BY MARCIA JANSEN
DRIFTWOOD CONTRIBUTOR
Have you ever run on the track at Portlock Park? How many laps did you do?
Mira Byron ran 170 kilometres (105 miles) on the track in Duncan — 425 laps — in a 24-hour race to raise money for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation. Fighting rain, blister pain and the urge to take a nap alongside the track.
Speaking three days after the race, Byron, 25, said her legs felt pretty good. Her feet were a different story.
“It started to rain in the night, and I was definitely wearing the wrong socks. I had blisters on every toe. The day after the race, my feet were so swollen I couldn’t wear shoes. I was supposed to work on Tuesday at Moby’s, but luckily I found someone who could cover my shifts.”
Byron signed up for the Dream Nation Apparel Vancouver Island 24 Hour held Sept. 20 because she wanted to experience an ultra-marathon.
“I am doing better in long runs, and the 24-hour race on the track seemed to be a good event for beginners.”
You might have seen her running, as she did a lot of practice runs on the track on Salt Spring Island.
“I think I worried the most about the repetitiveness of running on the track. I had practice days where I got bored after five kilometres. So I brought my headphones, a playlist and a few audiobooks, but during the day, there was so much distraction, I didn’t listen to anything.”
In the night, it got harder when other runners finished their (shorter) races or just quit.
“I started an audiobook at 2 a.m. It was raining, and everything started to hurt. At that point, just me and another runner were still going. He had a little bed at the side of the track, and although I was dozing off while walking, I didn’t want to stop. I knew if I did, I wouldn’t want to continue.”
Being cheered on by the race directors, who took turns sleeping, and with a lot of positive self-talk, she made it to 100 miles at around seven in the morning.
“That was my goal. I had been running for 22 hours, I was struggling to walk, so I took a little nap at 7:30 and started to run again at 9 o’clock when the sun came up.”
After this endeavour, Byron is not done running. She will participate in a half-marathon in Ucluelet on Oct. 19 and run a marathon in Burnaby in November. She even thinks about doing another ultramarathon.
“But definitely not on a track.”