The 2014 North Face 50 Endurance Challenge Race Report |Sage Canaday

December 10, 2014 | By | 26 Replies More

Lets face it. I’m not much of a writer (esp when it comes to basic conventions). So instead of posting a long and drawn out blow-by-blow race report of how The North Face 50-mile Championships went down this weekend I’ve decided to just write 14 lines instead….A Sonnet actually (please don’t judge me on iambic pentameter or my use of punctuation in a poem as I know I failed epically there).

 

Through the mist of sea and air;

a battle beneath the moonlit sky.

Emerge warriors who try to fly;

a queue of legs and expressions that bare

the risk of fatigue and utter despair.

Self doubt disguised as an alibi;

pain and pressure stripped to ‘just try.’

A deal with one’s soul: to dare.

 

Photo Credit: Nate Dunn

Photo Credit: Nate Dunn

But in the slosh and slush of bile,

a distant rally cry from the heart

presented in a ferocity to ascend.

Photo Credit: Matt Trappe

Photo Credit: Meghan Hicks/iRunFar.com

 

Photo Credit: Monica Morant

Photo Credit: Monica Morant

Weary and ragged until the final mile;

finding flow in masochistic art.

A rest and Avery will mend.

 

Here’s the Strava.com data of my race

If you want all the gory details of how things played out you can check out my video log from YouTube below. (As you can see I’m much more comfortable expressing myself through the medium of video). Also, for training information and running tips you can subscribe to my YouTube channel as well for more weekly videos!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jh_lO14NEM&list=UUh_w_vLvlZNBeTAP8qaWhoA[/youtube]

I’ve also made this “VLOG” into an MP3 Podcast since it is quite long and boring:

 

A BIG THANKS to all the volunteers who worked the parking lots, aid stations and marked the course out there this year! I never got lost, and the aid stations were a welcome sight to see thanks to all your hard work. Thank you!

Thanks for all your support and best of luck with your future training and racing!

Cheers,

Sage

@SageCanaday (Twitter and Instagram)

“Vo2max Productions” (on YouTube)

 

Gear Used/Shameless Sponsor Plugs:

 

Kicks: HOKA One One Challenger ATR Trail Shoe (AKA the “Clifton Trail”)

Hydration: Ultimate Direction 20oz Handheld, Jurek Essential Waist belt (filled with gel flasks)

Nutrition: about 20 Vfuel gels

post/pre race: Ugo Bars, Flora Health Oils during training,  Bogg’s Trail Butter, Avery Brewing DuganA Ale

Compression: Compressport USA R2 Calf Sleeves during race, Recovery Full length compression socks after.

(Enter Promo code: SAGE14 for a 10% discount on products at CompressportUSA.com !)

GPS tracking/Training: Strava.com

Socks: Drymax max protection

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Category: blog, podcast

About the Author ()

2-time Olympic Trials Qualifier, Mountain runner, Author of "Running For The Hansons," trail runner, videos for Vo2max Productioins, LLC.

Comments (26)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Ian says:

    v inspiring, thanks for posting Sage!

  2. Joaquin says:

    Sage! Great job! So proud of you. So exciting. Jamie and I were “check’n da tweets” feverishly.

  3. Pete says:

    Much better than the usual written race reports, congrats on conquering the “mental side” of racing. I’ll bet your western Oregon running background helped with running in some of the sloppy conditions on Saturday.

  4. Mike says:

    Sage, give yourself a break! Your race reports are great and often wonderfully candid. When I read them I get a terrific picture of what it is like to be a MUT runner during a race. I find this very entertaining and it inspires my own training. Although I love your poem, I was disappointed to find that you didn’t write a full race report this time. I actually checked your website a few times after your win to check if your race report was up. Please keep the race reports coming.

    Mike.

  5. patrick voo says:

    gels chased down by coke?!? wow sage – living on the edge! 🙂

    great sonnet and vlog, man. loved the review of your race – hope you’re still basking in the outstanding victory!

  6. SageCanaday says:

    Awesome to hear! Thank you so much for following along!

  7. SageCanaday says:

    Hey thanks so much Pete! Yeah, the wet weather for sure reminded me of my early days of running all winter in the rain!

  8. SageCanaday says:

    Hey thanks Mike,
    Yeah, just wanted to change things up this one time…I did do a video log/podcast audio report that is a good 20min long with all the details though (along with the poem). Thanks for the support!

  9. SageCanaday says:

    ha ha, yeah it was a lot of sugar too fast. I remember my puke being brown and all I could think about was not having more coke but water instead (and potato chips!). Thanks for the support…enjoying these couple days off from running.

  10. Greg says:

    Congrats, Sage! I followed IRunfar twitter updates and was cheering for you to win all day. Super gutsy effort and nice poem!

  11. Ryan Cave says:

    Awesome job Sage!! I passed you when you were coming into Cardiac for the second time and I was heading out of it. Which means you were already roughly 12 miles ahead of me (insane). Anyways I yelled something stupid like “your an inspiration, I love the videos!” I think you were too tired to even talk. After you passed I asked the North Face photographer who looked faster, you or I? He graciously told me that I did.

    Just wanted to say congratulations, my brother and I were pulling for you. Glad to see you pull out the win.

  12. John says:

    Always enjoy your videos and reports. Great inspiring race experience…as always. Your mental toughness is amazing, you push through the pain and your training didn’t let you down. Very inspiring. Keep it up!!! Rest up and have a great holiday.

  13. Dave says:

    Sage, great job on the big win and awesome 2014 man! Enjoy the holidays! Keep Running Strong!

  14. Zhou says:

    Great job! Get a better microphone!

  15. Ryan says:

    Congrats on the win, Sage! I always enjoy hearing/reading your race reports. Glad to hear that you’ll be taking a break after Tarawera. Oh, and that picture Meghan took of you above is hilarious, because you definitely look like you’re deep in the cave.

    Good luck with your training heading into Houston.

  16. Olivier says:

    Congratulations Sage! And thank you for all your good advice and allowing us to follow you on Strava so we can learn about how you train. Doing my first official 50M in January but I won’t go that fast :))

  17. SageCanaday says:

    hey thanks so much!

  18. SageCanaday says:

    ha ha, nice. I think I do remember that comment. It was likely I was holding back more puke and couldn’t talk! Congrats on your race as well…good to see you out there!

  19. SageCanaday says:

    Hey thanks so much I really appreciate your support! Best of luck with your future events and happy holidays too!

  20. SageCanaday says:

    Hey thanks so much Dave!

  21. SageCanaday says:

    it’s a Rode External video mic…$150…all i can afford right now!

  22. SageCanaday says:

    Hey thanks so much, that is great to hear! Best of luck with your 50M prep for January 2015!

  23. SageCanaday says:

    Hey thank you very much! Yeah, Meghan captured a great moment for sure…lots of suffering that last 15 miles!

  24. Alan Mair says:

    Sorry not to be there. I was a DNS due to an ofsted inspection in the U.K. I am planning to run in Houston. What event are you planning to do there? Alan

  25. SageCanaday says:

    Hey Alan,
    Hope your training is going well. I actually am having some recovery issues myself and decided to take a break and not run the Houston Marathon this year. Best of luck and thanks for the support!

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.