Former Parksville resident Niki Hurst and her partner embarked on a challenge no other female runners have ever attempted before — and set a milestone in the process.
They completed one of the most rugged, remote and challenging trails in British Columbia, the North Coast Trail.
The 60-kilometre trail, located in Cape Scott Provincial Park, is a mix of complex coastal and rainforest terrain that experienced backpackers try to complete it in five-to-eight days.
Hurst and Christen Young covered the distance in a day, running the the whole course in just more than 17 hours to set the fastest known time for women.
“In today’s world it is a rarity to be first in line for a coffee never mind anything else, but Niki and I managed to be the first females to run the North Coast Trail in a single day… 17 hours and 13 minutes to be exact,” said Young. “I have never been so scared to embark on an adventure in my life. With the weather forecast to be a high of 9 C and rainy, the coast guard stressed to us that even at nine degrees the rain and wind meant we could face hypothermia overnight if we didn’t make it in a day…”
On a trail consisting of slippery roots, deep mud, steep slopes, washouts, blowdowns, fallen logs, costal bogs, tidal problems, deep sand, boulders beaches, rocky shorelines, impassible headlands, creek crossings, tidal rivers, rouge waves, floods, landslides and broken structures, Hurst and Young now understood why no one thought running it in a day was possible.
Having to deal with a soggy course due to the rainfall in the days before they made the run, the already tough trail became twice as difficult said Hurst.
“There were plenty of times when we just stopped running and hung our heads. Even through the distance was not particularly far, the trail was just so demanding,” said Hurst.
“Still, all you can do is continue to put one foot in front of the other and trust that you will get through the low-point. And we did it! Against all odds and the hordes telling us it couldn’t be done. We ran the trail end to end unsupported.”
It was a particularly emotional journey for Hurst, whose father had died in a fishing boat accident just off the coast of the trail when she was a little girl.
“Being in that place, in the community, was amazing…”
— NEWS Staff