Though the Buntzen Lake Enduro is longer and has greater elevation gain, this is the toughest Enduro course of the 5 Peaks season. Last year pace bunny and I ran the course together and I was just happy to complete it without medical attention (LOL). This year I would be running it alone as pace bunny had conflicting commitments. Would I be up for the challenge on my own?
The missus decided not to join me up at Whistler for the weekend of the race so I was on my own. I drove up Friday afternoon and checked into the hotel where most of the racers and organizers were staying: the Marriott. The hotel is in the upper village partway up one of the ski slopes, so walking down and back up from the village is an excellent bit of exercise and stretching. I went into the village to have an early dinner and found a small Italian restaurant with a good menu and had a great dish of pasta and tiramisu for dessert. I then grabbed some breakfast items from the local grocery store and headed back up the ski slope trail to the hotel. My room was a 1 bedroom suite - a one bedroom apartment actually, so I had a comfortable nights sleep and woke up early to eat and make my way to the gondola for the trip up to the starting area.
Race morning was not too chilly. The weather was pleasant enough that I decided to take my point and shoot camera with me in my gear bag in case I had time to snap some pix before the race or after if I wasn't too damaged by the experience. When I arrived at the peak the sun was bright and the air was crisp. I got a few good snaps of the trails I would be running and some of the alpine flowers in bloom. I also saw the new Peak2Peak chairlift which takes folks between Whistler and Blackcomb in one trip. Apparently it is one of the longer gondola rides in world, if not the longest. Cool.
Racers were assembling and getting ready for the event. I checked in my bag at the gear check and did a few warm up jogs around the peak area. I immediately felt the effects of the thin air. Oh boy, memories from last year's run. I got myself settled into the starting area and began the race in the third wave of runners.
I got about 300 metres before I had to slow to a fast walk! Fortunately, I was not the only one doing this. That thin air, eh?! After about 30 seconds of recovery I resumed running and came to the first downhill of the race. Because I have been practicing my downhill running I found myself gaining and passing several runners. There were lots of loose rocks and small puddles on this part of the trail but my feet were finding sufficient support and I wasn't rolling any ankle. The course flattened out and then began to ascend at which point most of the folks I passed caught up with me but hey it felt good while it lasted. I took the ascent at a very slow pace then walked as the incline became steeper. Not a lot of people behind me were game for passing at this point so I didn't worry about staying far to the right for a while.
I was feeling pretty good so far. I kept myself from going too fast and tried to keep my breathing deep and at a consistent rhythm. I found myself taking the descents with much more confidence than last year. I must be learning to trust myself more and to not overthink my run. We came to a narrow part of the trail which would only allow single file and I was very happy that only a handful of people passed me. One woman who passed me took a switchback a bit too fast and performed a very powerful butt plant followed by an amazingly graceful recovery. I complemented her on her gracefulness and she was grateful for it. Not long after I performed a near butt plant but, thanks to the yoga training for my quads, I was able to spring back up before my butt hit the ground so it was my turn to get a complement from the folks behind me. Another first in Greg's trail racing adventures!
This part of the trail led out to a boulder strewn flat bit that took us to the ascent to the tea hut building on the highest part of the route. I found myself leaping over the boulders with little trepidation, whereas last year I was very hesitant and absolutely convinced I was going to sprain an ankle. This is not to say I was going very fast, it's just that I felt more confident and maintained a steady pace. It was at this point that I heard the person behind me, who was keeping pace with me for the last kilometre or so, blow her nose.
So, for me, I need every ounce of concentration just to stay upright and focused on the trail ahead of me. It would be inconceivable for me to be running on trail like this and manage to dig out a tissue, blow my nose and (hopefully) jam it back into whatever pocket it came from (it would be very bad karma to litter during a trail race) without at least one face plant. I hollered back at my impressive trail mate "Wow, you are so coordinated that you can trail race and blow your nose at the same time!" to which she laughed and replied "Ya, but what you can't see is that I just blew my nose into my sleeve!". Ah, the things we discover about the racing community when we undertake a challenging course.
My nose-blowing companion excused herself and flew by me before the ascent to the tea hut, wishing me good luck and thanking me for the laugh. I began what is the steepest ascent on the route and slowed down to a walk. By now the racers were scattered far enough apart that no one was passing me nor did I have any satisfaction in passing others. This ascent is a killer. I am sure that the front runners struggle mightily to get to this peak - I can only imagine at this point in my trail running adventure what it would be like to run up this incline.
I reached the plateau just before the peak with little oomph to spare and welcomed the encouraging words of the aid station attendants. I pressed on the 100 metres or so to the peak and then prepped myself for the ascent.
It was a blast! I basically let go and allowed gravity to carry me forward. I managed to pass a few people and flew by several hikers who were making the ascent to the tea hut. I had to be careful not to go too fast because there was lots of loose rock (Screeee!!!) and I didn't want my legs to get out from under me. I managed to maintain control and stay upright. The course flattened out and turned to the left to head towards the start/finish area. This part of the route has several boulders and sharp rocks. Last year I found this part quite difficult but this year I was able to navigate with little difficulty. I was still hurting for oxygen but at least I had reduced the psychological horror from last year. I ascended a small incline and headed towards the finish line, which of course is uphill all the way. I managed to finish strong and and happy.
At first, I thought that my watch was on the fritz because it was reporting that I had run this route significantly faster than last year. The race clock on the finish line marquee confirmed it and so did the online results that I checked after. I had run the route over 14 minutes FASTER than last year. Yikes! Now this is hardly a record breaking result, but for me I was very happy that my focus on the downhill running and footing was starting to pay off.
I learned from some fellow racers that the awards ceremony was being held over at the Blackcomb chalet and that the organizers had arranged for us to take the new Peak2Peak gondola over there. Awesome! It was quite a ride and I was able to get some pictures there and back.
The awards ceremony was pretty good. I think people were happy just to be inside as the weather had turned a bit and it was getting chilly out. As always there was a "feats of strength" portion of the awards program including a competition which is typically a push ups race. This time, the announcer solicited ideas for the competition and the group selected "plank pose". Starting with the men, several folks got down on the floor and assumed the yoga plank pose (look it up if you don't know it). After two minutes several men had dropped out with the winner lasting just under 6 minutes. Then it was the ladies turn. I mentioned to the fellow standing next to me that I was sure that the women would last twice as long as the men at this activity, but I was immediately scoffed and mocked.
9 minutes into the competition the two remaining women called it quits. This was after the winner starting supplementing her pose with "supermans" (look it up). Oh ya and did I mention that these women had just run over 10 km and 720 metres of elevation starting at almost a mile high? Impressive.
I left the chalet and wandered around the trails on Blackcomb for a while and managed to get my very first picture of a Marmot in the wild. As I was composing my shot two women stopped and asked me what the animal was ( I get asked to identify critters a lot). I told them it was a Marmot or "Whistler" and that this critter was the namesake for this ski resort village. They asked me if I knew what it ate. I told them it ate lost skiers and curious hikers and that was why it was so fat. Fortunately it could not eat smart ass trail runners because they are too fast.
I came away from this trail race very happy with my result and with fresh motivation for my next race. Once again the 5 Peaks folks did an awesome job organizing this event.
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