Deception Pass 50K 2018

I had not planned on running Rainshadow's Deception Pass 50k in 2018. I had planned to volunteer for the race; but a friend of a friend wanted to transfer her bib number (Rainshadow Running allows this), so I decided four weeks out to go for it.

I had ran the Deception Pass 50k in 2015 in 6 hours, 43 minutes, so my only goal this time round was to run it faster than I did in 2015.

Three of us, me, Charlene Waldner and Andrew Barclay went over on the Washington State Ferries "International" sailing from Sidney, B.C. to Anacortes, Washington. We had a hotel room in Anacortes. We picked up a parking pass for Washington State Park at Ace Hardware, and dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Saturday December 8, 2018
It was a beautiful day for racing with good weather, about eight degrees and overcast. We drove to the start line for just after 6 am, and checked in at the warm large tent.  My only goals for this race were to have fun and beat my time from 2015. I didn't have any splits or anything, I was just going to go and see how things went.

I had fueled up with enough tailwind for the duration, mixed at 600 calories per litre. That should be good for three hours. I didn't plan to stop much.

The start of Rainshadow Running's Deception Pass 50 km, on December 8, 2018   Photo: Andrew Barclay

Start Line to Bowman Aid Station - 10.5 km
About 250 runners lined up at the start line just outside the large warm tent. Andrew was not running, he was volunteering helping us cross a busy road during the race.  James Varner, the Race Director, had forgotten to bring a megaphone, so he stood on a ladder, and yelled out to us to not push people off the bridge and GO!.

And that was the last I saw of Charlene until the finish line. She quickly moved ahead of me on the starting road section. I knew this would be fast, and too fast for a 50 k start. So I let her and lots of other runners go.

The race is a series of five "lollipops" and a big loop. These are essentially out and back loops in the first half. The second half is mostly an 11 km forested loop that we run twice. So the "lollipop" is about 1.5 km out from the start line on the park road, which is downhill and flat at first and ends with a short steep uphill, then we ran back on a flowing down hill trail past the start area.  From here we ran on a technical coastal trail that climbed over bluffs and crossed beaches to Deception Pass Bridge (it's actually two bridges, with a small island in between them).  I arrived at the bridge at 7.33 am. The run across the bridge was easy and fun in good weather, though a little scary if you have a fear of heights.

After the bridge we climbed over a barrier and joined a small technical trail to a major trail junction. Dropping down, we went out on the second "lollipop" around a small bluff. This was run in the opposite direction to 2015 and I found it easier to run that way around. On the single track trail, we were passing other runners who were ahead of me while I was running outbound on the lollipop or behind me while I was running inbound.  There were lots of high fives and words of encouragement as we passed each other.  Completing the second "lollipop" I joined the single track trail to the third "lollipop". I knew this was where the photographer would be on the bluff to capture pictures of us with Deception Pass Bridge in the background.

After completing the third "lollipop", I ran through Bowman Aid Station at the 9 km mark for the first pass through with out stopping (just made sure my bib number was recorded). When I got home after the race I looked at the data from 2015. From this I have compared my time in this race to the 2015 race. Outbound at Bowman Aid Station (first pass through) I was 5 minutes ahead of my time from 2015.  The fourth "lollipop"is quite an easy run, with a fair climb out of Bowman Aid Station. The run back is a gentle uphill and then a nice downhill and was easy to run. I was back at Bowman Aid Station at 10.5 km by 8:26 am, 4 minutes ahead of 2015.

The Deception Pass 50 km course - on Whidbey and Fidalgo islands via Deception Pass Bridge.  Image from SportTracks.

Bowman to Cornet Aid Station (1st pass through) - 24 km
I stopped for less than a minute at Bowman to fill up a water bottle. I was drinking more water than I thought I would. This was also causing another problem-  too many calories per hour. I had to adjust by drinking some of the fresh water I carried. I also planned to mix the Tailwind at 400 calories per litre, which would be better given how much I was drinking per hour (I was drinking about a half litre per hour but expected to be drinking a third litre per hour).

From Bowman Aid Station I was soon on the fifth and largest "lollipop". At the start of the loop I crossed a main road and Andrew was there helping us to not get run over. I passed Andrew at 8:38 am.  He told me Charlene was 10 minutes ahead of me.  The loop was a fairly gentle climb so I ran/walked the hills. From the top it was a beautiful flowing down hill and run along the shoreline back to the road crossing at 9:04 am.  High-five'd Andrew again and continued back the way I'd come to Deception Pass Bridge.

Once over the bridge, I had a smooth shoreline trail that led to Goose Rock, the highest point of the course. I knew it was coming and I knew there was a "false" climb before the real climb. The 25 metres high false climb had us thinking this was the climb to Goose Rock, only for it to drop us back down to sea-level before the trail junction for the real climb to the 134 metres summit.  It's not a big climb but it is a steep switch back, so I just geared down into climbing mode and 10 minutes later I'm at the summit.  My legs were not feeling particularly strong on the climbs, which surprised me. But it must have been just one of those days.

On the third "lollipop" loop with the Deception Pass bridges in the background - behind the right main bridge you can see Hoypus Hill in the distance, which is where we ran an 11 km loop twice.    Photo by Glenn Tachiyama

From the summit, the trail down is very runable. A massive downed tree blocked the trail in 2015. The tree was still there, but a path had been cut through it, so it was much easier than trying to climb over it like last in 2015. Once at the bottom, I had two kilometres of Cornet Road to run. This was mostly down hill or level, so a pretty easy run. I arrived at Cornet Aid Station at 10:09 am, 4 minutes ahead of  2015.  So far, I had gain four minutes in the first 10k, but I ran the second 10 k at about the same pace as 2015.

Cornet to Cornet Aid Station (2nd pass through) - 35 km
The second half of the race was mostly running the same 11 km loop twice. I actually liked this section the best as the trails are quite flowy and runable.  Dave Melanson from Salt Spring Island was volunteering at Cornet and he quickly filled my bottle with water. I added Tailwind and grabbed some coca-cola in my reusable cup. I drank the coke while walking out of the aid station, allowing me to get in and out of the aid station in under 2 minutes. I figured walking and drinking was better than standing and drinking. Once I'd finished the coke, I put my disposable cup away and began to run along the wide fire road.

