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As Mandy Currie fought through 81 kilometres, 4,000 metres of elevation, 35 C heat and intense humidity, she had her late sister with her.
The Saskatoon runner took first place in the Hikuri 81K race, which started and ended in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and wound through the nearby Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range.
Currie won the race with a time of 12:01:35, beating 28 other women. The win qualified her for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) final, a prestigious mountain ultramarathon with runners from all over the world that starts and finishes in Chamonix, France, and goes through Italy and Switzerland.
Currie lost her sister Lisa to cancer last year.
“My sister had always said, ‘I wish that I could come with you on your runs. I wish that you could put me in your running backpack and I could be a part of your journey. I could see what you’re seeing’,” Currie said.
She found a way to bring her sister to Mexico.
“It’s a little turtle pendant, and on the back engraved is ‘Here with you.’ And I have just a small amount of my sister’s ashes in there,” Currie said.
As she crossed the final tape to win the race, she clutched the pendant.
“It was almost as if we were crossing the finish line together,” Currie said. “It felt super symbolic.”
Lisa was a runner herself and did some races even after receiving a lung cancer diagnosis in 2014.
“In that time frame, I believe she had done the QCM the Regina marathon. She had also done the Grizzly 50-kilometre ultra marathon. So she was doing a lot of racing,” Currie said.
Now, with every race, Currie honours Lisa.
“When I ran UTMB last year, I actually had some loose ashes in my pocket as well that I sprinkled a little bit in Switzerland, a little bit in Italy, a little bit in France,” Currie said.
“So she’s definitely embedded in those trails and I feel I’m connected to her on the daily.”
Currie’s husband, Jeff, said she relies on Lisa during those hard moments.
“I’m sure there’s lots of dark moments in those races that, you know, she probably has some conversations with Lisa to give her a little bit of strength and fortitude to push on,” Jeff said.
Jeff said it’s been amazing to see his wife’s growth with running.
“To see her successes, that she’s been able to kind of strive toward and work toward over the last few years, has been really awesome,” Jeff said.
Saskatoon trail runner Mandy Currie’s stride is aided by her love for her late sister, which helped propel her to a big win in Mexico.
Jeff was unable to go to Mexico and watch Currie in person, but he watched online and even recorded it. He said it was incredible to watch her win, especially to see her training pay off.
“For me to watch her cross that finish line, I think I had a little bit more insight in terms of the actual training process. And to see it come to fruition for her and cross it in first place was absolutely incredible,” Jeff said.
He said he’s proud that Currie has used running to break out of her shell.
“This running, kind of, journey for her has really given her a lot of confidence and shaped, you know, who she is,” Jeff said.
