§staticmap(9220,5,450,250)Hello, on March 5th 2011, you’ll be organizing the Chilly Dog Race 50K Trail Race. Can you tell us where it is located?
The Chilly Dog Trail Race will be held at Camp Kalalla, which is located near La Peche, Quebec, about one hour north of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Camp Kalalla is a non-profit, charitable summer camp for girls, owned and operated by the Ottawa Canadian Girls in Training (CGIT) Committee.
How old is the race and why was it created in the first place?
We are very excited for Chilly Dog’s inaugural race in 2011! When I first visited Camp Kalalla in 2009 I decided right away that the woods here are so beautiful, they need to be shared.
The non-profit organization that owns Kalalla was looking for a fund-raiser. We teamed up, and the race was born.
The course is going to be tough! It is a 5K loop, which the runner will complete five (25K) or ten (50K) times. After a relatively flat 2km section to start, the course turns up a steep and long hill.
It’s a grind to the top of Butternut Hill, but runners are rewarded with a view of the surrounding hills and Lac Notre-Dame. After a brief, flat respite, the course follows a steep trail downhill to the gorgeous Sugarbush Trail. Crossing Chemin Camp Kalalla, the course then proceeds up “Little Mount Everest”, the second steep climb of the course.
After reaching the top, runners plunge downhill to the Tunnel Trail alongside the lake. One more steep uphill takes the course to “Tent Row”, where camps spend the night in rustic cabins in warmer months. Then it’s a short distance to the Start/Finish area, where the runners head out for another lap.
As if the course isn’t tough enough, the Chilly Dog will be held at the start of March, when weather conditions in Quebec are notoriously unpredictable. Runners should be ready for anything from snow to ice to mud. The course will be trampled down prior to the race, but if there is new snow or freezing rain the night before, things could get interested!
We decided to keep it small and intimate in our first year, so the Chilly Dog is capped a 60 runners in the two events combined.
Because of the difficulty of the course and weather conditions, as well as the rustic and low-tech nature of the event itself, we’re expecting to attract runners who are interested in a tough new challenge, but who are less concerned about hoopla, big prizes, or setting a new Personal Best.
Do you organize other races during the Week-End? If so, on what distances?
The Chilly Dog Trail Race consists of 50K and 25K events. We are considering expanding to other distances in future years.
At that time of the year, what kind of weather can we expect?
There should be lots of snow on March 5th, but in late winter in Quebec there are no guarantees. The average daily high temperature in March in the area is only two degrees Celsius, and at night temperatures drop to an average of -9°C.
In keeping with the low-key spirit of the race, festivities are kept pretty minimal. There will be a post-race banquet (of chili dogs) and awards ceremony for runners and volunteers.
The race finished, what advice would you give a runner who has never been to La Peche before? A good restaurant, a fancy sightseeing?
The nearby town of Wakefield has lots of great restaurants. Vegetarians should check out the funky “Le Hibou”, while those looking for an upscale meal might try the “Wakefield Mill”.
In a single sentence, what would you tell the readers of ahotu Marathons to make them register for the Chilly Dog Race 50K Trail Race?
It’s not for the faint-hearted, but if you are up for it, the Chilly Dog Trail Race is a chance for you to try a race that is truly different from the fast and flat marathons that you have run in the past.
Thank you Mark