4448.67 miles. This is the distance recorded by Dave Proctor’s VERTIX 2 GPS Watch. While this would be a long, non-stop flight for many, it’s the actual distance Dave Proctor ran between May 15th, 2022 through July 21st, 2022. Starting in Newfoundland, Dave ran for 67 days, 10 hours and 27 minutes before finally setting the record in Victoria British Columbia. With the previous record being set by Al Howie in a time of 72 days 10 hours and 23 minutes, Dave bested this time by 4 days 23 hours and 56 minutes!

Utilizing Dave’s VERTIX 2 along with the COROS Training Hub software, we take a deep dive into the data of this record breaking run! Sit back and be amazed at the consistency and world-class performance of the NEW TRANS-CANADIAN RECORD!

VERIFYING THE WORKOUTS

Every day was logged on Dave’s watch. From the time he started in the morning, until he finished in the evening. The only day he tracked two runs was the final day (started a new workout on Vancouver Island). This equals an astonishing 68 workouts within 67 days. Along with each workout comes daily stats that are used to prove the accuracy of his record (Approved by FKT). You can note Dave’s workout time, average heart rate, Training Load, average speed, distance, and cadence in the images above. When you look closer, some trends appear that begin to tell the story.

Inside the Numbers

When looking at Dave’s individual workouts, some trends begin to appear. For instance, Dave ran between 63-68 miles every single day (May 23rd he ran 54.82 miles as he had to get a ferry off Newfoundland). Another interesting trend was Dave’s Average Heart Rate of each run. When first starting, Dave was overcoming an illness and saw his daily AVG HR in the mid-high 130’s. For the remainder of Dave’s run’s, he was firmly in the mid 120’s to low 130’s. When looking at cadence, we can see that Dave picked up his cadence throughout the journey. Starting in the 170-173 range, by the last 2 weeks, Dave actually increased to 180-182 steps/minute on average. Following his run, it became known that he acquired a hairline fracture in his foot. By increasing his cadence, he limited the force of each step which makes sense when you consider running on a broken foot!

Over the course of 68 days, Dave’s body went through tremendous changes. His heart rate dropped following illness, his cadence increased due to structural damage, but his pace always remained the same… 10:30/mile pace for 63-68 miles/day.

Fitness & Fatigue

All COROS workouts are assigned with a Training Load. Essentially, every workout provides a quantifiable number to gauge how stressful a workout was on your body. These numbers over time affect your overall fitness and fatigue. When we look at Dave’s Training Load Management chart, we can see a steep incline in fitness and fatigue on May 15th.

When discussing fatigue, COROS recommends that athletes begin to recover when they go above 80. Dave ran at 100 fatigue for a stretch of 36 straight days! The COROS algorithm for fatigue takes into account your long term fitness (Base Fitness) vs your recent Training Load (load Impact). Due to the sheer stress of 63-68 miles everyday, Dave was at max fatigue the majority of his Trans-Con Record.

In regards to his Base Fitness, Dave started at 190 and finished at 366. over the span of 68 days, Dave increased this number by 176. Base Fitness is a great way to track your long term aerobic fitness improvements over time (long-term rolling average of Training Load). When looking at Dave’s final Base Fitness, this is the highest score we have ever seen. This is only for extreme distance athletes!

Resting Heart Rate

When running 63-68 miles/day, recovery becomes a critical factor. A metric that can help many athletes better understand their overall fatigue is Resting Heart Rate (RHR). While a handful of factors play into this metric, ultimately it will show how well your body is operating at rest. For Dave, his RHR was far higher than what we normally see from endurance athletes. Dave noted an illness he was aiming to get over early in his journey. You can see from the data above his RHR spiked into the 80’s straight away. Normally with endurance athletes we see a RHR in the 40-60 range. We show this chart to demonstrate the fatigue Dave’s body had on it throughout the journey. We can all agree running 63-68 miles/day would be difficult, but when you start to see the recovery metrics associated with it, it’s easy to visualize the fatigue that was accumulating.

Other Fun Facts

While the data speaks for itself, there were other interesting items that played a major role in this record. Here’s a list of fun facts regarding his day-to-day logistics

Shoes: 12 pair of Ultra Rivera’s. Only acquired 2 blisters throughout the journey!

Calories: Averaged 7,000 calories a day, but had a plan of 9,000 daily. Dave could only stomach so much!

Fluids: Dave took in 700ml/hour of his favorite performance drink (Performance Tea Endurance)

Sleep: An average of 7 hours/sleep per night. While the goal was 8, Dave managed just below this.

Stop-time: Dave aimed for 5-10 minutes per stop throughout the day. This provided him a chance to refuel, grab some sunscreen, change any clothes as needed, and continue on!

Accommodations: Every night Dave aimed to sleep in a motel/hotel. He would have food delivered in via local restaurants and ensure a good sleep before starting again!

Battery Charged: Dave charged his VERTIX 2 every week. While he had remaining battery to spare, he felt the need to charge as part of his weekly ritual.

Conclusion

Dave Proctor is the new Trans-Canadian Record Holder with a time of 67 days, 10 Horus, and 27 minutes. Battling through illness, a fractured foot, and a list of non-stop logistics, Dave was able to maintain 63-68 miles each day. When looking at the overall data from his journey, it’s remarkable what he has accomplished. Never before at COROS have we seen these type of numbers. It goes to show what the human body is capable of, and what is possible when we Explore Perfection!