When Nick Brash started running three years ago to improve his health, he never imagined he would be preparing to run a 101-kilometre ultramarathon at the World Summit of Trail Running in Europe.
“When I started running I was overweight and at risk for diabetes, but now I can look at that guy and he wasn’t living. This guy is,” said Brash.
After his doctor told him he needed to make some changes he quit smoking, changed his diet, and started to run.
“I was running away from the diabetes,” Brash said. “Running was going to be my vehicle for getting to a healthy state.”
At first, Brash could only run for five minutes “It was a mindset of believing that you went this far last time, you can run further this time,” he said.
Over time, he added time and distance until he felt he was able to complete a 42-km race in Iceland.
“I found a link to a trail race in Iceland that was an additional 13 km, it was 55 km. I was like, what’s another 13 km? If I can get up to that 42 I’ll drag myself across the finish line for that final 13.”
Travelling to Iceland was a bucket list item for Brash, and running a longer trail race would allow him to see more of the country. It would also contribute to the points he needed to get into the lottery for the CCC race at the World Summit.
“Once I finished my first race there was a lot of opportunities that opened up, because each of these long races is associated with a point-value to get into the lottery for this race in France,” Brash explained.
Over the next year Brash ran three more ultramarathons, two of them helped him qualify for the lottery.
“After the Iceland race I was only four points away from at least buying a ticket into the lottery for the race,” Brash said.
One of the two races that gave Brash the points was in Bromont, Quebec. In order to get the points, he needed to complete an 80-km race in fourteen hours.
He had one sprained ankle but he decided to run through it.
“Within the first hour I had sprained the other ankle. I just kept running and running and running. I was like ‘Am I quitting?’ But if I quit, I wouldn’t get to punch my ticket for the lottery.”
“My friend was there to pace me at 65 km and he dragged me across the finish line at 13 hours and 13 minutes on two sprained ankles, but I got my lottery ticket punched, my name got picked, and I've got to go to Europe,” Brash said.
“There are people who qualify for years and years but their names don’t get pulled, and the first time I get in my name gets pulled, it’s pretty crazy,” Brash answered when he was asked how he felt about getting into the World Summit’s CCC race.
The CCC is a 101-km race in which Brash will have to run through three countries. “You have to bring your passport with you because you start in Italy in Courmayeur, and then you run into Champex-Lac, Switzerland, and then you finish in the little ski village of Chamonix, France.”
“They give you 26 hours and 30 minutes to complete it, to be an official finisher,” Brash said.
Brash's training specifically for the CCC has taken place over the past six months on the Robertson Cliffs trails, just north of the Sault.
When he first moved to Sault Ste. Marie from Kingston for work, he did all of his running in the city. An employee suggested that he try out the Robertson Cliffs trail for a change of scenery.
“I was still quite heavy at that point and going up the cliffs was quite the trek for me, when I made it up there, the views were so pristine that I had to do it again,” Brash said.
Brash spends eight and a half to nine hours running 40-60 km on the trail twice a week.
A day at Robertson Cliffs takes a lot of preparation. Friday after work, Brash heads to the grocery store to pick up the essentials like fruit, hummus, energy drinks, and nacho chips for his run the next day. He also makes sure to pack rain gear, hiking poles, extra shirts, and a headlamp.
His 60-km trail run starts at 5 a.m., he runs a 7.5 km loop eight times. Brash makes sure to eat after every loop to keep his energy up. His food and extra drinks are kept in his truck at the trail head so he won’t have to carry his supplies with him.
Brash says that Robertson Cliffs is “The perfect place to train” due to the difficulty of the trail, the elevation, and the fact that it’s just shy of 10 km away from his house.
During the week, Brash runs 15 km on the Robertson Cliffs trail three times a week.
Brash knows that his training for this race has spanned over the past two years. “This isn’t just a culmination of my work over the past six months, it’s the four races that I ran last year in 2017, all of those are building blocks to getting me to this point," he said.
Now that he’s less than 21 days out from the race, his training is slowing down. His biggest focus is staying healthy. “If you’re not ready 20 days out, you’re not ready.”
When asked what he is most excited about Brash said: “My pure excitement is just about knowing that I’m ready to run this, there’s nothing I could’ve done more to be ready for this race. It excites me to know that if everything goes well I’ll complete it.”
Brash's goal for the race is to complete it. However, there is a second qualifying time for a chance to move on to another race.
“The best case scenario is there’s a second qualifying time, in which if you were to qualify for the under 25-hour mark you then get into another lottery with a 2-per-cent chance for the oldest 100-mile race in California. That would be a dream scenario.”
The CCC race is on Aug. 31 at 3 a.m. EST.
You can track Brash's progress during the race online here.
You can also follow his Facebook page to keep up with his future and current training here.