'I wanted to see if I could do it': Nunavut adventurer runs 97-km Arctic route
Celine Jaccard said to be the first woman to run the Akshayuk Pass in under 24 hours
Celine Jaccard claims she's not a runner.
But a seed was planted when she heard about people who ran the 97-kilometre Akshayuk Pass without stopping.
This summer she decided to give it a try.
"I wanted to see if I could do it," Jaccard said.
The Akshayuk Pass is in Auyuittuq National Park on northern Baffin Island. The pass stretches between the Nunavut communities of Pangnirtung and Qikiqtarjuaq, where Jaccard has lived for the past six years.
It's a three-and-a-half hour boat ride from Qikiqtarjuaq to the start of the trail. Jaccard was delivered by a friend and wanted to get an early Saturday morning start, but they ran into an elder who took them seal hunting, so she didn't hit the trail until 12:30 that afternoon.
It was smooth sailing at first. Jaccard ran over rolling terrain for the first 45 kilometres, and she made better time than she expected.
But the next 20 kilometres took her over rocky moraines and through rivers. She rolled her ankles a few times.
"Physically, that was the hardest," Jaccard said. "The muscles were still fine but the ankles were hurting on pretty much every step."
Hour 14 was the toughest, she said. She made it out of the moraines but still had nine hours to go. She knew she just had to keep running.
"It was kind of an experience in resilience and trying to see how the mind can go and the body can go," Jaccard said.
She leads expeditions for Nunavut Youth LEAP, a non-profit organization that offers on-the-land adventure and education programs. This summer she helped lead a group of nine youth through the pass for 13 days, with everyone carrying heavy backpacks.
She said she thought about that trip as she ran over the same terrain, and that helped to keep her going.
Aside from long hiking trips, and trying to do a bit more running than usual, Jaccard didn't do anything else to train. She also asked people who do long runs for advice on what to eat, and how much to drink.
She was told to eat boiled potatoes with salt and butter on the trail "because that's really good for your stomach," Jaccard said. "So I carried two pounds of potatoes with me."
She carried the boiled potatoes in her vest pockets. Along with that, she carried a puffy jacket, gloves and a cell phone. Jaccard drank from the streams she ran over.
Renowned Nunavut adventurer Matty McNair said Jaccard is the first female to run the pass in under 24 hours.
Jaccard said she won't do any more extreme runs, but finishing this made her realize her capabilities.
And, she gained wisdom: "If you have a project, you should do it," she said. "It's possible."