The course turned up hill and while gentle, I mostly walked up here with some short runs. At the north end of the loop there was a long climb on single track that then turned and became steep but short - overall a climb from Cornet of 100 metres.  In 2015 my legs cramped at this point and that slowed me down as I had to deal with it. This year there was no muscle cramping.  After the climb there was a winding bumpy forest trail, but it soon joined an old fire road and from there it was a smooth 4.5 km of down hill or flat single track running all the way back to Cornet Aid Station. I arrived back at Cornet Aid Station at 11:25 am.  That loop took me one hour, and 14 minutes.  I was six minutes ahead of my 2015 time at this point.

Cornet to Cornet Aid Station (3rd pass through) - 35 km
Once again Dave was there to fill my water, and I grabbed more coke and some watermelon, and got walking as quickly as I could, leaving at 11:27 am. I ran it similar to last time, though I did feel the start of calf cramp at the top of the steep hill. They didn't materialise, and I took ginger and salt tabs to hold them off. I figured I was under fueling as my gut was having issues with the orange flavoured Tailwind (I'd used it on a training run and it bothered me then too - so I was stupid for using it on the race).  As a result I was mostly avoiding the Tailwind at this point, drinking water and relying on the aid station for fuel (and some M&Ms I had with me).  I arrived back at Cornet Aid Station at 12:46 pm. That loop had taken me one hour and 19 minutes - so 5 minutes slower than the first loop. But I was now 15 minutes ahead of my 2015 time.  I'm not sure why I was slower, but I think the starting of leg cramp had slowed me down a bit over the distance.

Elevation Profile of the Deception Pass 50 km - as far as ultra trail races go, this is a fairly flat profile - only 1500 metres elevation gain and loss overall.  Image from SportTracks.

Cornet to Finish Line - 50 km
The same as last the two times, Dave got me water and grabbed coke and water melon and I was off walking. I had to run/walk Cornet Road and then the trail hill up to the underpass under Deception Pass Road. I wanted to run more but after a few metres I could feel the start of muscle cramps.  It was too late in the race to do much about it, but I took ginger and salt tabs anyway.  Being off the Tailwind was likely a contributor, along with bad core form in the later part of the race putting stress on muscles not used to the work.

After the road underpass it was just a matter of navigating down the technical trail along the shore back to the beach where the finish line was located. I hit the beach and both calf muscles went into a cramp, forcing me to walk across the finish line. And I finished at 1:28 pm, 15 minutes ahead of my finish time in 2015.  So while I did gain time, my pace from Cornet to the finish was exactly the same as it was in 2015.

Charlene had finished at 12:39 pm, a good 50 minutes ahead of me, and placing fourth in her age group and 18th woman overall. I placed 14th in my age group and 97th male overall.  The main thing though is that I enjoyed the run and was happy to beat my time from 2015.  It did't feel like a long race like it did the first time I ran it.

Also congratulations to Kathy MacRae for completing her first 50 kilometres race.  It was so good to see her at the finish line and on the course (once at Bowman aid station).

Thanks to the Race Director, James Varner, Elizabeth Reese and all of the volunteers that made this race possible. And thanks to James for having a decent bib transfer program to allow people who can't run to transfer to those who can and want to.  Thanks to that I got to run this race again.

I gave my orange flavoured Tailwind to Charlene. I'll stick with the Raspberry and Berry Tailwind flavours as they both work well for me.

My 2019 plans are:  February 2 - Orcas 50k on Orcas Island, Washington; April 20 - Oldham Way Ultra 40 miles in Oldham, UK (the race I went to run last year but was cancelled when a nasty blizzard hit the morning of the race);  May 11 - Sun Mountain 50 miles in Winthrop, Washington; August 9 to 11 - Fat Dog 120 miles in the Cascade mountains Manning Park.

See you on the trails.

At the finish line - with leg cramps but happy. Photo by Andrew Barclay.

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Brigade 50 Mile Ultra: HBC Fur Traders Were Insane

It was probably a few years ago when I first heard about the 1849 HBC Brigade Trail between Tulameen and Hope B.C.  Over the past 10 years, volunteers have been clearing and opening up the old fur trading route, and last year, Mountain Madness staged the inaugural foot race following the route.  I knew I wanted to do it.

Crossing the Tulameen River three kilometres into the race.

September 7, 2018

Kent Ainscough, Charlene Waldner and I were in the buffet on the 9:00am ferry from Swartz Bay, Vancouver Island, to Tsawwassen on the mainland.  One other should have been with us, but unfortunately, Lisa Fehr fractured her right thumb in two places near the end of taking down Fat Dog flagging on Frosty Mountain a month earlier. She made the right choice not to try this race with one hand in a cast. I'm sure she could have done it, but given the conditions, the weather and the total wilderness experience of the route, it was a good choice not to.  

We arrived in Hope and met the race director, Heather MacDonald at the "Race Headquarters" in the Slumber Lodge in Hope.  A race like this must take a lot of logistics planning and I have to say, Mountain Madness pulled it off flawlessly.  There are actually two races. The 50 mile Tulameen to Hope, and the 19 mile Jacobson Lake to Hope.  Actually, the finish is at Peers Creek at Exit 183 on the Coquihalla Highway  - better than running along the freeway to Hope.  

For the 50 Mile race we parked the car in Hope and boarded the bus with about 14 other runners. The trip to Princeton along highway 3 took just under 2 hours. Along the way we coudl see the Placer Mountain fire that shut down the first two legs of the Fat Dog 120 a month earlier. We arrived at the Princeton Library at 7:50 pm.  Here, we picked up our bibs, shirts and left our drop bags for Lodestone Lake and Jacobson Lake.  All three of us opted to have one drop bag at Jacobson Lake.  Then we walked about three blocks to the Cedars Hotel for the night.  

Up early and on the race bus at 5 am with the same 14 runners that came in from Hope. The trip up to Tulameen was slow going on a winding mountain road, but we arrived at 5:35 am at the Tulameen rink.  There were about another eight runners there who had crew and had driven up to Tulameen. In total there were 22 runners starting the race, only three were women. As sunrise was not until 6:30 am, it was dark but slowly lightening up. Because the start of the race is three kilometres on road, we decided not to use our headlights. It should be bright enough by the time we hit the river crossing and the forest trails.  

Climbing Mount Olivine

We left our overnight bags on the bus and they would be delivered to the finish line. The bus now had to make a 3 hour trip back to Hope to pick up the 19 mile racers and take them on a 2.5 hour trip along forest service roads to Jacobson Lake, where they would start at noon.

