Sisters man wins Canadian Death Race

Local ultra-marathoner Sean Meissner says any race with the word "death" in its name is something he takes as a personal challenge.

So when race officials notified him in mid-July that a spot had opened up for him in the 125 kilometer (77.5 miles) Canadian Death Race August 1, he grabbed the opportunity. Good thing he did, since he became the first American winner of the race in its 10-year history, conquering the grueling, technical trail race in 15 hours, 4 minutes and 4 seconds, a full hour ahead of the second-place finisher.

In reflecting on the race, Meissner felt the name was quite appropriate and called the course the most difficult he has ever encountered in all his racing days.

"I have run longer races, races with more elevation gain, but nothing compares to the technical difficulty of this course," he said. "My body was pretty thrashed when I finished."

The race began in Grand Cache, Alberta, 1,100 miles north of Sisters. With over 17,000 feet of overall elevation change over the course, the Death Race is definitely mountainous, but it was the steepness at times that posed the greatest challenge.

"At one point, I was going downhill on a stretch so steep, I basically just sat down and slid the rest of the way," he said.

The race is broken into five distinct sections, and most participants run as part of relay teams. Of the 231 solo runners to start the race, only 78 finished.

Meissner knew that he was in for a challenge as two registration officials asked him before the race if he had a crew along. When he told them he was all alone, they worked hard to persuade him to simply join one of the relay teams.

"I was surprised by how difficult it was despite these sort of warnings, but I also felt that I was very well prepared," he said.

One section of the course included 4,000 feet of elevation gain in just six miles over Mt. Hamel.

"That was tough both ways," he said.

Meissner passed the three-time champion and course record holder at about the 50 kilometer mark and made a push to distance himself. With about 20 miles to go he learned that he had at least a three-mile lead on the second runner. That second runner turned out to be the author of "Ultramarathon Man," Dean Karnazes, one of the most accomplished ultra-runners in America.

Being so far north, Meissner didn't have to turn on his headlamp until about 10:20 p.m., so he only had about 40 minutes of running in the dark.

"It was really cool to come in just after 11 p.m. to 150 or more locals cheering me to the finish line," he said. "Here I was in the middle of nowhere at a tiny town, but I was treated like a rock star."

Meissner's biggest surprise came when he learned that as the winner he would receive $1,000 from The North Face company, which sponsored the race. When he went to check in with race officials about collecting his prize, he got even better news. He has also won an all-expense trip to his choice of running in one the company's other sponsored events, including one in San Francisco, another at the Great Wall in China, one at Mont Blanc in France or one near Santiago, Chile.

Meissner's top choice right now is to take the trip to Chile in October of 2010.

"I didn't run the race because of the prizes," he said. "In fact I knew nothing about them until afterwards, which was a great birthday gift since I won the race the day after my 36th birthday."

Meissner hopes that his victory will inspire other American runners to cross the border and try the Death Race.

"I hope that my win will get others to go up there to run it," he said. "It is out of the way, but it is such an amazing event, near some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen."