The Long, Long Weekend

On June 7th at 6:30 PM I ran the 800 meter race at the Friday Night Mile at the South Surrey Athletic Centre track. I finished 3 of 3 with a personal best of 2:49.49. This was thanks to the Jordans, with John running in front of me and pulling me the whole race, and Debbie running close behind me and pushing. On the last straightaway heading into the finish, Debbie hit another gear and blew past me with about 50 meters to go, and as I attempted to answer her pace she pulled me to my PB.

MAGIC 800
1.John Jordan 2:39.55
2.Debbie Jordan 2:45.02
3.Gordon Flett 2:49.49

https://www.facebook.com/penrunwr

The next morning I competed in the Squamish 5 Peaks 6.9K Sport trail race. It was my first time competing in it, and a woman asked myself and my friend Vas before the race what the hills were like. Vas told her that there was an upward climb at the beginning, but it wasn't nearly as long or steep as the Golden Ears race. At 10:15 we started the race, and soon hit a single track mud trail that just kept going up and up for a few hundred meters. Vas said after the race that he realized his error only after we'd gone a ways up the climb, and felt bad because he felt like he'd lied to her. Guess he won't make that mistake again!

The race director had stressed to us all in his prerace instructions about how you should let faster runners by when they were trying to pass, especially since so much of the route was single track. We were over halfway through the race, zigzagging mostly downhill through thick bush, on a rocky and root filled trail. I caught up to 2 guys, and they heard me but just kept going. Very shortly there were quite a few of us lined up running behind them. One of them yelled "Wow, it sounds like a herd of elephants behind us!", and the guy at my shoulder yelled "Yeah?". 

Still oblivious, they kept running in front of us and we couldn't get by them, and finally the fellow behind me asked "Are you guys going to let us pass or not?" They got out of our way and it was like a dam burst, with all of us flying down the trail as fast as we could, with the guy behind me yelling "Go! Go!" The rest of us knew what we were doing and sorted it out as we went, and soon we were all in our proper order.

It wasn't long before we were off the single track, had exited the thick woods, and were running on a wide path, where we could hear the announcer at the finish line.

Running through the trees, soon I rounded the corner and there it was, with people lining the way cheering us in, and over the line I went!

Vas had finished a couple of places ahead of me and was waiting there, and we went and got some cookies (chocolate chip and oatmeal), banana pieces and bagels with peanut butter and Nutella. They also seemed to have free samples of wonderful Vega products on every table, and we ended up stocking up a little bit.

They had the awards, and Vas was 2nd of 22 in his age group and 12th of 158 overall, while Paul Butcher was 1st and 6th overall.

 I finished 1st of 11 in my age group, and 14th overall, with a time of 41:02. 2 friends who just started running again this year after a long hiatus, Randy Klassen and Ron Fraser, were 2nd & 3rd in our age group. It was a pleasure to share the podium with them! 

Willi Ribi turned 60 this year and so moved up an age group, where he did well placing 2nd. 

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=alicelakesport2013

To see many photos of the race, Robert Shaer has them up on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/5peaksadventures/sets/72157634040944910/

After the awards were over it was time to head back to Vancouver, as I had a race to run in White Rock the next morning.

On June 9th I ran the Sandcastle City Classic 10K. It was put on by my club, the Semiahmoo Sunrunners. It's a point to point race where they bus us from the finish by the beach to the start line near Crescent Park Elementary. I remember it was cool and rained off and on during the race. Afterward it began pouring, but eventually it let up and we got the awards going. I finished 46 of 262 overall, 5 of 15 in my age group, with a time of 43:29, so I missed the age group podium after finishing 3rd the last 2 years. This resulted in me taking pics, ending up as one of the race photographers, and posting my first collection on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97391931@N05/sets/72157634348169876/

Paul Kimugul won the race, and Jen Moroz was the top female.

http://startlinetiming.com/races/2013/sandcastle/oall10.txt

My last event of this extended weekend was the Remax Twilight Series Meet # 2, on Monday, June10, beginning at 5:30 PM. I ended up where I'd started, at the South Surrey Athletic Centre track. The Twilight Meets are put on by Ocean Athletics, who do a fantastic job!

I did the long jump for the first time ever in a competition, finishing 5 of 5 with a 3.49 best jump. Needs a lot of work, but it's a start.