The 1849 Brigade Trail was first used by the local aboriginal peoples. According to history,  HBC fur traders were following the Tulameen River from Princeton trying to find a way through the mountains to the coast. When they arrived at what is now Tulameen, the local aboriginals told them to follow Blackeye's hunting route over the mountains. So the fur traders left the river at this point and started across the mountains.  It took their packhorse brigades five days to travel from Tulameen to Hope, and along the way there are five camps where they would stop.  

So here we were in the dark in a sleepy little village in the Cascade Mountains about to embark on a endurance foot race over the mountains. When you think about it, it sounds like a stupid thing to do.  As the Race Director was in Hope, Kelly Cook (the originator of this race) read us the race briefing. What to do if we see bears and there is a grizzly in the area past Jacobson Lake, but it doesn't like people and we won't see it.  

Leg one: Tulameen to Lodestone Lake (21.5 km - Ascent 1407 m, Descent 510 m)

At 6 am, with a pilot vehicle leading the way, we were off. Twenty-two crazy runners.

All of the runners must have been experienced ultra runners because nobody took off fast. We all kept it slow, doing the "ultra shuffle" as we made our way along Tulameen Road following the river. After three kilometres, we turned off the road, then over the rocky sandbars and feet wet across the Tulameen River.

Lodestone Lake Aid Station at 21.5 kilometres.  

The weather was pretty good to start the day. Overcast but the sun was able to breakout as we climbed Olivine Mountain. At first we were on an old mining road, then the trail took off at a sharp angle to the left. I missed the first left turn. The flagging was obvious, but I missed it. Charlene saw it and corrected me. Then we were on single track boot trail climbing up the mountain. Once up, it was a fun run on rolling trails, in trees, across meadows and through some clear cuts, crossing forest service roads here and there. The small field of runners soon spread out. Another runner caught up to us and then stayed with us all the way up to Lodestone Lake.  I was happy to see Lodestone Lake Aid Station. 

Leg Two: Lodestone Lake to Horseguard Aid Station (16 km - Ascent 210 m, Descent 755 m)

I refilled water and my nutrition "Tailwind", and had some bacon and a Mars bar, then we were off following the jeep road across the Tulameen Plateau at 1900 metres above sea-level. The Jeep road was actually fun to run, a lot of down at first, then a lot of up. We finally turned off the Jeep trail and followed Blackeye's trail to the site of his camp at the highest point on the plateau. Then from here the trail headed down into the Defiles. This was a beautiful narrow valley that took us down to the Tulameen River and Horseguard Aid Station. Mostly down hill this, was a fun fast section of the course though of course it felt like it would never end.

Running the Jeep roads on the Tulameen Plateau

To get into Horseguard Aid Station we had to cross the Tulameen River. The choice: walking across a fallen tree or fording the river. The safest seemed to be to ford the river. On the opposite beach was a tent for the aid station crew, and just past that in a clearing behind bushes was the aid station.

Leaving the Jeep trail and on single track. Trail to Blackeye's hunting camp and then the Defiles.

Heading down the Defiles

Leg Three: Horseguard to Jocobson Lake Aid Station (12.5 km - Ascent 235 m, Descent 145 m)

At Horseguard I refilled water and added my Tailwind nutrition. I also had some hot broth, which was so welcome as the weather was getting cooler. I grabbed some Mars bars and drank some Coke.  Then we were on our way.

Crossing the Tulameen River to access Horseguard Aid Station

Wonderful volunteers at the remote Horseguard Aid Station

Leaving Horseguard the trail was flat, then an abrupt and steep 200 metre climb. Once up, the trail was largely flowing and runable.  I started to feel a hot spot on my right middle toe. I knew what had happened - the old tape I had used had given up after all of the water my feet had been through. Ironically the tape was likely causing the irritation. I didn't want to stop and decided to hold out until Jacobson Lake Aid Station where I would deal with it.  I did stop to put my rain jacket on as the rain was now becoming constant and harder and I was starting to get chilled.

Fun single track between Horseguard and Jacobson Lake Aid Stations

We made good time on here and soon came to the junction where we had to turn right. From here it was only 500 metres to the aid station. We arrived here about 30 minutes behind the "planned" timing I had come up with based on the elevation chart and my limited knowledge of the course. Those times were only estimates for planning purposes - things like making sure I have enough fuel between aid stations, etc.   So far so good.

Arriving Jacobson Lake aid Station. Kelly Cook (in red) responsible for opening up the trail and asking Heather to put the race on.

The buffet at Jacobson Lake Aid Station - everything here pizza to desserts

Leg Four: Jacobson Lake to Sowaqua Aid Station (10 km - Ascent 455 m, Descent 995 m)

At Jacobson Lake there was a buffet of food choices available, from Pizza to soup, candy, ginger ale, coca-cola, and fruit.  It was hard to decide what to eat.  I had a drop bag at this location with a change of socks, shoes, more Tailwind nutrition and another layer.

I tended to my right foot by removing some tape and replacing it and then putting on a dry sock. My other foot was fine and I didn't want to disturb the tape, so I left the sock on that one. I did put a dry pair of shoes on. Then I put on a hat and gloves. I was cold and the rain was pretty heavy. We were under a tent to change, so we kept dry while in the aid station.

Conglomerate Flats, Mount Davis behind - we go right and around and over Cascade Pass

We caught up to Kent at Jacobson Lake. He left about 5 minutes before we managed to get going. From Jacobson Lake Aid Station we ran on a forest service road for about 400 metres before turning off and beginning the long climb up to Cascade Pass.  I loved this climb. About three kilometres out of Jacobson Lake we crossed Conglomerate Flats, a stunningly beautiful alpine meadow with Mount Davis rising up in the mist beyond. We circled around Mount Davis and up to the pass on the opposite side.

While navigation is one thing to be mindful off when running wilderness trail races, timing is another. Before leaving I had written my estimated times at the aid stations on a schedule of the aid stations and their distances. This also included the cut-offs at two of the aid stations (Jacobson Lake at 4 pm and Sowaqua at 6 pm).   For some reason I had not put an estimated time of arrival at Sowaqua (60 km), but I did at the next aid station Colvile (67.5 km), where I had written the time of day arrival there as 5:15 pm.  And for some reason I read the 6 pm cut-off to be at Colvile.  We had left Jacobson Lake 40 minutes behind my estimate so in my mind I had us arriving Colvile just before Cut-off, but given every leg had taken a bit longer than estimate, I was now thinking we're not going to make the cut-off.

