Fernanda Jakeman powers through 100-kilometre ultra with ‘PED’ maple syrup

Sweaburg resident Fernanda Jakeman completed her first ultra marathon Saturday, May 23, near Ancaster, finishing the Sulphur Springs Trails Race 100K event in just over 14 hours, aided by a personal connection to her own version of ‘PED’ (held in her right hand). (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

Fernanda Jakeman finished the Sulphur Springs Trail Race 100-kilometre ultra marathon race near Ancaster with dedicated training, physical and mental toughness and a healthy dose of family and friend support.

But she also utilized an all-natural and fully legal PED - performance enhancing drams - sourced from close to home. Every 30 minutes, while fellow racers were attempting to fuel the running machines that are their bodies with a variety of protein gels and other options, Fernanda took a 30-millilitre ‘dram’ of Jakeman’s finest.

“A little bit of an advantage to have a husband who owns a maple syrup company,” she laughed.

Fernanda was running long before she married into one of Canada’s foremost syrup enterprises. She began in Grade 5, continuing through high school and electing to compete on the George Brown College varsity cross-country team over soccer, while training as a nurse.

She continued to run for pleasure around the birth of her and her husband Chad’s three children. Connecting with Run Oxford County in order to share what was largely a solo passion, Fernanda joined twice-weekly Tuesday and Sunday outings, connecting with founder Amanda Nelson, opening up a new world of possibility. A strength and endurance coach (Always Moving Endurance Coaching) who also works on a dairy farm, Nelson’s course toward ultramarathons began in 2015 while pushing kids in a stroller, who would not sleep if she merely walked.

The Canadian record holder for both 24-hour (248.985 kilometres) and 60-hour (402 kilometres) ultras, Nelson is currently in training for the 250-mile Cocodora in Arizona. Ultra marathons are a thing apart from a 42.2-kilometre marathon, a progression which typically builds from, for example, a five-kilometre race through a 10K, half marathon (21.1K) and then full. To a degree, marathon performance is measured in speed as well as placement, and while both are factors in ultras, there is a focus on simply finishing.

Nelson emphasizes ‘quality’ over ‘quantity’ training, elevation (hills), speed and also easy running work, building incrementally per week toward the race distance.

“It’s time on feet,” Nelson explained. “You don’t need to be fast in ultras, you just need to keep going and not stop.”

There is a wide range of variations, for example, 50-kilometre and mile races, Jakeman’s 100-kilometre baptism, 100-mile events, the Cocodora, or the Barkley Marathons, a 20-mile loop of harsh terrain in Tennessee runners must complete five times in 60 hours. Sulphur Springs has been running, literally, since 1992, the longest tenured ultra marathon in Canada. It's Saturday, May 23, 2026, slate offered 100-mile, 100-kilometre, 50-mile, 50-kilometre trail races, a 50-mile night relay and 100-mile team event. The following day, 10 and 20-kilometre ‘sprints’ were also available. Runners competed on a 20-kilometre loop incorporating 500 metres of elevation change via the Niagara Escarpment.

Going from Jakeman’s former five-kilometre cross-country races to a 100-kilometre event was a big jump, to put it mildly, compared even to the 50K or mile alternatives. Her training began the previous December, incrementally adding five-kilometre segments as she worked toward her 100K race distance.

“I didn’t know that (shorter races) were an option,” she laughed, looking out from the start line at a cumulative distance, to put it in perspective, one travels along the 401 at the speed limit in an hour, say roughly from Woodstock to West Lorne, or alternatively, running the 16 kilometres between the Friendly City and Ingersoll six-plus times.

“I did not want to be someone who quit a race,” Fernanda admitted, a momentary sense of nervousness balanced by training and lifelong determination.

“I feel like I’m the type of person who doesn’t give up.”

Jakeman started, determined not to go out too fast, and instead maintained a consistent pace. The first trio of 20-kilometre loops went well.

“Even after the first 60, I was feeling strong.”

However, Mother Nature intervened, adding bone-chilling rain to low temperatures.

“I had nightmares of the race, and it came true,” she said, able to smile a week-plus later.

Hypothermia took its toll on some competitors; others dropped out due to injury after falling on a course made treacherously muddy. Fernanda happily took her father Pedro’s coat after three laps as the combination of rain, temperatures and slowed pace made her colder.

“I don’t think I ever felt like quitting,” she recalled, but the last two laps were definitely a challenge, forcing a deep dive into her overall racing approach and determination to finish rather than quit.

“It’s more mental (than physical),” she summed up. “More of the survival.”

Jakeman fell at the 97-kilometre mark, ‘pretty hard’, but while slowed, kept going, determined to in the words of Nelson, ‘roll across the finish line’ if she had to.

Jakeman finished 48th overall out of a field of 264 entries, eighth in the women’s division, crossing the line in a fraction of a second over 14 hours. Her lap pace was 8:24 based on individual 20K loops of 2:18.38, 2:22.51, 2:35.46, 3:07.35 and 3:35.34, respectively, the latter two reflecting both fatigue and far-from-ideal conditions as the event progressed.

Crossing the finish line was incredible, says Fernanda, the culmination of hours of competition, many more hours of training and broader support, including her husband Chad and their kids, her mom Sofia, who provided crepes, her dad, siblings Nathalie and Adrian, and fellow Run Oxford County members.

“Everyone was there to help me,” Fernanda said. “It was really cool and a reminder of why I do it.”

If there is a downside to the experience, it’s its potentially addictive nature, opening the door for another, potentially longer event.

“I think that’s the bad part,” Jakeman concluded with a laugh. “I finished the 100K and I thought, ‘I can do more.’”