Campbell Valley Stomp 5K

On Sunday, January 20th, I ran the Campbell Valley Stomp 5K, in beautiful Campbell Valley Regional Park in Langley, near the U.S. border.

The 5 and 10K races started together at 9 AM, and we ran along a wide gravel path through a field and then around the edge of it and into the woods. I started out near the front of the field but I was gradually passed by a number of runners, including my clubmate Murray after about 500 meters. For the first couple of kilometers we ran along the wide, weaving path, alternating between open field and forest. I managed to keep Murray in sight for most of this time, but before we hit the 2K mark he surged ahead and I lost track of him. I looked at my watch at the 1K mark and it said 4:04, and then at the 2K mark 8:09, which meant I wasn't running slow, Murray was just going really fast.

We hit a field and ran over slightly frozen grass, and I found this slowed me up quite a bit. After we ran into the woods a short time later we were running on a hardpacked mud singletrack path, and it was difficult to pass people once you came up behind them. It also constantly twisted and turned, with some nice hairpins, and it actually helped me to have runners in front at times. There were a few occasions when a frontrunner would almost wipe out after tripping over a root or hitting some ice, so the rest of us had a heads up and knew to be careful when we reached the trouble spot.

Before the 4K point I passed a short female teenager, and then we hit a small uphill followed by a fairly steep and rocky downhill, and at the bottom of this she whizzed by me. I lost sight of her on the twisting trails, but as we closed in on the finish I came up behind a small pack and went by 3 guys and there she was again, and I repassed her.

Not long after this though, we hit a steep hill that kept going up and up as the trail twisted, and my legs felt like lead when I finally reached the top. A little further on we came to an intersection, where the 10Kers were directed to go left and onto their second lap, and we were sent to the right and towards the finish line. As I ran down the wide path, just before hitting the field and the last 100 meters to the finish, the young girl went flying by me. My legs still hadn't fully recovered from the hill, and there was no way I could catch her, but I legged it in and over the line as fast as I could go, and the timekeeper called out 23:13 as I crossed it.

Murray was waiting for me, and told me that he'd actually walked parts of the hill, as he found it to be just as quick as running it. I went to the food tables and they had coffee plus sliced bananas, oranges, apples and various types of bagels, with jam, marmalade and peanut butter to spread on them. I had a banana piece and 3 bagel halves with peanut butter and jam plus a cup of coffee, and while I was refueling one of the fellows who I'd passed before the hill came up and told me he'd tried to catch me again but couldn't. He showed me his bloody knee, as he'd taken a spill while running after me, and I said that may have had something to do with it! I wished him well and then went to my car to put on my jacket & warmups and get my camera.

Racers were coming down to where the turnoff to the finish was, and I had to make sure it was clear before I ducked in to the finish area again.

 

 Most of the 5Kers were in by now, and many of the 10Kers had already come home by this time too, so a lot of people were now congregating here.

 Ingo, Mark, Kevin, and before I knew it even Rob Daniel had completed the 10K, and we stood around chatting as we waited for the closing festivities. They did the awards for top males and females in the 2 races, and then plenty of draw prizes. They were calling names out but then went to asking trivia questions, and Mark won the big prize, a $150 Peninsula Runners gift certificate, for being the first to yell out the country of the men's winner of the 2012 Olympic Marathon (Uganda).

It was now time to head out, with a lot of people saying that they'd be at the next series race, the Aldergrove Mud Run 8K on February 3rd.

My next race is the Vancouver Chilly Chase 10K at the Olympic Village Square on January 27th at 11 AM.

Harriers Pioneer 8K

On Sunday, January 13, I travelled to the Saanich Fairgrounds in Saanichton and ran the Harriers Pioneer 8K, the first race of the year in the Timex BC Road Running Series and the Frontrunners Island Race Series.

It had warmed up to just above freezing by the time we were starting the race at 11 AM. Drew Nicholson and Natasha Fraser had come over from the Lower Mainland to run it too, and they were both right up front with the other elite runners. I wasn't as fortunate, being several rows back, and when we started out I was stuck behind some people jogging slowly.

