Darius Sam has been hard at work training for his latest, and almost certainly greatest, athletic feat – and once again, all for a greater good.
The Merritt man has been training for months for what is called the MOAB 240, an ultramarathon in Utah that may be the most difficult and body-breaking race in North America.
“It’s going to be the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Sam told the Herald. “It’s one of the most competitive footraces on the planet.”
For Sam, that is quite the statement. It was in June of last year that Sam brought in six figures for the Nicola Valley Food Bank through an ultramarathon that he designed for himself in the local area, allowing friends, family, and cheerleaders in general to run for portions of the race against himself and wait for him at the finish line.
He was then able to raise over $24,000 for Nicola Valley Family Therapy in a 100-mile ultra in early December, pulling into the same Spences Bridge rest stop that was the finish line of the June run.
This time, he will only have a small group of well-wishers to cheer him on, though they certainly will not be running alongside him – the MOAB 240 is a gruelling test of both physical and mental strength for 240 miles, ran this year from Oct. 8-12 through the rough terrain of the Utah landscape.
The race is one big, 386.2-kilometre loop.
Runners will also have to battle with the extreme range of temperatures that desert climates in America often seen during the fall months – extreme heat through the day, sometimes reaching 110 degrees Celsius still, while at night it could fall to 15 below.
Though there is of course always a sense of self-satisfaction in completing such a gruelling task, there will be, as there was for Sam’s memorable achievement last year, a cause.
Sam first enrolled at the local NVIT campus in the fall of 2020, choosing to take the Business Administration route. He immediately was disheartened with the idea of post-secondary education, and the idea of being in a classroom just didn’t appeal to him. He left after one semester.
From there, he “picked his socks up”, and began training as hard as possible to see how far he could push himself.
He now works at the Nicola Valley Shelter and Support Society, something that he finds vastly more fulfilling.
“And I speak on it not as an employee, but as someone who wants to support the Society… I’ve helped different organizations, and this one means just as much to me as anything else really.”
Sam said that he sees the need in the community to support such a cause, and that there are different holes that need to be filled.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in town, especially downtown, and especially with people that are at risk. I’ve grown to love each and every one I know…it’s personal for me. So I want to do the best I can.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Community Policing Officer Marlene Jones. Jones set the goal for $2,500, simply because the site requires you to set one, though for this, he just wants to raise any sort of money and awareness for the shelter that he can, and will be satisfied with any amount.
“My mindset is always that anything makes a difference. Whether it be $100, $200, $1,000, I don’t care, I never do. It all makes a difference. I just appreciate any help that anybody can give, because any dollar goes a long way for them.”
The page may have never even gotten off the ground if Sam had not gotten one of the coveted few bibs available for the race: registration opened on the first day of 2021, and within around 45 minutes, all 250 spots had been filled. Runners will converge for the race from around the world.
“Mostly everyone knows about this race if you’re quite involved in the running community.”
Despite not even yet having secured a spot in the race when he started training for it, the training for Sam has been a grind for the last calendar year. He said that every week has had a goal and a purpose.
“I just slowly built a base up, and increased my mileage slowly.”
Yoga has also played a key role in maintaining flexibility, helping Sam keep up with his intense level of training, and avoid injury.
At the moment, Sam is running around 80-100 miles per week, taking Mondays off. Leading up to the event, he also has a heavy race schedule: he ran the Dirty Feet Heartbreak 50-km in Kamloops this Sunday, will be running a 100-km in Langford on Sept. 10, and will finish off the pre-Utah race schedule with a 100-km in Vernon.
Though Sam does say that he would be happy to go down to Utah and end the race knowing that he did the best that he can, and hopefully just be able to cross the finish line, he has the confidence that maybe, just maybe, he could be the first to cross it.
“I’m more fit than I’ve ever been in my life…I think that a podium finish is not out of the question, if I stay within myself and don’t get too wrapped up in the competition, and just remember what I can do.”
“I’ve dreamed about this race before I even started running. I’ve dreamed about stepping onto that line before I even was training for anything, really. I just thought ‘man, wouldn’t it be cool to be there for something like that.
“I want to make a career out of this. That’s the goal.”
This will, however, be Sam’s final hurrah in terms of a GoFundMe campaign. And he believes he could not have found a better cause to raise money for than the Nicola Valley Shelter and Support Society.
The NVSSS is a non-profit that helps the Nicola Valley’s most marginalized individuals with everything from housing to addiction services, mental health support, or, as the GoFundMe page reads, “to just a few moments spent with a peer who understands many of the current struggles, community members can make the first step by connecting here.”
The race dates are set for Oct. 8-12, 2021. A link to Sam’s GoFundMe page can be found at www.gofundme.com/help-darius-help-others-in-the-nicola-valley.
