Page 21 - RADC Bulletin 2022

Banff Jasper Relay
Capt Oliver Jest
On the 4 Jun 22 I had the opportunity to race in the Banff Jasper Relay, in a team of 15 representing BATUS. This a 260 km relay run in 15 stages from Banff to Jasper on one of the most beautiful highways in the world – scenic Highway 1A (Bow Valley Parkway) and Highway 93 (Icefields Parkway) located in two of Canada’s most spectacular parks: Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.
The race is run on the shoulder of the highway facing traffic. It consists of two phases run simultaneously. The route is split this way to ensure the entire race is completed in daylight hours. Phase 1 has six stages from Banff up to the Saskatchewan River Crossing and Phase 2 has nine stages from the Saskatchewan River Crossing to Jasper.
The distance per leg ranged between 13-20km with the shorter legs having more challenging elevation to handle. The total elevation gain across the route was 2,454m and the total elevation loss was 2,857m. The highest point on the course was 2,035m above sea level (for reference the summit of Ben Nevis is 1,345m above sea level).
The race started at 07:00 with both phases starting at the same time. Due to the range of abilities the race quickly stretched out, resulting in most of the stages being run alone or with only another runner nearby. For our team, each phase had a minibus to transport each runner and provide support. Throughout the whole day we would drive about 3km ahead of the current runner
and stop to provide water and lots of
moral support. This also gave everyone an
opportunity to stretch our legs (especially if you’ve just finished your stage) and enjoy the beautiful views along the way.
Many volunteers help the day run smoothly. Because BATUS has sent a
team to this race for many years, the long-standing volunteers recognised who we were and that we were representing the British Army and made a point to speak to us at the runner exchange points between stages and thank us for continued participation.
We saw some wildlife throughout the
day but thankfully there was no impact on the race. Some elk decided to cross the road, despite the traffic, just as our runner was coming through. We also saw a small black bear, about 5m from the road minding its own business. The Park warden kept
a close eye on it and fortunately the Bear Contingency Plan from the Race manual was not required (Ed- I had to clarify as I am unfamiliar with actions-on encountering a bear. The bear contingency plan was to collect the runner in the support vehicle, drive them a distance ahead of their furry race-buddy and a time penalty would be incurred...far better than being attacked by a bear I guess).
Due to phase 2 having a higher number of
stages, the phase 1 team were able to catch up with the phase 2 team and we all cheered on our final runner across the finish line in Jasper. We then enjoyed a well-deserved meal put on by the race organisers for all the participants followed by the announcement of results and the prize giving.
BATUS is in the prairie of southern Alberta, where the land is very flat. This meant that all our training had almost zero elevation gain or loss. Therefore, the massive elevation changes across the race combined with the altitude made the race particularly challenging for us.
Despite this we managed to achieve 3rd place overall on time out of 25 teams. Our total time was 22 hours 41 minutes with an average pace of 5:21/km.
The Founders and Directors of the Banff Jasper Relay, as well as their friends and family, have personally been affected by the tragedy of brain tumours, and everyone participating in the relay raised money for The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. As a team we raised an impressive total of $2,110 CAD (roughly £1,385).
If you ever get the chance to visit Alberta, you may not be inclined to run this race, but I highly recommend at least driving along this stunning route.
RADC BULLETIN 2022 19