Trail racer speaks of hitting the century mark at Sadownik Miles for Smiles

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A trail racer with connections to Fort St. John completed his ultimate goal in the region’s local endurance competition.

Now living in Grande Prairie, Ryan Smook competed in the Sadownik Miles for Smiles 2026, an annual 24-hour event held over two days in the Fish Creek Community Forest starting on Friday, June 12th.

In just 12 hours, Smook completed 100 kilometres, earning praise from event organizers in a Facebook post on Sunday, June 14th.

To put it into perspective, that is just under half the distance from Fort St. John to Grande Prairie. 

Originally from Fort St. John, Smook has competed in the sister race to the Miles for Smiles event, the Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge, on a few occasions.

With experience in the Canadian Death Race in Grand Cache, he told Energeticcity.ca this was the first time he had taken on the trails of the Fish Creek Community Forest.

“Well, you definitely need to pace yourself,” said Smook. “Don’t get too excited [and] keep your goal in mind.”

“My goal with this race was to just run a comfortable pace for as long as possible. When that starts getting hard, that’s when you just keep digging in.”

Smook said his goal was to raise $5,000 to finish the century mark in under 12 hours, eclipsing his previous personal best of 14 and a half hours, with the distance changing to 100 miles if he raised $10,000.

He ended up with $5,000 in donations, which he said came from a Facebook campaign dedicated to pledges.

Smook marks “pacing and fuelling” as keys to pressing on, with energy gel and potatoes as the meals of choice on the trail.

He also didn’t race entirely alone, as family members came throughout the event to urge him on.

“My son is 11, and he ran 20 kilometres total [with me],” said Smook. “He ran the first five with me, and then the last 15 kilometres. [I] had a cousin from town and he ran 25 kilometres with me.”

The Sadownik Miles for Smiles sister race, the Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge, was raced on the trails of Beatton River Valley, north of Fort St. John, on Saturday, June 6th. 

Both events are organized by the Vertical Slam Ultimate Challenge Society. 

The Miles for Smiles honours the late Steve and Nicole Sadownik, noted local endurance racing enthusiasts.

According to the society’s co-founder, Laurie Cardinal, Steve often joked the “most horrible” endurance race would be one of continuing laps around the Fish Creek forest trails.

Both raise funds for charitable causes: the early-June race for School District 60 food programs, and the latter for grocery gift cards for chemotherapy patients at Fort St. John Hospital.

As of the latest update posted on Facebook, a total of $36,300 has been raised between the two events, with donations still being accepted until August. 

To donate, email the society at verticalslaminfo@gmail.com.