It’s been 5 months since I started training for the UTFS 100 or Ultra Trail Fjord Saguenay 100km. It’s been a really good training stint overall. It started in March, the week we took a family trip to Stowe to ski. That week the long run was 16km and I thought it was a bit much for a first week. The past few week’s long runs have typically been between 29k and 50k.

Early 2023 I was contemplating ultra trail and triathlon events but couldn’t make up my mind. I was also wondering how it would fit my new commitments with my clients, business trips, family time and training. But Adrien came to the rescue and threw in a: ‘let’s do the UTFS 100 I heard it’s great!’ And off we went, we booked our spot that week and started training. We did not manage many trainings together but recently we did a 4 hour run at Mont-Orford and had a fantastic time! Post training Adrien took me to the local grilled-cheese and bike shop, delicious food and surrounded by bikes, it doesn’t get any better than this.

So here we are, on our way to Charlevoix region, wrapping up the day in Quebec City, kids in their pyjamas, driving the final stretch tomorrow to l’Anse saint-Jean where the event is taking place.

The race: 5am departure on Saturday morning. Estimated time <20hrs, pace 9-10min/km, possibly lots of mud, roots and tricky trails and around 4500m of climbing over a distance of 103km.

The training highlights: training in Chatham New York at our friends Dan and Catherine; training in Montreal as the snow started melting in Mont Royal park; training in Hong Kong while visiting my friend Lars in May; training in Monterey, CA during the Sea Otter bicycle event late April on the beach.

You can learn more about our event at: https://www.ultratrailfjord.com / denali2019

You can even follow me on my garmin inreach tracker if you fancy seeing where I am during the race: https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/bengrenon