Vancouver 100 turned out to be a three weekend affair, with storms, friends and heaps of fun. This year I was adamant to complete this without a crew or pacer, with a hope that it wouldn't be a suffer-fest. So sit back, grab some water (you'll need to stay hydrated) and let's relive this journey to see what happened.
My first attempt was back on Friday May 27th, one week after Four Cities Ultra. I was keeping an eye on the weather, which was not looking good. Rain and cold was in the forecast. I decided with an afternoon start at the Whyte Lake parking lot, I figured I'd do Grouse to Deep Cove and back in the dark and finish in the daytime, hopefully only spending the last half in the wet. Started off really well, a fully loaded backpack with bad weather gear, 2L of water, 7000-8000 calories and the attitude that this will be a walk in the park.
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| Don't know I'm smiling, I'm only 50 metres from the car |
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| These are the new staircase build last September, don't want to brag but I did carry some heavy rocks that filled the stairs. |
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| This boardwalk is next to Cabin Lake and a lot of those nails where hammered in by some crazy BrownDude. |
There weren't many people on the trail, just a few groups I saw the whole day. I did run into a couple FatAsses out on Hollyburn, Craig and Dan. I wasn't doing so well and it was great to see them. As I made my way to Cleveland Dam, I had the doubt monkey on my shoulder saying, "do you really want to spend tonight in the rain?" After a short argument in my mind, I decided to call it quits and I slowly made my way down to the Highway 1 where, thanks to Holly, was picked up and she took me back to my car. I am very thankful that I did quit because next day the creeks that I crossed were waste deep. Thanks Nancy for that update you made me fill good about my decision.
One week later, it was Friday evening, about 7PM at Deep Cove. I was convinced to start with Dustin and we'd stick together until Sunrise, somehow I knew this was a bad idea. Dustin wanted to grab some beer an stopped off at the liqour store to grab some beer, but instead of getting a beer that would be easy to drink, he picked a heavy IPA.
On the trail almost at Mt Seymour road, I could barely get one down so I decided to hide the second beer at a stream. You should of seen my hiding job, you could of seen it from miles away, I figured I'd be back in 24-26hrs so it would be okay.
As we continued on through the night and getting closer to Cleveland Dam I think Dustin wasn't happy with my pace but we were on a 26hr finish pace. The first climb out of the dam, I was pulling ahead of him as he said he needed a seat. That was the end of the day for him and it didn't take me long to join him. We shared a sandwich while waiting for Bayly to come pick us up.
June 10 6AM, this was do or die weekend I needed to figure out where I should start from and when. By the time I slowly got ready & ate, it was about eight so I decided I should probably start at Cleveland Dam to give me the best chance to finish by doing 2 out and backs. It does suck that I'll have to finish in the Grouse section of the trail but I figured good mental training.
One week later, it was Friday evening, about 7PM at Deep Cove. I was convinced to start with Dustin and we'd stick together until Sunrise, somehow I knew this was a bad idea. Dustin wanted to grab some beer an stopped off at the liqour store to grab some beer, but instead of getting a beer that would be easy to drink, he picked a heavy IPA.
On the trail almost at Mt Seymour road, I could barely get one down so I decided to hide the second beer at a stream. You should of seen my hiding job, you could of seen it from miles away, I figured I'd be back in 24-26hrs so it would be okay.
As we continued on through the night and getting closer to Cleveland Dam I think Dustin wasn't happy with my pace but we were on a 26hr finish pace. The first climb out of the dam, I was pulling ahead of him as he said he needed a seat. That was the end of the day for him and it didn't take me long to join him. We shared a sandwich while waiting for Bayly to come pick us up.
June 10 6AM, this was do or die weekend I needed to figure out where I should start from and when. By the time I slowly got ready & ate, it was about eight so I decided I should probably start at Cleveland Dam to give me the best chance to finish by doing 2 out and backs. It does suck that I'll have to finish in the Grouse section of the trail but I figured good mental training.
The stop watch started just after nine and I was heading out towards Horseshoe Bay. Really nothing exciting happened for a long time, just me having a conversation with myself. Some good topics some topics that made me sad but I continued on feeling good about my day.
