Meet the athlete running 1,600 km across Saskatchewan in 30 days

The drive across Saskatchewan is a long one.

Hours pass with little change in the view. A bend in the highway, a gas stop, another horizon. Even at 100 kilometres an hour, it can feel like the province refuses to end.

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Now imagine doing it on foot.

Megan Wotherspoon is no stranger to long-distance running. “I’ve been running since university for recreation, and the last probably six years, I’ve been exploring bigger distances,” she said. (Submitted)

That’s a challenge Megan Wotherspoon will begin on Monday.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” Wotherspoon said. “I am just running all the way to the Montana border.”

Simple words for something that isn’t simple at all.

Running across an entire province

What she is describing is not a marathon or race in any conventional sense.

It is 1,500-1,600 kilometres of continuous movement over roughly 30 days of waking up and running across Saskatchewan.

She’ll begin in Stony Rapids, the farthest northern point in the province reachable by car, and run all the way south to the U.S. border.

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When she explains her plan, there is one inevitable question that follows: Why would anyone do this at all?

“You never need a reason for an adventure,” Wotherspoon said with a smile. “Some of us are just inclined to do that.”

She is not new to endurance running. Years of running have taken her through 50-kilometre races and 100-mile efforts. But this run is about more than distance for her. It’s a memorial. This year, Wotherspoon turns 38 — the same age her mother was when she lost her life to leukemia.

Megan Wotherspoon is running in honour of her mother, Louise Tokaruk. Tokaruk was diagnosed with cancer in May of 1994, and passed away one year later at the age of 38. (Submitted)

“She just loved being outside,” Wotherspoon recalled. “Landscape was something that was really important to her.”

This summer, Wotherspoon will trace a path through the province her mother loved, finishing near the southern Saskatchewan community where she was born.

There is fundraising attached to the journey. Wotherspoon is collecting donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. Her goal is to raise $10 for every kilometre she runs.

“What Megan is doing right now is very important because she will be contributing to advanced research on blood cancer,” said Nadine Prevost with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada.

“And she is also, at the same time, contributing to raise awareness on blood cancer. Blood cancer is the fourth-most-common cancer in Canada, but it’s difficult to raise awareness because it’s not a visible part of your body.”

The donations give the run a purpose, but they are not what will carry Wotherspoon through the journey.

Megan Wotherspoon’s parents met while they were studying resource management. She said her entire family has always been passionate about spending time outdoors. (Submitted)

The logistics of going on foot

The scale of the plan becomes apparent in the details.

A support vehicle will leapfrog ahead and behind Wotherspoon during the run, adjusting to road conditions and access. Her father will accompany her through the entire northern section — roughly 663 kilometres from Stony Rapids to La Ronge — before the crew rotates south and responsibility shifts to friends, in-laws and other family members.

She said sleep will be a crucial part of her days.

“I’m not planning to run throughout the night or anything,” she explained. “Recovery and getting ready for the next day is a priority.”

Wotherspoon said will often rest her head in a tent pitched in provincial parks, campgrounds or roadside stops.

“I am a camper and a backcountry hiker,” she said. “I’m not too worried about camping for that amount of time.”

Every four to six days, she said she’ll opt for a hotel room in order to take advantage of a shower and a real bed.

Megan Wotherspoon said her cross-Saskatchewan trek will be a supported run, with numerous friends and family members volunteering their time to accompany and assist her as needed. (Submitted)

Still, even the best planning only covers part of the equation for this adventure.

“There’s only one road, the 905, for 600 kilometres,” Wotherspoon noted. “So if there’s a closure on that, that’ll really affect the run.”

That road may become one of the defining characters of the journey. If wildfire smoke rolls in or fires shut the highway down, everything changes.

Then there’s the other threat, the one every endurance runner understands, but rarely dramatizes: injury. A shin that tightens. A knee that swells. A foot that suddenly refuses another step.

“I think success would definitely look like finishing without injury and still loving running,” she said.

Megan Wotherspoon said a number of local businesses have stepped up to support her run. From equipment to funds, she said the trip wouldn’t be possible without support from the community. (Submitted)

Before the first step

Wotherspoon admitted she’s moved back and forth between confidence and fear in the days and weeks leading up to the run.

“I kind of fluctuate between feeling like everything is planned and ready to go,” she said, “and then I kind of flip and think that there’s so much more to do.”

That emotional swing may be the most relatable part of the story.

Because even people who will never run across Saskatchewan understand what it means to stand at the beginning of something enormous and wonder if they are ready.

But even while navigating nerves, Wotherspoon said it’s is a challenge she is excited to meet at running pace, not highway speed.

“When you’re in a car, the landscape goes by really fast,” Wotherspoon said. “I’m excited to slow it down and watch things change at a different pace.”

In the days to come, Saskatchewan will unfold before her one careful kilometre at a time. Boreal forest giving way to farmland, narrow northern roads opening into wide prairie grids. The kind of changes you miss when you’re moving too fast.

Every morning for the next month, somewhere on a quiet Saskatchewan road, Megan Wotherspoon will lace her shoes, think of her mother and start running again.

Wotherspoon said her mother lived in many different areas of Saskatchewan throughout her life, developing a deep love and respect for the landscape. (Submitted)