Meredith Kerr
Journal Staff
To run 100 km is no small feat. To do it in record time, and to beat the previous record by nearly three minutes is nothing short of amazing.
Daylan Wizniuk, 28, finished the Iron Horse Ultra in 10 hours 31 seconds on Saturday. It was his third time running the annual race in St. Paul, and the final event of his 2018 running season.
He said the most challenging part of this year’s race was fallen trees in the last leg.
“I was trying so hard to hold a pace to get here on time, so I was just powering through as fast as I could. And then the last 7 km I ran straight, which I’ve never done that late in an ultra before, usually you take walking breaks. But I knew if I was going to get it, I had to run home. So that was really hard,” said Wizniuk.
Wizniuk tied for first last year and has been training for the last eight months to perfect his long distance running technique and strategy.
“Every time you do one, there’s little things you can do better. The first time I didn’t have a clue what I was doing with nutrition so then I reworked that. Last year, I had really bad cramps, which I figured out was a salt problem, so I started doing salt pills. It’s fun because every time you figure out something new and you learn how to address that and improve for next time,” said Wizniuk.
Waiting for him at each aid station was his fiancée Kirsten Wadell.
“It’s a lot of waiting around, but it’s so exciting to see him for those 30 seconds at a time when he comes in to the aid stations,” said Wadell. “Seriously, anywhere from 10 to 14 hours of waiting around and then getting to see him cross the finish line at the end is just the best.”
Wadell said she’s very proud of Wizniuk.
“Daylan sets goals every year and accomplishes every goal he sets. This one seemed pretty far fetched initially, but he beat the course record by I think a minute and a half.”
Race organizer Monique Poulin said the previous course record, set in 2013, was 10 hours and 3 minutes “although that course was slightly different.” Wizniuk beat that time by 2 minutes and 29 seconds.
Poulin said having a new course record set was pretty exciting. “Broken by almost three minutes, which is quite a big difference when you’re ultra distance running, so it’s pretty cool.”
In total, 112 runners participated in this year’s Iron Horse Ultra. Of that number, 26 people ran 100km solo and 12 people ran 100 miles solo. The other 74 runners were part of the seven 100km teams and six 100 mile teams.
“I always measure the success by the happy faces at our breakfast and the gestures of appreciation we get from the runners. It was a very successful race. Even the runners that the cold weather got the best of them and they could not finish, were happy to have participated,” said Poulin.
The cold weather was a challenge, not just for the runners but also for the approximately 60 volunteers who spent the day on the trail manning aid stations and collecting flags after the runners passed through.
“I worry more about volunteers than I do about runner. Runners are prepared,” said Poulin with a laugh. “We have great people who come out year after year, some of them are there from like noon until six in the morning. They’re rockstars.”
100km Solo
Daylan Wizniuk 10:00:31
Scott Goosney 11:06:00
Etienne Durocher 12:44:24.5
Brenda Dryer 13:23:41.3
Chad Parr 13:23:44.8
Ryan Admussen 13:41:24
Andrea Gibson 13:43:42
Keith Heslinga 14:25:27.7
Mark Pierzchajlo 14:52:32.5
Michael Coulter 15:13:30.6
Ron Biggs 16:00:55.3
Mackenzie Brown 16:01:57.4
Simon Ward 16:15:03.9
Daren Gallagher 16:21:42.1
Dvorah Graeser 17:10:58.4
Christian Stenner 17:21:03.8
Susan Ayon 17:32:03.9
Natalie Baldo 17:52:11.6
Fab Leydecker 17:52:11.6
Ben Poulin 18:11:40.2
Rory Johnson 19:34:35.1
Ceilidh Grant 23:56:00
John Vezina DNF
Stephane Guimond DNF
Ben Cheong DNF
Shea Land DNF
100 Mile Solo
Johnathon Vida 19:16:31
Alexander Glenn 19:16:31
Mark St-Amant 21:34:30
Adam French 22:55:37.1
Matthew Prineas 25:04:06.7
Hiroshige Watanabe 25:07:51.7
Joanne Penson-Boucher 25:50:49.8
100km Team
Lloyd Road Runners 11:25:03.5
Raciest Racers 11:40:53
The Dark Horse 12:18:20.4
You’d See The Crazy If I Didn’t Run 13:19:20.4
2 Bros On The Run 13:53:53.6
Wainwright Prairie Chicks 14:12:14.4
Twisted Blisters 15:10:16.8
100 Mile Team
Eight Is NOT Enough 17:27:00
Wainwright Runners #1 17:32:06.1
The Hawks 17:33:07.7
L.M.N.O.P. 18:27:18.1
Worn Soles 18:47:55.6
Agony of DeFeet 20:49:25.2