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| My food supply, I finally used up all my gels |
At the boulder field just after eagle bluffs, David just caught up to me. It was good timing since I was having trouble figuring out where to dart off to the right. I was able to follow him for a bit before he bombed downhill. I knew since he's just ahead of me I should get to the parking lot before he starts to head back. I'm very glad I did since his lovely wife had fruit and water for me. Also Andy was there to stash a car with supplies for his attempt and a short time later Jennifer showed up to help out Dylan, who was just shortly behind me. I probably ended spending at least 30 minutes just chilling and chatting away for before I headed back.
I knew I should really just pace myself on the climb, so I took it easy. I came across Dylan quickly so I knew that he'll probably catch up again soon. And just after Whyte lake I ran into Shawn's crew that were doing the run together. It was encouraging to know there were already so many people on the trail. I was keeping an eye on the time because I wanted time out how long it would take me to get to the lodge, it was 4 hrs. I felt good about that until I turned around and saw everyone that I saw going down had already caught up to me. At the same time Andy's crew got to the lodge area coming from Skyline. It was a meeting of like minded individuals and I couldn't stick around to chit-chat with everyone since I wanted to put some distance between me and the fast guys.
As they refueled up, I made good time to Hollyburn, how good of time you ask? I made it passed the section between the lodge and Hollyburn. After Shawn's crew passed me Dylan caught up shortly after also. I tagged along with him and his pacer for what felt like a long time before letting them get ahead. I ended up getting back to my car just passed Cleveland Dam just after 11PM for a out and back time of just over 14 hrs. I felt pretty good and had a seat in the donkey. I had the heater and music going while chowing down some sweet & sour chicken. I did a full change of clothes and was singing TLC's No Scrubs. I was having such a good time that an hour and a half passed by so quickly. I figured I better get going.
Since the gate was locked at Grouse I had to make my way passed the gate and into the dreaded Grouse section of the Baden Powell. Instantly I through I had made a mistake with my shirt. I was starting to over heat fast, so I lost the long sleeve warm shirt and instantly felt better. It was middle of the night so I figured no one will see my fat belly. I continued on but by Skyline I was still hot, so I birthday suited up. If you haven't done it yet I highly recommend, it was amazing feeling, until I heard a noise somewhere around Fromme. Initially I was thinking an animal but very quickly saw a headlight coming towards me. I placed my hat discretely in front of me and stepped off the trail.
I informed the guy that I'm in my birthday suit and his voice sounded familiar but could recognize it. Turned out to be Derek, making his attempt. We wished each other luck and went our separate ways. As I was getting to Lynn Headwater it was getting cold and I could feel a couple drops of rain starting to fall. So before taking the Varley trail I put my clothes back on. At this time I also realized I wasn't going to make it to Deep Cove for when most people will be starting.
I was getting to the bottom of the Seymour grind and the front runners were coming through. I knew now that I would be seeing a lot of people in the next little bit. About half way up I ran into Sean & Gareth and shortly after it was Kyndra & Meg. I was thinking to myself, haha I'll be done before you.
The last group was Kyle's crew who I ran into just after the Seymour grind. I slowly made my way down to Deep Cove and did the out and back and was heading back on the home stretch. I was around 23 hrs at this point. I figured 7 hours to get back to the car sounded right.
I was doing well, picked up the beer that I stashed last weekend and kept on trekking. On the Seymour grind I saw Andy's crew and I was hoping this would be the last time I see them because if I see them again, they would of lapped me.
I was still hopeful for a 30 hrs finish until I got to the top of the climb out of the Seymour river valley. I sat down and realized it had just over 2 hours to get back to the car from here and no matter how you cut it, it wasn't going to happen, at least not in my tired state. I had some food, changed my socks and decided to just take it easy and stop off at End of the Line for some hot food.
I had a breakfast burrito there and ran into Andrew who was waiting for Claire, who's been running with Andy. I relaxed and chatted with him for a bit before making my way out. I really can't remember how much time I spend there but I think it was at least 30 mins probably more. By now time was completely lost on me.
So the rest of the race was just more of having fun and goofing off. I ran into Craig shortly after End of the Line, Marc was spotting sweeping the MEC run that had started and finished since I was last in this area. And by the time I got to the bench around St. Georges, I decided to have a seat, eat some food and enjoy the view. As I was packing up to get moving again, Claire had caught up to me, I was being lapped, not good. But I was able to use her as a pacer to get me to Skyline. I did okay keeping up with her until the short climb up to Skyline Drive where I was like I'll see you at the top.
