Meet the Ontario man trying to run the 900 km Bruce Trail unsupported and in record time

Cody Taylor is getting ready to do what he calls "the ugly shuffle." Wearing a roughly 24-kilogram backpack carrying enough food and gear for 13 days, the runner leaves from Queenston, Ont., in Niagara on Friday. He's seeking to break a record for the fastest unsupported run along the over-900-kilometre-long Bruce Trail. 

"It's a matter of just keeping moving," Taylor, who's from Cornwall, Ont., told CBC Hamilton. "When you realize how much distance you covered, it's pretty incredible."

According to Fastest Known Time, a website on which athletes like Taylor publish GPS-tracked routes and times, the record he aims to beat sits at 14 days, five hours and 20 minutes. 

Taylor, who got into running extreme long distances a couple years ago, is hoping he can run the trail in 12 to 13 days. "I'm going to get up at 3 a.m., start by 3:30 a.m., and the only time I stop is to take care of my feet and filter water."

For this to qualify as an unsupported run, Taylor must carry all his own food and gear, find water to drink and pace himself without another person's help. He'll camp along the trail at night. "It's cool to be fast, but really cool to be self-sufficient." 

The Bruce Trail, which tracks the Niagara Escarpment, runs northwest from Niagara to Hamilton, then turns toward Burlington and continues north through Halton, Caledon, and the Blue Mountains before reaching Owen Sound. From there, the mostly inland trail traces the bay shore as it snakes up the rugged Bruce Peninsula before terminating in Tobermory. 

Ultra runs are distances longer than 50 kilometres, Taylor said. He started doing routes in the 100-kilometre range last year, including in Niagara and the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec.

"Canada is gorgeous, man," he said, adding that when he learned about the Bruce, he thought running it unsupported sounded challenging but do-able. 

He has been training for this run for a couple months, working with a coach, Ray Zahab, and running shorter distances unsupported to prepare.

According to the current record holder, Jamieson Hatt of Coldwater, Ont., preparation was key to his success. Hatt told CBC Hamilton he didn't have much guidance when he set what was the first unsupported Bruce Trail record on Fastest Known Time in 2022. He said Taylor reached out to him and he was pleased to share tips.

 "Records were meant to be broken," Hatt said. "I can see why not many people want to do this sort of thing but I think it's really cool when someone reaches out and wants to."

And he adds, "I could always try to break it back."

Hatt said he travelled the entire Bruce with support before attempting his unsupported run. In the year before his attempt, he did four smaller unsupported runs. He got sick a few days into his first unsupported attempt at the Bruce and quit, but started again several days later and succeeded.

The importance of bringing the right gear is something Hatt said he and Taylor discussed, since you must balance keeping your pack light while still having enough food and supplies.