Denise McHale defends her Canadian 100 kilometre title

Yukoner Denise McHale defended her title at the 100 kilometre Haney to Harrison race in Vancouver on Nov. 7.

Yukoner Denise McHale defended her title at the 100 kilometre Haney to Harrison race in Vancouver on Nov. 7.

“(It) feels great,” said McHale. “I’m really happy with this race as I ran a personal best and fought a tough race to win.”

McHale’s race started off with her behind third place finisher Suzanne Evans until the 80-kilometre mark.

“I didn’t catch the lead women until 80 kilometres, which is a very tough point in the race,” said McHale. She overtook Evans in the sixth leg of the race.

McHale finished in a record-breaking time of 8:15:56, which is 53 minutes faster than the previous record.

Race day was cold and rainy, causing the largest number of dropouts in the race’s history. Of 37 racers who started, only 29 finished.

Before the race, McHale said her background in adventure racing would help her in bad weather conditions.

“(It’s) hard to say for sure if it made the difference, but I think it would be more in my favor,” said McHale. “I think coming from an adventure racing background helps in shorter races like this, as I’m very used to racing and training in all types of weather conditions.”

While other racers were forced to drop out, McHale’s experience allowed her to power through.

“I think I was physically and mentally prepared for it,” she said.

The third place finisher, Evans, won the Royal Victoria Marathon several times, including last month’s running.

Winning the 100 kilometre race was a sweet victory for McHale, but other parts of the race were just as rewarding as standing on the podium. McHale met her own personal time goal she had set.

“I figured best case scenario, I could be capable of running 8:16, which would average eight minute miles,” she said. “I ended averaging 7:59’s and running a very consistent race throughout with very even 10 kilometre splits.”

The race wasn’t easy for McHale, despite her experience on tough courses. She said that when the course hit the pavement, it was harder on her body.

“I found running on the pavement for that distance difficult and mentally more difficult than running on the trails,” said McHale. “On the trails you tend to have to watch your feet, and (there’s) such varied terrain that it keeps you thinking more.

“I find the pavement to be more difficult on the body, although I liked that this course had some variety, quite a few hills and some nice scenery.”

This was the 13th running of the Haney to Harrison, which is part of the Haney to Harrison road relay that has been run for 28 years.

After her success at the Haney to Harrison, McHale is taking a few days off to lightly train and recover, before she is off to the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge in the United Emirates on Nov. 30.

The six day adventure race covers about 450 kilometres. The racers will run, bike, ocean kayak, swim, climb and trek across the desert for the six days.

“Being a stage race, it’s going to be tough. While a stage races means we get to sleep at night, it just means that the pace during the day will be fast and relentless,” said McHale.

She will be joining Team Salomon from the U.S.