Ambitious racers will have the opportunity to participate in Meet The Minotaur, an alpine-style foot race that challenges racers with its distance and elevation.

The race itself is about 15-20km in length with about 8,000 feet of vertical gain over the course of that distance.

One of the Race Directors, Andrew Fairhurst, says this race is truly special.

“We sort of market it as a very unique event. There's really nothing like it. It's all off trail, it's in the high alpines so it's not really a trail running race and it's not an adventure race. When the racers start, it's unknown where they're going. It's essentially like following breadcrumbs through the forest.”

Fairhurst says the route is flagged to ensure racers stay on the right path.

Due to the style of the race, Fairhurst says racers are given much more time than the average road race for completion.

“In terms of difficulty, it's much harder than a 15-20km road or trail race but we also want to see a degree of success so we allow 8 hours to complete the course.”

There is a short course option for racers as well.

About halfway through the course, racers are given the chance to opt out of the remaining distance, or they can plan to run the short course in its entirety as well.

Fairhurst says there is not restriction on who can register to run the race.

“Anyone can register. There is no certain skill level required. The winners of the race are typically just under the 3 hour mark. We've also had some people that took close to 10 hours to complete the course so there's really no set skill set to run it.”

The organizers have put an extensive amount of time and planning into this race to ensure the best possible experience.

“We put a lot of research into the course to make sure it's safe and that we aren't putting people in danger or in situation where they might be more uncomfortable than what they were expecting.”

For people interested in signing up for the race, the best place to do it is on the race website at meettheminotaur.com and there is a registration tab at the top of the home page.

This will be the third year for Meet The Minotaur and Fairhurst says there has been increased interest year to year.

Fairhurst says while interest is up, the race still doesn’t field as many racers as others in the area.

“We don't have a race cap but due to the style of race that it is, we don't attract as many racers as some of the other races like Sinister 7.”

This years Meet The Minotaur race will take place on Sunday, August 4th and Fairhurst says that day gives racers and their families opportunity to experience more of the Crowsnest Pass.

“We wanted to run it in conjunction with the Doors Open Heritage Festival that way if families are coming in to do the event they have other things to do throughout the weekend as well.”

Digital issues of the Pass Herald are now available:

Subscribe and read the FULL Pass Herald online.

or read just this issue of the Pass Herald online.