Squamish's scenery won't be the only thing taking visitors' breath away come Saturday, Aug. 11 when the seventh annual STORMY (Squamish Test Of Running Metal, Yeah) race tests the lungs and legs of some of the North America's best trail runners.
Long-distance runners and athletes take on the course used for the Test of Metal mountain biking challenge in an event divided into three categories: a 50-mile solo ultra-marathon, a 50-mile relay ultra-marathon and a 100-mile solo ultra-marathon.
"The STORMY 100-miler is a good chance to get ready for some of the more major races," said race director Wendy Montgomery. "Often times when someone runs a 100-miler it's so they can qualify for another race like the Western States 100 in California."
The 100 milers have 32 hours to finish the race, and 50 milers have 12 hours, or 13 if they take advantage of the 5 a.m. early start. The event is officially over at 6 p.m.
Newcomers Jennifer Gorman of Revelstoke will be running in the 50-mile solo with her friends Linnea Mawer, a teacher from Calgary, and Kara Hoffman, a nurse from Vernon.
Although new to this race, the friends have been supporting each other's competitive spirit throughout the years.
In 2000 Gorman and Mawer ran their first marathon together in Vancouver during which Mawer broke down crossing the Burrard Street Bridge for the third time.
"She cried on that marathon [and] I'll cry on this one," said Gorman. "But in the end it's all worth it."
Ean Jackson, called the "Grandfather of STORMY," will be running again this year, just as he has every year since he and fellow runner Paul Cubbon came up with the idea in 2000. Jackson, a former coach and manager for the Canadian 100K team, has seen the field of runners grow from 50 in 2001 to this year's total of 130 - 54 of which are entered in the 50-mile solo race itself. Organizers say the growth of STORMY can be attributed to word-of-mouth publicity of running enthusiasts like Jackson and Gorman.
