Andrew's excellent adventure

Whitefish man endures fatigue, isolation to win 320-mile Yukon Arctic Ultra race in Canada

For five days and 10 hours, Andrew Matulionis spurred himself across desolate tundra and ice, finally coming out the winner Feb. 16 of the 320-mile Yukon Arctic Ultra footrace in Canada.

It wasn't the Whitefish man's first endurance-race experience but, as with the 28 others that preceded, this one had its own quirky challenges for the mind and body.

"When you're out there it's like you're cramming two years of life into five days," Matulionis said. "There are so many highs and lows."

He recalls seeing the most incredible display of the Northern Lights at one point in the race, but within six hours he was mired in frustration about how distant the next check station appeared to be.

Matulionis figures he was covering 35 miles in 12 to 14 hours between checkpoint stops. The warming huts at each checkpoint gave him three or four hours to eat, rest and resume the race.

He towed about 25 pounds of survival gear, most importantly a sleeping bag and stove, on a cheap "kids sled" custom-fitted with plastic piping for his harness. A long stretch of the race sent him down the frozen Yukon River, and across chain of iced-over lakes.

On some stretches of river, water overflows would result in thin ice forming over a thick layer of ice. Racers would crash through frequently into water up to their waists. It sounds hazardous, but Matulionis said he figured out ways to avoid thin ice and keep dry. Temperatures were in the 20s when the race started Feb. 11, but as the race progressed they dropped to 25 below after sundown. Stopping to rest at the wrong time can be risky for a racer, Matulionis said, and that's why competitors are required to carry stoves and cold weather "sleeping systems."

The physical obstacles are often not nearly as bad as the isolation and fatigue with which racers must contend, he said.

"When you're out in the middle of nowhere by yourself, it can really give you the willies," he said.

And for Matulionis, the trail was wide open, with no footprints to follow. "I didn't see anybody because I was out in front," he said.

Many racers have experience in triathlons or other types of grueling races that involve running with a pack of other racers. Matulionis said they often make the mistake of starting out too fast in an endurance race such as the Arctic Ultra, not recognizing the importance of pacing themselves for an ordeal that lasts several days.

"This is a completely different ball game," he said.

Many drop out, he said, some saying the rigors of uncertainty that come with isolation did them in, Matulionis said.

At 40, Matulionis is a veteran of the world-famous Raid Gauloises and Eco-Challenge team races, along with a long list of individual adventure races. Last week's race was his longest solo competition, and he says his experience paid off.

"The checkpoints are your goals," he said, explaining how he took the race "one bite at a time," maintaining his condition to complete the entire race.

Matulionis said he was exhausted at the end of every leg of the race, but he ended up finishing the final leg nearly as fast as he finished the first, with a 50-50 combination of fast walking and brisk jogging.

His closest competitor out of 34 footracers was an Englishman, Stuart Gillet, who finished about 2 1/2 hours later.

For more information about the Yukon Arctic Ultra, visit the Web site www.arcticultra.de.