It is approximately 12,830 km from Brightwater, New Zealand to the start line of the Emperor’s Challenge.
To put that in perspective, that’s 641.5 Emperor’s Challenges. If William Parkes were to run an Emperor’s Challenge a day for the better part of two years, he would finally arrive at the start line, just in time to finally run the race.
Of course, one can’t run from New Zealand to Tumbler Ridge. There’s the small matter of the Pacific Ocean in the way.
Instead, Parkes is in the area, visiting friends for six weeks. And, while his brother has been running long distance races for years, the Emperor’s Challenge will be Parkes’ first race.
Well, first race against other people. “My brother and I have done a couple different race routes but we didn’t actually do the race, we just kind of went out and did the run just for the sake of doing the run,” says Parke.
But we’re getting ahead of the story, which is this: how does a Kiwi wind up running his first race in Canada?
To get here, the story starts five years ago in Scotland, where Parke was working at a camp with kids. “I was living in Scotland and I was a bit unfit,” he says. “I was working in a kids camp and I wanted to be able to look after these kids the best I could, and to look after myself as well. I wasn’t in a healthy place and so I literally just went down the road, bought a pair of shoes and started running.”
He says being in the Scottish Highlands was a great place to start running.
“I started off just doing casual 5Ks and learning how to do that, taking my time and getting used to that distance. My brother has always been more of a long distance runner and so slowly he challenged me to just go further and further and further working my way up to ten kilometres. And then I came back to live in New Zealand for a while and we started running together. We did a 20 km run together and then we did a couple different race routes. We didn’t actually do the race, we just kind of went out and did the route just for the sake of doing the run. We did the Loop the Lake route around Lake Rotoiti in St Arnaud, which is about 26 kilometers. That’s was a good, challenge.
“More recently, my brother and a friend of ours decided we’re gonna do what’s called the Abel Tasman National Park which is this 56 km coastal route. The whole way around this beautiful area and so we just went out and did it one day.”
And how did he do running 56 km? He laughs. “It sucked but it was awesome. You know, it was great but it really was quite hard.”
Over the last five years, he says, he’s been running pretty consistently. “There’s been ups and downs, obviously. Last year, my goal was to try and hit 100 kilometres every month. I didn’t manage it and, but since February this year I’ve been smacking out 100 km every month.”
So, with that consistency under his belt, he decided to participate in this year’s Emperor’s Challenge.
He and his wife came to Grande Prairie to visit friends that his wife got to know working at Brightwood Ranch, a Christian camp in Alberta, where she worked as a head wrangler, looking after the horses. “In the lead up to the trip, I thought it’d be really cool to do a race. I was kind of looking around when a friend pointed out this one.”
He decided it looked perfect. While he’s been doing more flatland running the last little while, he’s used to running in the mountains. “I’m definitely a little nervous, though,” he says. “I reckon I’ll give it a good crack. I don’t think I’m going to win—I’m not signing up to win—but I don’t think I’ll be last. I’m signing up to have that competition because I’m so used to running my own race and being a part of this, of challenging myself and being challenged to do something more. I want to see what it’s like to be challenged by hundreds of other people who are also joining in with the same thought. I’m going to be pushed by them. I want to see what comes out of that. Do I run harder? Do I run faster? Or do I cave and run real slow, you know? So it’s a bit of an experiment and I’m definitely a bit nervous, especially since I’ve never been to Tumbler Ridge. I don’t know the race route, I don’t know anything about the place. I’m just going to be winging it and make it up on the day. Just having fun. And I think it will be fun. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Parkes says he’s a bit nervous, because he hasn’t been able to run as much as he usually does. “Because I’m travelling my training has plummeted. I’m not a stranger to elevation, but I’m also not a pro. I’m just going to enjoy a good run.”
And after Emperor’s Challenge? Parkes says he’s taking it one step at a time. “Right now the next step is Tumbler Ridge.”
Well, two steps, as he’s also signed up to run the Edmonton City Marathon, on August 20.
And, well, maybe three steps, as there’s the Tongariro Crossing back in New Zealand, which is 60 kilometres. “That would be a really cool race to do. And then there’s one that I might be able to do with my brother because I do it in tandems which is to run, cycle and kayak from one side of the coast of New Zealand to the other over the span of about 24 hours.”
And maybe one day, he’ll do a solo 100 km race, but not now. “I’m not training for that. I’m not even planning on training for that. But I just want to try and pick out the next challenge and just focus on ir. And once I get through that, I might think about what the next challenge will be.
“When I first started running I thought I’d never run a marathon. And then I started running and I thought ‘I’ll try a half marathon.’ And then I ran a half marathon, I was like, okay, I’ll try a marathon.
“When I first started, my brother had just completed a 100 km race. He told me if you can run five you can run ten. And if you can run ten you can run twenty. And if you run twenty you can run forty. And if you run forty you can run eighty. And he just like keep throwing this same logic at me: you can do it. You just keep going and don’t stop.
“And if you do stop, you just have to start again. You just keep going.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