We went a couple of hundred meters on a slight downhill on the "driveway" heading out of the fairgrounds, and by the time I reached the road I'd managed to break free of the dense pack of sluggos. We turned left onto the street and I was now running with people going at a good pace. After a couple of hundred meters we passed the volunteers at the water station that we'd be going by again later in the race, and a few hundred meters later we hung a right onto another road.

The road curved around so we were now heading in the opposite direction from whence we'd come and went by the 1K mark. I sped up and started passing people, eventually coming up behind a pack of runners with two young boys who looked to be about 9 or 10 years old running about 10 meters in front of me. They kept going at a great clip for the next kilometer, but after we turned right again and were running through the small business district one of them slowed his pace a bit and I was finally able to pass him. A little while later we hit the road going back to the fairgrounds, and after a short incline we were now travelling on a not very steep but long downhill, and I passed the second little speedster at long last.

We ran past the entrance to the fairgrounds where there were plenty of spectators clapping, yelling, holding up encouraging signs, and clanging cowbells. This raised the runners' spirits and gave us a boost of energy as we passed the 5K point near the water station. This time we turned to the left as we hit the road ahead and headed up a slight hill for about 700 meters.

I'd just started going up it when the race leader with his bicycle escort went past on the other side of the road, heading home. After 30 seconds or so another fellow went by, followed a short while later by 2 more guys, and then Natasha Fraser came flying down with a guy right behind her. I briefly thought about yelling "Go Natasha!". She went by me so quickly I didn't, but she probably wouldn't have heard me anyway. Plus she didn't look like she needed any encouragement and I was trying to podium myself so it was better that I'd saved my breath. I did yell "Go Drew!" as he went by a little while later, after about 10 or so other guys had already come past, and then picked up my pace as we approached an intersection and turned to the right.

I went by a couple of guys who looked like they might be in my age group, and then made the turnaround about 50 meters later and headed back to the intersection before turning and heading down to the road going back to the fairgrounds. I sped up and passed more people, while a couple of people went by me in return. Finally we reached the final road going home, and before I knew it I was turning into the fairgrounds and racing up the hill toward the finish line. About 10 meters from it a fellow whizzed by me, and try as I might I couldn't overtake him again.

After we crossed the line I asked him how old he was, he told me he was 61, and I congratulated him on being so fast. When the results were posted there was an asterisk beside his time indicating he ran under the elite benchmark time for his age group. Drew was waiting for me and we both commented on how fast Natasha had been going, and he said she might even have finished top 5 out of the whole field.

We went into the fieldhouse and I hit the food room where they had heaping trays of cucumber, ham & cheese, and PB&J sandwiches, cut-up muffins, oranges, bananas, and energy bars, plus pretzels and chocolate chip cookies. To rehydrate they had coffee, water and chocolate milk. After eating a plateful I went to my car to put on my jacket and warmups and get my camera.

On the way there I ran into Nigel from my running club who now lives on Mayne Island. He's just coming back from being off for a year injured and carrying some extra pounds, and was expecting to take an hour to run the race, but he did it in less than 48 minutes, so he was pretty pleased with that.

He headed indoors to refuel and I went to my car, and on my way back I got a picture of the finish line, and then headed into the fieldhouse auditorium where the hundreds of chairs were rapidly filling up with people.      

 

 I went by a table where some women were selling a book called Open Heart Runner by Gregory Marchand http://gregorymarchand.com/open-heart-runner.html . I bought a copy and was told Greg was standing up in front of the stage and would gladly sign it for me, and he graciously did.

Myself, Drew and Nigel chatted while we waited for the awards to start, and when they did we found out that Natasha had smashed the 26 year old course record for top female, and finished 6th overall. Geoff Martinson of Victoria was the top finisher, and there's a great article about them in Athletics Illustrated: http://athleticsillustrated.com/editorial/fraser-smashes-record-martinson-wins-handily/ .

There were many draw prizes in between age group awards, and Drew was 7th in his AG and 19th overall, I told him it was a fast field!      

