Ever heard of the Marathon des Sables? If you haven't, it's a long distance stage marathon which is held annually in the Sahara desert. Competitors challenge themselves by running marathon distances daily for 6 days in this unforgiving environment. It's one of only a few ultra events held around the world.Now that you've got some background on this genre of sport, lets rearrange some of the Marathon des Sables details to get the newest Canadian ultra marathon incarnation. As you can clearly guess the Rock and Ice Ultra will be the polar opposite of the Marathon des Sables in terms of temperature. We're talking close to -30 degrees versus 40 degrees Celsius but both events share the distinction of being held in a desert environment. The Rock and Ice Ultra will start in Yellowknife , N.W.T. and the course will traverse kilometres of cold tundra and numerous frozen lakes. Competitors will be further challenged by having to ski or snowshoe while pulling all their gear and supplies in a pulk. The top finishers in each category will earn cold, hard Canadian Ekati diamonds for their pain and perseverance.
I am fortunate enough to be one of the race photographers for this epic event. The race will be held on March 17th - 23rd. Check the race website for updates during the competition and I'll be posting some of my insights here at a later date. Plenty of imagery will also be available on my photography webpage.
