Freelander

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

I was I think 47th overall out of 118.. middle of the pack for my age group. My partner was 7th female and 2nd in category! We had a shitload of fun and we felt like it was a great race but for context like I think 1st overall was 4h11m 😆 i was pretty happy with 6h47m or whatever.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

The sport is so much about mental game.. they could probably hang tough. You need to demoralize them. Following close and making them uncomfortable means when you do overtake they give up.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

Made sure my chick was okay, had my smoke and then just fucking DUSTED people running a 6 minute split north of 40km was a surpassing performance for me. There's a psychology involved in these races about cementing an overtake when it can take a mile or more.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

Fucking awesome feeling. That we all managed to finish the race so close? Also it's an amazing feeling to have run a race with a winning strategy: being able to pass people who earlier in the race had taken the lead is an amazing feeling.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

Even after the course turns into some flat double track I keep making overtakes. I think I count like 9 racers I pass including the one guy in our crew that took off around km 16. I cross the line and my partner and our friend who ran with us cross only minutes later.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

2 of them are our crew! The volunteers keep honking a horn every time they see a racer and when they appear in turn there is celebration! But there are also 3 other racers! Crazy. We go to leave and I know what is coming: the last ~10-14km have a shitload of gravel road and I know it's time.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

It's a slog and we don't see any other racers pretty much. My partner has low blood sugar and I walk with her until she recovers and have a smoke on trail: we're around 5 hours in at this point. I am fucking jonesing so bad 😆

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

Out of the aid station is trail next to fields but it doesn't stay nice for long. You descend into muddy technical single track with stairs on the hills and a lot of little bridges over muddy spots and trail goes up and down relentlessly past tiny creeks.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

So the next section is hilly single track but pretty runnable some double track. Very pretty forest through here. The views of the river are great. There was some road two years ago but a new easement kept us in the forest until the third aid station. Our friend pulled ahead.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

So several trail mates get ahead of me at this aid station. The pack is still pretty tight oddly enough. It wouldn't be until the next stretch: 14km to the next aid station, the longest in the race that the field would spread out. I had company: my partner and friend of ours going into this section

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

The puffy layer of leaves made footing challenging: obscuring the many tripping hazards. The second aid station allows racers to ditch gear into a sandwich ziplock. I struggled to fit my long-sleeve or my gloves and wasted a good minute eventually stripping my t shirt and leaving my headlamp.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

The first about 8 km had some short sections of single track and a mix of double track and some road sections. Many of us pretty much skipped the first aid station. Race day at 07h00 was I believe around 3 or 4°C so I still had a full bladder and hadn't gone through much electrolytes.

#runsky Race recap: The Bad Thing 2026 This end to end race is along the Maitland Trail between Goderich and Auburn in Ontario. Vaguely Halloween themed it is renowned for it's technical single track and demanding 9 hour cutoff time. Bibs are sold out in hours each year. This was the 12th annual

The distance is 50km but in both years I have run it the distance is actually 53-55km. Participants board a bus for a half hour bus ride from Auburn to an unknown destination in Goderich and must find the Maitland Trail without flagging. The great majority of the course is runnable.