There were medals for the top 3 age groupers and ribbons to top 10, and when it came to mine I ended up in 8th place, so I did podium! They had all of us come up and stand on our numbered mark on the floor and presented us with our medals & ribbons, and then huddled us together for a group photo op. Drew also got a couple of pictures of me while I was up there.

They finished up the awards, did the final 2 draws for a pair of shoes, thanked the volunteers and us for coming, and it was time for us to head home.

I finished 129 overall out of 655, and 8 of 38 in my age group, with a time of 32:59, 44 seconds faster than last year. I was ecstatic last year to get a 10th place ribbon, after finishing 20th in my age group the year before, so very happy this year, especially since I've been training for a 30K trail race on February 24 and had no idea how well I'd do today. I thought I might even crap out, pretty glad I didn't!    

http://pih.bc.ca/results/Series.php

 

 

My next race is the Campbell Valley Stomp 5K on January 20 at 9 AM, in Campbell Valley Regional Park. 

Resolution Run Results & Polar Bear Swims

http://runthefraservalley.com/2013/01/03/130/ (no age group result listings)

 

Sunrunner             OA (198)    Time

Paul Mathias            29         35:14

Gordon Flett             32         35:23

Tom Webster           45         38:06

Antonio Cerullo         59         39:31

Michelle McKinnon*  105        46:19

Shonna Morgan        130        48:59

 

*Shonna's friend, not sure if she's a member.

 

Kamloops Polar Bear Swim 2013, courtesy of Wes Kibble:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaagymCmGFg&feature=player_embedded

 

Results, report & pics from the 2013 - Year 20 - Vancouver New Year's Day Fat Ass 50 Run and Freeze Your Fat Ass Swim

 

http://www.clubfatass.com/events/VancouverNewYear/results/2013

Resolution Run 8K

Today I ran the Resolution Run 8K trail race in Crescent Park, part of the 2013 Fraser Valley Trail Run Series put on by Peninsula Runners http://www.peninsularunners.com/events/trailseries.htm .

 

It was near freezing but with no rain or wind as what looked like about 200 hardy souls started out at 10 AM, running across the grass and then into the woods. We ran along the winding path for a bit, watching for tree roots, out into the open for a short stint, and then hit the trees again. Now we were on a very twisting single track, with many roots and a wide log across the path every so often for us to vault over. The sun was out now and it blinded me running towards it, but I was lucky enough not to step somewhere bad and wipe out. After the race I heard that a few people took tumbles for one reason or another, but fortunately no injuries were reported.

 

It was congested on the single track but I just took the opportunity to rest up and then break out and pass several people as we hit an open space again. I'd felt sluggish for the first kilometer or so of the race, but now I felt pretty good and increased my speed as we hit the trees again and went over a small bridge. Soon we hit the open field again, ran down to and then around the back of a baseball diamond, and then around the edge of the field for a few hundred meters.

 

One last jaunt through some woods followed, and we hit a good downhill that I ran down quite fast, passing Maureen De St. Croix who was volunteering today, and she yelled "Way to go Gord, keep it up!" after me. Next we ran across the field where we'd started, and onto the second and final lap!

 

It was less congested on the single track the second time as people were more spread out now, but still a rest period once more before passing some people after we hit the open, and then a fellow went by me! Running around behind the diamond I caught him and raced past, but by the time we were almost in the woods again Paul from my club appeared beside me. He said "How's it going Gord?", and went by as I managed to mumble "Okay."

 

I stayed a few meters back of him as we passed some more people, knowing the end was near. He went by a woman in front of me but she sped up and surged ahead as I tried to do the same. We raced down the decline, and Maureen cheered us on as we passed her, and then yelled after me to get up on my toes and sprint, yelling "Attaboy!" as I did so. We turned right and ran across the grass and over the finish line, both at the same speed so she maintained the gap she'd opened up between us.

