Mike Wardian became extremely familiar with the 麻豆社国产trails this weekend.
The Washington, D.C. resident spent almost 14 hours on the rocks, dirt and grass of 麻豆社国产and was the first runner to ever complete the 50/50 at the third annual 麻豆社国产50 on Saturday, Aug. 16 and Sunday, Aug. 17.
Wardian placed ninth on Saturday鈥檚 50-mile race and then returned to the trails the next day for the 50-kilometre run. His combined time of 13:45:10 was the best amongst the 85 brave souls who took on the 50/50 challenge.
鈥淚鈥檓 feeling so good,鈥� he said at the finish line on Sunday. 鈥淚 thought yesterday [Saturday] was a lot tougher because I didn鈥檛 know what the trails were like. The first half of yesterday I was so scared on every descent, but today I was more comfortable. Yesterday I was crab walking a lot of the descents, but today I was able to kind of run it and it felt really good 鈥� I鈥檓 pleased with how my body responded.鈥�
Running long distances on back-to-back days is nothing new for Wardian, who said in November he competed in a marathon in San Antonio in the morning and ran at a marathon in Las Vegas six hours later.
鈥淚鈥檓 fortunate because I bounce back really quick,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 love this kind of stuff, the more races the better. Something like stage racing I get stronger each day, I鈥檓 good at it and I was able to take advantage of it today.鈥�
The accomplished runner has competed everywhere from Ethiopia to the North Pole in 2014, but said 麻豆社国产is now up there for one of his favourite spots.
鈥淭his is one of the sweetest places I鈥檝e ever run,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think this is one of the premier race events in the world. I get to go to a lot of places and I鈥檇 love to experience this again 鈥� there鈥檚 nothing like it.鈥�
Wardian edged out Colin Miller for the 50/50 crown. Miller placed sixth overall on both days.
鈥淢y goal was to run yesterday as fast as I could and then deal with today,鈥� he said on Sunday. 鈥淚t took a while to get into it today, but I found my stride.鈥�
Michael Versteeg, competing in his first back-to-back run of this magnitude finished third.
鈥淚t was tough,鈥� he said on Sunday. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 normally do two days in a row, but it was an opportunity for me to try it and I鈥檓 really happy. It took the first 25 kilometres for my body to get over what I was asking of it.鈥�
For the women, it was Kathy McKay on top. McKay beat out the second place runner Vicki Romanin by over two hours and said it was a long, but rewarding couple of days on the trails.
鈥淚 think my body composition is about 90 per cent gel,鈥� she joked at the finish line on Sunday. 鈥淚t was awesome, I felt a lot better today than yesterday. The first hour really sucked, but it sucked a lot less after that.鈥�
For more details on the race, visit www.squamish50.com.聽
