It’s finally happening!
After two years on hiatus, the twenty second Emperor’s Challenge is finally going to happen, and in 2022, no doubt.
Or, as the Emperor’s Challenge committee likes to say: XXII in MMXXII.
Registration for the event opened at seven in the morning on June 7, the day the paper was going to press.
The Emperor’s Challenge is a 20 km race, originally up and over Mount Roman, and gained 671 m on the climb up before descending back to the start/finish line.
These days, the route goes up and over Babcock Mountain (506 m). The race starts and ends on an industrial road, but the heart of the race passes through some beautiful wilderness areas—alpine ridges, scenic valleys and past small lakes and tarns—making it one of the most beautiful races to run.
Registration is limited to the first thousand entries, and in 2019, the last year the race happened, filled up in under four hours.
But what will happen this year? After a two year break, race Director Jerrilyn Kirk says she’s not sure. “We will see what happens,” she says. “We’ve done what we can.”
She says the planning committee is thrilled to be putting on the race again. “We have faced many hurdles doing this years planning, we are excited to see how registration goes with our new platform and Chip Timers.”
Registration was pushed back to June this year, due to uncertainties around Covid, volunteers and finding a company to do chip timing after former provider Stride and Glide got out of the business.
Ditto the people who historically have provided porta-potties for the thousand or so people who show up every year.
But these problems have been overcome, and, while the 2022 race won’t be exactly the same as previous races, organizers are hoping it will be even better.
Part of that is because the race route has changed for 2022.
“Instead of leaving the road at km 2.2, participants will continue up the road to km 3.5 and then turn right up a long, steep climb,” says Charles Helm, who is on the Emperor’s Challenge planning committee. “The new route soon breaks out into the alpine, and stays there almost all the way to where it rejoins the old route at km 6.5. Along the way there are extensive scenic views, not only of the mountains, but also of the horizon to the northeast (views which were never seen on the old route). This is a safer route, avoiding bottlenecks because the field of participants will have had more time to thin out by the time they leave the road. The only downside is that it is tougher, with more elevation change. The climb from km 3.5 to km 4 is relentless and fairly steep. As a result, in 2022 the cut-off time for the race (and for bronze medals) will be 5 hours, not 4.5 hours—this will give the organizers time to assess the effect of the new route on participant times. Cut-off times at the 8.5 km and 14 km points will likely change from those of previous years, and will be determined well before race day.”
When the paper went to press, an hour after race registration opened, over 300 people had already signed up.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
