):
where are we going to find another 120 100 milers.
That want to do this and then we had
to okay well wait a second can we handle more because
there's so much demand so we've had to expand the field only like
only early on we realized wow there's just so much demand but
then we got to a point where we said okay it's it's not

(47:27):
just about volume it's about safety uh finishing range
runner experience and you know we've
got to make sure we have enough food and porta potties and we've
got more paramedics this year than any any any any time before that
we are just bored out of their mind but yeah
we have to think of all those things and uh that's
that's kind of why we've had to put a cap on

(47:49):
it but originally when we thought 200 we were like whoa is this crazy or what
but now we know it's possible and because people like you we have friends like
you a norm who've done that and travel all around and we said they would love
this but do we have enough that would love it and you can see that we do yeah i gotta ask Norm,
how did you do to, I, I got my golden hour t-shirt.

(48:12):
Oh, did you? So I was, I crewed, I crewed this, I crewed this year for a friend
of ours who took him seven years, I was his primary pacer and cruise.
So I'd been to Indiana trail and oil Creek, and I did all those qualifiers with
them. He did Zion and a few others.
Yeah. And what a rush Western states is. So, yeah.

(48:35):
We were there last summer. I got to sit and like Courtney just chatted with
Courtney, chatted with her dad and her mom.
But we went back for golden hour. Unfortunately, our runner,
my runner missed a time cutoff at the high school.
Just had some GI issues and that was unfortunate. But we went for golden hour and what a rush.

(49:00):
What a rush. So congratulations.
I know that course. I got, you know, I did run on that course.
I got at least my feet on the course, but good for you. Congratulations.
Well, thank you. I was prepared to die that day. Yeah. Because it took me so
long. I was prepared to die.
But going forward, after you get the qualification for Western,

(49:23):
do you have to maintain those numbers every year to keep the qualification?
Or do they automatically, you're in, you're in? Every year, it's a voting process
where they decide, they determine who can be a qualifying race.
The unique aspect we have is that we would, in that case, be Ontario's,

(49:43):
at the moment, only Western States qualifying race.
With a population of 14, almost 15 million people, we think we're pretty well-seated
to at least carry that torch for a while.
I think they would expect 100 to 120 finishers every year to maintain that status,
but they could come along and say, okay, the 100K races don't qualify you anymore

(50:05):
because there's so much demand.
There's been talk about that in the background, sort of on social media feeds and stuff.
That's not from Western States directly, but they could come along and make
those sort of in-house changes just to adapt.
They could come along and say, we don't have a contract with them.
It's every year they get voted upon.
But when we have good turnout and good runner experience, that's what they measure

(50:26):
their willingness to be involved with you again on.
I think once your name's on that website, though, you will see your participation
rise from outside of Ontario as well,
because obviously the people in eastern Canada, in the northern United States,
going on a road trip to come up and get their ballot,

(50:47):
I think you're going to really see that grow in the next couple of years for
sure, because there really isn't a whole lot on this side of the continent when you think about it.
So that's awesome. Awesome. We're excited to see it unfold. Yeah, we are too. As are we.
We've got people coming in worldwide and we've got to maintain,
we've got to ensure that we entertain these people that are coming in,

(51:11):
their support crew, as well as the runners and showing them a good race.
You know, like Russell said, a festival. And I think last year's event where
on the Sunday, just in terms of 10K and 20K runners, you got 500 people there.
You got 500 people cheering on a 100K or 100 runner coming in at like 10,
11, 12 o'clock on Sunday morning.

(51:33):
You got 500 people cheering them on. Our race announcer says,
hang on, guys, don't leave.
Within about 20 minutes, we'll have 100 miler coming up the hill and we need you to cheer them on.
You got two, three, 400 people cheering them on. That's pretty wild. That's pretty cool.
So we're going to maintain that this year. And we plan to even grow that environment,

(51:55):
that festival-like scenario on Sunday even more.
The one thing I'd like to add to that, though, is, and this is actually even
a mandate from from BRC as much as it is a straw dog thing is we also like, we,
we want to create this, this sort of large scale event and this,
this, this worldwide event,
but it's still very important to us to not lose that kind of local feeling.

(52:21):
Right. Like we're Ontario where it's certainly a goal of, of,
of all of ours is not to kind of become this sort of.
Well, to remember where we came from and what, you know, what we were originally
about, because I think that would be a disservice to the race and to the legacy that we were given.

(52:42):
Right. I mean, we were given the legacy of a race that's already ran 29, 30 years.
And, and, you know, I don't want to be the ones that are like,
oh, they just turned it into this money-making look at all the backlash UTMB
is getting Western Canada for just buying out and just becoming a corporate machine.
Right. Right. So that to me is just really, really, really important.

