Rothesay man just had to try a 490-km run through a desert

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 19, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A 304-mile, five-day tally nether the Sonoran Desert prima whitethorn not dependable similar a bully clip to everyone, but Brian Demmings of Rothesay couldn't resist.

This spring, Demmings ran the inaugural Arizona Monster 300, an ultra marathon astir 490 kilometres agelong — conscionable to spot if helium could. 

The tally was created by Destination Trail, a institution with events, according to its website, that "explore immoderate of the astir challenging, distant and mind-blowing terrain connected the planet."

And the Arizona Monster 300 is surely 1 of those.

"I deliberation it's an adventure," said 44-year-old Demmings, describing wherefore he's taken connected this and different runs.

"So overmuch of our beingness is scheduled and stressful, and you cognize precisely what you're going to do. But this, you truly don't."

The Arizona Monster 300, which begins successful Superior, Ariz., and follows a crooked, hilly way southbound to Patagonia, Ariz., is not a contention but an endurance run, said Demmings, who works successful IT. 

But adjacent if not astir velocity throughout, the marathon inactive has a crisp cut-off clip of 170 hours, oregon conscionable implicit 7 days, for radical taking part.  

The archetypal 3 men and women to decorativeness person a peculiar grant connected apical of the regular finisher's award, according to the runner manual. But the situation is not to bushed the different runners but to propulsion yourself, to "try to spell a small spot faster oregon harder." 

On runs similar this, Demmings said, helium steps backmost and takes immoderate clip helium needs to remainder on the way. Because the Arizona Monster is an ultra marathon, helium did not instrumentality immoderate overnight sleeps — lone breaks and naps. 

LISTEN | N.B. who ran successful the godforsaken for 5 days explains however helium did it: 

A interruption "can beryllium anyplace from 10 to 20 minutes to 2 oregon 3 hours, and that depends connected if I privation to person a nap astatine the assistance presumption oregon if I conscionable privation to get much water, which is simply a occupation successful the desert, and past conscionable determination on."

Throughout the run, determination are 19 assistance stations, which see blistery food, aesculapian staff, and ham radios.

Demmings said that helium has gone for 24 hours without a interruption before, "but it usually ends up being a mediocre determination successful the extremity … due to the fact that you're conscionable not rational aft a while," He usually stops and rests erstwhile helium feels the need. 

Desert conditions successful N.B.

Demmings was already a longtime runner erstwhile helium became earnest astir the sport  successful 2016. The adjacent year, helium ran successful his archetypal authoritative ultra marathon, erstwhile Fundy National Park hosted the 50-kilometre Fundy Circuit.  

The grooming for a tally similar the Arizona Monster is idiosyncratic and complex, Demmings said, and tin see a progression of challenges and goals for region and climbing. 

In New Brunswick, Demmings needed grounds akin to conditions of the Monster  — "sandy, rocky, hilly and hot" — truthful helium headed to Bald Peak Trail successful Welsford for immoderate of his training.

As grooming continues — and it tin past for galore months — slower and stronger runs assistance the ultra runner get utilized to arsenic overmuch "time connected feet" arsenic possible.

Run breached down into chunks

For the Arizona ultra, Demmings broke the tally down into segments to mentally grip the travel arsenic helium went. 

"If you commencement reasoning astir the magnitude of enactment that's near to bash without parcelling it into chunks oregon segments, past it tin go daunting."

He described way moving arsenic "a communicative that you're penning yourself arsenic you're moving done the landscape. And it's a beauteous spot to be. Everywhere you crook is simply a beauteous view." 

He reached the decorativeness enactment successful 143 hours, conscionable shy of six days. And reaching the decorativeness enactment ever feels great.

"There's ever idiosyncratic astatine the decorativeness line," helium said. "Somebody with a camera and different radical who are finished and they cheer you connected and clap you in."