Pilot Bay Trail Race: May 6th, 2012
Kokanee Glacier fun Run- Approx 25-30km: Probably the third weekend of July. We'll organize two groups depending on ability. The stronger group will run from Enterprise creek east through Kokanee Park to Gibson Lake and the other group will run the opposite direction from Gibson Lake to Enterprise Creek...This way there is no car shuttling involved...
Rockwall Trail Fun Run- Mid/Late August. The East Kootenays provides us with one of the most spectacular trail runs around. This amazing singletrack loop would be open to anyone able to run/hike a minimum of 35km over the course of a day. The trail has three options for distances on the loop (approx 30km, 40km, or 55km), which makes it appealing for a variety of running levels.
We'd leave the evening before to camp out around the trail for an early departure the next morning.
For some info on another runners adventure there see http://lazytrailrunner.blogspot.com/2009/08/shuffling-rockwall.html
Svoboda Trail Race, Nelson, BC- Mid September we will have a fun local 15km trail race on a new trail to get ready for the Sufferfest!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
50km ultra on the Isle de Ometepe, Nicaragua
There is no luck on stumbling onto a race. It's kind of like a crack addict stumbling onto a dealer- when you need a fix, you'll find it without much effort.
I needed to be down in Costa Rica to meet my son for a week of surfing (more like a week of cartwheeling for me) so I stumbled through the ultra trail blogs and found that there was a race really close- just across the boarder in Nicaragua. Perfect....
I need to remind myself that showing up after 24 hours of straight traveling to do a race is a little stressful and I should give myself at least a few days buffer to adjust. There was even one guy in the race who spent 7 weeks on the island training for this race- that would be nice!
The race took place on the Island of Ometepe about a 2 hour ferry ride way out on Lake Nicaragua. In the photo above you can see the island (looks close, but it took 2 hours by boat). The island is in the shape of an hourglass with 2 big Volcano's on either end. The 50km race was one way across the island from one end to the other climbing to the top of one of the volcano's along the route.
After a 3 1/2 hour drive to the airport, 3 flights, bus and a ferry to the island and 3 hours of sleep in two nights, I actually felt ready to run...well with a BIG coffee first.
There where lots of people from all over North and South America, with a few Euro's too, even a strong contingent from the island itself where they are trying to encourage the local youth to get into the sport.
After the 4am start with our headlamps, we cruised through the dark on fairly relaxed rolling terrain, which was a mix of trail, donkey cart paths, dried river bed and road. The first 31km went by pretty fast in 3hours until we got to the base of the Volcano.
I think a lot of people thought the next 2okm climb over the Volcano was going to be quick, so they blew through the aid station at the bottom of the 5,000' climb without much food reserves. Of course I new better, not because I'm very bright, but because I've made this mistake about twenty times before- paying a heavy price...
I was slightly nauseous because of the tropical jungle heat, but as we started to ascend the Volcano, the weather actually got cold, wet and rainy- perfect!
So I went from crappy to feeling great over the course of the climb.
About 30 seconds after munching down 4 Oreo cookies in the photo above I sprayed them back up all over me...The guy who took the photo figures that's where they came up with the expression "blowing you cookies!"
Up up and away we climbed and it got gnarlier and gnarlier as we ascended with cold driving rain, deep mud and a tangled mess of roots and ferns. The locals call this section the "Jungle Gym"
Some of the trail sections were 4 foot deep ruts by 6" wide...
After 2 hours of hard climbing and numerous false summits I finally topped out before I descended down to the check point which was in the crater of the Volcano. We still had to climb back out again before you'd start the last big descent down to the ocean finish line.
It went from 15 degrees blowing windy rain to 33 degrees and sunny on the descent down the volcano, but I felt great passing a bunch of people on the way.
After 7:08hrs I crossed the finish line with one lovely tasting beer waiting for me- man did it taste amazing!
I don't think I'll run much in the next 3 weeks as I really didn't enjoy the road running to get ready for this trail race, but I am going to India in March so....hmmmmm....... wonder what my crack dealer can find me there??
I needed to be down in Costa Rica to meet my son for a week of surfing (more like a week of cartwheeling for me) so I stumbled through the ultra trail blogs and found that there was a race really close- just across the boarder in Nicaragua. Perfect....
I need to remind myself that showing up after 24 hours of straight traveling to do a race is a little stressful and I should give myself at least a few days buffer to adjust. There was even one guy in the race who spent 7 weeks on the island training for this race- that would be nice!