(53:06):
Right. Like, you know, I want to make sure that never happens.
And did you not feel at Western that it had that feel yet?
It's such a huge, ginormous race yet.
It didn't feel that way for some reason. Yeah. There was a little bit in the village.
I remember standing the yellow runner. Sally McRae.

(53:27):
Sally McRae. I'm standing next to her and she was just sitting on a cooler and
we talked for about 40 minutes and I'm like, people kept coming up.
And at the point I didn't really, I didn't follow her on Instagram.
I didn't really know who she was.
And, but so down to earth approachable.
Nobody had this air of, you know, don't talk to me. Like, you know,

(53:48):
how many times, I mean, as much as the, I don't dispute any of you,
but we don't walk up to Kipchoge and just sort of say, Hey, do you mind giving,
can I have a go, have a beer with you?
But honestly, I swear you, you could grab Courtney or any of these guys and
just say, Hey, do you want to sit down and shoot the shit for 10 minutes?
And they'd be more than happy to pull up a log with you. Well,
trust me, we've been shocked by the, some of the names that have said yes to

(54:11):
our podcast. So case in point, and this is the only sport where you can line
up at the start line with, with the pros.
You can't name another sport where you can do that. Yeah. I want to go play
hockey with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Do you think they allow me to go play hockey with them?
Speaking, speaking of pros, uh, Steve, a couple of notables for, for our race.

(54:33):
You, you worth, worth mentioning a couple of notables that we've got coming. Okay.
Sure. Yeah. So Amanda Nelson, who is the 24-hour Canadian record leader.
Nice. She will be here making her, believe it or not, her 100-mile debut.
Because she's run more than 100 miles, but she's never raced a true 100-mile race.
So she's going to join us. And Krista Duchesne. Yep. Krista Duchesne will be there.

(54:58):
She's an Olympic marathoner. I've known Krista for years and years.
And we've supported her as Canadians and as runners for years as she worked
toward her Rio Olympic bid.
And she's run a 50K trail race, but she's never run anything more than that.
So now she's dabbling in 100K for the first time.
So she's going to be there representing all of us and all of our hopes that

(55:21):
we can continue doing this for a long time.
Reid Burrows, Reid Burrows, who we mentioned before, Reid Burrows will be there.
He'll be running our 50K race. so we we
have a good good turnout of notable people we
have a recool sat's going to be there i think he's he's
either going to be coaching or he's going to be running our 20k because he's coming
off an injury so i'll talk to reed to sort of see where he's going to be but

(55:43):
we have lots of great runners lots of talented people already in ontario but
you may see some names like you said normie may see some names that we're just
not familiar with that to really come in and show us That's where all the talent is,
elsewhere outside of Ontario. And we'll be excited to see that happen too.
In the past three years, what interesting stories or funny stories have taken

(56:04):
place at Sulphur Springs that you can come to mind?
I know, Mauro, you're laughing. There's something in your mind right now.
I think, Mauro, you're on mute, but you need to tell them about Nick.
No, I'll let Russell. Russell took the phone call. I'll let Russell take that. Oh, yeah. Nick.
From Montreal. Go ahead, Russell. Yeah. So I'm standing at the registration
desk and 100 miler started two hours ago.

(56:27):
And this kid wanders up and says, Hey, I'm here to run the 100 mile.
I know it's left. Can I still start?
And I was like, sure. I said, you know, why not? So he gave me his name. I gave him his bib.
And I said, I got to ask. I said, you know, it started at 6am.
It's 10 o'clock almost, right? And he said, well, my car got broken into my

(56:48):
girlfriend's place in the city. So he's from Montreal.
He had nothing but literally a pair of shoes and the shorts he was wearing.
And he said, can I still run? And I said, you have 30 hours to finish the course.
So as long as you can finish by 12 noon tomorrow, I said, have you ever run
a hundred miler before? And he goes, no, this is my first one.
So I'm like, okay. So he's got no gear, no nothing. Went over to the MC, Mike.

(57:11):
I introduced him to the crowd. this is again a testament to why I've switched
from road to trail and why I love the trail community as I do.
Hey, this is Nick, got his car broken into. He's got no gear.
Within five minutes, we had him a vest. We had him a couple of bottles.
You know, somebody gave him, we gave him a couple of the volunteer shirts to
change into. I gave him my spare headlamp I had in my kit and in my truck.

(57:35):
And he finished. Nice. You know? I love it.
Yeah. Like, I mean, and I've, like, I've, he, he just, he went,
and he went out there with such gratitude.
Like the whole day, like, and you know what? The fun, that was the funny thing
too, too. He said to me afterwards, he said, I had two choices.
I could have sat at home and been miserable and said, I got screwed and my life sucks or whatever else.

(57:59):
And he said, I chose to make the best of the situation and look at the outcome.
Yesterday, I don't know if you guys are aware, but last year,
we had the youngest Canadian ultramarathoner in Matt Monroe,
19 years old. He was almost our Lantern Rouge winner, I think, by 20 minutes.

