The Inaugural 6633 Extreme Ultra
6633 Ultra - Day 1
Martin Like / 21.03.2007
Day 1 ….Wow, due to extremely high winds the start was delayed by 3 hours after but after 8 months in the making the inaugural 6633 Ultra finally kicked off this morning. All extreme races have their respective superlative claims, but without exception every seasoned ultra athlete taking part this year has already described this race as the coldest, toughest, windiest event that they have participated in. To this end, serious consideration will be taken in future years as to who can take part.
The delay in the start was because of the Dempster being closed due to very high winds in the area known affectionately as Hurricane Alley – the wind chill associated with the extremely cold conditions made it a no brainer to revise the race schedule. As the race was to pass through this location tonight (approx 50 miles into the race) the decision made in conjunction with our local advisors was to only allow the run today as far as the Arctic Circle, 23 miles from the start at Eagle Plain. Having shown video footage of Hurricane Alley to the competitors earlier this week, everyone has accepted the only practical option of NOT taking the race into the area until weather conditions improved.
On paper a 23 mile “prologue� might appear to be a gentle warm-up, I defy anyone to tell that to this years participants – please anticipate being slapped. From the start the race enjoys a gentle 9km descent allowing the athletes a certain sense that things might not be so bad. But alas this descent is followed by a cruel seemingly unending ascent for 8 km and that is only the start of the misery. On reaching the top of the ascent the landscape opens up to the elements and the winds hit the athletes relentlessly. The winds causing extreme wind chill has resulted in numerous cases of frozen hydration bladders, problems with frozen goggles (goggles will definitely be part of mandatory kit for next year as will face masks), serious warmth difficulties and a few cases of frost nip/bite. This is proving to be a very very very tough race.See All Event Posts
