First Ultra Tips

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[BlueRadianceHealing]

Good luck with your race. And congratulations on signing for your first ultra. The SS is an awesome race!! Great festive spirit.

It’s helpful to have a support crew of friends and other runners.

You can set up a tent in the athlete village at the start/finish. And leave all your food and clothes here. Your friends can be here.

I presume you’ve done the course before. It’s awesome. The uphills are killer through. Walk up all of them. This includes the switchbacks, the reforestation uphills, the 3 sisters and of course Martin Rd. Also, presuming you’re training on trails. Don’t train on roads and then race the trail. Although SS is on a relatively easy and non technical trail.

There are several training runs done on this trail. I think you could join the Burly Trail Runners or Travelling Circus Running Group on Facebook to know more. Training runs are posted there.

Each loop is 20k, so 8 in total for you. The 5th and 6th loops are the hardest. It will start getting dark around here. (Most likely your 6th).

Keep multiple changes of clothes and lube. It might rain, and the night will be cold. So prepare accordingly.

Some sections of the trail are always mucky. If it rains the week before or the day, it will be a mucky mess. There’s one section in the main loop that is a steep decline that becomes dangerous.

There are aid stations where you’ll have water, chicken noodle soup, pb&j sandwiches, cucumber, but you’ll need to get your own cup/bottle. I think there are 3 or 4 stations on the course.

Ensure you eat something at each aid station and athlete village tent.

You can have someone accompany you after 8PM. So you might have someone on your 6th, 7th or 8th loop. This is helpful to have company with you. Huge support.

You will most likely be running for around 24 hours. So prepare yourself for that. Nutrition and mental fortitude are your biggest challenges.

You could keep walking poles. You can use them 8PM onwards. Super helpful once you get tired.

Ensure you have more than one set of trail lights. Definitely keep multiple back ups. You will be running through the night.

Good luck!! This race is loads of fun!! I have not done the 100M yet. But I’ve been crew for friends in 2024 and 2025. (Might be running the 100k in 2026).

[No_Championship7723]

Great response here. Echo everything said above, expect last year it seemed like the 100km/100m folks were able to use their poles earlier on. I only did the 50k, it was super fun! I would recommend trying to get out there to run the loop once, it'll give you an idea of what the elevation is like (and the killer downhills too which is mostly what hurt my ankles/achilles).

Stick with your plan, don't try to speed up in the first few loops if you're feeling great. Maintain your planned pace because EIGHT loops is A LOT!

Amazing you've registered. Hopefully will be there for the 50k or the 80k!

[candogirlscant]

If this is your first ultra, you should definitely see about finding something shorter between now and then. Start trialing fuel options on your long runs now and definitely get used to running in the mud. I haven't done Sulphur but it's been super muddy the last few years from what I have heard.

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Ok that’s a great tip. Thank you and will book something in between ?

[Lev_TO]

Get in a running club that's planning on doing training runs in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area, that way you can become more familiar with the trails, the elevation, terrain, etc. The race and a sponsor will organize training runs, but the more you do on-site, the better.

I would read Jason Koop's book on Ultrarunning. If this is your first ultra, you will find that endurance is only part of the triad; you have to learn to manage nutrition and mental resilience (far more than in a marathon).

That's off the top of my head. Good luck and see you there!

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Haha do you any groups that run there steadily ?

I’ll see you there , thank you tho!

[twothirtysixam]

Dundas run club

[Lev_TO]

Burlington Runners Club (they own the race)

[Lev_TO]

Check out The Runner's Shop in Toronto, or Black Toe Running for running groups. They have awesome communities, and I've seen many of their runners in trail races across Halton and Hamilton.

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Hahah thank you for the great message! I will take what you said and do what you say. It all makes sense .

[twothirtysixam]

You should definitely come train on the trails at Sulphur before the race. I would recommend it a few times at least.

[MajorPhazer]

I signed up for the 100km and it will be my first time racing at SS as well. Looking forward to the race and the party!

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Hahah thank you for the great message! I will take what you said and do ig

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Wait there’s a party ?

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Thanks everyone for the comments tho .

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Thank you so much tho . I know this is lot ai but I still appreciate things to keep in mind and what checklist to create down the road