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Ultrarunner runs 106K, climbs 10,000m in Double Canmore Quad Challenge

Andy Reed ran the challenge in the Canadian Rockies twice in one go to set the FKT for the route in 26 hours, 33 minutes and 24 seconds

Canmore, Alta., runner Andy Reed set the fastest known time (FKT) for the Double Canmore Quad Challenge in late July, covering the route in 26 hours, 33 minutes and 24 seconds. The single lap of the Canmore Quad features four peaks which runners must run up and down: the Mount Lady MacDonald, Grotto Mountain, the East End of Rundle (EEOR) and Ha Ling Peak. Reed decided to double up for the challenge, running each mountain twice and covering 106K with 10,000m of elevation gain in the process.

Rules of the Canmore Quad

With no set route or starting point, the rules of the Canmore Quad are pretty simple: summit each of the four peaks and return to where you began as quickly as possible. Runners can start their attempts wherever they want, and the freedom to design one’s own route adds a level of creativity and strategy to the run that other FKTs and endurance challenges lack. This is a similar format to many fell running records in the U.K., such as the 214 Wainwright Peaks and Lake District 24-Hour runs. For Reed’s challenge, he stuck to the same rules as a single Canmore Quad and just doubled up on the mileage.

Reed’s Double Quad run

According to Reed’s blog, he had completed the Canmore Quad on multiple occasions before his latest run, but he had never tried two circuits. In an Instagram post that he published after he had completed the challenge, Reed wrote that the run “wasn’t all fun and games.” He explained in another post that the weather was not on his side during the attempt. “We were hit by snow, hail, thunder and lightning, rain and sun,” he wrote, “but all in all an incredible day and a bit!” Despite the struggles he faced on the route, Reed finished the Quad twice over and earned the FKT for the challenge.