I also ran the 3000 meters race later in the evening, finishing 12 of 12 (only old person), with a time of 12:30.79. I was tired after all my activity this weekend, so even though didn't run as fast as I'd hoped to, I was happy knowing I competed and did my best! http://www.oceanathletics.org/results-photos-home/

The meet was almost over after the 3000, so I thanked the organizers and headed home, with my next race coming up very quickly, the Longest Day 5K on Friday, June 14 at 6:45 PM at UBC.

Okanagan Weekend

On Saturday, June 1st I ran the Giant's Head 5.4K in Summerland. There was also a Man of Steel Triathlon http://www.summerland.ca/departments/parks/Man%20of%20Steel%20Triathlon%20Entry%20Form.pdf that went on all day long, plus a 10K that started the same time as my race at 6 PM.

When I arrived there for the race the first thing that I noticed was a huge amount of young people, little kids plus teenagers, warming up and getting ready to race.

As we waited at the starting line, which was on a street a couple of blocks over from the finish line beside the aquatic centre, a guy in his 20s standing behind me told me that he thought it was awesome that all those kids were running the 5.4K. He then told me that he was running the 10K, and said that maybe he shouldn't have just eaten a big plate of poutine right before the race. Probably not!

 

It was almost 6, so the race director gave us quick last minute instructions, a 10 second countdown, and we were off! After about 30 meters we turned left and the 10Kers went right. We ran along a main drag, and I got past the main block of youngsters, but some stayed with me and even surged ahead. Then we turned off again, running along some quiet residential streets, and soon hitting a fairly steep hill about 300 meters long. As I was running up it in the heat I was thinking I probably did well last year to finish in 23 minutes and change, and thought there was no way I was going to run that fast this time around.

 

As we crested another hill that was shorter but much steeper than the first one, there was a fellow in his late teens in front of me, plus a kid who looked about 9 or so. A volunteer a few years older than me was standing there, and he yelled at us that there were some little kids farther up ahead of us, implying we should try and catch up to them. I figured that the older young runner was thinking the same thing as myself, "Who cares?", as he was struggling even more than I was, and eventually I passed him.

 

With less than a kilometer to go the young kid was still in front of me, and as we hit the main drag again I sped up, but so did he. There were people along the street cheering us on, and we hit the turn down the street to the aquatic centre and the finish line.

 There were less than 200 meters to go, and we were running downhill. I slowly gained on him, but he heard me coming and looked back at me. We gave the crowd a good laugh, with me racing behind him as fast as I could, and him giving it everything he had to prevent an old man from beating him. I was going to let him win, but I didn't have to, he beat me fair and square. I told him he ran a great race, and he just nodded, holding his side with an expression of pain on his face. About 10 minutes later I saw him sitting by the aquatic centre still holding his side and asked if he was okay, and he said yes, and soon he was fully recovered.

 

There were bananas and oranges plus juice, water and slushies for us after we'd finished our races. I grabbed a little sustenance, and stayed awhile at the finish line, cheering in the finishing racers. After grabbing my jacket and camera out of my car, I went back and got a couple of pics.

 Next I headed a couple of blocks over to the park where there was a huge stage set up with masses of prizes on it. We also had a huge selection of food to buy from the many food carts set up around the perimeter. I had some great Thai food plus an ice cream cone topped with butterscotch sauce.

 

There was a massive crowd now gathered, and thanks to the generous sponsors, a couple of thousand dollars worth of prizes on the stage to give away. Like last year, I failed to have my name drawn for any of them, but that's okay. 

Interspersed with the prize draw was the awarding of medals for the various races. They had teams and individuals from the triathlon as well as from the 5 & 10 Ks, presented by Miss Summerland and her princesses. 

I'd won my age group again this year, so when it was my turn I asked a young fellow standing at the front of the stage to take my picture. It was only me alone as the other 2 guys grabbed their medals and immediately exited the back of the stage.

 Right after the last awards were given out it started to rain so our emcee wrapped things up quickly and we all happily headed our separate ways.

