Category Archives: Running

Squak Mountain 50K

Squak Mountain is the second race of the year for Evergreen Trail Runs that offers a 50K option. They have had two half marathons since Lord Hill. While “David doesn’t do halfs” might not be completely accurate any more, David still has a hard time justifying driving to Seattle for a half.

My alarm went off at 4:50am and I managed to drag myself out of bed. I thought I had put everything in my truck the night before. However, about five minutes down the road I realized that I had forgotten my Discover Pass. Since this run took place in a Washington State Park, I would need the Discover Pass to use the parking lot. After a quick detour back home to get the pass and a longer than normal delay at the border, I made it to the trail head at about 7:45. Because I was late, the park parking lot was full and they were parking us on the street so I didn’t need the Discover Pass after all.

The course looks a little confusing on the map. Thankfully, like all of Roger’s races, it was very well flagged. Basically, the course was set up for the half marathon distance. It starts (blue section on the map) up an access road with a small lollipop detour about a quarter of the way up. After returning to the access road for a little way, the course jumps back in to trail to loop around and back to the access road a little further up. There’s then a little bit more climbing until we got to the aid station at the peak.

From the aid station, we did an 8K lollipop loop (green). There was a steep decent down the stick of the lollipop. The first half of the loop section follows a contour line so it was quite runnable other than a short section of sketchy trail with some downed trees and other obstacles (although I’m sure that would still have been runnable by a more confident trail runner). The third quarter of the loop is a climb almost back to the peak just for the last quarter to go back down to the bottom of the hill that leads to the aid station. The downhill section of the loop is very nice trail. Going up the hill to the aid station (about 120m climbed in 3/4km) is definitely harder than coming down.

After the second visit to the aid station, we then went a little way further up the access road to meet up with the section of trail that we climbed on the previous loop section. This time we got to go down it. At the bottom of this section, we turned away from the flat section of the loop and ran a nice bit of single track back to the finish (purple). It was easy to just zone out and enjoy the scenery on this section of trail – apparently too easy since I tripped on a rock the first time through and went down. Thankfully, there was no harm done.

The full marathon repeated the entire thing. To make up the extra 8K for the 50K, we also repeated the entire thing but we did the lollipop loop from the aid station twice on the second loop. Climbing up the hill back to the aid station the first time on the second loop I was strongly considering dropping down to the Marathon. However, after stopping at the aid station, having a couple of peanut butter sandwiches and some cola, I managed to convince myself to head back out for another 8K loop. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, I had got a second wind and felt glad that I had sucked it up and gone out to finish what I started.

Squak Mountain Elevation

The total elevation gain over the 50K course was 2500 meters (8200 feet). Although there was a lot of climbing, only the climb to the aid station on the lollipop loop was difficult. Even with almost 1000m more climbing, my finishing time was only 20 minutes slower than Chuckanut.

I went with the handheld water bottle again and no pack. I used the aid station for all fuel (they even had cookies left the last time I came through). I wore my Inov8 Roclite 295 shoes and this was my longest run so far in them. They provided plenty of grip on the dirt trails. They are definitely not as cushy as my Adidas Glide’s so I could feel the rocks a bit more if I wasn’t paying complete attention to where I was putting my feet, but the Roclites felt far lighter and did not make my feet nearly as warm.

During the first loop I ran in to Tho, who ran with us for a while during the Night Run in November. He didn’t remember me and I didn’t remember him but he did remember Candice. Tho ended up telling the third person in our little pack at that point about Candice’s swamp. I guess some things really are just that memorable.

Next up is Capitol Peak 50 Mile on April 26. Being able to finish Squak Mountain and feel as comfortable as I did combined with another couple of shorter but still hilly (1100m & 575m) runs on Sunday and Monday has left me feeling good for Capitol Peak.

Lord Hill 50K

2 Replies

The short version is that it was a race with lots of mud.

The Lord Hill 50K on February 23 was the first race of the year for Evergreen Trail Runs. I’ve done the race the past two years and we’ve been quite lucky with the weather. This year I woke up to snow in Langley and considered just staying home but since I had talked Solana in to signing up (see her race report here), I decided that I should head down.

I left my house just after 5am and made it across the border by 5:30. The CBP agent asked me again whether I was going down to run or volunteer. I guess I just don’t look like a runner. I stopped in Bellingham for coffee and a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks. I think there must have been close to a foot of snow in places in Bellingham. Thankfully, the snow pretty much disappeared around Burlington and I made it down to the park about 20 minutes before start time. Unfortunately, the lower parking lot had filled so I had to park up the hill. The charging connection had also come out of my cell phone and the battery died just as I got there, so I missed the texts from Solana.

I picked up my bib at the start line and hung around for a few minutes before Roger, the race director, gave his briefing. Since it was a cool morning and the aid stations at Roger’s races are usually well stocked, I decided to just go with a handheld water bottle and use the aid stations for nutrition.

The 50K course is three 10 mile loops and a small 1.1 mile loop to make up the full 50K distance. The loop starts off with the namesake Lord Hill for the first mile, some nice rolling trail for about 8 miles and then another climb followed my a more looping decent of Lord Hill and down the road back to the start line. There is an aid station at about the 4 mile mark. There is about 1600m (5300 feet) of climbing over the 50K.

