The Canyons 100KM Ultramarathon was a journey before it even started. In fall 2023, my Ankylosing Spondylitis flared up badly enough that I couldn't train properly, so I deferred my 2024 spot to 2025 — unsure I'd ever line up at all. A new medication and a full 2024 race season changed that.
I'd never run further than a marathon, let alone on trails, so I had no real gauge for how the day would go. The race starts at 5:00 AM with a 1:00 AM cutoff the next morning; my goal was simply to finish, ideally before dark, but mostly just to have fun.
Lesson: it's fine for "having fun" to be the goal. Without a benchmark, it's easy to fall into beating yourself up over an unrealistic target.
Getting there
Training was disrupted by six months of travel through South America and Asia. Ultra prep leans on time-on-feet rather than speed, and my volume fell well short of my 2023 build — the most consistent stretch I managed abroad was in Korea, on flat city streets, which worried me for a course with this much elevation. I moved back to California for the final four weeks to get real trail time and acclimate to the expected heat.
I also had to make peace with prioritizing: A-workouts (must-do), B (nice-to-do), C (only if there's time). Hitting every A session — hills, strength — mattered more than cramming the full plan.
Lesson: define your goals clearly and allocate your limited resources accordingly.
Three days before the race I developed a sharp pain down my neck into my shoulder — no idea if it was overtraining, sleep position, or stress, but I couldn't fully turn my head. It didn't hurt while running, so I decided to start anyway. Race morning began with a 1:45 AM wake-up and a bus that broke down halfway to the start, stranding us on the roadside in the rain for an hour. We made the start line five minutes before the gun.
The race
The first ninety minutes were headlamps and falling snow on cold mountain air. After the descent to the turnaround at a swinging bridge, we climbed straight back up a steep, muddy trail — and I was very glad I'd brought hiking poles despite the extra weight, since several experienced Canyons runners had recommended them. Many without poles struggled for balance on the slick trail.
Lesson: it's better to carry something and not need it than need it and not have it.
Around the 70K mark I linked up with Scott, a runner I'd been near earlier in a pack of eight. We'd both been running solo for a while, so we decided to stick together — a huge lift once I was past my longest-ever distance. We settled into a rhythm: power-hike the climbs, jog the flats, run the descents, and take turns pulling each other out of low patches.
Lesson: shared pain is half the pain. Find someone on a parallel journey and push each other forward.
Scott had more left in the final stretch and pulled ahead; I skipped a gel over the last 8K and was running on sour gummies and lukewarm chicken broth. Still, I dug in as we hit the outskirts of Auburn, picked up the pace hoping to break thirteen hours, and rounded the last corner to see my family. I gave my brother-in-law a high five and crossed the line with a huge wave of relief — 94th overall, 16th in my age group, and a challenge I'd set for myself two years earlier, finally done.
Lesson: don't underestimate slow, steady, forward progress. No matter the distance, continuing to take steps toward the finish gets you there.
Course notes
Set outside Auburn, CA — Gold Rush country — the course has roughly 5,200m of descent and 4,000m of ascent across technical singletrack, fire roads, and loose rock, with weather that can swing from snow to heat year to year. About 60–70% of it overlaps the Western States 100, often called the "Boston Marathon of ultrarunning," which adds some weight to the experience.
Finishing earns a leather belt; the actual buckle requires the full 100-mile distance. I'll leave that dream for another day.
Lesson: success is rarely achieved without the support of others. My mom, sister, and brother-in-law waited hours at aid stations just to catch a glimpse of me. Thank you to them, and to the volunteers and organizers.
What's next
I'm moving to Malaysia for two months to train for HYROX Singapore in June and Ironman California in October. Excited and nervous to be somewhere completely new — wish me luck.
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