Jasper Elementary School principal Raymond Blanchette-Dubé is taking a second run at the Death Race in Grand Cache this weekend, along with a team of new racers. 

Blanchette-Dubé is running leg two of the grueling race along with David Amiot, a principal from Edson; Robin Hengel, also a principal from Hinton; Hywell Phillips, a vice principal from the school district, and Kurt Scobie, Jasper’s director of technology for the school district. 

“It was basically a bunch of guys who wanted to get together and improve their fitness,” Blanchette-Dubé said. 

After racing in 2006, Blanchette-Dubé is looking forward to getting back to the Death Race. 

“It was awesome,” he said of his 2006 run. “It’s a great event.”

When he last participated, the goal was just to finish, and he intends to keep things the same for 2010. 

“It wasn’t about placing,” Blanchette-Dubé said. 

The school principal has a personal goal in mind for his leg, nicknamed ‘the slugfest.’

“Hopefully I can get it under my projected time,” Blanchette-Dubé said.

To train for the 27-kilometre leg two, Blanchette-Dubé has been running the trails around Jasper, as well as road biking since January with his team. He has used Signal Mountain several times in his practice for one of the toughest legs of the Death Race. 

For Blanchette-Dubé’s team, it is their first time on the Death Race, and they were convinced based on the principal sharing stories about the great event and after-party called Death Fest. 

“The event there is incredible,” Blanchette-Dubé said. “It’s such a well-run event.”

Also attending the Death Race will be Blanchette-Dubé’s son, who is doing the videography for the event, and two other teams from Jasper. The Death Race begins July 30 and runs to August 1.