Trails of Toba’s Suffer on Centennial is the ultimate test for ultramarathon runners.
The race features a 100-kilometre course with 2,200 metres of elevation gain through the rocky Canadian Shield trails of Whiteshell Provincial Park, including the daunting final kilometres of the Top of the World Trail.
On Saturday, May 23, the annual “runner’s nightmare” returned to southeastern Manitoba, where hundreds of participants competed in the 100-km, 100-km relay, 50-km, 25-km and eight-km events. Some runners took up to 18 hours to complete their races.
Gimli’s Dallas Kovacs was among them, completing the 100-km run in 11:10:04 to finish fifth among men and sixth overall.
“If you never try these things that seem impossible or uncomfortable, you’ll never know what you’re capable of. That’s the reason I ran my first half marathon, and why I keep pushing for more,” said the 31-year-old.
Kovacs has been running long distances for the past decade. He started with the Manitoba Marathon half marathon as a birthday challenge in June.
He later progressed to the full marathon and 50-km distances before tackling his first 100-km race at Suffer on Centennial.
Kovacs said he wasn’t sure what time to target given it was his first attempt at the distance. He had seen previous top finishers complete the race in the 10- to 11-hour range and decided to aim for a similar result.
On race day, he made sure he had the necessary supplies, including 30 energy gels that he consumed throughout the race and a jacket he shed within the first 25 kilometres.
Despite temperatures reaching only eight degrees Celsius, periods of rain and numerous blisters that developed within the first 20 kilometres, Kovacs accomplished what he set out to do.
“If I would have taken it a little bit easier and set my goal for finishing in 13 hours, then I would have never landed fifth place male or sixth overall,” said Kovacs. “I just feel like push yourself and maybe something cool is going to happen and you’ll land in the Top 10.”
Though the race itself was longer than any distance he had previously completed, Kovacs said the training was the toughest part.
His regimen ranged from shorter runs to outings of up to 50 kilometres, helping him reach weekly training totals of 110 kilometres.
“I kept telling myself that if I could make it through the training, the race day was going to be easy,” said Kovacs. “It was 110 kilometre weeks, early mornings, not going out on weekends, whatever, just missing out on a lot of things. You just push through that training block and you know that you’re going to be better off for it. I tend to set my goals a little bit higher than I should, kind of knowing that it might not work out, but if I don’t try, then you never really know.”
Kovacs was one of several Interlake residents who took part in Suffer on Centennial.
Grosse Isle’s Paige Procter also completed the 100-km race, finishing in 17:16:30 on the women’s side.
Lundar’s Mandy Gould competed in the women’s 50-km event, while Stonewall-based triathlete Lee Stewart ran an 18-kilometre leg in the six-person relay.
Amy Martin and Tyler Andrade, both of Stonewall, also served as pacers, guiding runners through various sections of the course while completing significant portions of the trail themselves.
Kovacs now has his sights set on the upcoming Manitoba Marathon, where he will run the full marathon.
The remainder of 2026 will also see him competing in the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba’s five-kilometre race and the Epic East Gate 50-km event.
He said he is already back to training, including solo 50-kilometre runs.