The race took place on the Island of Ometepe about a 2 hour ferry ride way out on Lake Nicaragua. In the photo above you can see the island (looks close, but it took 2 hours by boat). The island is in the shape of an hourglass with 2 big Volcano's on either end. The 50km race was one way across the island from one end to the other climbing to the top of one of the volcano's along the route.After a 3 1/2 hour drive to the airport, 3 flights, bus and a ferry to the island and 3 hours of sleep in two nights, I actually felt ready to run...well with a BIG coffee first.
There where lots of people from all over North and South America, with a few Euro's too, even a strong contingent from the island itself where they are trying to encourage the local youth to get into the sport.
After the 4am start with our headlamps, we cruised through the dark on fairly relaxed rolling terrain, which was a mix of trail, donkey cart paths, dried river bed and road. The first 31km went by pretty fast in 3hours until we got to the base of the Volcano.
I think a lot of people thought the next 2okm climb over the Volcano was going to be quick, so they blew through the aid station at the bottom of the 5,000' climb without much food reserves. Of course I new better, not because I'm very bright, but because I've made this mistake about twenty times before- paying a heavy price...I was slightly nauseous because of the tropical jungle heat, but as we started to ascend the Volcano, the weather actually got cold, wet and rainy- perfect!
So I went from crappy to feeling great over the course of the climb.
About 30 seconds after munching down 4 Oreo cookies in the photo above I sprayed them back up all over me...The guy who took the photo figures that's where they came up with the expression "blowing you cookies!"
Up up and away we climbed and it got gnarlier and gnarlier as we ascended with cold driving rain, deep mud and a tangled mess of roots and ferns. The locals call this section the "Jungle Gym"
Some of the trail sections were 4 foot deep ruts by 6" wide...After 2 hours of hard climbing and numerous false summits I finally topped out before I descended down to the check point which was in the crater of the Volcano. We still had to climb back out again before you'd start the last big descent down to the ocean finish line.
It went from 15 degrees blowing windy rain to 33 degrees and sunny on the descent down the volcano, but I felt great passing a bunch of people on the way.After 7:08hrs I crossed the finish line with one lovely tasting beer waiting for me- man did it taste amazing!
I don't think I'll run much in the next 3 weeks as I really didn't enjoy the road running to get ready for this trail race, but I am going to India in March so....hmmmmm....... wonder what my crack dealer can find me there??
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Whitewater Run
As much as I am enjoying running again in the winter, it certainly takes some sort of early goal to make you want to run the roads, especially for a trail runner! That said; all my friends where headed out ski touring on this magnificent Kootenay day and I was relegated to getting in a long run before I headed down to Nicaragua for a 50km race next week. I can't say there is a long line up of people wanting to run from town up to whitewater and back down, so it was just Carolyn Donnelly and myself to enjoy an early season 30+km grunt of a run. As it turns out, we both felt great and enjoyed the early season trot...
Although the cold did set in after a few hours, I know I will be shortly thinking how much better I feel in this weather than I will be next week running through the 34degree sweaty jungle!
The long 20km climb from Nelson to WH2O gave me time to reflect and get excited about the Pilot Point spring race May 6th that I hope a bunch of you will get out to...such a cool course!
There is also a fun adventure run Bill and I are thinking of planning for August. It is the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park. It is an amazing 55km loop with a 35km and 45km shortened option. It'd be fun to get 2-3 groups to cover all levels of ability and head out there for the weekend. If anyone is interested, let me know.
Although the cold did set in after a few hours, I know I will be shortly thinking how much better I feel in this weather than I will be next week running through the 34degree sweaty jungle!
The long 20km climb from Nelson to WH2O gave me time to reflect and get excited about the Pilot Point spring race May 6th that I hope a bunch of you will get out to...such a cool course!There is also a fun adventure run Bill and I are thinking of planning for August. It is the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park. It is an amazing 55km loop with a 35km and 45km shortened option. It'd be fun to get 2-3 groups to cover all levels of ability and head out there for the weekend. If anyone is interested, let me know.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Pilot Bay Trail Running Race May 6, 2012
Hopefully we will have a "normal" spring this year where our trails open up in mid-april and therefore can hold a spring trail running race. We tried last year, but spring came sometime around July!
The spring race is confirmed for May 6th. The race will be held at Pilot Bay Provincial Park in Crawford Bay, just across the Kootenay lake ferry.
There will be an approx. 10km and 22km race route. I ran the trails last year and they are amazing with lots of ups and downs and gorgeous views of the lake- you will be entertained! Both courses are ALL singletrack and very runnable. It's a great day to bring along the family too as there are wonderful trails along the lake to go for a small hike or picnic to keep busy.
If anyone is planning to get in shape for the awesome Kaslo Sufferfest in the fall this is the opportunity to get going!
All proceeds for this race will go to the Tipi Camp a non profit society who's mission statement says it all:
"The objective of the Guiding Hands Recreation Society is to educate people about the value of nature and outdoor recreation to teach individual responsibility for conservation, ecological awareness and sustainability"
I will post all the information you'll need by Mid April, but keep the date booked in your running plans as that wont change!....