 

I went over and talked to Paul and then Tom from our club came in, and after some more catching up on things we went to the food tables to see what they had. I took a couple of fig newtons and a banana piece from the bowl of sliced oranges and bananas. There were also various breads and I grabbed a piece of soft grainy stuff and tried to get some Nutella out of the jar but it was really cold and solid. I managed to scrape a few bits out but for my next piece of bread I used peanut butter instead and it worked fine. I talked to Kevin, who I'd first met at one of these races 3 years ago, for quite awhile, and then Antonio came up and I introduced them and we talked some more about how great trail running was. The coffee line was short now so we grabbed a cup, and clubmate Shonna came over to me a we clinked coffee cups and wished each other a Happy New Year. Scott Stewart was there with his grandson Cameron, but he's still injured and so wasn't entered but just accompanied Cameron for some of it. Cameron told us he developed a hip problem during the race, but still managed to finish.

 

Right after this they did some draw prizes, and then the awards were given out, with $50 Peninsula Runners gift certificates going to the male and female overall winners, plus the winners of the 10 year age group categories. With that over with they started packing up things pretty quick, and we all headed out, content with starting off the year on a positive note.

 

No results on the net yet, but I'll post them when they're up.

 

My next race is the Harriers Pioneer 8K in Saanichton on January 13 at 11 AM.

Holiday Hustle 5K

On Sunday, December 9 I ran the Holiday Hustle 5K in Sechelt. Normally the Stewart Mountain Challenge is my final race of the year, but Teresa and Larry Nightingale created a new event this year to raise funds to send the Chatelech Secondary School band to Hawaii Tour 2013, and food and goods for the local Elves Club for Christmas hampers. So naturally I had to do it.

We started off at 9:30 AM on a road near the Aquatic Centre, and the untimed 2K began 5 minutes later. Both races also had untimed walkers and dance walkers participating.

John Atkinson (B.C. Johnny http://bcjohnny.podbean.com/ ), who used to reside in the Lower Mainland until fairly recently, but now lives in Sechelt, blasted out ahead of everybody else and never looked back until he crossed the finish line in first place. We ran straight up the road for a few hundred meters and then it became weavy for another half kilometer or so. After this we turned off and ran along some twisting residential streets. There were 2 younger guys wearing identical gray t-shirts running in front of me. One of them looked to be in his early twenties and was built more like a large football linebacker than a runner, and I was impressed at how he was keeping up with our pace.

Soon he slowed down and dropped behind his friend, and then I went past him and kept following his slightly older but slimmer buddy. After a short while we turned off into a small park and onto a winding gravel path going around some ponds full of ducks. They quacked loudly as we ran through, and my pacer yelled "They're cheering for us!", and I laughed and said "Yep!" as we exited the park and hit the streets again.

I was going great guns staying right behind him, but then we turned and hit a fairly steep hill about 300 meters long, and I slowed up considerably while he surged ahead. I'm pretty sure that doing the Stewart Mountain race the previous day wasn't helping my cause here, and he was about 30 meters ahead of me by the time I crested the hill and turned right onto level terrain. Soon we hit the 3K point as we headed back to the Aquatic Centre, and I managed to close the gap between us slightly a few times, but each time I did he would surge again and be even farther ahead of me than he was before.

When I reached the road near the Aquatic Centre again John Atkinson came jogging toward me doing his post race cooldown, and yelled "Way to go Gord!", and gave me a high five. About 20 meters later I was directed by the volunteers to take a hard right into the centre's parking lot before dashing the final 30 meters to the finish line.

After myself and some other finishers congratulated each other we headed into the centre to get out of the light rain and warm up. The Hawaii bound school jazz band was getting ready to play, and there were huge tables of food waiting for us. They had bananas and oranges plus fruit, cheese, and veggie platters. The band members and their families plus some volunteers including Teresa had also baked up masses of delicious baked goods for us, including cookies, small pastries and various chocolate enhanced creations. The ones that stood out the most, for myself anyway, were Santa's hats made from strawberries on chocolate bases with white icing toppers. I periodically sampled all of these delights and enjoyed them immensely.

We were each given a draw ticket, and they gave out several prizes while results were tallied and then the band played a lively Christmas number for us. Next they did the awards and since it was mainly a charity fun event there were no age group presentations, just for the top three male and female 5K overall finishers, plus a special award for the fastest 2K runner, 5-year-old Joffre Storey.

