Megan Wotherspoon is about to start a long-distance run that has never been accomplished in Saskatchewan. The 37-year-old adventure-lover is going to run from the TOP of Saskatchewan to the BOTTOM of the province.
She will start on May 25th in Stony Rapids – which is just south of the Northwest Territories border – and she will end at a Saskatchewan/Montana border crossing near Val Marie. The long run will total more than 1,500 kilometres. “I would love to do it in under 30 days,” she quipped. That’s roughly 50KM a day – every day – for nearly a month. (You read that sentence correctly!)
It’s a remarkable goal that is designed to be a tribute to her mother. “I am turning 38 this year, the same age as my mom when she passed (of leukaemia),” explained Wotherspoon. “I want to commemorate her.”
Wotherspoon was just six-years-old when her mom’s courageous battle with cancer ended while she was in a treatment trial. Her mom and dad installed a love of nature into Megan and her brother – and when she starts her Saskatchewan long-run next month, her dad and brother will be watching from the roadside when she leaves Stony Rapids.
“The northern leg (of the journey from Stony Rapids to La Ronge) has the most variables,” said Wotherspoon when asked what part of the run will be the most challenging. “It’s early (spring in the north) and the weather might be bad. It’s 600 kilometres on one road. It’s a mental battle every day.”
That one road is Highway 905 – an all-weather road (gravel) that is mostly traveled by large trucks with incredibly long stretches with no services. In a best-case scenario, it will take 10 days (60KM a day) to reach La Ronge, with seven of those 10 days involving overnight camping near the roadside with no washroom services.
“Hopefully the lakes aren’t frozen,” said Wotherspoon, who will have to use those freezing-cold lakes to try to stay clean. “It will also be a lot of wet wipes and dry shampoo.”
A 14-year veteran of teaching in the classroom – she is currently a learning-assistance teacher at St. Michael Community School in Saskatoon – Wotherspoon constantly carries a cheerful personality and has an easy laugh. But she’s also fiercely determined and carries a quiet confidence.
“I did the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a hike from the border of Canada to Mexico,” she recalled. “I completed it with my husband (Chad) in 2018. It took us 140 days and we averaged 26 miles (42KMs) a day for the last two months.”
That Trail is 4,265KMs through deserts and high mountain ranges that typically takes up to six months to accomplish. Wotherspoon has since added two 100-mile trail races to her resume, including the Iron Horse last fall.
She returned to training in December and has since been carefully ramping-up the mileage to get ready for May 25th. “In March, I was doing runs of up to 20KM (a day) for six days a week,” she explained. “In April, I am doing more longer runs.”
(Next week we will post Part 2 of this incredible story – which will include the large support team it takes to accomplish this goal, plus the logistics of trying to eat on the roadside with no services – and the mental side of not being overwhelmed.)