If anyone has any questions, please fire me off an e-mail at randy@spearhead.ca
The spring race is confirmed for May 6th. The race will be held at Pilot Bay Provincial Park in Crawford Bay, just across the Kootenay lake ferry.
There will be an approx. 10km and 22km race route. I ran the trails last year and they are amazing with lots of ups and downs and gorgeous views of the lake- you will be entertained! Both courses are ALL singletrack and very runnable. It's a great day to bring along the family too as there are wonderful trails along the lake to go for a small hike or picnic to keep busy.
If anyone is planning to get in shape for the awesome Kaslo Sufferfest in the fall this is the opportunity to get going!
All proceeds for this race will go to the Tipi Camp a non profit society who's mission statement says it all:
"The objective of the Guiding Hands Recreation Society is to educate people about the value of nature and outdoor recreation to teach individual responsibility for conservation, ecological awareness and sustainability"
I will post all the information you'll need by Mid April, but keep the date booked in your running plans as that wont change!....
If anyone has any questions, please fire me off an e-mail at randy@spearhead.ca
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Winter Biking, Running and Spring Trail Running Race
You have to work real hard to shake off those Kootenay winter doldrums some of us face every December/January. So instead of giving in (for me that could be a lot of movies and going to bed at 8pm) I've found you just need to embrace it, be creative, there's always something fun waiting just around the corner or your imagination.
Snow biking is one way to have a great night out. The boys at NRG in Nelson (who are the distributor for these bikes made by Surly) graciously let me take their bikes for a spin. I have to say it was a great workout and an amazing amount of fun, especially on a bright moonlit night.
We rode for 3 1/2 hrs on a combination of rail trails, singletrack and logging roads for a fun 25km.
I just started to get back into running after a two month hiatus with some nice easy 1-2 hour runs around town mixing up different terrain to keep it fun and interesting. I do only have six weeks to get ready for a fun run in Nicaragua, if I am so inclined physically to challenge.
I figure a nice fun day out seeing 50km of Nicaraguan back country can't be that bad...that said, I am not a fan of the heat and humidity, especially the combination of them! The last time I experienced this, was only a couple a hundred kilometres to the south in Costa Rica at the 3 day LaRuta bike race- ouch did I suffer :( ....
Bill and I are looking to put on a spring trail race in Pilot Point, on the East Shore, probably the end of April. The trails there are amazing, with beautiful views of Kootenay Lake. Being low down at lake level, these trails usually open early in the season. I'll probably put some more info up in February, so check back then- but I am thinking of a shorter 8-10km route and a 15-20km one for those with a few km on the legs.
Snow biking is one way to have a great night out. The boys at NRG in Nelson (who are the distributor for these bikes made by Surly) graciously let me take their bikes for a spin. I have to say it was a great workout and an amazing amount of fun, especially on a bright moonlit night.We rode for 3 1/2 hrs on a combination of rail trails, singletrack and logging roads for a fun 25km.
I just started to get back into running after a two month hiatus with some nice easy 1-2 hour runs around town mixing up different terrain to keep it fun and interesting. I do only have six weeks to get ready for a fun run in Nicaragua, if I am so inclined physically to challenge.I figure a nice fun day out seeing 50km of Nicaraguan back country can't be that bad...that said, I am not a fan of the heat and humidity, especially the combination of them! The last time I experienced this, was only a couple a hundred kilometres to the south in Costa Rica at the 3 day LaRuta bike race- ouch did I suffer :( ....
Bill and I are looking to put on a spring trail race in Pilot Point, on the East Shore, probably the end of April. The trails there are amazing, with beautiful views of Kootenay Lake. Being low down at lake level, these trails usually open early in the season. I'll probably put some more info up in February, so check back then- but I am thinking of a shorter 8-10km route and a 15-20km one for those with a few km on the legs.
Monday, November 28, 2011
When running becomes a hastle- try ski touring
As much as I miss running, there comes a time of the year in the Kootenays, where it is just not meant to be- yet the mountains are still beckoning my call. So with the trails covered over in their deep sleep for the winter, I suppose we should take that as a hint to go enjoy other gifts we're given. Anyways, if you want to work those quads over the winter with minimal strain on the knees and other joints, then a good day of ski touring is the perfect activity.
Of course some Nordic skate skiing thrown into the mix too, provides a great break on my body before another season of trail running starts. That said; the 2012 season is around the corner with lots of fun adventures to be had starting with a 50km trail race in Nicaragua in February up some volcano on a small island on Lake Nicaragua.
http://www.lostworldsracing.com/prologue-race-isla-de-ometepe-nicaragua/
I suppose I better start some long logging road runs again in January?....
