Squamish 50k 2019: That One Perfect Day

In running, it's really unusual for everything to perfectly fall into place on race day. Getting to the start line healthy is hard enough, never mind how your training block goes leading up to the race. Even if those pieces both align, on the day itself there are myriad factors that are out of your control that can throw a wrench into even the best-laid race plans: weather can be awful, trails can be in rough shape, your stomach or legs or mind can rebel on you. The Squamish 50 this year was that rare ... dare I say, unicorn of races for me. I had my perfect day, and I am honestly still trying to process everything that happened. Shocked about the race result, and also the height to which that cork reached. Photo: Hilary Matheson For 3 years I have said (quietly, and only to Brendan and a couple close friends) that if I had the perfect race I was sure I could run 6:15 on the Squamish 50k course. I've experienced so many setbacks training for this race over the last 6 ye