Cascade Pass, 1850 metres ASL in the cloud and rain

Poor Charlene, we hauled ass as much as we could up the climb to Cascade Pass. It was steep but we never stopped, we climbed solidly and as fast as we could.  Once over the Pass the trail dropped a bit but then climbed up the western flank of Mount Davis before dropping down into Camp Chevreuil. This was one of the five original Brigade camps along the route.  There was an interpretative sign, a bear-safe food cache storage and camping spots. After this the trail began an extremely steep descent, dropping almost 1000 metres to the Sowaqua Valley.  We dropped onto a Forest Service Road and then ran 100 metres to our left to the aid station.

Leg Five:  Sowaqua to Colvile Aid Station  (7.5 km - Ascent 270 m, Descent 245 m)

It was 4:45 pm when we arrived and I still thought we had to make Colvile by 6:00 pm so with only one hour and fifteen minutes to make 7.5 km I wanted to get going. We checked in and checked out and kept moving.  This trail was frustrating. It was mostly up hill - while the chart says 270 metres gain and 245 metres descent, it felt like it was all up hill. It was very technical and very muddy and extremely difficult to run.

Through the mud and skunk cabbage on the trail to Colvile

Around 5:30 pm I heard Charlene behind me swear. I looked back and she said she had rolled her ankle. I asked "Can you walk on it". She said "yes". I said, "Okay, keep moving".  Seriously though, out there there is no other choice. If she couldn't walk on it, then it's race over. We'd have to do what we could to bandage it, and then help her limp out to the next aid station, or get out the emergency blankets and wait for the sweeps to come through for assistance to get out.  To her credit, Charlene sucked it up and kept up a good pace.

I was feeling a bit down wondering how I could have screwed up the pacing so badly. I had set out with what I thought was a good pacing plan, well ahead of the cut-off and paces that I new I could handle accounting for the terrain, trail conditions, stops at aid stations and weather. As this was Charlene's first 50 mile race, I wanted to see here finish it. And now I felt like I had screwed it up.

We arrived at Colvile Aid Station at 6:12 pm  - 12 minutes after what I thought was the cut-off there.

Leg Six:  Colvile Aid Station to the Finish  (12.5 km - Ascent 580 m, Descent 1240 m)

As we arrived in the aid station I asked "can we keep going?". They said "yes, we haven't been told otherwise". Then I realised my mistake, the 6 pm cut-off was at the last aid station we had passed earlier (Sowaqua). I was so relieved. I was also thinking it was a stupidly early cut-off given we had four hours until the 10:00 pm cut-off at the finish line 10 km away.  I think Charlene wanted to hit me for panicking her over the last couple of hours.  Now i was thinking we'd made good time. The aid station timer told me Kent had left 15 minutes ahead of us.

We set off for the last climb - a stupidly steep almost 600 metres climb up Manson's Ridge. This was a diabolical chin scraper of a climb. Those fur traders must have been drunk when they came up with this route.  In places the trail was so muddy it was hard to get any grip, and without poles I have no idea how I would have gotten up there in the rain. I was wondering how they managed to get the pack horses up there. We saw rebar on the trail in at least one spot. We learned later that it was used to pull the horse up over the pass.  Daylight was fading as we climbed, but we made it to the top without the need for headlamps.  From Sowaqua to the finish the flagging was complimented with Fat Dog style reflectors to mark the way in the dark.

HBC Trail flagging, pink race flagging and later reflectors kept us on course

As we began our descent down the west side of Manson's Ridge, we stopped before we entered the tree cover to put on headlamps. Then an equally steep and treacherous 2 km of down hill was before us.  Thankfully this section had Fat Dog style reflectors, and they gave some comfort that were were on the right trail. They also showed us how steeply down hill we had to drop as we saw reflector after reflector below our feet.

Once down at Camp Manson, the trail became a fast gentle down hill. I stayed with Charlene at this point, reminded her to take in water and calories and, to recite the Fat Dog motto, "to suck it up Whiney baby!" and dig deep.  I wasn't going to go ahead now to save a few minutes on time. We'd come so far might as well finish together.

After crossing a bouncing bridge we were on a forest service road and we ran about one kilometre down here, and finally the lights of the finish line came into view. We crossed the line and received a big hug from race director Heather MacDonald.

A volunteer got me a burger and a drink, and we joined Kent by the heater in the tent. Kent had finish about one hour before we did. From here, we picked up our bags, and our drop bag from Jacobson Lake that had been delivered while we were out on the mountain, and took the shuttle bus into Hope. Then to our hotel and sleep.

Afterthoughts
I enjoyed the Brigade 50 miler and I would do this one again. The trails were more technical than I expected and I'm not fast on muddy technical trails like this. But there was some nice runable single track too. The trails are mostly somewhat "new" in the sense they have been reopened after years of not being used at all. Some are detours due to logging, or the original trail bed has been destroyed. But in places you can certainly see the original engineering.

I'm certainly glad I had all the mandatory gear. I had one more layer that I didn't use and of course an emergency blanket and whistle. I always carry more water and calories than I think I'll need just in case something happens. I also had my small emergency 100 lumins flashlight with me, in addition to my variable 300/900/1500 lumins main headlamp (it lights the trail up 200 metres ahead).  And trekking poles. This was my first race with them and they were invaluable on this course. They reduced the work my quads, hamstrings and calves had to do tremendously. I had no muscle cramping issues whatsoever at any point during the race.  The Tailwind nutrition came through again for me - fueling on 300 calories per bottle and two bottles per three hours (200 calories per hour) kept my glycogen levels up, and I never had low energy. And Mar's bars - every race should stock Mars bars.

The HBC 1849 Brigade and Brigade 50 miler route - Tulameen to Peers Creek (Hope).

Thank you to all the volunteers out there. I think there were more of you than there were racers. Twenty-two racers started and twenty finished.  I highly recommend the race if you like lots of steep climbs and descents, technical muddy trails, wet wet river crossings, and a wilderness adventure following an historic fur trade route. And don't mind beling alone for hours at time in the mountains in any kind of weather, day or night. It is a harder course than the Fat Dog 50 miler.  This used to be the way from the interior to the coast; it's British Columbia and Canadian history.

Thank you to all my running friends. Lisa Fehr for initially suggesting this race. Kent Ainscough, Andrew Barclay, Karen Laberee, Richard Parker, Markus Pirker, Charlene Waldner, Lisa Large, Lori Herron, Randy Duncan and others for all of the support and crazy long runs that we do to train for these races.  Myke LaBelle for giving me time off from Finlayson Arm 28/50/100k volunteering duties so I could run this race. Thank you to Hicham and the Flatliners for all of the advice and Monday night tack coaching and encouragement.  And to the Victoria November Project tribe - another great community supporting and encouraging running crazyness.

