Every race, every FKT,
and every DNF.

57 km point to point · 8th time on the ridge · Fastest 8h 30m

La Coulotte Ridge is one of my home routes, a rugged high traverse in the mountains of southern Alberta. I have completed it eight times now, in different conditions and with different goals in mind. On July 20, 2026, my friend Sawback Tom and I ran the full point to point, from Castle Mountain Resort to the barricades on South Castle Valley Road, in 8 hours 30 minutes. That is my fastest time on the line, but the point to point is not always the objective. Some days the ridge is a training ground and some days it is the whole adventure. It is not an FKT and it was not a first.

Instagram↗

3rd Place Overall · 1,000 m of climbing · 9.75 km

Vertical Vendetta is Sinister Sports' short, nasty hill fight at the Pass Powderkeg Ski Area in Blairmore: four ascents of the lift line for 1,000 metres of climbing packed into under ten kilometres, at an average grade around 25 percent. It is everything I love about mountain running with all the cruising cut out. I took third overall.

Vertical Vendetta Official↗Results↗

10th Overall · 29 Yards · 194.3 km

Year three of running loops for Youth One, the Lethbridge youth and family centre this whole event exists to support. The 2026 edition went deep: the win took more than 45 hours. I went 29 yards, 194 kilometres, for 10th overall, two months out from the Bob Marshall project. This was a hard choice to quit when I had a big goal, but that is the challenge of a backyard ultra, where you truly meet yourself where you are.

Oldman Backyard Ultra↗Results↗

Relay · 350 miles · 53 hours · Nearly 100 km of my segments at sub-4:45/km

The Speed Project is the unsanctioned one: no set route, no rules, no spectators. Just the Santa Monica Pier at 4:00 AM and the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign somewhere on the far side of the Mojave. I ran it with Tan y Llwch, a relay team built from the friendships I made at the Wild Horse 200 in Wales. We traded legs around the clock for 53 hours and 350 miles, and my job was to push: close to 100 kilometres of segments, averaging better than 4:45 per kilometre. Less than a year after we met as strangers on the Welsh hills, we crossed a desert together.

The Speed Project↗

50 Miles · 10:57:17 · Run with partner Kirsti Dolson

Back to the Columbia Basin four years after the 2022 comeback race, this time for a different job. Kirsti and I signed up together and I ran alongside her as she put down her fastest 50-mile race to date. I kept the effort easy on my body on purpose: The Speed Project was one week away and I wanted fuel left in the tank. Watching your partner set a personal best is a better finish line than most of the ones I have chased alone.

Badger Mountain Challenge↗

Finisher · 200 miles · 82h 28m · Run with partner Kirsti Dolson

The Mons Ultra Trail runs 200 miles through the mountains of Santa Catarina State in southern Brazil, out of Nova Trento. Kirsti Dolson and I ran it together and we both finished, in 82 hours and 28 minutes. Running that far beside your partner changes the race. You stop making every decision for yourself, and a low you would normally push through alone becomes something you say out loud. Brazil is a long way from Alberta, and the trail running community there was the same as it is at home.

One Hundred Trail↗Instagram↗

Finisher · 200 miles · 83h 51m · No course markings · 29,583 ft elevation · Run with partner Kirsti Dolson

The Wild Horse 200 crosses South Wales with no course markings at all. Runners get 120 hours to travel from Chepstow to Worm's Head by way of Offa's Dyke, the Brecon Beacons National Park, the Black Mountains, the Heart of Wales Line trail, and out onto the Wales Coast Path, roughly 29,583 feet of climbing in total. The aid stations are a long way apart, some of them nearly 37 miles, and there is nothing between them. Navigation is the athlete's problem, and I got it wrong plenty: I went off course a lot and finished well below my goal time, in 83 hours and 51 minutes. Slowing down is what made the rest of it happen. Kirsti and I crossed the line hand in hand, the first time we have finished a 200 mile race together.

Wild Horse 200 Official↗Instagram↗

16 Yards · 107 km · Intentional training effort

I came into this one extremely fit and chose to limit the stress on my body, with the Wild Horse 200 in Wales only weeks away. That made it a controlled training block rather than a race effort, 16 yards of aerobic work on a brutally hot day. We had a great time out there with one of our favourite running communities.

Oldman Backyard Ultra↗Instagram↗

4 Laps · ~58 km · ~2,200 m of climbing

Back on the Moose Mountain Road course in the shorter 6-hour format. Each lap is an out and back of roughly 14.5 kilometres with about 550 metres of climbing, so nothing about it comes free. I put four laps on the books as a shakedown ahead of Wales, on terrain I know well and at enough altitude to make the drive worth it.

MoMoRoGo on Facebook↗Instagram↗

Winter training run · -30 Celsius

Gord's Running Store puts this on in Calgary every winter. Early season, 50 km, -30 Celsius. I ran it as a long training day and an excuse to spend a morning with the Calgary running community. No pressure, good people, and a reminder that this is supposed to be fun.