The band was preparing to play another tune after which there'd be more draw prizes, but I decided I'd better head out because I wanted to make sure that I caught my ferry. I gave my draw ticket to one of my many fellow competitors still there enjoying the festivities, and reluctantly made my departure. Kudos to Teresa, Larry, all the other volunteers, plus the band members and their families for putting on such a well organized, fun, and worthwhile event. Almost $1300 was raised for the band, and $195 plus two and a half big boxes of food and toys went to the Elves.

The Coast Reporter did a nice story on the event:

http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20121214/SECHELT0201/312149967/-1/sechelt/fundraising-run-draws-a-crowd

The race website is here:

http://www.sunshinecoastathletics.org/hh5k/index.htm

Here's the race map for those (including me) who found my course description confusing:

http://www.runningahead.com/maps/0f43b89bd4bb4908a4613dcac149e68b?unit=km

I was 4 of 60 overall, with a time of 21:45.

http://www.sunshinecoastathletics.org/hh5k/results/results12.txt

My next race is the Resolution Run 8K trail race on New Years Day at 10 AM in Crescent Park.

Harriers Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Challenge

On Saturday, December 8, I competed in the Harriers Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Challenge at Thetis Lake Regional Park just outside Victoria.

 

We took off at noon from near Thetis Lake's beach and headed off into the forest where we ran along a weaving single track path for a bit, hitting some ups and downs while watching our footing on the abundant tree roots.

 

It had been raining steadily in the days preceding the race, and when we hit the first patch of ice cold water it was a couple of feet deep. After a few meters we were out,  but not before stopping and climbing over a huge log suspended about 3 feet high across our path. After running a few hundred meters through the mucky trail we were treated to 3 more water holes in succession, thankfully a little shallower than the first one.

 

Upon exiting the final one I yelled to the young guy in front of me "That's enough of that!", and he yelled back, "That's for sure!". About 100 meters later, however, just as I was getting some of the feeling back in my lower extremities, we were faced with one more water patch that froze us up again. I had been following Brian Connon for most of the race, never getting too far back of him and content to keep his pace. As we hit dry ground again and I'd come up right behind Brian once more I thought I should try going faster now, so I went by him.

 

Next we hit the uphill path to begin the ascent up Stewart Mountain, and most people kept running for the first 100 meters or so. Then it turned really steep, and most of us started walking, even though a couple of people continued running and gradually disappeared from view. At one point a fellow came up beside me who looked to be about my age. He was walking with his hands pressed down on his knees really hard for added support. I looked at him and said "My calves are screaming!", which they were, every step brought a massive burning sensation, and he said that his were too.

 

Every once in awhile we'd hit a less steep patch and start slowly running again. This was always short lived and soon we were back to the same old walking grind. Nearing the summit we started climbing over huge boulders and up short vertical paths, and there was a fairly large pack of us doing it together. We had to search for footholds and even handholds sometimes to make the ascent, and at one point an older fellow who was in front of a young woman asked her if she wanted to go past him, and she quipped "No thanks, that's alright!", and everybody laughed. 

 

We reached the summit and one of the volunteers said "You're at the summit and the halfway point, and it's all downhill from here!", and I said "No it isn't!" and everyone laughed again, because most of them knew that plenty of hills still awaited us.

 

We started our descent down a steep narrow path covered with loose rocks, dirt, and tree roots. Occasionally we'd hit a more level patch and be able to pick up some speed, but it was never long before it would turn steep again. A guy wearing a Ceevacs club jersey went by me, followed by the fellow who'd been walking up the mountain beside me. Eventually we hit relatively level ground again as we completed the descent from the peak, and started running back through the muck and pools of ice cold water. After awhile I saw the 2 guys who'd passed me up ahead, and I sped up and closed in on them, until I was right behind them coming out of a pool. I darted around the pair and kept thinking they'd try and pass me again, but the next time I saw them they were crossing the finish line well behind me.