Elevation chart of the Brigade 50 Miler - in order - Mount Olivine (15k), Tulameen Plateau (25k), Cascade Pass (55k) and Manson Ridge (70k)

And finally thank you to Heather Macdonald and Mountain Madness for putting this race on. And to Kelly Cook for dreaming this up and asking Heather to put the race on. If you want to run it next year, the dates may change due to Fat Dog date change.  Check the Mountain Madness website,

Cascade Crest 100: Confessions of a Pacer

When my friend Andrew Barclay said he wanted to run his first 100 mile ultra endurance run at Cascade Crest this year, I knew I wanted to support him in doing this.  Dave Scott, myself and Andrew drove down to Easton, Washington, a small town that appears to have closed down when the Interstate by-passed the town.

I read up on what to do as a pacer. In short, I had to be a good at lying. It also helps to know your runner and what works and what likely won't.  Figured I could do the lying part.

Confession 1: Pulling is Easier than Pushing.   When I met Andrew at the 111 km point on the race, at Lake Kachess Aid Station it was 5:30 am. Andrew was about an hour behind his planned 31.5 hour race (so on track for 32.5 hours).  As we set off down the single track I took the lead. I had no idea what speed to go, but started with a slow run to see if Andrew kept up. I soon learned that due to sore muscle in the leg, he could not run much on the flat. So we power hiked the flats and ran the down hill. Being ahead of Andrew, I hoped that I would "pull" him along. At times I got ahead by 20 or 30 metres, at other times I was right with him. On the smooth power hikes I was ahead a bit more.  For down hill or technical, I'd wait for Andrew before moving forward. This I hoped would motivate him to keep with me, or follow me through the technical sections and river crossings.

Waiting at Stampede Pass

Confession 2: Positive Attitude Wins the Race.   I focused on positive events to encourage Andrew.  As we passed other runners on the trail, I would tell Andrew how many we had passed. When we arrived at the aid stations, I would tell Andrew how far ahead of the "planned" schedule we were, and that we were making up time.  It would be easy to focus on negatives, like it's going to be a three hour climb to the next aid station, but that would not help.

Confession 3: Lying is a Necessary Skill for a Pacer.  The obvious is saying things like "you're doing well", "you look strong". But also other's like "the aid station isn't far (while I knew it was still 4 km away). As we climbed a forest service road, we could see the cut in the mountain way up above us. Andrew said "we're not going up there are we". I said "no, we're not" though I knew full well we were. No point having your runner focusing on a hard climb.

Crew hard at work.  Dave catching a nap before the night duties

Confession 4: Distraction Sometimes Helps.  I was part tour guide as we ran the last 50 kilometres. So as we hiked up a trail, I'd point out what I thought were interesting land formations and views (though in the clouds, we didn't have much view).  At times we'd talk and at other times I'd leave him to himself. I know for me I don't necessarily want to be social when I'm running and the solitude is good.  But I would check-in regularly and if I saw him starting to sink, talk to him, or break out one of the notes or videos from friends to encourage him on.

12:30 am at Hyak Aid Station - 54 miles into the race.

Confession 5: Eat and Drink.  Reminding Andrew to eat and drink was something I constantly did. Of all the pacer duties I think this is the most important. Get enough calories and water in but not going over what the system can handle.  But also, remind yourself as a pacer to eat and drink too. It was easy to not too. I was on fresh legs and feeling good - but like the runner, if I didn't fuel properly, I'd hit a wall at some point in the 50 km run.

Setting the pace on the long climb on forest service roads from Miracle Creek to No Name Ridge

Confession 6: Slow and Steady.   I know how I'd feel after 110 km. And going slow but steady is the best way to finish. This includes stops at aid stations to refuel.  I would count the minutes and remind Andrew every 2 minutes how long he had been in the aid station. I didn't push him out, but wanted him to know how long he was there. In each case he made the decision to leave, not me. Once he called "24 out" while I was still fuelling up. I wasn't worried - I knew I'd catch up to him.

Confession 7: Don't Correct a Positive Belief.  Andrew was focused on reaching French Cabin Aid Station because beyond that, except for one small up hill, it was all down hill. Actually it wasn't. There was a significant up hill and a lot of flat and small ups before we hit the final down hill to the last aid station. I didn't correct him.  It was worth it to see Andrew leave French Cabin with speed and energy, flying down the hill. On this leg I was behind and barely kept up with him. Until we hit the climb, then we went back to our pacer in front arrangement.

At the top of the first of five (actually there were seven) Cardiac Needles.

Confession 8: I Wished I was Running the Race.  I loved pacing and the volunteers and aid station crews were wonderful at making sure my needs were attended to as well. At practically every aid station they checked on me to make sure I had enough fuel and food too. But the experience of doing this with Andrew has made me want to run a 100 mile. So the plan is Fat Dog 120 next year.

Andrew finished 31 hours, 17 minutes - which is 1 hour and 13 minutes earlier than the pace he was on when he arrived at Lake Kachess.  Congratulations on a great race Andrew. And thank you to the organizers and volunteers that made the 2018 Cascade Crest Classic possible.

Fat Dog Strong

This year I had not planned to race  Fat Dog in the Cascade Mountains, but I had friends who did. I had planned to volunteer. For those who don't know, the Fat Dog is a series of four races. The longest and signature race is the 120 mile (196 km) event, that starts just outside Keremeos in the Okanagan, crosses over four peaks and ends at Lightning Lake in Manning Provincial Park.  The 70 mile (115 km) event starts at Blackwell Peak and joins the 120 mile course at the Heather/Bonnevier trails intersection and goes over two peaks to Lightning Lake. The 50 mile (80 km) starts at Cayuse Flats in Manning Park and the 40 mile (64 km) event starts at Sumallo Grove in Skagit Provincial Park.

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A wildfire on Placer Mountain closed the Ashnola Forest Service Rd, which provides access to the start and several aid stations, about two weeks before the event, which meant that the 120 mile race could not use the Keremeos to Bonnevier section. The race director Heather MacDonald rerouted and shortend the 120 mile route to 103 miles by adding a loop over the imposing Frosty Mountain in Manning Park, and by starting the race at Bonnevier.

Then the really bad new. Two days before the race was supposed to start Skagit Valley Provincial Park and Silver Skagit Forest Service Rd were closed due to a wildfire on Silvertip Mountain. There was nothing to do but cancel the races.

Fat Dog flagging with reflectors for night running. On Heather Trail.

