Brandon Crichton is climbing fast in the world of extreme racing. Very fast.
The North Vancouver resident, a former professional cyclist who now works in real estate, won the Red Bull 400 race held July 19 at Whistler Olympic Park. Dubbed the "steepest 400-metre race in the world," the event involved two sprints - one qualification heat and one final - 400 metres straight up Olympic Park's ski jump and landing area. Crichton ran the fastest time in the heats, four minutes and seven seconds, and then outraced Shaun Stephens-Whale in the 40-man final, clocking a time of 3:53. Red Bull officials told Crichton it was the fastest time ever recorded in a Red Bull 400 during the four years that they've been held at similar locations around the world. So how did he prepare himself for the world's steepest 400-m race?
"You can't really train for something like this. When do you get a chance to run on a 45-degree slope?" Crichton said with a laugh when the North Shore News caught up with him after the race. "But we're lucky enough here in North Van to have arguably the best terrain to potentially train for something like that. We've got the Grouse Grind right here in our backyard."
Crichton said he hit the Grind hard in the weeks and months leading up to the Red Bull 400 to work on his climbing skills and stamina. He also entered the O2X Summit Challenge, a technical and rugged 8.8 kilometre trail race, with 840 m elevation gain, held on Grouse Mountain July 11. Crichton said that was his first ever running race. Naturally, he won it too.
"That kind of gave me a little bit of confidence," he said. While the O2X Summit Challenge was a unique trail race, the Red Bull 400 was a very different animal. "They didn't let you pre-walk any of this stuff. You really just show up, you stare at this big behemoth mountain and you're like, 'Crap, I've got to run up this. What's the plan?'" said Crichton. The race started at the bottom of the grass and dirt landing area under the ski jump and climbed from there, ending up on a custom-made wooden plank laid over top of the actual ski jump. "Little baby steps, and you've got to pick your line," Crichton said about how he attacked the hill. "You're constantly looking at where the best foothold is.... You definitely have to worry (about falling backwards). A lot of people were using their hands in the dirt. I found that leaning forward and constantly keeping the feet moving (worked best). If you stand up straight you could easily fall backwards. It was such a weird experience."
In the final Crichton reached the final wooden climb first but Stephens-Whale reeled him in with 50 metres to go, setting up a classic duel to the finish.
"The fans were insane on the final run," said Crichton. "There were probably 100 people up there on the little ski jump bleachers, hanging over the rail and screaming. It felt like the Tour de France when they're climbing some of the mountain passes.... As soon as I felt him alongside me and heard the crowd roar, it gave me this extra gas and I just kind of opened up a little gap."
Crichton said he collapsed in a big pile of pillows, kindly provided by event organizers, as soon as he crossed the finish line.
"It's unbelievable, like a total out-of-body experience," he said. "The effort you put out, you're dizzy, you don't see anything. I curled up in a ball and stayed there for a minute or two."
The win earned Crichton and women's winner Zoe Dawson of Squamish a trip to Spain in November for a showdown against six other Red Bull 400 champions from other events held this year. They'll all go head-to-head at a "secret location," according to event organizers.
"I would imagine they're going to heli us in to some weird location," said Crichton with a laugh. "Sounds very Red Bull-ish."