Because it was so wet, by the time 500 people had gone up Lord Hill, the trail was quite chewed up. A lot of the rest of the course was also muddy and quite slick. I wore my Adidas Glide 5 shoes which have less aggressive tread than the Salomon shoes. I could probably have used the deeper tread on some of the mud, but I think the much better comfort was the better choice overall. I might have slipped a little bit but I didn’t slip enough to end up on my ass (or, worse, over a cliff). I also didn’t have to deal with trying to stuff the Salmon laces back in the pouch in the tongue every 20 minutes.

I saw Solana, Shea and Melissa during the first two loops on a lollipop section of the course. I discovered that the directions I had given them from the website weren’t clear to them so they were about half an hour late to the start. Next year, I will give them the directions that I use going down US Hwy 2. They told me when I saw them on the second loop that they would likely drop after their second loop. Even if I didn’t actually get to run with them, it was still nice to see faces of people I know on the course. Jay also popped out unexpectedly a few times from the woods with his camera.

For me, the first and second loop were quite comfortable and even. I finished the first loop in about 2:07 and the second in 2:05. On the third loop, I got talking to someone coming up Lord Hill and stuck with him until just before the aid station but he was moving a little too quickly for me. My pace dropped for the last five miles, so the third loop ended up taking 2:22. Worse, the aid station ran out of cookies before I got back there the third time. Thankfully, they still had peanut butter sandwiches and Coke.

When Roger did his briefing, he talked about his goal of marking the race in such a way that nobody can get lost. The course was very well marked. There really is no excuse for going off course on the last loop since you have been through twice before. However, I not only managed to go off course on the third loop but I managed to go off course on the third loop in the same place that I went off course last year. I may not have noticed the large amount of flagging marking the trail junction, but I did notice the private property sign a little further along. The only issue was that I gave myself another little hill to run back up to get back on course.

Overall, I really like this race. It’s a great way to kick off the early spring (or, this year, more like late winter) trail running season in the PNW. The marking, organization, volunteers, aid stations and course are all very good.

Watch Data on Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/450552565

2013 By The Numbers

1 Reply

Nikki (Slow is the New Fast) came up with the idea of looking back at 2013 by the numbers. Being at least as much of a numbers geek as Nikki (aside: I can’t be the only one who has spent more than one evening watching Numberphile videos on YouTube), I thought that was a brilliant idea.

So here’s a look back at 2013 based on the numbers my logging software has spit out…

Mileage

Total 2013 Mileage: 3023.3km (1878 miles); 52km more than 2012.
Highest Mileage Month: November, 481.1km (299 miles); mostly thanks to Beaststreak.
Lowest Mileage Month: December, 167.9km (104 miles); Dark, cold, wet evenings and no Beaststreak spreadsheet to keep me motivated to get off the couch and do something (feel free to read all that as “lazy”).

My Runs

Total number of runs: 211
Total number of treadmill runs: 16 for 120km
Longest distance run: 63.3km (39.3 miles) at Connemara Ultramarathon
Total time on my feet: 332:53:39
Total “stopped” time: 11:02:31 (this is things like standing at stop lights)
Total elevation: 44,457m (145,856ft) climbed, 32,784m (107,559ft) descended; I’m sure most of the difference is from going up the Grouse Grind and coming back down on the gondola.
Total Calories: 211,214 (or over 1400 post run Starbucks lattes)

My Races

Total race starts: 20
Total race finishes: 17
- Ultramarathons: 5
- Marathons: 7
- Half Marathon: 2 (1 road half, 1 24K trail run)
- 10km: 3
Total DNF: 3

Destinations

Calgary, AB
Carmel, CA
Cool, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Seattle, WA
Maam Cross, Ireland
Tacoma, WA
Victoria, BC

Personal Bests

Half Marathon: 1:42:12

Why I’m not running BMO Vancouver Marathon

1 Reply

While there are other, smaller, road marathons around this area, BMO Vancouver Marathon is basically my home town race. I’ve ran it three times. Twice on the course that started and finished at Concord Pacific Place and once on the current course. I won’t be running the race this year and I want to explain why.

There are a few reasons why I feel like I should run the race. As I mentioned above, it’s my hometown race. Most of my friends who I run with have entered. It will be the first marathon for at least a couple of people in the Langley Running Room group and I would like to be a part of their experience. Hideki Kinoshita, who is one of the first Maniacs I met after joining the club, is coming out from New York to run Vancouver.

Before I get in to the specific two reasons why I’m not running, here’s a list of things that are actually not related to why I’m skipping the event.

