Traveling to Québec is like flying to Europe in less than half the amount of time. The streets are narrow, Québec City is full of cobblestone boulevards and the architecture is European inspired. A quick, 30-minute jaunt takes you to Mont-Sainte-Anne (MSA), in the town of Beaupré, which is home to the Québec Mega Trail (QMT) running festival. As the largest trail running festival in Canada, the entire weekend is filled with a diverse lineup of races.
MSA is known for World Cup mountain biking, and the trails deliver on this promise with the largest trail network in eastern Canada, including more than 80 miles of singletrack and forest roads.
During course recon before the race, I was drenched in sweat and covered in mud from a very wet June. It had been raining non-stop the night before the race, so I expected it to be even worse on race day—I was not wrong. Once the race began, runners charged up the first climb and dipped into the forested singletrack, where we were immediately greeted with knee-high puddles and a river rushing down the middle of the trail. Speed was thrown out the window as the technical course would take a tricky two-step dance to navigate throughout the day.
Photo courtesy of Québec Mega Trail
The lead pack quickly splintered down to four: a recent college graduate making his foray onto the trails, a former 2016 Canadian Olympian, a local runner with vast trail familiarity and myself. We proceeded to battle it out in the woods with waist-high river crossings, endless rain, mud-slicked sections, roots, rocks and everything in between. I was so focused on staying upright with the group, that the miles flew by. The young gun broke away and held on for a commanding win, while the rest of us battled it out for the final two podium positions. On a 2-mile technical section near the finish, the runner who had intimate knowledge of the course as a local put in a move that I couldn’t cover, which left two of us battling for the final spot over the last few miles. Ultimately, we ended up trading positions 11 times, and I was able to make the final move on a downhill section, finishing in third place.
All weekend long was spent hanging with the incredibly diverse and hospitable Canadian trail community. They welcomed us with open arms, provided smiles and laughs all weekend and became new friends. I can’t wait to return and hopefully convince a few more friends from the lower 48 to join me, too.
Results 100 Miles | 110K | 50 Miles | 52K