 

I finished 6th of 442 overall, and 1st of 35 in my age group, with a time of 23:22, the exact same time I ran last year!

http://www.summerland.ca/docs/ActionFest/2013/RaceResults/GHR_5.4_OVERALL.pdf

 

Since I'd traveled all that way already I thought I may as well run another race, so on Sunday morning I ran the Dirty Feet 5K at Myra Bellevue Provincial Park in Kelowna. The 21K race had just taken off at 9:30 as I arrived and managed to snag a scarce spot in the parking lot. I headed up into the woods to the start area and got my race bib, and then went for a warmup. At 10 myself and many others cheered the 10K runners as they started their race, and then at 10:15 it was our turn.

 

We ran out from the start and quickly turned right and ran through the woods along a mud trail. The race was aptly named, as it had rained recently, and there was no way you weren't going to get "dirty feet". After awhile the trail narrowed to a single track, and we ran out into the open and through some scrub bushes. There were patches of water to go through and the rest was wet mud, with the exception of some rocky parts where you really had to watch your footing.

 

I ran behind a young woman for quite awhile, watching as she had more and more mud caked to the back of her legs, and knowing the same was happening to me. Again there was a volunteer along the way at one point who told us that some youngsters were kicking our butts. It was cloudy but still pretty warm, and like yesterday we couldn't afford to care.

 

We came to a steep downhill with about a  kilometer to go, and the woman in front of me tore down it. I managed to keep her in sight for most of the rest of the race, but that was about it, as she slowly increased the gap between us. Finally I heard the race announcer and knew the end was near, and headed down the single track and to the turn to the finish where people were waiting and cheering us in. I crossed the line and Rebecca, who won the women's race, was waiting for me, and we congratulated each other on a good race.

 

They had water, eload and coffee to drink, and gummy bears, chips, popcorn, bananas, oranges, and cookies to eat, and I refueled a bit and then went to my car. I grabbed my camera and went back to the finish line to get some pictures and cheer the people coming in. 

After awhile I went and asked the race director when they would have the award ceremony for our race, but he said it wouldn't be for another hour. Since I had to work that night I decided it was best for me to take off, as I had a long ride home ahead of me.

 

I ended up 5th of 85 overall, 1st of 3 in my age group, with a time of 28:16. In both races a youngster named Jacob finished close in front of me, and another named Elijah not far behind me, but they were different kids in each one!

http://www.dirtyfeet.ca/results-2/2013-results/june-2nd-run/

Last Weekend In May

On Saturday, May 25, I headed over to Vancouver Island for the Q's Victoria Run Series Meet # 2. It was at the University of Victoria this time, and there were some young people who came over from the Lower Mainland to compete, but I think I was the only "seasoned" runner who did so.

The meet started at 6:30 PM, and this time they ran the races from longest to shortest, meaning the 3000 meters was the inaugural event. The women ran first, and the race director filmed it riding along the track on his bike.

 They've posted a film of it here:  http://victoriarunseries.com/womens-3000m-race-meet-2/ . 

Next I watched Gary Duncan, Frank Towler and the others run it, skipping the 3000 myself.

 I was running the Shaughnessy 8K at 8:30 the next morning, and I figured that it would probably have been one race too many. Next up was the 1500 open race, and I don't remember much about it and the subsequent 800 meters event, except that I PBed in the first distance, but didn't do as well in the shorter race. It's much better running the shorter distances first and progressing to the longer ones than the other way around, at least for me anyway.

There were a couple of races to go after my last one, the (fast) men's and women's 800, but I had to go catch the last ferry leaving at 9 PM, so I said goodbye to Frank and Gary and headed for the terminal.  

For a report of the meet highlighting the faster performers go to:

 http://bcathletics.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/the-qs-victoria-run-series-featured-the-uvic-vikes-and-a-nanaimo-fa%E2%80%8Bmily-affair/#like-7411

I was 9 of 14 overall and 2 of 2 in my age group in the 800, with a time of 2:57.7, and 7 of 15 OA, 2 of 2 AG, with a PB of 5:44.8 in the 1500.

http://victoriarunseries.com/full-results-meet-2-2013/

The next morning brought the Shaughnessy 8K race, and it was a little cool and cloudy as we started off at 8:30 AM on the road in front of the Kerrisdale Arena. After about 200 meters we turned right down a side street and began our ascent of THE HILL. 300 meters or so later we reached the crest, and after awhile my legs recovered and I began to pick up speed again.

Wending our way along the neighborhood streets, we soon reached another incline, a few hundred meters long but much less steep than the first one. The course was a partial double loop, skipping THE HILL on the second go-around, which nobody complained about.