Gord's Running Store↗Instagram↗

44 Yards · Withdrew in protest of race management decisions

I completed 44 yards and then withdrew. This was not a physical issue. During the race I saw behaviour that I believed violated the rules and the integrity of the competition, I raised it with race management, and it was not addressed to my satisfaction. I withdrew on principle, and I stand behind that decision. I do not respect an organization that will not uphold its own rules, and I will not race under their direction again. I want to be clear that this was a race management issue and not a team issue. The Canadian team competed with full integrity, and the Canadian athletes I have been lucky to line up beside have always represented this sport and this country well.

Canadian Running Magazine↗Instagram↗

2nd Place Overall · 53 Yards · Personal Best in backyard format

Keji's runs inside Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia. I got there on a redeye from Maui to Calgary, drove out to Rocky View County to pack a suitcase full of running gear, drove back to the Calgary airport that night, and took a second redeye to Halifax. The day I landed I bought snacks and a cooler and set up my tent in the Kejimkujik campground, and the next morning I started the race. So I came in on very little quality sleep, and then I did not sleep at all during the race. I went 53 yards, just over 355 km, for second overall and a personal best for me in the backyard format. I stopped because the hallucinations had gotten severe and I was already past my goal of 50 hours. The east coast trail running community puts this one on properly.

UltraRunning Magazine↗Instagram↗

3rd Place Overall · 10 hours, 2 minutes

Blackfoot Wildland Provincial Park sits east of Edmonton, and the 100 km runs point to point through mixed boreal terrain. I finished third overall in 10:02. Sub-10 was right there and I missed it by two minutes. Third in a competitive Alberta field is a good day, and the sub-10 is still sitting here waiting for me.

Blackfoot Ultra Official↗Instagram↗

44 Yards · Turned back on Yard 45 · Hospitalized with COVID-19

I ran 44 yards and turned back partway through the 45th. I was not right and I knew it going into the yard. I pulled out and spent that night in a hospital, where the diagnosis came back COVID-19. When your body is genuinely fighting something, there is no version of pushing through that ends well. I drove home and got to work on recovery.

Canadian Running Magazine↗Instagram↗

Sole crew and pacer · 9 days · 70 to 80 km a day on my own feet · 650+ km

Dave Proctor set out to run all 7,159 km of Canada in one continuous effort, chasing Al Howie's 31-year-old transcontinental record. I met him at the Terry Fox Memorial in Thunder Bay and was his only crew for the next nine days, through Ontario and into the Prairies. Dave ran 105 km a day without a rest day. My job was everything else: planning the next day before it arrived, driving 10 to 20 km ahead to set out his resupply so his stop stayed short, then running 5 to 10 km back to bring him in. That put 70 to 80 km a day on my own feet, more than 650 km across the nine days. It nearly ended on my first day. Dave went down and opened up his head, more than 40 days into the record, and the wound wanted stitches. Finding a hospital in remote Ontario would have burned hours he did not have, so I cleaned him up on the side of the road and stayed close for the rest of the day so we could watch it together and stop if it turned. He ran his 105 km. Nine days in I handed over to Mike Huber and Joel Campbell, and Dave finished in Victoria on July 21 in 67 days and 10 hours, five days under the record.

Canadian Running Magazine↗Instagram↗

Team Canada Qualifier

Part of the Team Canada qualification circuit. Salmon Arm is good backyard country, with real hills and a field that makes you work for it. I came in wanting to beat my personal best, and the course got the better of me that day.

Race Photo Gallery↗Instagram↗

5th Place Overall

First race back after a full winter of rehab on the pelvis. Badger Mountain Challenge is a well-run 50-miler in the Columbia Basin with real climbing in it. Fifth overall, and nothing came apart. Getting through it in one piece was the whole goal coming in, so the placing was a bonus.

Badger Mountain Challenge↗Instagram↗

Stopped after Day 3, 244 miles · Pelvis injury

I came back to Across the Years still carrying the pelvis injury from Tennessee. I made it through three days and roughly 250 miles before it stopped me. My legs had plenty left in them and the injury did not care. Dropping at a race where I had finished second two years earlier was frustrating, and it made it obvious that I could not keep patching this and expecting it to hold. I took the off-season seriously and rebuilt properly heading into 2022.

Canadian Running Magazine↗Instagram↗

DNF · Pelvis injury from a fall

The 2021 edition returned to Bell Buckle in the individual world championship format, with runners from around the world on site. This was my second appearance in Tennessee, and I shared a tent with the Legend, Dave Proctor. I had a fall that injured my pelvis and I had to withdraw. That one was a hard failure. I did not perform, and then I could not train for several weeks, which built a lot of tension in my body and my mind.

