The Fat Dog 120 may be regarded as one of the world's toughest ultra trail races, but for two Chilliwack athletes, that didn’t mean much.
Pau Rius and Jessica Temple – both of Chilliwack – took victory in their respective categories at this year’s Fat Dog 120 ultra trail race which ran from Aug. 9-11.
The Fat Dog event is an ultra trail race that offers various lengths in routes available with the toughest and most common being the 120. The route begins near the town of Keremeos in Cathedral Provincial Park and finishes in the iconic E.C. Manning Provincial Park. The course is actually 124-miles long, incorporating a point-to-point style route with cumulative elevation gain over 26,240 feet or 8000 meters.
Rius led the way in the men’s category finishing with the quickest time of all the competitors. He completed the 124-mile route in 24-hours and 11-minutes. It was a welcomed result for Rius who is a seasoned runner. Rius is no stranger to road races like marathons and triathlons, but had only begun participating in trail races over the past two years. It was just his second time competing in the Fat Dog 120.
“Last year it went really well,” he said. “But I had many things I needed to improve on.
“I’m just happy this year that everything came together.”
Rius came into the race having finished fifth in this year’s Vancouver Marathon but described the trail races as some of the hardest he has endured.
“I felt a lot of pain for sure,” Rius said. “At around the 100-mile mark the fatigue started to set in pretty intensely.
“I was very lucky to have an awesome crew and pacers to help with my morale and keep me pushing until the finish line.”
Like Rius, Temple considers herself to be a veteran runner having competed in various races herself since 2019.
But unlike Rius, this was Temple’s first time competing in the Fat Dog. She finished the race in a brilliant 34-hours and 16-minutes. It also marked the first time she had won a race of this distance.
“I knew it was going to be special because the Fat Dog community is so special,” said Temple. “Everyone involved is so encouraging, supportive and kind.”
Temple stated that she wasn’t as interested in chasing a specific result as she was simply testing her limits to see what she was “truly capable of”.
“As a mom with two young kids I like to tell them that every person out there is a winner and I truly believe this,” Temple said. “Ultra running is a special kind of fun and limit-testing and the community is so welcoming and feels like a family.
“As I approached the finish I just kept smiling to myself and saying ‘this is it, I’m really doing it’.”
