It will be a 4 ,300 km, 47-day
stage race from James’ home-
town of Peterborough to the
Monarch sanctuaries of Mexico.
The timing was critical, as James
wanted it to be held at the same
time the butterf lies are making
their own journey south, so the
fall of 2019 was settled on.
For it’s beyond-belief-distance
and important awareness-raising
goals, the team behind the
Monarch Ultra is small but effi-
cient. James, as project director,
brought fellow Peterborough
resident Rodney Fuentes into
the fold early on. Originally from
Venezuela, Fuentes is a runner
and outdoor explorer, but more
importantly, he’s a filmmaker
who is producing a feature-length
documentary about the Monarch
Ultra. James knew the project had
to be accessible to more people
than just the participants if she
were to achieve the goal of raising
awareness for the monarchs.
“Not everyone is a runner who
can come with us on the journey,”
James says. “We thought it would
be a great story to tell, not only of
the monarchs but of these ultra-
runners and whatever happens
on every single day of the run.”
With the overall project and a
way to tell the story in place, next
came the tall task of mapping
out a route from Peterborough
to Mexico.
For that, James turned to Clay
Williams, a runner from the
tiny Ontario town of Elmira,who has the rare qualifica-
tion of having pieced together
multi-day relay events. For the
past five years, Williams has
organized the eight-day Canal
P ursuit for Mental Health, a
750-kilometre relay between
Georgian Bay and Ottawa.
Williams is also an ultra-
runner himself but laughs when
asked about his connection to
monarchs and the environment.
“Honestly I’m probably not the
best candidate for a conserva-
tion-minded guy. I drive a Harley
that spews smoke and spits out
oil. But this has been an inter-
esting journey,” he says.
Like others who learn more
about the plight of the monarchs,
it didn’t take long for Williamsto understand why they’re so
significant to the ecosystem.
But it was on a reconnaissance
trip to Mexico that his eyes were
truly opened to what the Monarch
Ultra is all about.
“Part of the journey up into
the mountains where the sanc-
tuaries are, you’re asked to be
quiet to not disturb the butter-
flies. As you walk up the last
little bit you see these masses
of them,” he says. “You end
up surrounded by millions of
butterf lies and you can hear
them. I’m hearing impaired and
for me to hea r t hat wa s a ma zing.
It was reassuring that we’re
doing something special.”
That magical moment in
Mexico was midway through arunningmagazine.ca Canadian Running 49