So what to do. We decided to go anyway. Heather had planned informal runs on the open sections of the course for the hundreds of runners and support crews who had travelled from 12 countries and were already there or on their way to Manning Park.  The race flagging would be left in place until Sunday, and water caches were still on course for use of the runners.

Friday August 10, 2018 - Heather 32 km Out and Back Run, 1030 metres elevation gain/loss 
Friday morning, Kent Ainscough (who had planned to run the 120 mile race), Charlene Waldner (who had planned to run the 40 mile race), Lisa Fehr (who had planned to pace Kent over Skyline and Frosty on the revised course) and I headed over on the 7 am ferry to Tsawwassen.

Friday: Filling our water before heading out to run Heather - it was 30 degrees in the valley and smokey

The smoke from the wildfires was pretty bad as we drove through Skagit Valley Provincial Park. At Sumallo Grove and up to Cascades (location of two Fat Dog aid stations) the visibility was down to a few hundred metres.  It got better as we headed over the Alison Pass but still smoky at Manning Park Lodge.

We drove up the switchback road to the summit of Blackwell Peak and started our first run at about 3:30 pm. Our plan was to simply run and out and back on Heather Trail. This is one of the most beautiful sections of the race course. The 70 mile racers would see this in daylight, but normally for the 120 mile runners they're up here through the night or watching the sunrise while up here.  We ran fast on the down hill to Buckhorn Camp, then hiked the climb up to Bonnevier/Heather Junction.

at 2000 metres ASL - in the alpine meadows on Heather Trail

We met volunteers hauling used water jugs out and they told us that there was a water cache for Fat Dog runners at the location of Heather Aid Station, about 1 km down the Bonnevier Trail if we needed it. We didn't. We had our mandatory gear and lots of water on us, plus I had my water filter if we needed to fill up along the way.

I felt slow running, but I think it was partly the altitude (2000 metres) and the dust and smoke in the air. At times we could smell smoke, but mostly up there the air felt quite good. The views were obscured by smoke, but as the evening wore on, the smoke thinned and views opened up.  Heather trail flows mostly through alpine meadows in full bloom, but it also runs along some spectacular ridge lines. We met a lot of runners up there who had come for Fat Dog. Some had ran with the organised run that morning from Bonnevier to Cayuse Flats and were running it back to get the distance they wanted.

Heather Trail

We had thought about getting as far as Nicoman Ridge before turning back, but I had underestimated the distance. We wanted to be back by 10 pm mainly so we could eat and sleep. So after 3 hours, we still had 5 km to go to get to Nicoman Ridge and decided to turn back. Our pace was slowed mostly for picture stops and to enjoy the views.  We certainly were not in race mode.

The "Star Wars" section on Heather Trail near Third Brother

On the return, Lisa went on ahead and it ended up being me Kent and Charlene running together. At Bonnevier junction, we met two hikers who gave us a message from Lisa that she would keep going to the the parking lot. With no cell coverage or wifi, that's how we pass messages to each other on the trails.  The sun had set so we stopped to put our lights on. We knew that it gets dark quickly up there, and sure enough once we dropped down into the trees we needed the lights.  We arrived back at Blackwell Peak about 9:40 pm and headed down to the lodge to check-in and find food.

Sunset over the Three Brothers - Heather Trail

The restaurant closed at 9 pm and the pub didn't serve food. So dinner was whatever snack we had brought with us and a pint of IPA in the pub.  We had missed the Fat Dog BBQ, which started at 4 pm, but the run was certainly worth it.

Saturday August 11, 2018 - Skyline 25 km Loop Run, 1000 metres elevation gain/loss
We slept in a bit Saturday morning, but were out the door and ready to run by about 9:00 am.  Today we drove to Lightning Lake, the location of the Fat Dog finish line.   It was sad to see the Fat Dog trucks leaving, the finish line all packed up. The weather forecast for later in the day was rain and thundershowers, so there were no plans to celebrate at the lake. At the lake the smoke was quite bad and I actually wondered if it made sense to try running today. We couldn't see Skyline from the lake, though it is the mountain immediately west of the of the lake. We decided to go anyway.

Along South Gibson Trail to Strawberry Flats

We set of running along side Lightning Lake heading west on Lone Duck Bay Trail. We went through the campground, then joined Lower Gibson Trail that took us up to Strawberry Flats.    The race organizers has kindly flagged the way to Skyline 1 trail, that would take us up to Sky Junction, where we can join the Fat Dog course and "run" the course back to the finish line at Lightning Lake.  We had a beautiful run through Strawberry Flats before the trails started climbing up to Sky Junction.  At this point the pins that hold the strap on my left brand new Black Diamond Carbon Fibre trekking pole broke. I was not impressed. That should not happen.  We used duct tape to fasten the strap on the pole, and that worked for the remainder of the trip (tip: never ever go on a wilderness trail run without your essentials, and this should always include duct tape, it can be used to fix anything). This well constructed trail was easy to climb and above the tree line some nice views from the alpine meadows. High up on our left we could see the summits that the Fat dog course goes over and we would soon be climbing over too.

Sky Junction - site of the last aid station before the finish line on the Fat Dog race course

At Sky Junction we found race marking and we found the water cache that had been helicoptered in earlier in the week in preparation for the race. Sky Junction is where Skyline 1 and Skyline 2 trails meet on the edge of the mountain, near the summit. It's a spectacular location. I've only seen Sky Junction at night - the first time around 10:30 pm on the 50 Miler, and the second time around 2:00 am on the 70 miler.  Running on a mountain top at night, all you see is what you can see in your headlight, the rest is left to your imagination.  However, I do remember that between Sky Junction and the start of the long down hill to the finish line there were at least five false summits, and some incredibly long steep climbs.

Running along Skyline over the five peaks

I enjoyed doing this in daylight and on fresh legs. While the climbs were steep, they did not feel as bad as when I climbed them after running 100 km.  And while during those races at night I imagined we were on a ridge, it wasn't how I imagined it at all. The ridge in reality was narrower and longer. And I finally got to see the burnt out forest. Once over the peaks, we had a fun run down to Lightning lake, where we followed the race course flagging back to the finish line area.

On Skyline descending after one of the false peak, heading to the summit of the next in the distance

That afternoon, we went to the pub at 4 pm and met with Heather. We volunteered to take down the flagging on Windy Joe and Frosty the next morning. Dinner at the pub. An early night as we planned to get up on Frosty early the next day.