With less than a kilometer to go we came to an intersection with a lot of marshals, and I kept going straight as nobody told me to do anything else. I noticed fairly quickly that I could only see very slow runners and walkers in front of me, and I looked back and all the runners had turned right and were heading down that road. I ran back but the fellow who had been only about 10 meters in front of me before was now at least 100 meters ahead.

A few hundred meters later we were heading down the road leading to the turn to the finish. I had passed Bill Chang a couple of kilometers into the race, but I could hear his distinctive breathing behind me as I now ran down THE HILL. We reached the bottom and rounded the corner for the last 200 meter dash to the finish, and I pretended that I was finishing my 800 meter race the night before, and ran as fast as I could until I was over the line.

Jimmy Hinze from my club greeted me, he was there as a BC Athletics rep helping out with the race, and he showed me a picture that he took as I went across the finish line, and said he'd send it to me. We talked a bit and greeted some more finishers and then I headed over to get some food.

They had various fresh bagels with cream cheese, peanut butter, and jam to spread on them, delicious soft chocolate chip cookies, 2-packs of hard boiled eggs, and bananas & oranges, plus chocolate milk, water, smoothie drinks, and coffee.

They had the usual large amount of draw prizes, but I failed to win anything this time around. The awards were presented, and Bill Chang had told me before the race that he'd seen Mark Bennett, Tim Smith, and Larry Nightingale there already, so we both knew we weren't going to be winning any medals today. I ended up 6th out of 19 in our age group and 57th overall out of 283, with a time of 35:10, while Bill was 7th in our AG, and Arnold ended up 12th. http://www.startlinetiming.com/races/2013/shaughnessy/oall8.txt

http://www.startlinetiming.com/races/2013/shaughnessy/age8.txt

With the festivities over it was time to say our goodbyes until the next race, so I bid Arnold, Vas and Bill adieu and headed home.

Here's a further report on the race:
http://www.lgrr.com/pdfs/SHAUGHNESSY%202013%20report.pdf

Many photos were also taken, three different sets in fact:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.465065823578774.1073741843.103882399697120&type=1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96693317@N08/sets/72157633945714143/

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.464236163661740.1073741841.103882399697120&type=3

My next race was the Giant's Head Run 5.4K race in Summerland at 6 PM on June 1st.

Peach City 10K

On May 19th I ran the 10K race at the Peach City RunFest http://www.peachcityhalf.com/ in beautiful Penticton. We took off from beside the beach in Skaha Lake Park at 8 AM. The race director had announced that the winner of the race for the last 2 years, Doug Wickware, was running it again. He wasn't standing at his usual spot near the front at the start line, however, and looked sheepish as he waved to the crowd. Later on we found out that he'd dropped out of the race, so he was probably running injured.

 

We ran along Main Street before turning off and racing along a winding road. At about the 6K mark we hit a pretty good hill that slowed me down considerably, but I could see the guy in front of me was struggling too. We reached the top and went around a couple more corners, and finally there were the marshals guiding us around a turnaround, only 3 more Ks to go!

 

About halfway there I hit the last hill, which was quite steep and I was happy to finally crest it. It still took awhile to get back up to speed, but soon up ahead the turn into the park loomed, with cheering volunteers and spectators waiting there to spur us on. I ran the final 400 meters as quickly as I could, but my time this year was quite a bit slower than in the past. Even though I finished 7 of 66 overall, I ended up 3 of 6 in my age group, and it took me 44:18 to do it. http://www.peachcityrunners.com/marathon/pc10k2013.htm I still managed to medal anyway, so all was good. I'm no longer the course record holder for my age group though, but hopefully I can rectify that next year.

 

To eat they had cut up eclairs and chocolate chip cookies, plus bananas, watermelon, and oranges.

 The volunteers also cooked us a great pancake breakfast, and they had coffee and chocolate milk to rehydrate us and recharge our energy levels.

 I looked at the list of winners of the draw prizes, and my name was right at the top, so I went over to the prize table. They said that I'd won the big prize, which is a waterproof container made by an Edmonton company called UK, worth $70!

 

I got some pics of happy finishers, including the half marathon winner, a guy about my age named Michael Kascak. 

