Rosetown runner, Harold Litzenberger proved that he can in fact handle the 130km of burly Squamish goodness that is the Squamish 50/50 run.


The concept is simple, the race-not so much. Racers that sign up for the weekends 50/50, choose to run a 50 mile race on Saturday, followed by a 50 kilometre race on Sunday. That’s right, 130km of terrain covered in two days.


The course is an exceptionally difficult one made tougher still by the technical nature of a majority of the mountain terrain. Litzenberger, who took up running six and a half years, did say that he prefers trail runs to road runs; roots, rocks, cliffs, elevation and all.


“It’s so empowering,” reported Litzenberger, “The sense of accomplishment is unreal for me.”


Of the 1300 runners to sign up for races over the weekend, only 250 signed up to run both races. Of those 250 people, 104 were actually able to complete the run and Litzenberger was among those.


With a cumulative race time of 23 hours and 49 minutes, Litzenberger accomplished what many could not.


“For me, it was about seeing if I could do it,” shared Litzenberger, “Pushing limits.”


The 53 year old said that the hardest part of the weekend was waking up on day two and just getting started; tired, stiff and body craving a break. He said it’s all about trusting in your training.
“It’s a mental game at this point, convincing yourself that its alright, you can survive this,” confessed the runner.


This was the first back to back race for Litzenberger, who considers this feat his biggest accomplishment to date. While not sure if he will run this particular race again, a full 100km one day race may be a possibility.


Litzenberger plans to take part in the Beaver Flat 50k at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park on September 14, 2019.