67-year-old Exshaw ultrarunner torches four Canadian records

SHERWOOD PARK – Ultrarunning champion Wayne Gaudet broke so many records in one day that he couldn’t keep up with them.

The 67-year-old Exshaw resident set four new Canadian Ultra Records following Survivorfest, a 24-hour running event taking place on a 400-metre track, in staggering fashion.

“The clock goes and you just run as far as you can until the clock ends,” said Gaudet.

And, unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what the master of distance running did earlier this month (June 7-9) in Sherwood Park.

Over 24 hours, Gaudet circled the track 507 times and absolutely annihilated national records in the men’s 65-70 category, including fastest times for 100km (10:35:57), 100 miles (17:46:49), total distance (202.892 km), and most km over 12 hours (111km).

“I just had this magic day,” said Gaudet. “It’s just so hard to repeat something like this.”

The athletic juggernaut has been running in endurance races since 2011 and currently holds records in two other national 24-hour races. However, the 2024 competition in Sherwood Park was on another level for Gaudet. When taking his final steps after nearly 203km, Gaudet was pleasantly surprised he had broken not one, but two additional records for the 12-hour and 100-mile.

“Typically, if you break one record, you’re doing pretty good, but to break four records in one race is kind of a fairly rare thing to happen,” he said.

“I’m not the fastest guy in this, but, for an old guy, it was a nice thing to have happened.”

The official record-breaking results are pending ratification by the Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners. However, it’s a matter of time before the titles are in the books.

“We were so proud and excited to be a part of an amazing day for Wayne,” said Survivorfest race director, Laura Townsend, in an email. “In 2022, he won the Don Wheatcroft Award for displaying a positive demeanour during the event towards athletes by stepping outside his own discomfort to motivate and encourage others.”

Survivorfest is held in support of the Saffron Centre, a non-profit in Alberta that supports the healing and empowerment of those affected by sexual violence.

Since 2021, Gaudet has been running in support. To keep nourished with food and water, Gaudet’s wife, Trish, assisted on the big day.

Once the tall-task of Survivorfest starts, participants can’t leave the track, but amenities such as porta-potties are close by. Athletes can also set up tents/stations next to the track to take breaks.

Last year, Gaudet came up short when he went for the 24-hour title. Set at 168km, Gaudet was cruising when he decided to take a 15-minute nap, which turned into a three-hour snoozefest. He missed the mark by three laps, all said and done.

This year Gaudet didn’t make the same sleepy mistake and set a strong pace that he could maintain, with his fastest 400m time being two minutes and seven seconds on laps 399, 400 and 402, and his slowest lap being four-and-a-half minutes on No. 442.

But for the last five hours, the tired athlete in his 60s was having trouble running in a straight line, so he spent a lot of that time walking until the 24-hour mark. The upside to slowing down was that his legs weren’t filled with lactic acid the next day and he felt fine, overall, he said.

Following the record-setting day, Gaudet planned to hang up his running shoes. However, he has since reconsidered.

“I actually decided I was going to retire and then I had such good success, I thought,  ‘Geez, I got to have to set some goals,’ so to be announced,” he said.

Also competing at Survivorfest was Canmore’s Deb Harksen, who was one of the top women finishers with 139km over 24 hours.