Rainbow Bridge - one mile to the Fat Dog finish line

Sunday August 12, 2018 - Windy Joe/Frosty 34 km Loop Run, 1570 metres elevation gain/loss
We were up really really early and at the trail head by 6 am.  We ran in and joined the Windy Joe/Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) course. This time as we went we took down the flagging, signs and reflectors used to mark the course for the runners.  The smoke had cleared but clouds had rolled in. Perfect day to climb a mountain.

Running part of the Pacific Coast Crest Trail

The first 4.5 km was a steady climb on a wide trail to the junction where the PCT and windy Joe trail split. Taking the Windy Joe trail we followed the trail to the summit, where there is a Forest Fire Lookout building. A woman was camping in it when we go there. There was no view today as we were in the cloud. As we were about to leave the woman mentioned there was a water cache behind the trees. The water cache was for the Fat Dog race. So we drained all nine containers of water, deflated them and used the Fat Dog race flagging we had collected, and duct tape (see, never forget your duct tape), to tie them to our packs.

First Aid at Windy Joe/PCT trails junction

The down hill run was fun and fast on the wide smooth trail. Until the last turn, when I managed to trip on a small stone and went flying down the hill.  I was actually able to turn my body to lesson the damage caused by the impact with the trail, but I did slide down the trail a bit, taking skin off my knee and hands.  I stood up a bit shaken and had to walk to let the adrenaline subside.  Back at the trail junction, Charlene and Lisa patched me up. They bandaged my hands mainly but I wanted to leave the wound below the knee open. Bandaging it would have made it painful to run as that's the area the skin constantly move.  Besides the blood running down my leg looked badass. I got quite a few comments of concern from passing hikers later when we were heading down from the summit of Frosty. I'm not sure why blood running down my leg would be a cause for concern.

Running through the forest ascending Frosty Mountain with deflated water jugs from Windy Joe

We followed the beautiful smooth single track of the PCT, then took Frosty trail as it started the long climb to the summit.  This part of the trail was in forest and it was beautiful, but nothing spectacular. It rose up gently, then down gently making t quite runable. Finally, we got a view of the imposing bulk of Frosty, rising to a rocky snow patched point over 2400 metres above sea-level. The trail broke out of the forest onto alpine meadows and then started climbing steeply on switchback. The meadows give way to rocks and boulders and the steep rocky face we were climbing looked impossible. Only, we could see the race flagging high above, taunting us that we had to climb.  on a narrow ridge in places. The steep drops on both sides were vertigo inducing.  We finally reach the dramatic summit of the trail. We're not quite a the true summit, but close enough. A sign at the top warns of "Extreme Hazard beyond this point, use caution".  It was extreme hazard on both sides of the sign, so I thought it an odd place to put that sign - at the bottom before climbing up the steep rocky mountain might have made more sense.

Climbing to the cloud shrouded 2400 metres summit of Frosty Mountain - de-flagging the detoured Fat Dog 120 route

It was cold at the top of Frosty. Some of us had put layers and gloves on earlier. I hadn't, but I did now. We made only a brief stop to remove the race flagging, then we headed down the other side, equally as steep. There was a snow field on our left in the shadow of Frosty's summit, and our trail headed down another ridge. The top part of the trail was all loose rock and very slow to make our way down. Once off the steep rocky face, the trail became quite runable and we made decent time on the 10 km back to Lightning Lake.  I arrived at Lightning Lake just behind Charlene (who was having a strong day running) to find her with the Whiskey Jacks (Grey Jays), who had come to greet us.  Kent and Lisa arrived. Just before the lake Lisa had fallen with her thumb taking all of the impact. She later learned she had sprained it in three places and fractures it in two places. Good news is she is cleared to continue running.

Frosty Mountain ascent down from the summit

We still had to run along the river and de-flag the course as we went, and then back to the car. Once there we drove to Heather MacDonalds' home to drop off the flagging and water jugs, give her a hug and thank her for the weekend.  Then back to Manning Park Lodge to use the recreation centre showers and to change.

Descending Frosty Mountain

Heading home we hit the usual traffic congestion on Highway 1 that we always seem to get when leaving Fat Dog on a Sunday afternoon.  Last year the highway was closed so we had to take back roads. This year the highway was hardly moving from Chilliwack all the way to Langley.  Google directed us off the highway in two location to use parallel roads. At Abbotsford we left the highway and drove around Abbotsford closer to the Fraser River and rejoined the highway just after Langley, where the traffic was now flowing freely.  We arrived at IKEA in Coquitlam an hour before closing, and the ferry terminal at 8 pm to find a two sailing wait. We made it on the 10 pm ferry, making for an extremely long day but fun day.

Thanks Heather MacDonald and your crew for putting on an awesome weekend of running in the wake of having to cancel the races. We'll be there next year.

lightning Lake

Seven Lakes Basin

On Saturday July 28, 2018 three friends (Lisa Fehr, Charlene Waldner and Karen Laberee) and I went over to Washington State and ran the Seven Lakes Basin in Olympic National Park.  This is a 27 km loop from Sol Duc Hot Springs trailhead, up past Deer Lake to High Divide, then 10 km along High Divide, before dropping back down into the Sol Duc valley via Heart Lake and Bridge Creek. 

Woke up ridiculously early to walk with Charlene and Lisa from Cook Street Village to the Coho ferry terminal on Belleville Street. We bought return walk-on tickets, went through immigration and on-board the ferry for the 6:10 am departure.  The crossing took 90 minutes and this one was through dense fog, the ship's horn sounding every 2 minutes. We also ran into Andy, Elaine and Colleen who were doing the same run.

We arrived Port Angeles on-time. We walked off and picked up our rental car from Budget. They used to be located right across from the ferry terminal but had moved, leaving number to call for a ride on the door of the old location. Luckily their car garage is still there, so they drove us to the office a few blocks away. From here, it was a scenic one hour drive down state Highway 101, then along the beautiful Sol Duc Road. At the start of Sol Duc Rd we paid entry into the park (US$30) and 15 minutes driving later came to the trailhead at the end of the road.

We started our run at about 9:30 am. The first 1.2 km was on a wide well worn trail to the triple Sol Duc Falls. We crossed the bridge over the falls. This was where 95 percent of people from the trailhead turn back.  After crossing the bridge we set off on a narrow trail and soon figured this was not really a trail.  It's the type of trail we're used to running, but it wasn't a constructed trail. Turning back we found the correct trail climbed up the side of the mountain.