Steve King did his always stellar job as race announcer, which adds a touch of class to any event where we're lucky enough to have him. They did the 10K awards, and the presenter told us that they'd sent a fellow to get the third place medals that had been left behind, and he'd be there shortly. While I was waiting for him three woman were looking at the posted results, and I was standing there as one of them said she'd finished 7th in her age group. I realized she'd been reading them wrong, as she was actually second, and her friend was third. I explained this to them, and said "You medaled!", and they were really happy about this news. The guy showed up with our third place medals, and it was time to head back to Vancouver. This is a favourite race of mine, and I'm planning be back to have more fun and try to post a new record next year!

 

My next races were the 800 and 1500 meters at the Q's Victoria Run Series track meet on May 25th.

Oceanside 10K

I've fallen so far behind on my race reports that I've decided I'll have to do very abbreviated ones until I get caught up.

After running the 5 Peaks race in Golden Ears Park, and the 800meters at the Q Track Meet in Victoria, I drove up to Parksville and on Sunday morning, May12th, I competed in the Oceanside 10K. My pal Steve Draginda was waiting for me when I arrived at the Parksville Curling Rink, and we went through where they had the food already set up and out the back doors to get our race numbers, and I told him about this being my third race of the weekend.

At 11 AM we took off from the cul de sac up the road from the rink.

We ran along the residential roads, crossing a bridge just before the 2K mark, and then hitting the 500 meter hill, not overly steep, but long enough to slow us all down considerably. After reaching the top we turned down a slope on a tree lined road, picking up speed as our legs recovered, and a few hundred meters later were directed into a park.

We ran along a gravel path for awhile, and then it turned to asphalt. After a lot of running in the park we exited it up a short but very steep hill, and then it was back over the bridge again.

Now there were 2 kilometers to go and we were running down a straight road toward the finish. I slowly gained on a group of 3 guys who looked to be in their 30s, and by the time we were turning into the cul de sac again I was close behind 2 of them, as the third fellow had sped ahead. Suddenly the cheering grew loud and the banner at the finish line was in sight! With less than 200 yards to go we all sped up, and both guys kept looking back to see if I was gaining on them, but managed to beat me by a couple of seconds when all was said and done.

We congratulated each other on a good race, and then I heard the announcer say that I'd run three races that weekend, and thanking me for coming. He repeated this about 30 seconds later, and I wondered how he knew, as I'd only told Steve. Steve hadn't told anyone, so one of the volunteers must have overheard me telling him about it as I was getting my race number. Steve came across, saying he was very happy as he'd PBed, and we went to the rink to get some grub.

They had the usual great spread, and after loading up our plates we sat down with John Durkin, who I'd seen at many other Island races but was just meeting for the first time.

It wasn't long before we headed into the curling rink proper for the award ceremonies. Myself, Steve, and John ended up second in our age groups. They give medals for 1st place but only ribbons for 2nd and 3rd. They are nice ribbons though, and I've got 2 beautiful medals from the last 2 years so no complaints here!

It was the race director's birthday, and the young runners gathered round and we all sang Happy Birthday to him.

84 year old Jim McLean finished the race in just over an hour after having run the Vancouver Marathon Half the week before, and the race director gave a nice tribute to this amazing ageless athlete.

I had a ferry to catch, so soon after I got my award I bade Steve adieu and headed out, with another great experience in the books!

Official results show me finishing 14 of 184 overall, and 2 of 12 in my age group, with a time of 43:43. http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=oceanside2013

My next endeavour was the Peach City 10K  on May 19 at 8 AM in Penticton.

Q's Victoria Run Series 2013 Meet # 1

After the Golden Ears race on May 11 I headed to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen, and took the 3 PM over to Victoria. I have a season's pass for the Q's Victoria Run Series, and I was running the Oceanside 10K in Parksville on Sunday morning. Since I was going over to Vancouver Island anyway, I decided I may as well go to Victoria first and run a race in their initial meet of the season before driving up to Parksville.

 

I arrived at Oak Bay High School with an hour to go before the meet start at 6:30 PM, and registered for the 800 meter open mixed race. Chris the meet director told me that mine was the first event of the night, so I went and got ready. First things first, I asked him where the washroom facilities were, and he directed me to the community centre adjacent to the track. Next I pinned on my bib number, warmed up, put on my spikes, and before I knew it they were calling us to the starting line.

