Happy Canada Day!
On our country’s birthday, we have two stories that are uniquely from Saskatchewan.
Our lead story comes from a tiny crescent on Saskatoon’s south side, where Scott Postnikoff created the Paul Cres Backyard Ultra Marathon on June 20. “Initially, it almost started as a joke,” said Scott. “I thought it would be fun to run a marathon around my block… but that didn’t gain traction. But a backyard ultra (has always interested me), so I invited everyone I know to run.”
In the end, 17 people were at the start line – and three runners (John Morton, Nathan Prokopchuk, Michael Fyfe) completed 100KMs by running almost 6.7km every hour on the hour by staying within the 440m loop on Paul Cres.
“I learned that organizing a race is much more work than I anticipated,” Scott said with a laugh. “But I also learned how excited people were to push themselves.”
In his own personal running journey, Scott is no stranger to pushing the limits. The 29-year-old father of three just started running two years ago. “That was the first I ran a 5KM,” he continued. In the last 24 months, he has finished a half-marathon, competed at the Beaver Flat 50 and logged 60KMs during his own backyard ultra before dropping-out to focus on his organizing role.
Scott will tackle the Beaver Flat 50 again this fall and then start planning the 2027 edition of the Paul Cres Backyard Ultra Marathon. (Photo credit above: Carter Berge.)
FINISH LINES: As promised, we have been looking for Saskatchewan’s most scenic running routes. Thanks to the emails we have received – we have two trails that will share top honour.
Fisher Trail – near Waskesiu Lake – shares the top of the podium. “It’s unbelievably beautiful,” said Harvey Weber. “It’s about a 7k single track dirt trail that runs through the incredible forest containing moss beds.”
Grey Owl Trail in Prince Albert National Park shares the top honour. “History, scenery, wildlife, actual QUIET with no human created noise at all,” said Kyle Touet. This photo is of the sun rising over the beach section of the trail on the north end of Kingsmere Lake.