(58:19):
But he and his dad were so nervous.
He just hung on my six the entire weekend, asking me questions.
When should he be back? Is he going to be okay?
I felt like I was taking care of his dad more than I was taking care of...
Of the runner, but, but yeah, it's those little, those little real miracle things

(58:41):
that happen that when you see him come around the corner and you think he's
going to finish, you know, and that's, that's incredible.
Well, Morrow, you'll remember Matt showed up to fiddle 50.
He was broken. No, he did. He was broken. That was one, one,
one week later, he was trying to do a 50 K, I guess. I'm not too sure what it was.
Yeah. I don't think he made it very far though. If I remember.

(59:02):
No, he, he cramped up pretty good. Well, I think that's that.
I think he, you know, again, Again, if you look at most ultramarathoners,
I mean, they don't really start until their mid-40s, right?
Like the average, I'm saying, like I didn't start until I was 55, almost 55.
So I didn't start until I was in my early 40s before I started taking it seriously.

(59:22):
I think sometimes it's just you kind of get that, you have to have that mental
maturity to know what you're putting yourself into.
But I mean, 2019, I know people that they moved the aid station into that field
and it was pouring with rain. I mean, people were losing their shoes,
getting their shoes completely sucked.
Yeah. Always something fun that happens.
Your company is called Straw Dog Racing.

(59:44):
Are you guys going to be directing any other races coming up in the future?
No, our focus is on Sulphur Springs this year. No two ways about it.
I mean, we don't want to lose that focus.
Straw Dog Racing, are we capable of doing a lot more? I think we're capable of a lot more.
Right now, all three of us work full time. So this is something that we do after

(01:00:05):
hours, before or after work or on the weekend.
So it takes up a fair amount of work.
Is it enough for us right now? It really is. So until we're ready to take on more,
I think we're very content with Sulphur Springs and ensuring that the race experience
for our runners at Sulphur Springs is nothing but the best.

(01:00:27):
But according to your website, you are for hire, should someone want to hire
you too. I but strictly trail it.
I have no interest in doing a road race for me personally. There's the logistics
of permitting. Because I'm operations, I do all the permits and everything.
So police and those things are just such a hard thing to do.

(01:00:48):
And I really feel for people who manage road racing in terms of the logistical
challenges that they face.
Tomorrow's point, this is another full-time job.
We promised at the end of last year, it's like, great, we had a great race.
We high-fived, we hugged each other, we were sleep-deprived. we
said okay let's you know let's take a day off and
and then regroup and we kind of we dotted the i's

(01:01:10):
and crossed the t's and closed the books on 2023 and we
thought okay well we'll see you guys in a couple of months and two days later
we were sitting down having coffee going i got this idea i got this idea and
i got this idea we haven't stopped and we haven't had one day off it's not that
i don't love it and but i i think tomorrow's point i definitely see straw dog doing other things,

(01:01:33):
but to the point I made earlier about our mission statement being that we want
to lead, do a premium event, it's trying to find something that's not just.
Another of the same that's been, that's not to say we, we wouldn't consider
resurrecting a ghost from the past and maybe putting a new flavor on it,

(01:01:54):
but there's definitely, it's like I said, there's always ideas.
We're always bashing around things. things so don't count
us out but hey if you're looking for some race directors
for your local race you know you know horn giving
us a call see if we can work in our
calendar all right well we
wish you nothing but the best of luck and we will be there and we will be there

(01:02:16):
so we like to finish our podcast with some rapid fire questions so we're going
to shorten it just because we want three answers from each of you so we're going
to start with a little bit of canadiana butter tart Buttertarts with or without raisins, Steve?
No raisins. Mauro? No raisins, all sugar, all by all. Yeah, no,

(01:02:37):
no, don't, don't, don't mess it up. Russell?
You had me a butter tart. It doesn't matter what the butter tart is, I'll eat it.
Put a pecan in there, a raisin, I'll have it. All right. As long as it comes
from Black Forest Bakery in Oakville, that's my go-to butter tart spot.
All right. All right, Morrow, would you rather be a professional writer, painter, or musician?

(01:02:59):
Painter, painter, painter, all the way. Russell? I would love to be a writer.
Steve? Well, I'm not just going to be different. I'm going to say musician because
my wife has a degree in piano performance, and I have a grand piano right there
she won't let me touch. Oh, nice.
If I was a musician, she'd probably let me touch it.

(01:03:21):
I love it. But name a TV show you're embarrassed to say you watch, Russell.
RuPaul's Drag Race. Really? We can stop right there.
We got enough to go on for another hour now. I am the father of two daughters.
Love it. All right, Mauro, what's yours, Mauro? 90 Day Fiance.

