Ultra Trail Stokely Creek had people running for the hills in Goulais (6 photos)

The inaugural Ultra Trail Stokely Creek event brought more than 150 runners from two provinces and seven states together at Stokely Creek Lodge in Goulais River Saturday for a day of trail racing. 

“This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever run in my life, and it’s helped me train for ultra-marathons that I’ve run all across the world,” said organizer and world-class marathon runner Nicholas Brash. “I figured if I can train here and do well in those races, this should also be a race.”

“We figured everybody needs to see our backyard, it’s so beautiful.” 

A total of five races, ranging from five kilometres to 83 kilometres, departed from the lodge to hit the trails. 

Race day volunteer Allison Notte says that runners were on-site well before the sun came up in order to prepare for the first race of the day, which began at 5 a.m. 

“All the trail runners were in here sitting by the fire, keeping warm. It was awesome to see,” Notte told SooToday. “They had all their headlamps on, and everyone was excited to get there.”

The first-ever Ultra Trail Stokely Creek event marked a number of firsts for its participants. 

“I’ve done the distance before, but not on trails - all on roads,” said Saultite Ryan Mitchell. “So it will be a very different race.”

And for some, the real challenge is all in their heads. 

“Well, it’s going to be all mental because it’s hills,” said Niki Maione, who usually runs about 15 to 20 kilometres each weekend with a couple of her friends. “I’m doing the 32 [kilometre race], so I’m not doing the hills until 19.4 kilometres in, and by that time, it’s all mental.”

“It’s going to be good, though. It’s going to be a good day.”

Brash, who participated in the 101-kilometre ultramarathon at the World Summit of Trail Running in Europe in 2018, says that there’s a reason the event t-shirts bear the words ‘year one.’ 

“There’s an opportunity to have this course audited by the International Trail Running Association, and once they come in and do a GPS tracking of the routes that we put on, they’ll realize what a gigantic challenge this race is,” Brash told SooToday. “If we get a stamp that says it’s approved as a qualifying race for Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in France, then we can be on the map to bring runners from all over the world.” 

“With the races I’ve run all over the world, there’s no reason there shouldn’t be one, in my opinion, because it’s just as difficult, if not more.”

Additional information and photos can be found on the Ultra Trail Stokely Creek website and Instagram account.