 

There were some fairly minor ups and downs along the way, but then we came to the first of the 3 final major hills. Last year they had signs out but this year there were none. The first had said "Gunner 1: little one. A fellow was running about 10 meters in front of me, and he made some struggling sounds but managed to keep running to the top, and I kept pace and crested it right afterward. A little further on was where a year ago the signs had said "Gunner 2: big one, followed by "Gunner 3: it's a big bugger!". Then I had to walk a good part of all of these hills, but this year I managed to keep up with my pacer and run almost the whole way. Finally we were on level yet rocky ground, and both of us started to get some energy back as our legs recovered. Soon we were running on a slight downhill, and you could hear the announcer calling out people's names as they crossed the finish line.

 

Both of us sped up as we hit the concrete path running alongside the lakeshore, and soon we turned the corner and the finish line was in sight! As we hit the beach we made a hard right and raced the final 60 meters through the sand to the finish. I managed to close in on him a bit but in the end he held me off handily. We bumped fists and told each other "Good race!". He said that those last hills so late in the race were brutal, and I certainly had to agree with that!

 

For refuelling they had tasty Power Bar protein chocolate fudge balls, chocolate chip cookies, Gatorade, water, coffee, hot chocolate, and chicken noodle soup. I had a few fudge balls and cookies, followed by a cup of soup, and ended up getting some hot chocolate later as we cheered in finishing competitors and waited for the awards to begin.

 

I went to my car and got my jacket, bell and camera, and then headed back to the beach to welcome the incoming finishers.

 

 

 

 The odd person braved the frigid lake waters to try and get some of the mud off themselves and their shoes, while having a post race "ice bath" to kill any inflammation, but most chose to change into or put on warmer clothes instead.

 

 

 

When most of the competitors were in, we had the draw prizes and race awards. Besides winner's cups and prizes for the top 3 male and female overall finishers, they had medals for the top 3 in each 10 year age group, and ribbons for 4th & 5th place.

 

Brian was 2nd in his age group, and I won a $20 coupon for lunch at Evedar's Bistro http://evedarsbistro.com/home.html  in Langford, and there's no expiry date on it so I can use it when I'm over there again sometime.

 

My first time running this race, in 2010, I finished 81 of 149 overall and 5 of 11 in my age group,  winning a surprise ribbon, with a time of 1:34:24. The next year I was 83 of 156 overall, and 11 of 18 in my AG, in spite improving my time to 1:30:45. This year I finished 7 of 24 in my age group, but moved way up to 58 of 170 overall, with a time of 1:26:58. So I won a ribbon the first year, which was pretty cool, but failed to the next 2 years while running faster each time. But that's quite all right, I'd much rather be improving than just getting a ribbon or medal because the competition was weaker. I've cut almost 7 and a half minutes off my time in 2 years, so I'm very pleased with my progress!

 

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=stewartmtn102012

 

Like in the other years, after the awards everyone cleared out pretty fast to get out of the cold and dry out somewhere warm.

 

My next race was the Holiday Hustle 5K in Sechelt the next day at 9:30 AM.

Gunner Shaw 10K

On Saturday, December 1st, myself and some of my clubmates ran the Gunner Shaw Memorial 10K  in Jericho Beach Park. It was a 2 lap race, and there was also a non-series scoring 1 lap 5K race. We started out at 11 AM near the front of the Jericho Sailing Centre, running across the grass and into the woods for about 100 meters or so before hitting a road. We didn't cross the road but instead turned right and ran through the grass along the sidewalk for a block, hung another right, and headed into the trees again.

 

Soon we were back in the open and running on a gravel path past the sailing centre in the opposite direction now. After about 150 meters the path went through some trees briefly before we were out in the open again, heading toward the beach. We were directed onto the sand and ran through it for about 400 meters. Because of the wet weather it was packed down better than last year and not too bad to run through, until about the last 60 meters where the sand was very loose.