(01:03:45):
Seriously, I'm not kidding you. Wow. You almost spit out your coffee. There you are.
I think I would side with RuPaul over 90 Day. Hey, oh my gosh.
All right, Steve, make it a good one. All right. Well, you know what?
I got to outdo Russell a little bit there and then I have four daughters.
So I don't watch a lot of television because I don't get an opportunity with

(01:04:07):
them always taking it over. But Sister Wives has been on in the background.
I love this. This conversation, I think, is going to go on after we've cut the
Zoom here. As long as you've got butter tarts.
There you go. There you go. All right. norm pick a
superpower that you'd each like to have russell spider-man

(01:04:31):
so my favorite my favorite yeah i want to be able to wall crawl and
web zip and do you i just like
to be a lot taller taller like nine
foot six oh you want to be a giant okay just like just walk around you know
that much stronger just taller okay and moral i thought of my answer but then
then as the other other guys answer i thought mine was really creepy i was gonna

(01:04:54):
say invisible but that's kind of creepy i think that's a common one turn your camera off.
All right guys thank you so much much and all the best this year we will be there for sure,
perfect all right thank you thanks so much for having us all right guys thank
you so much for your time today we really appreciate it and uh we'll we'll stay

(01:05:16):
in touch and we'll see you in full months yeah yeah jody thank you norm thank
you appreciate it thanks i just have one quick question before you go like with
the butter tart question was that because you wanted our order,
we know what to bring you we don't we
don't eat all weekend so i'm just wondering okay okay i'm
making a note right now bribe them with butter tarts no

(01:05:38):
raisins we're good what's gonna
happen is maro's gonna send you an independent email and ask
you to bring him a coffee but just him him he can
walk around because he did this to me two years
ago where i kept turning around and he had a fresh tim hortons coffee and i
kept looking at them going how the fuck do you have a cough and i every hour
on the hour and he comes he goes i get people to bring them toward me and i'm

(01:06:02):
like you couldn't say two that would be divorce in our house.
All right guys take care good luck to you guys with your with your your goals
too because this This is pretty amazing.
We want to be part of this and part of your success too. So whatever we can
do to work together, we're excited about it too. Thank you. Really appreciate that.

(01:06:23):
Thank you. Okay. Bye. Take care. Bye.
Well, well, well, that was our first time chatting with more than one person
at the same time, and it went pretty well, don't you?
I think it went great. We learned so much about a race right in our own backyard. We sure did.
And thanks to the guys for helping it go so smoothly.
If you want to be part of the race to Western States, you can still sign up

(01:06:47):
for the 10K and 20K and cheer on those runners going for the 100K and 100 mile.
Yeah, stick around, cheer them on. The very last runner coming through.
That would be on the Sunday, right? Sunday. Yeah. Around noon.
That's right. Golden hour. It's the best party to be at. That's right.
Take it from us. And they have plenty of runners in the 100K,

(01:07:09):
which is sold out, but they have what? 250, they said? 250.
In both. In both. 100 miles as well. Incredible.
They're going to get this for Western States qualifying.
It's exciting that Western States is finally coming to Ontario.
You can get your ticket right here at Sulphur Spring.
You got it. Well, it is exciting because, I think Mauro mentioned,

(01:07:30):
we have a population of 15 million
in this province, and the fact that we don't have a qualifier yet...
Pretty crazy. There's 15 million in our province? Yes. 15 million.
And at least 1% of those run.
Wow. I had no idea. At least 1%. Now let's go Sulphur Springs to make it happen.

(01:07:53):
Let's go Sulphur Springs.
Cheering them on. And I just want to say to all those 100Kers and 100 milers
that will be at Sulphur Springs, take it from me.
I know running that distance, it's tough. You've got to dig deep.
I remember my first 100 miler was Leadville 2014.
And the words that Ken Klauber, the director of Leadville at the time,

(01:08:17):
made all the runners repeat to themselves, I commit, I will not quit.
I commit, I will not quit. Over and over again.
Keep saying that to yourself and cross that finish line.
We're counting on you guys to make
Sulphur Springs brings a qualifier for Western States here in Ontario.

(01:08:40):
Everyone, cross that finish line and make it happen.
And we will be there. And if you need us to pace you for a loop or two,
come and find us and say, hey, Norm, can you run with me for a loop? Sure, let's go.
Whatever it takes to make you guys finish. And everyone who's racing at Sulphur
Springs, listening to this podcast, hey, come and say hi.

(01:09:03):
We'd love to meet you. you just look for jody and i will be decked
out in got to run racing and we should mention at the
time of this recording the 10k and 20k is still available so get on over to
race roster and sign up people and before you go we'd really appreciate it if
you'd leave us a rating or a review wherever you listen to your podcast it just

(01:09:23):
takes a minute but it means a lot to us all right until next time cheers.