From here we switched back up the side of the mountain, following the course of a stream in the valley deep down below us. The trail was quite rocky but not terribly steep, so a pretty easy hike.  A short distance up I decided to try my new carbon fiber trekking poles.  Hearing good things from those that use them, I'd been resistant to buying poles, mostly from worry of not fuelling properly if my hands were not free.  On these climbs I didn't find the poles made much difference, though they did help stabilize on some questionable sections.

As we climbed, three women ran past us, making me feel slow. I was quite happy when we passed them at Deer Lake and never saw them again.   Deer Lake was a beautiful wooded lake. We ran around it and across peat boggy type meadows to the start of the climb to High Divide. Deer Lake was about half-way up, elevation-wise from Sol Duc to the start of High Divide. 

Along this section we ran into a strange sight. A young man standing on a rock wearing a dress shirt with tails and no pants - just boxer shorts and shoes.  His name was Andrew, or as we now call him "Pant-less Andrew". He claims United Airlines lost his luggage, so rather than sit in the hotel room, he decided to do his hike anyway. It was too hot for pants, so he took them off.  Guess I have no room to talk. Years a go when I was a road runner and leading group runs from Frontrunners, I forgot to put my running shorts on and didn't notice until I got to the start of the run on the peninsula - so I ended leading a group run wearing just boxer shorts and running shirt.  Anyway, Pant-less Andrew hiked up to High Divide with us. After taking a picture of us for us, I dragged the girls away from him and we started running the beautiful single track on High Divide. Pant-less Andrew couldn't keep up.

The trail crossed the ridge and followed the fall-line on the west-side. As we ran, the sun was hot, but we started to feel blast furnace winds as hot air raised up the alpine slopes from the Hoh Valley on our right.  After gentle climbing for some distance, we came to the junction of High Divide and the trail down into Seven Lakes Basin.

We turned onto the Seven Lakes Basin trail, over some rather spectacular rocks and then once through them our first view of Seven Lakes Basin. We could see Lunch Lake and Round Lake down below us. We set off down the switch back rocky trail that led to Lunch Lake.  I found the trekking poles useful on the down hill as I could use them to swing my legs over the top of many rocks and boulders.  We soon arrived at the shore of Lunch Lake, a beautiful alpine lake with Bogachiel Peak behind it.  Alpine meadows still with patches of snow surround the lake. We stopped here to cool our feet and filter water to refuel for the next part of our run.

We returned to High Divide the way we came (this is the only trail that connects Seven Lakes Basin with High Divide, so we had no choice). Once back at the junction the trail climbed steadily all the way to Hoh Trail Junction near the summit of Bogachiel Peak.  We turned up an unofficial trail that led to the summit. There was some scrambling around rocks but we were soon on the square flat summit. From here we had 360 degree views. West to the White and Blue glaciers of Mount Olympus, east we could see all of the lakes in Seven Lakes Basin, and Mount Appleton and Appleton Pass, and thousands of mountains in all directions. Simply stunning.

We toasted our summiting of the peak (1730 metres) with Fireball. We were not as high as Mount Angeles (1950 metres) nor Klahannie Ridge (1800 metres) but the views and alpine environment were just as spectacular.

It was a hot day with temperatures around 25 degrees up there, and very little wind. We followed the built trail down that rejoined the High Divide Trail south of Bogachiel Peak and ran along High Divide heading south. After another climb we came to a small snow field just off the trail. We stopped here, dug down in the snow a few centimetres, and then filled our bottles and bladders with the snow. In the bottle it was like a slushie, ice cold water.  The ice in the bladder felt great on my back and helped cool me during the run. It soon melted though.

We continued south along High Divide and came to the trail down to Heart Lake on our left. We could see the lake and it was shaped just like a heart. We continued along High Divide, intending to do an out and back to the entrance to Cat Basin.  We got pretty much there before encountering a big black bear. The bear was just off the trail lying in the shade on a patch of snow. He or she was pretty chill and just looked at us as if to say "this is mine and I'm not moving".  We turned around here and headed back to Heart Lake. I was at the back now so I had this image of a big bear breathing down my neck. I looked back often. This trail went thorugh some beautiful flower meadows, and their colours and smell was wonderful.

At Heart Lake we stopped to cool our feet and refill our water, using our water filters. I was out of water so I filled my bladder and bottle, about 2.5 litres of water. We spent 20 to 30 minutes here, enjoying the sun. Unlike Lunch Lake, which we had to ourselves, this one was quite busy with people swimming in their underwear or just relaxing in the sun.

From here, we followed the trail down following Bridge Creek and through Sol Duc Park (a meadow - all the meadows are called parks) then into the forest. The trail was very technical so was slow going, but the poles helped a lot. We crossed the creek in a few places by fording it, and the cold water felt so good on my feet and legs.

At the bottom, we crossed Sol Duc River on a bridge then the trail followed the river. We soon joined the Appleton Pass trail and continued down the Sol Duc river. I stopped several times along here to eat salmon berries, blue berries and huckleberries. At times the trail was steep, slow and frustrating,   at other times it was smooth and beautiful soft fast single track to run. The last 6 km was a joy to run.

We were soon back at the Sol Duc falls and then the last 1.2 km on the well travelled tourist trail back to the car park. In all with stops, we spent 8 hours, 15 minutes on the trails, climbed about 1600 metres and covered 36 km.  The loop was only 27km, we added distance with two out and backs. 

Back at the car, we drove back to Port Angeles and arrived at Next Door Pub by 7:15pm. I dropped the car off at the Budget garage next to the ferry and walked over to the pub. They had really good food here, so I had two pints of local IPA and the Nutty Professor burger with an egg (that is beef, bacon, cheese, peanut butter and egg).  You've got to remember, I've been fuelling on Tailwind energy drink all day, so I was starving and wanting something solid. 

At 9:10 pm we left the pub and staggered over to the Coho Ferry Terminal, two blocks away, and boarded the ferry. We set sail at 9:30 pm. I had another beer on the ferry (IPA of course). Through customs in Victoria and then walked home and sleep by 12:30 am.  A long but fun day of adventure running.  A good training run for Brigade 50 miler in September. 

I have no pictures due to accidently wiping my phone at the pub. Somehow I accidently hit a key combination that caused the phone to reset and wipe the flash drive. I only lost pictures I'd taken that day. Everything else, including contacts, logins, passwords were all backed up by Google, so the reinstall was simple and automatic.

Pictures can be seen in an album on Facebook setup by Lisa Fehr with contributions by Charlene Waldner and Karen Laberee.

Not sure if this link will work for everyone:
https://www.facebook.com/lisamfehr/media_set?set=a.10156938864230016&type=3