 

The gun was fired and the 15 of us took off, with everyone soon moving in and claiming a spot in lane one as we raced around the track. I recognized Gary Duncan who I know is a fast runner in my age group, and I kept up not too far back of him for about 150 meters. I realized that he was going much too fast for me, dropped my pace off, and watched him and some others with him fade off into the distance. I did, however, manage to pass my soon to be new friend Frank Towler going around the bend before the straightaway that would take us to the end of the first lap. Running as fast as I could, I completed said straightaway as the spectators cheered us through, and just concentrated on keeping my pace up as I entered the last lap.

 

Rounding the first corner I passed a guy who I would find out later was Gary Donahue, and then I set my sights on a fellow up ahead. I gained steadily on him but as we hit the last straightaway with the finish line looming he kicked it into high gear too, and managed to cross not quite 2 seconds before I did. A few seconds afterward I looked and Gary was coming in with Frank behind him, and then Frank shifted into another gear and nipped Gary at the line!

 

I gravitated to the infield where I got talking to Frank, who told me that he was doing all 3 races, so he still had the 1500 and 5000 to go! I said I was only doing the 800 because I'd run a trail race that morning, and was running the Oceanside 10K the next day at 11 AM. Frank was running a 5K in the morning himself, and almost conned me into running the 1500 when they announced it would be starting. I thought better of it quickly though, and ended up just watching like I'd originally planned to do. Gary Duncan came over, it was a pleasure to finally meet him, and told us that he was only running the 800 and 1500 because he was running the Gutbuster trail race in the morning.

 

They had what looked like scarves for the top three of each gender in all the races, and an official called Gary over to give him his for finishing 3rd in our race. Frank told me Gary's getting soft in his old age, because in the old days not only would he have also run the 5000, but he would have found a race to run that morning too. My reply to this revelation was to say that the more I heard about this guy Gary, the more I liked  him!

 

Next we watched the elite men's 800 race, and it was great to be able to watch such fast runners up close.

 

Then I watched and cheered the racers in the 1500 that Frank almost got me to run, and did the same for the 1500 elite men's race right afterward. They were having the 5000 open mixed contest next, and I told Frank that though I really would have enjoyed watching them, I'd better get going as I had at least a 2 hour drive to Parksville. He told me it would probably be raining heavily on my way up there and to drive carefully, and I said thanks and I'd see him at the Q's next meet at the UVic stadium in 2 weeks.

 

I finished 9 of 15 overall, and 2 of 3 in my age group, with a time of 2:51 flat. This is a PB for me, .38 seconds faster than my only previous 800 meters race in the Trevor Craven meet last year.

http://victoriarunseries.com/results-2013-meet-1-800m/

In all the excitement I forgot to take any pics, but a film of our race can be watched here:

http://victoriarunseries.com/meet-1-800m-open-mixed-race-video/

There's more videos here:

http://victoriarunseries.com/

Lastly here's the rest of the meet results, Frank ran an amazing 22 minute 5K after running the 800 and 1500, and he's 69 years old! 

http://victoriarunseries.com/results-meet-1-2013/

5 Peaks Golden Ears 8.8K

On Saturday, May 11th I competed in the 5 Peaks Golden Ears 8.8K Sport trail race, in beautiful Golden Ears Provincial Park in Maple Ridge. At 9:15 AM they sent off the first wave. It was chip timed but to qualify for overall awards you had to be in the first wave, plus they said if you were planning on running a fast race you should be in there also. I told Vas that was us, and we took up spots very near the front of the pack. There was also a 14K Enduro race, and we all took off at the same time, running down a path to the walkway along the lake shore, and heading down it for about a hundred meters before we hit the woods. Very shortly we encountered a small creek that we had to get across. It was only about a meter wide but the tough part was the short but super steep descent and ascent over rough terrain and coming out of it unscathed.

Once out of there we ran along some paths through the forest. Vas was ahead of me but I finally caught up to him. I passed him but he stayed right behind me. A guy who looked to be in my age group passed me, and soon after we headed up a slight incline on a very rocky path, and I noticed he'd slowed up and darted by him.

He'd looked really drained when I went by him so I didn't expect to see him again, but a few minutes later I heard someone coming up behind me at a fast pace, and it was him again! I sped up trying not to lose him, and Vas was now running almost side by side with me. We came up to where we had to make a righthand turn, and I noticed his bib was yellow, not white like ours, meaning he was in the Enduro race. Since he wasn't competing with me anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief, one less opponent to worry about. 

