This will be my 4th year running Meet the Minotaur. Each year has been on a different course, and every year I’ve loved it. Without fail, the courses have featured steep climbs, epic views, and technical descents.
Meet the Minotaur – 1st edition
Meet the Minotaur – 2nd edition
Meet the Minotaur – 3rd edition
This year, Meet the Minotaur is moving to a permanent course. I’ve had the pleasure of exploring portions of the course over the last few years, and last year a group of us completed the entire route as a “fun” run. This latest version of Minotaur is much like the earlier editions except about 50% longer. Here are a few photos from the course
If it isn’t obvious from the photos, I want to stress that this is not a “running race”. The course covers steep, rocky and remote terrain. Your ankles and knees must be very strong and stable. Most of the descents are not on nice scree that you can ski, rather the descents are on ankle busting rubble that requires more control.
Here are my top tips for preparing for the 2022 Minotaur Skyrace:
- Build gradually. Don’t wait for the snow to melt to start training. Start now, so that you can build up your stamina gradually. When it comes to steep vert training, many of the physiological changes are from strengthening your connective tissue rather than your aerobic system. Make sure you get some studded shoes or microspikes to help with traction, then head out to some steep trails to get your joints accustomed to the slope. While the trails are still snow and ice covered, stick to non-technical trails and build up your volume methodically. Some trails in the Calgary area I’d recommend are Prairie Mountain, Mount Lady Macdonald (to the heli-pad) and Cox Hill. You only need to program one vert day per week in these early stages, the rest of the week you can train as you would for a normal trail race.
- Get comfortable with vert on rough trail. Aim to get in a couple of outings with ~2500m of climbing in the final 4 weeks leading up to the event. These training sessions should be on steep terrain with marginal trail. Some good options in the Calgary area would be Mount Lady Macdonald (to the ridge top), Grotto, East End of Rundle, Mount Baldy (bypass route), South Opal and Midnight Peak. In my opinion, routes like Ha Ling, Prairie Mountain, or simply repeats of Mount Lady Macdonald to the heli-pad are too runnable. Wherever you get your vert, make sure at least 50% of it is rocky (like in my photos).
- Prepare for the elements. Test your gear out in real world scenarios. The Minotaur course has minimal aid, so you need to be self-sufficient. Dial in your gear so that you’re prepared for wind and freak thunderstorms. At a minimum, you should have a windshell, gloves, hat, space blanket and waterproof layer. I use gardening gloves from Rona, and a rain jacket that I’m able to fit over top of my run pack. If you aren’t able to place your jacket over your pack, your pack and everything in it could get soaked. In the first aid section of my pack I carry bandages, pain killers, asthma medication, antihistamine, safety pins, duct tape, and an extra buff. And yes, I carry all this stuff with me both in training and during the race.
- Dial in your gear.
- The Minotaur course will destroy your shoes. You want to wear shoes with a robust upper, excellent grip, and cushioning for the rocks. I’ve experimented with a lot of shoes over the years, and my best success has come Goretex fast-packing shoes, or from Nordas. If you decide to go the Goretex route, make sure you test them out on long days beforehand to see if you’ll get blisters. Goretex is horrible for shoe breathability, but it does add a durability aspect. Norda makes its upper from Dyneema, so the upper is incredibly strong. However, Dyneema doesn’t stretch much so the upper tends to gap at the ankle. A gaiter is absolutely essential if you don’t want to be stopping frequently to empty rocks from your shoes. Nordas have excellent cushioning and grip, as do most fast-packing shoes.
- Make your mind up about poles, and then practice accordingly. Much of the climbing on this course is steep enough that you can bend over and put your hands on the dirt/rocks. Personally, when terrain is that steep I prefer to go without poles, however you may feel differently. The 2nd descent is on awkward rubble, where poles can definitely help. Poles may also assist for portions of the 3rd descent. If technical descents are not your strength, I’d strongly recommend training with poles and using them for the race. But if you’re a strong descender you may find them to be more hassle than they’re worth.
- Practice with your pack full of gear. Get comfortable wearing your pack loaded with all your race gear during training. This will help you to efficiently access and stow the items you use most frequently, and help you to troubleshoot any potential chafe points.
- Dial in your nutrition. When we completed the course last year, it took us nearly 11hrs! We all ran out of water on a very hot day, and called in Susan for emergency support at the bottom of the last descent so that we could recharge with some cold Cokes before jogging to the finish. Don’t underestimate your hydration/fuelling needs for the Minotaur Skyrace. During the race, I would aim for about 500ml of fluid/hr, while also making sure to arrive at the start line well-hydrated. On a hot day I might bump my fluid intake up as high as 800ml/hr. Make sure to have some electrolyte (or at a minimum have some food) with your water. This will enhance the absorption of your water so that you don’t just pee it all out. I’ve been really enjoying the Xact hydration tabs at half strength on hot days. In addition to water, you’ll want some simple sugars to eat on the run. Choose foods which are easy to swallow and digest. Unlike in a typical running race where you can zone out, your brain will be very active during the Minotaur Skyrace. There will likely be times when your adrenaline is elevated on exposed ridgelines, and you will need to be coordinated and nimble while moving efficiently on the rocky terrain. With this elevated adrenaline, you’ll want to intake sugar at regular intervals (sorry keto athletes, fat and protein won’t help here). I find Dino Sours and Muir energy gels work well for this. I usually will have a few candies every 15-20 minutes on the ascent, a gel at the top, and then I normally don’t fuel on technical descents because I’m too focused on my footing. I have at least 5 mouthfuls of water every time I eat. Nutrition is very individual. Practice it in training on similar terrain and at a similar intensity to what you would expect during the race.
- Training to compete vs training to complete. If you are training to complete the race in the time limit, you do not need to do much running and would be better off spending your time learning to ascend/descend steep terrain efficiently. If you are training to compete for a top spot you do need to practice some fast running in addition to power-hiking. The first 1km, about 1km between the 1st and 2nd climb, and final 5km are all runnable. The last 5km is mostly downhill and very fast, make sure you have the leg speed to take advantage of this stretch if you’re looking to place in a top spot!
Because people were asking: my typical training heading into Minotaur includes about 5000 – 6000m of weekly vert and 80-100km. This volume includes a lot of scrambling, and I usually try to bookend my scrambles with longer run approaches on good trail. This is an effective way to learn how to run on tired legs.
It is not necessary to do this much training in order to be competitive at Minotaur. I train like this because it makes me happy, and that’s why I do this sport.
So get out there, increase your volume in a methodical manner, train on race-specific terrain, and have fun!
Joanna Runs 
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