Comox teenager wins gruelling Arctic Ultra race

An 18-year-old from Comox, B.C., won the Arctic Ultra endurance test earlier this month, a contest that dubs itself the "toughest, windiest, and coldest ultra foot race in the world." 

Rio Crystal was the youngest competitor and the only Canadian competing in the race.

Officially called the 6633 Arctic Ultra, the race spans 400 kilometres and more than 3,600 metres of elevation change. It runs through some of the most extreme landscapes on Earth, with temperatures dropping as low as –40 C. Taking place entirely in the Yukon, the race begins outside Dawson City and ends at the Arctic Circle  —  at 66 degrees 33 minutes north. 

Racers are given seven days to complete the race that began at noon on Feb. 26, but Crystal crossed the finish line on March 3 after four days, 15 hours, and 11 minutes. Only six out of ten competitors finished, with the others withdrawing. 

"Two years back in Grade 11, I saw a video promoting a man named Anders Hofman doing the first iron man on Antarctica and I told myself I could do that," said Crystal. 

Crystal said the race cost Hofman $200,000 US. 

"No Grade 11 [student] can afford that ... but what I can afford is the world's toughest foot race," said Crystal. 

Crystal said the Arctic Ultra cost him $10,000, but he was able to afford it because he had worked over the past few years. 

Crystal walked the whole way and slept in a tent at night. 

"During the race you don't run because if you sweat, the sweat can freeze and you're going to get hypothermia," said Crystal. 

Competitors have to be smart about gear, he said, wearing five to six layers of clothing and having a sleeping bag equipped for temperatures as low as –40 C. 

"This nature up here is wild, it's very unpredictable and you have to be best prepared as possible so you don't die." 

Crystal said the competitor who was initially in first place alongside him had to pull out with frostbite. 

"He couldn't feel his fingers, he had three gloves on, two hand warmers, and it was only –23 out."

That placed Crystal with a 40-kilometre lead over the remaining second-place competitor. 

Being a first-time entrant, Crystal said many people were opposed to supporting his journey over the last few years.  

"But it also worked out in my favour since I am so young and inexperienced, a lot of people really wanted to help me out as well."