Of course I will be going back to the Earl Grey Pass again this summer with some unfinished business as well as the Rockwall trail and maybe even a spring R2R2R run across the Grand Canyon and back, but that might be a little much too early in the season. I also hope I can inspire more local folks to come out and enjoy some of these adventures- you'd be surprised what you can accomplish! If any runs interest you, please let me know.
Hmmmm.....nice for November!
This couloir is looking filled in and yummy!
Of course some Nordic skate skiing thrown into the mix too, provides a great break on my body before another season of trail running starts. That said; the 2012 season is around the corner with lots of fun adventures to be had starting with a 50km trail race in Nicaragua in February up some volcano on a small island on Lake Nicaragua.
http://www.lostworldsracing.com/prologue-race-isla-de-ometepe-nicaragua/
I suppose I better start some long logging road runs again in January?....
Of course I will be going back to the Earl Grey Pass again this summer with some unfinished business as well as the Rockwall trail and maybe even a spring R2R2R run across the Grand Canyon and back, but that might be a little much too early in the season. I also hope I can inspire more local folks to come out and enjoy some of these adventures- you'd be surprised what you can accomplish! If any runs interest you, please let me know.
Hmmmm.....nice for November!
This couloir is looking filled in and yummy!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Kaslo Sufferfest
The 2nd annual Sufferfest went off this past weekend, bringing in some 300 racers to participate in the biking and running events. Janis, the event coordinator, as well as the whole town of kaslo, did an amazing job of putting on this fun filled festival weekend.
Originally the 5okm trail run was to run through the high alpine and finish in Kaslo and this is what got me excited about checking it out as I love the journey so much more than the race. Although the route was changed to two 25km loops around the Kaslo area, it was quite fun keeping Lex and I entertained for many hours.
We started at 6am in the pitch black in downtown kaslo. It was a perfect 12 degrees out- even a little humid. We started the run with a 5km - 2000' steep climb out of Kaslo before leveling off onto some wonderful rolling singletrack which traversed Mt Buchanan. Before we new it we rolled through the first 25km loop in 2:35 feeling really fresh. At km 35 we definitely started to feel like our legs were now heading into virgin territory at this distance so things started to slow down for sure. By km 45, although we liked descending, the steep downhills were tough on the legs at this point. We did keep up a nice steady pace till the finish, but not with the same pep as we did on the first loop. I think next year we will be ready to handle a 50km race with much more smoothness all the way to the finish line! In the end we were both really happy with our time of 5:40 as my goal was for a sub 6hr day. Other than dealing with some leg cramping I felt great at the finish...Lex, the rock star, didn't seam to have any issues at all.
Being only my second year of running, It was great to accomplish my year end goal of a 50km trail running race. That said; I'm not really looking to race much beyond that (famous last words) but I am really excited about finding more exploratory mountain runs in that 50-80km range for fun next year as I know I am surrounded by so many of them here in the Kootenays and Rockies.
Bill finished 3rd in his age group in the men's 10km
Lex and I at the finish of the 50km race
Lex in the 50km -60+ wins again!
Originally the 5okm trail run was to run through the high alpine and finish in Kaslo and this is what got me excited about checking it out as I love the journey so much more than the race. Although the route was changed to two 25km loops around the Kaslo area, it was quite fun keeping Lex and I entertained for many hours.
We started at 6am in the pitch black in downtown kaslo. It was a perfect 12 degrees out- even a little humid. We started the run with a 5km - 2000' steep climb out of Kaslo before leveling off onto some wonderful rolling singletrack which traversed Mt Buchanan. Before we new it we rolled through the first 25km loop in 2:35 feeling really fresh. At km 35 we definitely started to feel like our legs were now heading into virgin territory at this distance so things started to slow down for sure. By km 45, although we liked descending, the steep downhills were tough on the legs at this point. We did keep up a nice steady pace till the finish, but not with the same pep as we did on the first loop. I think next year we will be ready to handle a 50km race with much more smoothness all the way to the finish line! In the end we were both really happy with our time of 5:40 as my goal was for a sub 6hr day. Other than dealing with some leg cramping I felt great at the finish...Lex, the rock star, didn't seam to have any issues at all.
Being only my second year of running, It was great to accomplish my year end goal of a 50km trail running race. That said; I'm not really looking to race much beyond that (famous last words) but I am really excited about finding more exploratory mountain runs in that 50-80km range for fun next year as I know I am surrounded by so many of them here in the Kootenays and Rockies.
Bill finished 3rd in his age group in the men's 10km
Lex and I at the finish of the 50km race
Lex in the 50km -60+ wins again!
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