Canadian Running Magazine↗Instagram↗

1,064 km · 2nd Place · 12 days, 23 hours

The GVRAT covers 1,000 km, the actual width of Tennessee, and you run it wherever you live as fast as you can get it done. I covered 1,064 km in 12 days and 23 hours for second place. That is about 82 km a day for nearly two weeks, stacked on top of work and the rest of normal life. I ran it in the middle of a backyard training block. No single race teaches you to manage recovery across consecutive days the way twelve of them back to back will.

Canadian Running Magazine↗Instagram↗

2nd Place Overall

Six weeks after the Team Canada result I was back on a track for another 6-day, this one on Vancouver Island. Second overall. The quick turnaround was the point: I wanted to know how well I could recover and race again under load, and the answer was well enough for second place. The 6-day was becoming my event.

Canadian Running Magazine↗Instagram↗

551.2 km in 6 days · Canadian 6-day record attempt · Unsuccessful

The Canadian 6-day record has stood since 1891, when David Bennett ran 870 km in New York, and no Canadian had touched it since. I organized an attempt at the Legion Track in Grande Prairie over Canada Day week and brought in Personal Peak teammates Keeley Milne and Derek Yip, because an official Canadian record needs at least three participants. It rained most of the week. I covered 551.2 km, Keeley ran 427 km, and Derek ran 322 km. I knew around halfway that the record was gone, and I still had three days of running left in front of me. I logged what I learned and moved on.

Personal Peak Race Report↗Instagram↗

41 Yards · 275 km · 5th Place · #Shepspresso

Dave Proctor and Personal Peak put on the Quarantine Backyard Ultra when COVID cancelled every spring race. More than 2,000 runners from 57 countries ran 6.7 km loops wherever they happened to be. I was in Valleyview when a late blizzard came through at -30 Celsius and shut me out, so my crew set up a 25-metre loop inside Tall Timber Coffee Corporation. By hour 32 the constant turning had wrecked my ankles, so I took my shoes off and ran the rest of it in socks. We went 41 yards, 275 km, across 41 hours for fifth place. Michael Wardian won at 63 hours. CBC filmed it, the New York Times gave it a mention, people watching online started calling me the coffee shop guy, and the #Shepspresso nickname stuck.

CBC News↗New York Times↗Instagram↗

27 Yards (approx. 181 km) · First appearance at Bell Buckle · Timed out on Yard 28

Bell Buckle is the world championship course, and 2019 was my first time on it. The golden ticket from Outrun Rare that June is what got me there. Big's ran with 73 starters that year, and Maggie Guterl won it outright at 60 yards, 250 miles, the first woman to win the race in its history. She ran every loop in under 51 minutes and never slowed down. I made it to 27 yards before the nausea took over, and I could not make the cutoff on the 28th. What separates the finishers from everyone else at that level is gut management and sleep strategy, and I did not have either one figured out yet. I came home with a lot of notes.

Instagram↗

Training race

A training race between the Outrun win and Big's. Iron Legs is a hard 50-miler through Alberta trails. I ran it to test nutrition and keep my legs sharp heading into the fall. No story here, just work.

Instagram↗

DNF at CP6b · km 135 of 161 · Ankle injury, descent from Seven Sisters

Sinister 7 runs 161 km through the Crowsnest Pass with more than 6,600 metres of climbing, a 30-hour cutoff, and a solo finish rate that has historically sat between 30 and 35 percent. I made it to Checkpoint 6b at km 135, near the top of the descent off Seven Sisters Mountain. I slipped on shale coming down and blew out my ankle. That was it. Eight years later I know this course about as well as anyone does, because I went on to build and maintain it as Manager of Field Operations with Sinister Sports, and I know exactly which rocks to warn people about.

Sinister 7 Official↗Instagram↗

5th Place Overall

My first 50-mile finish. I came into it needing a completion after the Death Race DNF, so I ran conservatively, stayed on top of my nutrition, and got it done. Fifth overall, no heroics and no blowup. I needed a race I could point to where I crossed the line standing up, and this was it.

DNF at km 112 of 118 · Three summits · 17,000 ft elevation change

The Death Race covers 118 km through the Canadian Rockies outside Grande Cache: three summits, a river crossing at Hell's Gate canyon, and 17,000 feet of elevation change. I showed up without serious training and made it to km 112 before I dropped, six kilometres short of the finish. The 2017 race ran stormy and wet, with an 18 percent solo finish rate. I did not know what I was getting into. I found out, and it pulled me into ultrarunning for good.

Canadian Death Race Official↗

Self-organized · Inspired by Scott Jurek's 2010 American 24-hour record · Where it all began

Six months earlier, Scott Jurek ran 165.705 miles in 24 hours at the IAU 24-Hour World Championship in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, breaking an American record that had stood for 20 years. That was my introduction to what the human body is actually capable of, and it is the reason this day exists. I created this one myself. No race organization, no other participants, just a route I mapped and a 24-hour window to run it. No finish time recorded. Nobody was watching. I just wanted to know if I could do it. This is where it started.

Jurek's 24-Hour Record↗YouTube↗