07/10/2020
Watch for these guys this weekend-they’ll be at it again! Scott Ball and Shawn O’Hara are Rochon Sands residents and avid runners. Scott has participated in many ultramarathons both as a soloist and on teams. Probably his greatest challenge to date was running as a soloist in the Canadian Death Race which is a 125km race that includes 3 mountain summits and 17,000ft of elevation change. One year, Scott’s team even took 1st place in that same race which is a huge accomplishment.
Shawn ran his first race out here at Rochon doing a 10k at Run in the Buff. I’m sure if you asked him he would say it was an eye opener but it sparked a love for running. Since then Shawn has become an amazingly strong runner competing on several teams in many different races including Death Race and joining Scott last summer on his Sinister 7 team (another mountain race totalling 161km-100miles) Last year Shawn did his first solo ultra marathon right here at Rochon for Run in the Buff and with Rhea O'Hara and his kids at his side he won the 50k event.
Both Scott and Shawn were meant to run many races this season but due to Covid all have been cancelled. They decided to take on a new challenge.
This Saturday July 11th starting at 7am the two of them will compete side by side as individuals in the Backyard Quarantine Ultra. They have to run 6.7kms every hour on the hour until the last person drops out. If they can complete 24 hours they will have run 100 miles (161kms) each as soloists. If they can go longer they will! This is a worldwide event. The last one lasted 63 hours straight. Out of almost 2500 people only about 70 made it 24 hours. So if you see these guys running around this weekend give them a yell, a high five, or a bottle of water. They will be happy for the encouragement and support. They will be starting and finishing every hour at #2 beach street west if you want to come watch and cheer them on. And they would love to have people join them on their runs! They are hoping to maintain about a 5:30-6min km pace. They’d love the company!
If you want more info about the race I’ll post the link in the comments 😊 Please show these crazy guys some support this weekend-they’ll need the boost!!