We came up to where they split the 2 races, and they sent us up a steep hill on the mud, rock & root trail. A fellow was about 10 feet in front of me, but soon I heard no steps behind me. We wound our way up the trail, which after awhile seemed never ending. We would hit a flat spot and start trying to pick up some speed, but it was never more than a few meters later that the uphill suddenly continued. We both managed to keep running almost the whole way, albeit slowly. Vas told me after the race that he'd managed to run the entire uphill, and I told him the only time I'd walked was when the fellow in front of me did, but it was only twice and for about 10 seconds each time.

Finally things leveled out, and soon we were heading down a fairly steep decline. The trail was littered with tons of rocks, some of them a bit jagged, and so the going was slow and hard on the quads. A volunteer waiting along here said "Looking strong, way to go!", as I ran toward him, and then "Those rocks are dangerous, be careful!", just before I reached where he was.

After a couple of hundred meters it became a little less steep, and a lot less treacherous, and I was finally able to run normally again and pick up some speed. I hit a winding single track trail, and wound my way up it on a slight incline. Soon I heard someone behind me, and I moved to my right to let the person pass, and it was a young (to me) woman. She said "Thanks!" as she went by, and I said "No problem, go get 'em!" as she sped away. Not long after this I had someone else on my tail. I sped up and we were going the same pace for awhile, but eventually I heard "On your left!", and I moved over to let yet another young woman go by me. A couple of minutes later I was passing a guy myself, and I didn't hear him behind me anymore after only a short while.

Soon I was going through the creek again, and then I was out of the woods and on the concrete path along the beach. I heard the announcer at the finish line, and saw a fellow running about 20 meters in front of me, almost at the point where he'd turn left and run up the path to the parking lot. I sped up and managed to close on him, but by the time I was a few meters behind him, and he'd almost reached the parking lot, my legs started to feel like lead. I was almost out of gas from my surge, but I told myself that I was almost there, and to just keep going. There were plenty of people cheering us on, and when I reached the parking lot there was the finish line about 50 meters away. I managed one last burst of energy and ran for all I was worth until I was across the line, and the announcer was calling out my name and my club's name too.

Vas came in next behind me, and he said we must have done well, as there were hardly any other finishers in yet. I told him that's why I said we should be up near the front at the start, as we were 2 of the fastest in the field here today. The fellow who I'd passed came in next, patted me on the back, and said "I've finished behind you in quite a few races now!"

The food tables were stocked with sliced honeydew melons, watermelon, oranges, and bananas, plus chocolate chip and raisin cookies and various cut up bagels, with Nutella, peanut butter, jam and cream cheese to spread on them. There was also water, E-Power, and coffee to rehydrate with.

I grabbed a couple of cookies and banana pieces, spread some Nutella on a couple of bagel slices, and headed to my car and got my camera. On the way back I took some pictures of people coming up to the parking lot, and a few of them going over the finish line.

They posted results, and Vas and myself had finished 10th & 11th overall, and I won my age group, while Vas was 3rd in his. Willi Ribi has moved up an age group this year, and finished 2nd in the male 60-69 category, the 2 women who'd passed me ended up being the 1st & 2nd overall females.

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=goldenearssport2013

Chris Barth came in as the Enduro finishers started arriving, and in spite of persistently injured feet managed to finish 5th overall, while Willi's son Marcus was 7th. Walter Kwan had decided to run the Enduro race, and he finished, but he'd turned his ankle and was lucky just to make it in without further damage. He told me he'd better get some ice on it and headed for the first aid booth staffed by North Shore Rescue members. A little later he came up and said he'd be heading out now, he wanted to get home and rest his ankle, so we shook hands and said we'd see each other next time.

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=goldenearsenduro2013

After most of the runners were in they started the awards right on the finish line, so any runners who did come in later actually got the most applause. Unfortunately quite a few people hadn't stayed for the ceremonies, so I was up there myself. Vas at least had one other guy up there with him, while Willi had the full complement. I didn't care, just very happy to get my medal, as was Vas!

They used to have wooden medals, but changed it up this year, and we now get nice ceramic ones.

I told Vas that I had to leave as I had a ferry to catch to make the Q's Victoria Track Meet at 6:30 PM that day, where I'd be racing the 800 meters, so I bade him farewell and headed for the terminal.