One guarantee for Sunday afternoon, is that Randy Duncan will be hurting.

The Victoria resident is running the Fat Dog 100 trail race from Keremeos to Manning Park, tomorrow (Aug. 18) and Sunday.

Ultra-marathons, or endurance races, typically begin at 50 kilometres. But there are several Fat Dog distances, 18 (29km), 30 (48km), 50 (81km), 70 (112km) and 120 miles (193km), and DuncanB次元官网网址檚 doing the biggest one.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a race he wants badly to finish, having come undone his last time out.

B次元官网网址淚 attempted this race two years ago but had to pull at 21 hours, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) in, with a leg injury. I was literally lifting my leg with my arms anytime I had to climb, and I had to stop.B次元官网网址�

The cut-off for finishing the race is 42 hours, which wonB次元官网网址檛 be the problem. Enduring pain, thatB次元官网网址檚 the real challenge.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a challenge more and more runners are OK with. The sport isnB次元官网网址檛 new, but is enjoying a steady growth, stealing athletes away from the marathon and triathlon communities.

While Duncan is doing the Fat Dog, his girlfriend and training partner Lori Herron will be taking it somewhat easy, in preparation for the Cascade Crest 100 mile, Aug. 25 to 26, which starts and ends in Easton, Wash.

That race is sold out, and Herron only got in by lottery, with DuncanB次元官网网址檚 blessing.

B次元官网网址淟otteries are actually quite common with the popular ultras,B次元官网网址� Duncan said.

The 51-year-old lineman from B.C. Hydro is in his 11th year of long-distance races. His familyB次元官网网址檚 health history convinced him to get in shape. It started with swimming, turned into a few marathons and triathlons, including three Ironman triathlons.

B次元官网网址淚 think the Ironman helped train me not to listen to that voice in your head,B次元官网网址� Duncan said. B次元官网网址淭he pain threshold for ultras is greater than Ironman, because you go much longer. You have that voice, a self-defence mechanism, telling yourself B次元官网网址榶ou wonB次元官网网址檛 hurt yourself if you walk.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

This weekend is also the Leadville 100 in Colorado, made famous by the 2009 running book Born to Run, which, like the race, has ascertained cult status among endurance runners.

VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Mike Suminski, a well-known long-distance running coach, is there to run it for the third time. He first did it as a 50-year-old in 2002, did it again as a 55-year-old in 2007 and is now doing it for the third time as a 60-year-old.

As a coach, marathoners still make up the bulk of his clientele.

B次元官网网址淯ltra is starting to build up a bit but 90 per cent are marathoners,B次元官网网址� Suminksi said.

B次元官网网址淲hen I ran my first 100-miler in Leadville there was myself and five others in my support crew. This year there are five runners and 16 support people from Victoria.

B次元官网网址淧eople want to get off the roads, where theyB次元官网网址檙e sucking up fumes from cars, and are getting onto trails which are beautiful and more forgiving for the knees.B次元官网网址�

Twelve of the Victoria crew arrived in Leadville on Aug. 5, in order to acclimatize for the Aug. 18 to 19 race.

Going the extra miles

B次元官网网址� Suminski uses organic baby food on his training runs, because B次元官网网址渋t goes down so good.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址� The Fat Dog 100 was first held in 2010 but some runners realized the course was actually 124 miles on their GPS, and it is now advertised as a 120-mile race.

B次元官网网址� Fat Dog gets its name because once it reaches Manning Park it follows the Fat Dog Trail.

B次元官网网址� Training runs for Duncan are  up 50km. One route he enjoys is from Thetis Lake to Mt. Work.

B次元官网网址淲hen you run this much, you find all kinds of new trails and itB次元官网网址檚 surprising what connects around the Island.B次元官网网址