Over 8,000 accumulative climbed meters across almost 200 kilometres of remote trails; covered in less than two days during the Fat Dog 120 in the Similkameen.
The gruelling physical challenge returned from Aug. 8 to 10, and marked 15 years since the first running in 2010.
The course takes the trail runners from south of Keremeos outside Cathedral Park through the Cascade Mountains along various trails, until wrapping up at Manning Park south of Princeton.
More than 460 athletes signed up for one of four distances in this year's event, but not all of those crossed the finish line in the physically demanding challenge.
In the full 199.5-kilometre distance, there were 141 entrants, of which only 75 completed the course.
"That's standard," said Erik Bird, the Fat Dog 120's race director. "This is primarily on remote, single-track trails out in the mountains. The total accumulated elevation gain over the course itself is just over 8,000 metres; to put that in perspective, that's just shy of climbing Mount Everest."
Even with that brutal challenge before the competitors, this year still saw one of the fastest times on record.
Scott Maguire from Squamish crossed the finish line with a time of 29:45:54, averaging just over nine minutes per kilometre, and that was including rest times.
"It's a super impressive finish and local B.C. guy, which is always nice to see," Bird said.
Many of the competitors in the event this year came from various communities across B.C., but others came from places farther away such as Japan.
The turnout puts the event over its pre-pandemic numbers, even with one less distance category. That is a promising sign for the event's popularity at a time when other events are struggling or outright cancelling, such as the Penticton Iron Man.
The difference in the type of challenge the Fat Dog poses and the unique locale it takes place in 鈥� that of trails in the remote mountains around the Similkameen Valley 鈥� are helping make it stand out.
"I think those points are both valid, to certain degrees," Bird said. "Trail running going throughout COVID was one of the few things that was kind of always accepted as safe and trail running in general saw a huge explosion during COVID. And the locale, it's unique terrain and it's not often that trail races can boast of such a remote nature, and the Cascade Mountains are beautiful."
Bird also added that despite the remoteness of the course during the competition, the proximity to local airports in Penticton, Princeton and Vancouver opens up the event to invite participation from people who may live much farther away.
Dates for the 2026 Fat Dog are already set, with registration opening up on Jan. 5, 2026.
