Apparently, running 125 kilometres of mountainous terrain in less than a day once wasn't enough for three local athletes.
The Electric Grasshoppers, made up of Amber Konikow, Steve Gagne, and Joe Hurban, conquered the Great Canadian Death Race this past summer. Described as Canada's toughest race, the trio split up the distance into five legs, sharing the duties of climbing three summits with 17,000 feet in elevation changes, and crossing one major river in Grand Cache, Alta, all in less than 24 hours.
And now they all have an itch to do it again, but they're going at it alone.
“Seven hours into it, it's raining on me, it's muddy, my feet hurt, I'm full of blisters and I'm in pain,” Konikow, the 36-year-old team captain, said. “You want to think this is the worst thing ever, but no, what popped in my mind was 'I did half of it, I should have just done it all then. Next year, I'm doing the whole thing.'
“Who would be in their right mind to think that way?” she added, with a laugh.
In fact, it wasn't long after she returned to her Lively home after completing the race that she started preparing for the 2012 edition.
Hurban, 35, Konikow's husband, is right behind her.
“Joe said 'I'll do it, soloist, and that will be the last time,'” Konikow said.
While Gagne, 29, has full intentions of doing the race on his own, he said it won't be for about four years.
“It really transforms your body,” he said. “I have other goals to attain first within the next few years before I get back into that type of physical fitness again.”
While the three athletes can all call themselves runners now, the Electric Grasshoppers had varying sporting backgrounds heading into the race.
 
Amber Konikow, team captain for the Electric Grasshoppers, presents a cheque for $3,090 to Chief of Police Frank Elsner during a Greater Sudbury Police Service board meeting. The team raised funds for the Chief's Youth Initiative Fund as part of participating in the Great Canadian Death Race this past summer. Photo by Arron Pickard.
 Konikow has been a competitive boxer for the past 10 years, Gagne has been perfecting martial arts for the past 25 years and Hurban is an avid mountain biker. The husband and wife have been dabbling in running for a while now, completing a number of half marathons along the way, but that style of training was all new for Gagne.
“I took on this challenge to do something different as an athlete because I've always stuck to my martial arts background,” Gagne said. “This pushed my body in a way I've never experienced before and I got hooked. I really got the buzz of trail running.”
Konikow said it took more than endurance and strength to be able to make it to the finish line in the Death Race.
“A lot of it is heart, will and determination,” she said. “When you're struggling through cold, high altitude, mud, rain, darkness, hunger, in order to make it through all that, it's all mental and how bad you want to finish.
“If at anytime you let any negative thoughts creep in, you were done.”
 
The team had two goals for the race. The first target was completing the distance in under 20 hours — they did it in 17:56:00. The second was to support local youth by raising funds for the Chief's Youth Initiative Fund — thanks to the generosity of a number of sponsors and individuals, the team collected $3,090, which they recently presented to the Greater Sudbury Police Service Board.
“Overall, as the team captain and coach, I am absolutely impressed,” Konikow said.
For more information on the race, visit canadiandeathrace.com. To stay up-to-date on the Electric Grasshoppers and their latest endeavours, visit electricgrasshoppers.com.
