The night before her 47th birthday, Renee Caesar celebrated with a piece of chocolate cake. Then she got up early the next morning and ran up and down the Coquitlam Crunch 39 times.
For the next 35 hours and 41 minutes, Caesar ascended a total of 9,500 metres — that’s 650 metres higher than Mt. Everest — and covered the equivalent of 175 kilometres. She took one extended break, about 20 minutes near the end when she was able to change out of her rain and snow soaked clothes and have a brief nap. Late in the run, her stomach was so nauseous, she vomited along the trail.
Happy birthday indeed.
But three days after her conquest, which concluded Nov. 10 at 7:40 p.m., Caesar was at the fog- and drizzle-shrouded trail again, all smiles.
Caesar, who’s been an ultra-marathoner since 2009 when she completed the 100-mile Haney to Harrison race, had accomplished a challenge she set for herself three years ago after she’d won her category at the annual Crunch Challenge. She wanted to set an endurance make on the local climb that would never be matched.
Along the way, Caesar felt the warm embrace of the local running community, who cheered her on from the sidelines and helped keep her safe as she ascended to snow and wind then descended back down to pouring rain through two days and a night.
In the end, Caesar’s climb raised more $6,500 for Share Family and Community Services.
“If I just did this for fun, it would be really crazy,” she said. “I’m an all-in kind of person.”
Caesar was first bitten by the running bug when she completed a 10-km charity trot for Multiple Sclerosis. She said she did better than she had expected and she was hooked. She progressed to a 50-km race along trails in Whistler — then she started doing 100-milers.
“I just wanted to see how far I can go,” Caesar said. “I’m very stubborn.”
She said running unimaginable distances is as much a mental challenge as a physical test.
“It’s the drive to carry on,” Caesar said. “You have to have the strength within yourself to persevere.”
Battling nausea and the elements that had drenched her seven layers of clothes, Caesar said she took strength from fellow runners who joined her for stretches of the Crunch to keep her company or manned her support tent at the trail’s midway mark to keep her fuelled. In the final hours of her challenge, Paul Slaymaker of The Runner’s Den in Port Moody, played music to lift her spirits and take her mind away from her growing discomfort.
“I just wanted to enjoy the time,” Caesar said. “I’d gone out and done what I’d said I wanted to do.”
Then she went home for a shower and a good night’s sleep.
• You can still donate to support Caesar's climb by clicking here.
