Caledon Crusher (2026)

Here I am, starting off my 2026 season with my longest effort to date at the Caledon Crusher 50km, by Crazy Cat Adventures! (what was I thinking 😮).

I heard about this race last spring but sadly could not fit it into my 2025 schedule. It is a local race for me, with the staging and finish area about a 20-minute drive and just down the street from the brewery that I brew collaboratively with. The race has 3 distances from 25km, 50km and 72km all along the Bruce trail, ranging from Caledon to Mono Centre. If I am correct, I believe that fellow teammate James Monroe won the 25km distance last year (with Brent Diaz not too far behind).

For 2026, this race lined up perfectly as a tune-up for my 100km race towards the end of May, giving me a chance to fine tune my fuelling, test out some kit and challenge me over the distance and terrain. I have some familiarity with the course as well, having run the Hockley Provincial Reserve a number of times and snowshoed another section a little further south.

Minutes from the start

Course: The route followed the Bruce Trail along the Caledon Hills section, which for the 50km, began with on gravel south of Caledon (Escarpment Side Road and Heart Lake Rd) and worked its way towards the trails of Glen Haffy Conservation. Crossing Highway 9, you headed north along the trail system before crossing Airport Rd again, cutting westward back into the Hockley Valley, and then heading north again once past the ski resort. The end of the race cuts just off from the Bruce trail to finish at the Mono Community Centre grounds. The 72km race started further south at the Caledon Badlands and the 25km was a there-and-back from the Mono Community Centre. One item to highlight for this race is that the majority of it is unmarked for the event and requires runners to follow the existing Bruce Trail blaze system of white markers, so familiarity with the trails or the course route is key to success.
On-course Support: In total 7 aid stations were listed for the 72km, 5 for the 50km and 2 for the 25km (one of which would be passed twice). Note: it is possible this was lowered by 1, or else I completely missed it, being a water drop only.
Surface: Initially starting on gravel and transitioning to single track flat field sections in the opening few kilometres, this gave way to a combination of single and double track trail, some crushed stone, dirt, rocks, roots (the usual southern Ontario trail experience), a few spring crossings, as well as a few road crossings, with only one busy intersection (Highway 9 and Airport Rd).
Weather: Absolutely perfect. Starting in the cool 1-2° range and warming throughout the day up to 8°, with a clear and sunny sky. This was also bookmarked by rain and cooler temperatures on Friday and Sunday, so we most definitely lucked out for this!

Atmosphere: Being fairly new to the trail racing game, I didn’t know many of my fellow competitors, though was happy to observe the camaraderie and laid-back morning vibe given off by everyone before and during the bus ride to the starting line. I had met a few of the organisers and volunteers at the pre-race dinner the night before, so there were definitely friendly faces throughout the event, which helped to calm my race day nerves (likely just a product of the distance in my mind).
The aid stations were all fantastic, with attentive and enthusiastic volunteers helping to get you set for the next section, refilling liquids, offering hot and cold food, words of encouragement and checking on your physical health. I even heard there was an air siren at one (I missed this unfortunately).
Post-race: Whether I knew anyone at the finish line or not, it felt like a big family and I was cheered through by spectators, other runners and volunteer staff. There was a shoe-wash station (sponsored by Keen) to help protect plant species contamination and fun photo opportunities after the finish. Importantly, there was a chilli con carne and baked potato bar hosted by Mono Cliffs Inn, to help warm and fill you up (if you needed it).

Starting out hot on the gravel

Overall: I had no specific finishing goals in this race, other than to test my training and take away a few lessons for adaptation and fine tuning. Even attending the pre-race dinner was a bit of an afterthought, but gave an opportunity for my son Zachary Brown and I to catch up with one of the volunteers and friend, Selene Mallone, fresh off of her win at the Arizona Monster 300 mile.

The first 10-12kms of this race became a hard lesson for me, as I let the rolling gravel roads and field section of the trails lull me into a faster pace than intended and stacked fatigue that bit me towards the end of the race. On this fast start, I breezed though the first aid station, only grabbing some pb&j sandwiches and thanked everyone for the smiles and encouragement.

I ran alongside Antoine Garitte for most of the first 20km, trading stories and jokes as we went. We actually moved up a few positions, as there were a number of wrong turns and runners missing the white blazes along the way (I had to correct Antoine a number of times as well). His hill climbing pace was much faster than mine but thankfully, it seems like his direction was true the rest of the race as I lost him and he finished strong ahead of me.

Selene pumping my tires

Losing Antoine before the next aid station, I came across Selene, her pup Henry and the whole crew at the station, who refilled fluids and pumped me up, telling me I looked good and strong (which I felt) and was close to the halfway mark of the 50km. Everything was roses for me heading out to the next section and I felt great crossing Airport Rd and getting deep into Hockley Valley. Until I didn’t...

The heat from the sun was starting to creep in, the fast and relatively easy terrain gave way to seemingly endless up and down segments in the escarpment, with so many trail stairs and switchbacks. From about 30-38km is where this turned to a proper workout for me. My pace took a dive and my hydration disappeared quicker than anticipated. I kept at it though, losing position to the eventual 1st and 2nd placing women (Christine Dorie and Saskia Mattern, respectively) and staggered into the next aid station past the ski resort. Refilling both my Nathan bladder and my soft flask, I also grabbed more solid food and washed it down with some Coke (a magical elixir).

Heading back out and up a big incline with even larger downhill, everything felt great and back on track. This gave way to the Hockley Provincial Reserve, and being familiar territory, I was able gain on Saskia and we finished the park together hitting the final aid station, where I ran into another friend Justin Popovic, of the Dufferin Dirt Runners. We enjoyed a quick chat but being only 4km from the finish, I wasn’t looking to lose much more time.

The next trailhead which was a scramble up a rocky portion, with a beautiful view from the top, looking south east into the valley. Unfortunately, the hydration issues from earlier finally caught up, as my quads started to cramp as I scaled the rocks. To the point where I was lifting each leg with my arms one-at-a-time, trying to massage out the cramps, while downing my final flask of Skratch. What a sight that would have been (though I’m glad that was for my eyes alone).

The rest of the distance was just smooth gravy and other than kicking a few too many rocks, I finished strong enough for one last jump at the finish line.

Courtesy of Sue Sitki

RESULTS

6:36:11 | 7/46 | 5th place male | 1st place M40-49

Thank you to the organisers at Crazy Cat Adventures (I had a few laughs with Eric D’Arcy immediately after the race), Sue Sitki for the photos, my fellow competitors, the event sponsors, and of course all of the volunteers who gave their time and energy for the day, as none of this is possible without community support.

I started the day feeling out of my element, with minimal trail and zero ultra racing experience but even with some hard lessons learned, I now feel like I can compete in this sphere and know that the winter training is paying off.

Bonus: Look for my shoe review of the Brooks Cascadia Elite to follow shortly!