I’m running another race. Last year a lot of the Langley Running Room marathon group skipped Vancouver and went down to Tacoma, which is on the same day. It was the Marathon Maniacs 10 year celebration and we all got special bibs and medals. I considered Tacoma again this year (and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is considering it) but, since I would likely be making the trip alone, I decided not to head down to Tacoma.
I’m doing something else. Actually, I will be in town on race day. If all goes according to plan, I will head downtown race morning, take the Skytrain out to the start line and be there to see everyone in both the Half and the Full go out. I’ll then take the train back to the Finish area in time to see everyone come in.
The date is too close to another race. I am running the Grand Ridge Trail Run on May 3. However, running back to back races isn’t really a deterrent. I ran Grand Ridge last year on my way down to Tacoma and I survived.
It’s a road course. Someone commented recently that I seem to have moved to trails at the expense of road courses. If everything else is equal and the choice is between a trail run and a road run, I’ll pick the trail. However, I’m not against road running and I have entered a number of road marathon events in 2014.

Now, the two reasons why I have chosen not to run BMO Vancouver Marathon in 2014

I don’t like the course. One of the reasons that I enter road races is so that I can run in areas that I wouldn’t normally be able to due to traffic, stop lights, and the like. A large portion of this course is through UBC and down the seawall. I could probably run the last 27km of the course without interruption any day that I choose (okay, maybe with the exception of the 1km finishing stretch after you come out of the park).

I liked the old course. I prefer loop over point to point courses in general. I felt that the old course showed off a little bit of everything. The run around over the viaducts and through Chinatown on roads that were normally full of traffic appealed to me. There was still a good section in Stanley Park. There were usually people cheering from their houses on the out and back through Kitsilano.

Every race in Vancouver now seems to be around the seawall in Stanley Park. I suppose that it requires less police presence and is probably easier to convince the City of Vancouver since the organizers don’t have to close roads (although who knows what the City charges for a permit). However, I can go run the Seawall any time I want to. The bonus of doing it outside the race is that there will actually be people on the seawall since it won’t be closed. It was a very quiet and lonely 10km trip around Stanley Park in 2012.

The one race that doesn’t go around the seawall in Stanley Park is the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon in June. Unfortunately, 16K of the course is identical between the two races. The only difference is the 5K out and back on SW Marine Drive that you do after the start of the Scotiabank Half. The June race had that route first. It seems a little tacky to take someone else’s course, but the city permitting department may have had something to do with that. Whatever the reason is for using this part of the route, it didn’t appeal to me enough to get me to enter the June race.
It’s too expensive. This is the big one. Even at its lowest tier, the price after taxes and fees is going to be over $150. Calgary is $100. Run For Water in Abbotsford is less than $70. All three races provide aid stations, course marshals, medals, participant shirts, an expo and a swag bag. I’m not sure what you get for the extra $50-$80. The Vancouver race is larger than the other two, so the fixed costs should be spread over more people and the larger audience should generate more sponsorship. Both should result in lower prices. I’m not saying that race organizers can’t make a profit. I am saying that the value ratio just isn’t there for me at the price they are asking.

If you’re someone who lives outside of Vancouver and you’re considering coming in to town to run the BMO Vancouver Marathon, please don’t take anything I’ve said as an indication that you shouldn’t do so. Remember, I’m local so I have a different outlook than a visitor. When I’m planning a destination race, an extra $50 in race fees is not usually a significant part of the budget. If it’s a nice day, the views off the seawall of English Bay and the North Shore Mountains are probably worth the price of admission by themselves.

RED FAM, #beaststreak; do it because you want to.

2 Replies

Solana came up with the idea of running every day in November. She was looking for some motivation to keep her going as she was training for a 50 mile race. The challenge was to run at least 3K every day. Nikki came up with the idea of calling it #beaststreak.

The ULTRA mailing list also came up with the idea of Running Every Day For A Month (RED FAM). I’m always way behind on the list posts so I didn’t see the November 1st “signup” for the RED FAM until it was far to late to join in. The justification for this challenge was similar; the original poster wanted motivation to get back in shape.

Anyone who follows the ULTRA list, reads ULTRARunning magazine or follows the more fringe elements of ultrarunning (Barkley Marathons, Last Annual Vol State, Big Dog Backyard Ultra, etc.) will know of one Lazarus Lake (aka Gary Cantrell). He piped up with some words of wisdom on the topic.

i figure i am well on the north side of 100,000 miles in my career.
hell, 47 years x 2000 miles is 94,000 miles,
and i had at least 15 years over 3000 miles.
several very close to 4,000.

i wonder how many hours that translates to?
however many, it hasn’t been enough.
it has been a hell of a good time.

there are those who claim that such treatment of my body amounts to abuse.
that all those miles will destroy my joints (you just need to roll them tighter)

but when i see the other people my age,
people who keep vowing to “get back in shape”
and i see how little they can do
and the condition they are in…

i am sure glad i have lived my life the way i have.

yes, absolutely RED.
but not because you have to.

do it because it is fun.

I completely agree with Laz. We have enough things in our life that we do because we have to. While there are many benefits to running as an activity, it is something that most of us do in our leisure time. If you don’t enjoy it, I think you should find a way to spend your free time doing something that you do enjoy.

For me, the run every day challenge has got me out the door a few times when I was quite happy to sit on the couch. However, once I was up and running, I was glad to be doing it. In some perverse way, I even enjoyed the Half Marathon on the treadmill. I should thank Solana for coming up with the idea and doing the organizing (even if I helped over-complicate her simple spreadsheet).

Maniac1655

Incoherent Ramblings