Having competed in physically demanding challenges like the Canadian Death Race, Sinister 7 and the Meet Your Maker Ultra, it’s no surprise Jasperite Bruno Bergeron snagged first place in the Black Spur Ultra’s 108 km solo male category, Aug. 20.
“It was awesome. It was my first big win as a soloist,” said Bergeron, adding that he’s been competing in ultras since 2004. “Out of all the ultras I’ve done this is probably the hardest one I’ve participated in—it’s a really technical course.”
The daunting course is located at B.C.’s Kimberley Alpine Resort, which takes runners up and down ski hills. Competitors have the option of a 54 km hustle with an elevation gain of 2,230 metres or, if they’re daring enough, they can loop around the course twice, running 108 km, gaining more than 4,000 metres of elevation to complete the ultra.Â
Runners also have the option to sign-up as a team, which Bergeron had been slated to do. For last year’s inaugural Black Spur Ultra, Bergeron and fellow Jasperite Jean-Yves Doucet dominated the race’s team category, coming in first place.
This year the two planned to return to defend their title, however, with a couple of months until the race, Bergeron dropped out due to a knee injury.
Instead of crossing his own name off the list, Doucet swapped categories, settling for the 108 km male solo. However, with five days until race day, Bergeron said his knee was feeling up to par, so he called up the race’s organizers and got himself on the solo sign-up.
Despite the category switch, the two friends made a vow that they would stick together for as long as possible.
“The deal was that we’d run together and support each other, but with more than 100 kilometres, we knew one of us would end up being faster than the other,” Doucet said.
For almost half of the race, the two ran in strides together until the above 30 C heat started affecting Doucet’s performance.
“The heat was definitely my biggest challenge. I thought I was going to quit at the halfway point,” Doucet said. “I did a lot of training, I paid for this and I had done a lot to get here so I thought I might as well finish it.
“I just stopped focusing on the big picture and started making little goals. I started working to make it to the next checkpoint or the next kilometre.”
Once the sun ducked behind the mountains, Doucet said he regained his confidence.
“The weather was perfect after that,” Doucet said. “I don’t think I could have handled the sun for any longer.” Kilometres ahead, Bergeron was going strong, but just exactly how strong he wasn’t too sure.
“I was pretty much in second the whole time and I just couldn’t find the guy in front of me, but when I stopped in the last check station I found out that he had dropped out,” Bergeron said. “So then all of a sudden I found out I’m leading the race—I didn’t even believe it.”
With 20 km left to go, Bergeron was sure he had secured the race’s first place title.
“After that I was so excited. I had goosebumps and was just filled with emotions,” Bergeron said. “I was so excited that I forgot to eat at the last station...I was just running on survival mode for the last 20 kilometres.”
Bergeron completed the race with a total time of 14 hours and 36 minutes. Doucet joined him at the finish line over an hour later, snagging third place with a time of 15 hours and 52 minutes.
“Bruno and I run a lot together and we have the same style,” Doucet said. “It was our goal to make it to the top three so it’s really cool we were able to do that.”
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
