Ruminations

But ... Why?


Steven Jackson finished the race March 7

"I was trying to get things into muscle memory."

"Most races I've done, the physical aspect is uppermost, followed by the mental aspect. This race was mental first, with some luck, followed by physical."

"You have to resign yourself to knowing you're going to experience a severe sense of delirium, discombobulation and hallucinations throughout. It's a guarantee."

"You're shocked that your brain is doing this and, the further into the race I went, the more vivid the hallucinations became."

"I would stop and yell at them [hallucinatory appearance of animals], just to make sure, but, at some point, you just give up and walk up to it and it's just the road. There's noting there."

"I had touched both oceans and been to Nunavut. This [race experience] seemed like a good way to touch the third ocean."

"There was nothing up here any more [in his head]. Real life wasn't real anymore. My dreams were. They were more vivid, more realistic. It was before 5 a.m. and I thought I was there in Tuktoyaktuk."

"It was so isolating, a dread."

Steven Jackson, 25, Orleans, ultra-marathoner

Not many people will have heard of the 6633 Arctic Ultra marathon named for the 66'33" Arctic Circle latitude. Steven Jackson certainly had, and not surprisingly, given his interests in such super-race events requiring contestants to brave harsh winter elements, solitude and extreme fatigue, hoping to endure the physical and mental stress they would encounter as seasoned marathoners, to be among those few who would somehow find the stamina and determination to complete the marathon.

This is an event that has a dozen years behind it, considered the third-most difficult foot race in the world with 215 hours allotted (approximately nine days) to complete the trek of 617 kilometres from Eagle Plains, Yukon to Tuktoyaktuk, North-West Territories. All gear and food must be hauled by the contestants who must be prepared to tough out sub-zero temperatures plunging at times, with wind chill accounted, to -60C. The completion date of the 2020 race was March 7, and Mr. Jackson was one of two to complete the trek to the Arctic Ocean.

The 6633 Arctic Ultra runs from Eagle Plains, Yukon to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T, including this section runs along the Peel River. According to the race website, only 37 people have finished the long race in 10 years. (Submitted by 6633 Arctic Ultra)

With the use of a wheeled toboggan Mr. Jackson trained beforehand by pulling its freighted weight for roughly 1,000 km before flying off to begin the race in late February. He practised packing and unpacking his kit ensuring he knew precisely where everything was to be found. As a reservist in the Canadian Forces he had previous experience in other endurance tests; the 50-km Iron Warrior race in Petawawa, the 100-km Ultramarathon in Gatineau Park, and the 160-km Nijmegen four-day march in Holland. In this race, like none other, he managed a mere 17-1/2 hours of sleep for the duration of the race's nine days.

When Day 8 rolled around, night shadows of tracks in the road were transformed by moonlight into animals; white forces, caribou, elk and moose and then wolves and polar bears within a 100-metre patch. Rationally he was aware they hadn't really materialized, yet his confidence had been shaken. He had envisioned the race as an opportunity to see the Yukon and Northwest Territories, aside from the allure of the competition. "It was an expensive race", he said recounting the $7,500 entry fee, his flight, food and equipment, inclusive of a $1,400 sleeping bag.

Steven Jackson competing in the 6633 Ultra Arctic marathon.

Steven Jackson in the 6633 Ultra Arctic marathon. (Photo: Weronika Murray)

On Day 7 he had happened to encounter an accident, a vehicle that had driven off the side of the road into a ditch. He helped to dig the vehicle out, re-hooked himself to his sled, then approaching where he had left his ski poles felt convinced he was prepared to turn in the wrong direction; righted himself and started south for an hour, losing five kilometres before he pulled out his compass to realize his error. So he turned around and went north for an additional hour.

Missing the checkpoint, he turned himself around again. "I second-guessed myself again, and again, and again. the compass didn't matter anymore. I didn't believe the compass, and so I was doing five kilomeres in the same spot, over and over and over again. I don't know how many times I did it. I'm panicking because I believe I'm lost, and the compass isn't doing anything for me because I don't even believe in it at this point. That was a problem."

In his favour was the fact that race officials checked in with competitors twice daily. Three times fortunate visit timing saw officials in Inuvik intervene, finding him walking in circles in an intersection. On another occasion a slight 30 km from the finish line, he had convinced himself that he had finished the race, released the harness on his toboggan and walked up a hill without it, convinced the race was over.

He spoke later of having experienced an "existential" loneliness, particularly when he discovered that other competitors were forced from the race by frostbite or other injuries of some nature. Only he and one other runner remained in the race by Day 6. On Friday, Australian Grant Maughan had completed the race, and Mr. Jackson had the impression he was all alone. There was 55 minutes left to go by the time he finished the race, just under the deadline.

"Normally when something traumatic happens, you go to the hospital or you go home and remake yourself, but in this case you had to do it while still walking. It was life-changing, especially seeing my own strengths, my core values, turning against me, that everything I had experienced in my life so far was not going to be enough to get me through this race."

"There's a big part of me, a part of my soul, that I left out on that ice. You don't come back as a full person. You're changed. Who I was when I went in is not the same person that came back. But I haven't been this happy in a long time. I had a smile on my face from beginning to end, no matter how hard things got."