 

Coming off the sand we leapt over a log and into the grass, where a fellow who looked to be a few years younger than myself ran past. It struck me as odd that he was running the race wearing a jacket and warmup pants. We reached a line of bushes with a break in them where we had to cross a ditch full of ice cold water. I was right behind the guy who'd just passed me, when all of a sudden he stopped and started walking, swinging his arms wildly out to the sides. I managed to get around him and ran through the water and up onto the grass. I heard him say to someone behind me "Oh sorry, oh I get it now, keep it going. Ho! Ho!" I have no idea why he did that, but thankfully that was the last I saw of him anyway.

 

We ran around a large field before heading off into the woods again, traveling along a mud path for awhile before heading down a short but steep and slippery hill. Next we were directed to our right and down a wide concrete path, where there appeared ahead of us a sign that said "PUDDLE FROM HELL" on it. Here the path was completely submerged in water about a foot deep, but the people in front of me were just running on the grass around it, so I thought "Hey, this isn't going to be so tough." After a few meters we turned a corner and there was suddenly no more grass to run on, so there was no choice but to run through the ice cold water for 100 meters or so.

 

Reaching the end of what Dee Makepeace later dubbed "The Jericho Canal", we ran to the path going back to the sailing centre, through the trees, and then onto the grass behind the tennis courts. It was here that I lost my footing and wiped out, but the ground was nice and soft, so I just bounced up and continued running across the field and past the finish line to begin the second lap.

 

Everything was going well, and I was running behind Ian Wall who I ran with in the Four Lakes 10K, when we hit the slippery hill again. As I was going down it my left foot sank into the mud and it felt like my shoe was coming off, but I managed to free it just quick enough and it stayed on.

 

We hit the puddle again and I had Ian running in front of me, and accomplished triathlete Stephanie Ossenbrink running beside me. Stephanie said "Well, at least we're getting our ice bath.", and I replied "You got that right."

 

 

All photos courtesy of Teresa Nightingale

 

After exiting the puddle we knew the end was near and we all sped up.

 

 

 As we ran behind the tennis court I was careful with my footing and didn't wipe out this time, and then we bolted the 150 meters to the finish line. Ian dashed ahead of us, and then a young guy flew by and just failed to nip Ian at the finish line. Stephanie just outsprinted me while I managed to stay ahead of a person coming up fast behind me.

 

After a few minutes some of my clubmates started coming in, Michael O'Grady and Dee and John Makepeace, and it was time to head upstairs into the sailing centre to warm up and get some food. Elsie and Marc Fontaine were already up there. Marc's still injured and this course was a little too dangerous for Elsie to run, but they came out in support nonetheless. To refuel us they had bananas and oranges, soup, bagels, jam and peanut butter, Timbits and coffee, and everyone's favourite: Fresh Slice Pizza!

 

We all milled about chatting and eating until the racers had all come in, and eventually the awards started. Michael was second in his age group, and Roger Roufosse and Donna Lowe from my club won theirs, but the rest of us didn't come near the podium with the fast field today, and with the festivities over it was time for us to head out.

 

I finished 83rd overall out of 188, and 8 of 14 in my age group, with a time of 44:05.78.

 

http://www.winningtime.ca/12/12gunner/oall10k.txt

 

Our club finished 2nd to the Kajaks in the series, but we'll be gunning to get our trophy back next year.

 

http://www.bcathletics.org/results/2012/lmxc12_club.pdf

 

I managed to finish 3rd in my age group for the third year in a row, which I hadn't expected.

 

http://www.bcathletics.org/results/2012/lmxc12.pdf

 

Here's a video of us running through "the puddle":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek60Z5D2fFs

 

Gunner Shaw photos by Teresa Nightingale:

 

http://teresanightingale.zoomphoto.ca/event/17710/

 

Here's also a video of the Canadian Cross Country Championships Masters Race:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi3u4iYMb4M&feature=youtu.be

 

And finally the photos of the same race, just click on the yellow Candian X-Country Champ 2012 to see them:

 

http://www.wcsportography.com/wcdesign/Events.cfm

 

My next race was the Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Cross Country Challenge, at Thetis Lake Provincial Park just outside Victoria, at noon on Saturday, December 8.