Miles and Molars: How One Dental Student Is Crushing Ultramarathons

By Rachel Boutet

What do marathons and dental school have in common? Ask Sam Yang, a second-year DDS student who is taking part in the Haliburton Forest Trail Race 100-mile ultramarathon on September 6th.

Yang, who completed a 100km run two years ago, says the shared element in both challenges is resilience.

“In dental school, there are a lot of hours studying, and with running, there are a lot of hours training,” he says. “Both have helped me learn to function with less sleep,” he quips, noting the ultramarathon will go overnight, for about 32 hours straight. “With anything difficult, whether that be dental school or running, there’s a special kind of person attracted to it – we are all passionate and motivated.”

Yang only began running in 2022 – he previously participated in powerlifting competitions. It was his gym friends who were training for a marathon who inspired him to do the same.

With anything difficult, whether that be dental school or running, there’s a special kind of person attracted to it – we are all passionate and motivated

“I wasn’t doing a lot of cardio at the time and thought I would challenge myself physically and mentally by running,” he says. “I started slowly and worked my way up, building endurance each time. One of the biggest challenges of the ultramarathon is preparing your gut – it’s sort of like an eating competition on wheels. You have to consume a ton of calories to keep yourself going, which includes a lot of sugar. For my 100km run which took 20 hours, I drank an entire litre of maple syrup.”

Yang’s run comes with mental endurance as well, noting that running through the night can be a bit unnerving and some people even hallucinate during the day-and-a-half long event.

With all of these extraordinary conditions, it might beg the question: why would someone do this?

“I ran my first ultramarathon to prepare myself for the hardship of dental school,” says Yang. “A lot of people told me it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever had to do, so I thought, how can I prepare myself for school without studying? I can build up my mental grit. Nothing is too out of reach for me anymore.”

Yang’s run is raising funds for the Faculty’s Noma Action Group, whose goal is to raise public awareness and educate dental students across Canada about the disease.

“Before I even came to dental school, I knew I wanted to spend my time volunteering and contributing outside of the clinic,” says Yang. “My instructor, Dr. Rosenbloom, had a big impact on me – hearing how passionate he is about noma and helping others really inspired me.”

While Yang is optimistic about his upcoming run, his goal is simple: finish it.

“I’m privileged to be in a position to do this run and just like dental school, all you can do is prepare the best you can, and expect the unexpected!”

If you are interested in supporting Sam Yang’s run, you can email him a donation.

Top photo: Sam Yang (number 169) at his 100km ultramarathon in 2023