I did try and convince her if she's like to do any bonus kms and join me to Cleveland Dam but she gave me a look like she was going to kill me so I figured I shouldn't press the issue. I also had to talk myself into keeping on BP, since it was so tempting to take Powerline back to Grouse.
The dreaded Grouse section, I think I made okay time. There were a few sit down breaks and I saw the front runners coming back that started in the morning. It was a little soul crushing to see these guys look as good as they did, but thanks to them I found out Matt had setup an aid station at Cleveland Dam. So I made some good progress the last couple kms to get the the car and drove the 500m to the dam. Where I sat relaxed and saw other runners come through.
As I sat there, I realized that I set course record this year, sorry Kyndra I stole you record, with a finish time of 33 hours 38 minutes. I looked at the GPS data and the trip computer was at 106.3kms, I don't believe the GPS is correct since I don't think I got off course that much but the moving time was more believable at 25 hours and 38 minutes. I feel this was believable because, there was probably about 60 people that I stopped and talked with and probably spent at least 2 minutes with each person so there's 2 hrs there. Plus the time at my car at the 50k mark, Whyte Lake parking lot & End of the Line, each of those stops were a minimum of 30 minutes. Plus all the other goofing off I did that I have no how much time was wasted there. I think realistically I would of been able to hit the 30hr mark if I didn't spend so long at the car but I would not change a thing with the way I ran this year's Vancouver 100.
I was still hopeful for a 30 hrs finish until I got to the top of the climb out of the Seymour river valley. I sat down and realized it had just over 2 hours to get back to the car from here and no matter how you cut it, it wasn't going to happen, at least not in my tired state. I had some food, changed my socks and decided to just take it easy and stop off at End of the Line for some hot food.
I had a breakfast burrito there and ran into Andrew who was waiting for Claire, who's been running with Andy. I relaxed and chatted with him for a bit before making my way out. I really can't remember how much time I spend there but I think it was at least 30 mins probably more. By now time was completely lost on me.
So the rest of the race was just more of having fun and goofing off. I ran into Craig shortly after End of the Line, Marc was spotting sweeping the MEC run that had started and finished since I was last in this area. And by the time I got to the bench around St. Georges, I decided to have a seat, eat some food and enjoy the view. As I was packing up to get moving again, Claire had caught up to me, I was being lapped, not good. But I was able to use her as a pacer to get me to Skyline. I did okay keeping up with her until the short climb up to Skyline Drive where I was like I'll see you at the top.
I did try and convince her if she's like to do any bonus kms and join me to Cleveland Dam but she gave me a look like she was going to kill me so I figured I shouldn't press the issue. I also had to talk myself into keeping on BP, since it was so tempting to take Powerline back to Grouse.
The dreaded Grouse section, I think I made okay time. There were a few sit down breaks and I saw the front runners coming back that started in the morning. It was a little soul crushing to see these guys look as good as they did, but thanks to them I found out Matt had setup an aid station at Cleveland Dam. So I made some good progress the last couple kms to get the the car and drove the 500m to the dam. Where I sat relaxed and saw other runners come through.
As I sat there, I realized that I set course record this year, sorry Kyndra I stole you record, with a finish time of 33 hours 38 minutes. I looked at the GPS data and the trip computer was at 106.3kms, I don't believe the GPS is correct since I don't think I got off course that much but the moving time was more believable at 25 hours and 38 minutes. I feel this was believable because, there was probably about 60 people that I stopped and talked with and probably spent at least 2 minutes with each person so there's 2 hrs there. Plus the time at my car at the 50k mark, Whyte Lake parking lot & End of the Line, each of those stops were a minimum of 30 minutes. Plus all the other goofing off I did that I have no how much time was wasted there. I think realistically I would of been able to hit the 30hr mark if I didn't spend so long at the car but I would not change a thing with the way I ran this year's Vancouver 100.
I have to admit that feel that I don't deserve the all time best value record since I didn't suffer. I was really just enjoying myself so much, that as I'm finishing off my write up, 3 weeks later, I'm still living off the high from that weekend.
Craig, thanks again for a wonderful event and to everyone who stopped and chatted with me, you all made this event what it's really about, just a group of crazies running around the forest and having fun.
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