Taking part in the Racing the Planet competition in Jordan this past May wasn't quite a walk in the park for Mary Nielsen, but neither does she consider it a transformative moment in her life.
Instead, when Nielsen, 46, sits back in her St. Albert dining room and talks about six days of marathon running in extreme heat in Jordan's Wadi Rum desert, she describes the experience as one of the best holidays of her life.
"It was a fantastic experience for me but it didn't feel as if I did something extraordinary. It was something I could do – something I wanted to do – and a little part of me believes a lot of people could do this. You have to want to do it and for me, it was a holiday, a holiday in the desert," Nielsen said.
Racing the Planet is a privately owned company that conducts endurance races in various deserts of the world.
The competition in Jordan was a 250-kilometre stage race that began May 13 in the Wadi Rum desert, a location best known because of Lawrence of Arabia's exploits there. The racers completed a 40-km marathon on each of the first four days. On the fifth and sixth days the racers competed in a grueling final run of 87 kilometres through the Siq Canyon.
Nielsen, who is a personal trainer and a single mom, finished every step of the race and it's an accomplishment that her friend and sponsor Mike Bloeman admires greatly.
He also races in marathons, but not the ultra-marathons that Nielsen competes in.
"Before I started running I was aware of marathons, of course, but I was dumbstruck when I heard about the ultra-marathons and this Racing the Planet event to realize what people put themselves through. Mary is made of different stuff than most of us and this was a huge achievement," Bloemen said.
Backpack essentials
Before she left St. Albert, Nielsen trained by running up and down Seven Hills and through the University of Alberta campus.
"When others might say they were going out for a 10-km run on Sunday morning, Mary would say, 'I'm going for a four-hour run,' " Bloemen said.
In Jordan Nielsen was required to carry her own supplies, including a sleeping bag, a Therm-a-rest mattress, one change of clothing as well as a jacket, toque and mittens, and her own food. The tent and water were supplied. When she started her run, Nielsen's backpack weighed 25 lb.
"We carried our own food. The minimum requirement for the week was 14,000 calories for a 2,000 calories minimum per day. I had 17,000 calories, " Nielsen said.
Nielsen carried the bare minimum of dried foods and every day's menu involved a monotonous routine of reconstituting her dried chicken and rice. Nonetheless she allowed herself one small reward of a cup of morning coffee.
"Each day I would mix peanut butter and oatmeal and that was my breakfast. But I had a cup of coffee too because Mike and his company Spirit Bear Coffee sponsored me and supplied me with a small, almost weightless coffee maker. The other racers were a bit jealous," she said.
Fundraising drive
Nielsen, who began competing in marathons a half-dozen years ago, constantly strives for bigger challenges.
"I did my first half-marathon in 2006. I always ran a little, but after I ran that first half-marathon I swore it would be my last. Before (the half-marathon), one hour of running seemed long," said Nielsen, who despite that difficult first race is now addicted to long-distance racing.
Twice she raced the ultra 24-hour, 124-km Grande Cache Death Race but after competing last year, she felt the urge to run further and further.
She registered for the Jordan Racing the Planet event and decided that she also wanted to combine her own achievement with a fundraising component.
"I am a personal trainer at the employee centre for the U of A Hospital. One of my clients is Dr. Kathryn Todd, who is a neuroscientist who is doing research specifically in the area of strokes," Nielsen said.
Last winter Nielsen offered fitness classes in exchange for a donation to the Davey Fund for Brain Research. She also hosted a silent auction and a Christmas fair and raised $3,000.
Running wild
Each day in the desert the terrain offered different challenges. One day she might find her run was through soft sand. At other times she found she had to scramble over rocks and through canyons.
"The second day was through a narrow canyon with the width of the path just wide enough for one person. Then once you were out of the canyon, there was a long hill to run up," she said.
She wore gaiters over her running shoes to keep the sand out and she believes her months of conditioning plus her experience as a personal trainer helped.
"I have Teflon feet. I didn't get any blisters," she said.
"She draws on her personal experience as a fitness trainer but she is also able to help others and to share with them so that they too can achieve a personal victory. She goes into a race with a certain mindset and she lives in the moment, " Bloemen said.
Most days she would finish racing by 1:30 p.m. and then have time to relax and visit with the other runners in camp. One night a snake in camp caused some excitement, particularly in her own tent.
"The local Bedouins spotted a poisonous snake in a hole in the middle of the open area, and went looking for it. We had a similar hole in our tent and after about 30 minutes of digging and shoveling to see if the snake was there, they couldn't decide if it was there or not. So they poured gas down the hole and told us we'd be just fine," she said.
No one woke up with a snake in her sleeping bag, so with a shrug and a laugh they all took off again on their daily marathon.
Another night a sandstorm blew their tent down.
"One of my tent mates was a tiny 62-year-old Japanese woman, Kita, and there she was holding onto poles trying to keep the tent up while wind and sand were blowing all around. It felt like getting sandblasted," Nielsen said, as she also joked about the cultural differences between the competitors and the local Bedouins.
"The Bedouins, who cared for the camps, wore floor-length overcoats over pants with leather belts wrapped around their chests and waists, while some of the racers walked around camp in their Speedos or bikinis. It was quite the contrast," she said.
Heat exhaustion
The final race began with a 37-km run through a canyon. Nielson found herself in trouble because she overheated.
"The heat radiated off the walls of the canyon and we went off course a little so I ran extra. We were running in hot, loose sand – really loose sand – and you had to really push. It was over 40 Celsius in the canyon and when I stopped at the aid station, my temperature was between 39.5 and 40 Celsius," Nielsen said.
She rested for two hours.
Then she got up to complete the final 50 kilometres, which took her about 18 hours. At 3:30 a.m. she crossed the finish line.
"Part of what got me through was thinking of everyone back home. I know people wouldn't be disappointed if I didn't finish, but there was still the sense of not wanting to disappoint people and also myself," Nielsen wrote that day in her Racing the Planet blog.
Nielsen wonders now if her elevated body temperature was also due in part to the onset of the flu.
"I ended up with pneumonia, but a friend from Edmonton who was going to compete, dropped out because he had the flu. I wonder if I was starting to get it. Regardless, the first 40 kilometres in that canyon was very hot. The race took a huge toll on my body. Your immune system is compromised because you are undernourished and racing in extreme conditions. I just wanted to finish," she said.
Nielsen finished 16th out of 39 women in the event. Her exact time was 46 hours and 27 minutes and running the final leg of her race through the Siq Canyon was euphoric.
"You've come through and you're done," she said simply, as she equated the rugged scenery with her own personal triumph.
"The scenery was spectacular. It was like from one of the Indiana Jones movies. Then you get your medal," she said.
She has already registered for next year's event in Iceland and the holiday that will once again allow her time for nothing but her mind-boggling, all-encompassing sport.
"Every day, all you have to do is get up and run," Nielsen said.
