2013 was a huge year for me; my first full season on the trails since making my move from road to trail running last year. I met a ton of great people, finished some great races, and ran in some pretty incredible places. Most importantly, I managed to stay healthy and injury free which never happened while I was running road.

As I look ahead to 2014, I figured I should take a moment to reflect.

I wanted to provide an overview of the inReach SE manufactured by Delorme which I recently got, specifically from a trail running perspective.

There are plenty of comprehensive reviews out there of all the product features and benefits, so I thought instead that I’d just quickly point out how I hope to take advantage of some of the device’s unique features in the backcountry running and racing that I do and to show you the device in action.

The Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim (R2R2R) double-crossing is an amazing 46-48 mile journey, depending on your route, with over 11,000′ of elevation gain in temperatures varying well over 70 °F (21 °C).

The run is typically done from the South Rim to the North Rim and back, often starting on South Kaibab trail down to the river and Phantom Ranch since it’s steeper but shorter, along North Kaibab trail to the North Rim and back, but then back up to the South Rim along Bright Angel trail which is a little more runnable and with frequent water stations.

It’s on many an ultra runner’s bucket list, and for good reason. The incredible views and beauty this route offers at every turn are hard to beat.

The final race of the season in the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series took place this weekend at Buntzen Reservoir Recreation Area. The 13 km Enduro course loops around the lake and includes the Diez Vistas trail – a rugged route with 10 (normally) beautiful viewpoints.

This was one of my first trail races last year and, after several thousand kms on the trails and some 100,000+ metres of climbing, I was hoping for not just an improvement but maybe a shot at a podium finish within my division. I also had a not-so-great result at 5 Peaks Cypress this summer when I missed a turn and went off course – just a little. So this was redemption time!

Since running Waldo 100k last month, I had been focusing mostly on shorter, faster running on similarly technical terrain in preparation for the race. This included lots of ‘Zone 2’ running, along with a few days at the track, but nothing over 2 hours which felt very unusual. I had also since raced a leg of the Meet Your Maker Relay as sort of a test of my fitness.

I ran the course itself three times in the weeks leading up to the race which starts with a lung busting climb to the ridge, a slippery scramble along the top, and some gnarly steep descents before a fast finish along rolling double track. The cumulative elevation gain is only 880 metres but I wanted to learn exactly where and when to push on race day and to eliminate any chance of going off course.

The Meet Your Maker 50 Miler claimed to be an “absolutely stunning course, up, down and through the Whistler Valley” and it certainly did not disappoint.

The course is actually 53.46 miles (84.04 km) with 3,736 m of elevation gain and loss, and it can be run as either a solo or as a relay of up to 7 runners. The race was only started in 2012 but saw a pretty big jump in popularity this year, with many runners returning for a 2nd attempt after having been beat by the fairly aggressive cut-off times.

I knew quite a few people from the local trail running community who were running the solo and as always was feeling like I was missing out. But having just run Waldo 100k last month, I thought I’d be best to just go up to spectate and possibly crew instead. When a last-minute opportunity to run the relay with Team Salomon Flight Crew presented itself I figured it would be a perfect way to get involved.