Brandonite bids farewell with incredible run

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This article was published 29/06/2021 (1674 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ihor Verys certainly knows how to say goodbye.

The 26-year-old Ukrainian runner, who spent the last six years in Brandon, set the fastest known time (FKT) recently for running the Mantario Trail from one end to the other and back, completing the 125.15-kilometre adventure in 18 hours 13 minutes on June 19.

It was his farewell adventure in Manitoba prior to a move to British Columbia last week. Brandon trail runner Kristian Andres was one of the first people to reach out.

“I’m just so flattered,” Verys said. “I don’t feel like I accomplished anything big. Kristian said to me ‘Hey man, there are literally only a few people in Canada that can do the same.’ I never thought about that. I went out there basically just to enjoy my last run in Manitoba and spend time with friends of mine on one of the best trails in Manitoba.” 

No other runner had documented the feat with the Strava app enabled. The beauty of Strava is that it charts in exhaustive detail the ground a person has covered, and while it certainly isn’t foolproof, it provides data that allows fastest known times to be compiled. 

In total, Verys covered 125.15 kilometres, with 3,278 metres in elevation gain.

There are a couple of twists in his story that made the feat possible.

First, Verys moved to Brandon to attend school six years ago. 

“I always had a dream to come to Canada and I just happened to get a spot at Assiniboine Community College,” Verys said. 

The second is that he soon took up a new sport, because incredibly, he is reasonably new to the sport. He began running four years and only started trail running a year ago.

He began with a 15-km race. 

“I just fell in love with distance running and I wanted to explore the limits to see if I could do more,” Verys said. “Then I signed up for a half marathon, and did six half marathons in three months, basically back-to-back.”

That was followed by five marathons, so, looking for something longer, he signed up for several 50- and 100-km races that were ultimately cancelled. The natural solution was to do a self-supported adventure at Mantario with a pair of Winnipeg runners, David Tabbernor and Aaron Webb.

“That’s part of the reason we decided to go for this FKT, just because we wanted to test ourselves,” Verys said. “With all the races being closed, we wanted to create this little challenge for ourselves.”

His friend Andres had already made history at the Mantario Trail when he and Winnipeg runner Mikhail Gerylo crossed from the south trailhead to the north trailhead in 8:13.48 on June 19, 2020. That became the fastest known time for the crossing.

Greg Penner of Steinbach broke the record on Oct. 8 on a supported run, which means he had supplies or other aid waiting for him along the trail, with a time of 7:33.17.

Verys followed two days later with an unsupported crossing in 7:37.

“Kristian is the one who introduced me,” Verys said. “He told me about the trail, I had never heard about it. Overall, Kristian was one of those people who encouraged me to get into trail running with Race The North Face, the race he was directing. It was the first trail run I ever signed up for.”

Verys and Andres were going to make the trailhead to trailhead to trailhead attempt together but Andres was nursing an injury and couldn’t participate.

“It’s OK sometimes to do stupid things, right?” he asked with a chuckle.

The Mantario Trail isn’t for the faint of heart. 

It’s best known for being on the precambrian shield, with rocks, forests and lakes along the route, which crosses numerous bogs and streams. There are also steep accents and descents.

“It’s a gem,” Verys said. “It’s one of a kind. You won’t anything else like that in Manitoba. It used to be really hard to navigate and wasn’t well marked and it was overgrown, but now the folks who are taking care of it are dong a fantastic job. It was pretty easy to navigate at night.”

Tabbernor and Webb set a 24-hour goal for their attempt, while Verys hoped to finish under 20 hours despite it being the longest run of his life.

“It was new territory for me, but once I ended up there, I was feeling good and feeling strong and feeling that’s my sport,” Verys said. 

June 19 was picked because it was close to the longest day of sunlight, reducing the time they would need to run with head-mounted lamps to light the trail.

The three runners began at 2 a.m., in part because they wanted to get some night navigation in while they were fresh physically and mentally.

Verys quickly left the pair behind and covered virtually the entire distance by himself.

He lucked into a reasonably cool day with cloud cover, and there were also a lot of people on the trail to cheer him on, including Brandonites Stacy Dittmer and Manuela Bootsman.

Verys didn’t lose much time to faulty navigation, but did have to stop for a while at one point while some bears ambled across the trail.

“I didn’t make really crucial navigational mistakes,” Verys said. “I had never run backwards, from north to south, so that was a bit different and weird but I beat the dusk, so that helped.”

The runners had friends waiting with some supplies at the north end, but otherwise carried what they needed with them. Verys packed enough nutrition to get him there and then loaded up again when he arrived, spending less than 10 minutes resting before resuming the run.

The first half of the run took 9:18.

“That’s when things got even easier,” Verys said. “It’s a mental game that you’re always playing in your head. You get through the first half, and then it’s ‘Oh my goodness, there is already half done’ and every mile you realize there is less and less left. 

“That’s another psychological game you play in your head. You can use it as the tools to keep pushing.”

He carried three small flasks of water, stopping at the numerous lakes to refill, and using tablets for purification.

In any endurance sport, the battle to keep the mind from giving up can be as burdensome as the physical toll the sport exacts. Verys said he did OK.

“I had some low points after mile 50 but they did not last long,” Verys said. “It was like a roller coaster. I would have two miles when I was really down and I would just keep pushing myself and telling myself that I can do it. It’s just another climb here and then it will easy afterwards. 

“Then I would have really high points where I was so happy and it was ‘Oh my goodness, I’m so strong and powerful and I keep just keep going and going.’

“And then there would be another low point. When I ran into people, that’s where it really helped. For the next couple of miles, I felt really strong and really empowered to an extent.”

It also helped that he repeatedly pushed himself up and down Brandon’s Hanbury Hill in his training runs, building both his physical and mental stamina. When he faced a challenge at Mantario, he would just call it another Hanbury Hill and keep running.

Physically, he had no issues with cramps, strains or digestion, calling it the best run of his life. He had suffered from cramps in his previous outing at Mantario, and studied the causes. As a result, he consumed salt sticks every half hour to balance out his electrolytes.

He also ate homemade energy bars and gels.

“Everything came together,” Verys said. “Nutrition, hydration, training and good weather conditions, I think resulted in a really great outcome.”

On the way back, he slowed down a bit, in part when he took time to stop and chat with the runners he met.

When he finally arrived back at the south trailhead, more than 18 hours into the challenge but nearly two hours under his goal. He was understandably elated.

“I really couldn’t believe it,” Verys said. “I felt like I could have kept going and going. When you go for so long and all of sudden just stop — you spend 18-plus hours moving and then stop — you start shaking. The body starts cooling off. I looked at the watch and couldn’t believe it.”

His friends joined him several hours later, a few minutes under their 24-hour goal.

When the word got out, there was an outpouring from support and congratulations from across the Manitoba running community.

“It’s just another reason why I love the sport,” Verys said. “The ultra running community is probably one of the most supportive you could ever find. No matter how fast you are — you can be super slow or super fast — people are going to cheer you on and support you.”

His next challenge lies ahead.

He moved to Chilliwack for a combination of work as an insurance advisor and running, with abundant opportunities for long trail races in the region. He is excited to have the chance to participate in a supported event where he is chasing and being chased by other athletes.

No matter what happens next, he will always have his incredible act of endurance on his final weekend in Manitoba.

“I guess that’s what happens when you do something you really love,” Verys said. “You can accomplish great things.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson