How could I say no to spending a Saturday morning out in Golden Ears Provincial Park? Well, I couldn't so needless to say I made the drive out to Maple Ridge to take part in the first 5 Peaks Trail Race of the year.
The wonderful and speedy Jessalyn O'donnell came over from the Island which was great because we never get to run anymore. We had our support crew of Robin and Sean come along for the ride and to heckle us the whole way there (and back)!
If I am in town, I always try to hit the 5 Peaks races. They are always well marked, solid courses and everyone is out to have a good time on the trails. Those of us who braved it this weekend got a good dose of rain and mud. Actually, I don't think it ever even stopped. It made for a bit of a unique start as everyone stayed huddled in their cars or under tents until right before go time. I thought that this would make for a really good tempo run for me so I shifted my schedule around and did interval work and my long runs early on in the week. I didn't arrive with super fresh legs but they weren't as bad as I had thought either. Lots of the other Salomon flight crew members were out too which was great to see.
It was a 9am start and we were off to a fast start. The boys went out hard and I could just see Adam Campbell up ahead for the first bit and then he disappeared. That boy is seriously fast! It took a good 5km for me to settle into some kind of comfortable pace. Lots of fun river crossings made life interesting. Once we hit the flats, it was game over for me. Stephanie Hamilton from Vancouver slowly pulled away. I let her go, knowing that it was ok, this was my time to work on my weaknesses, which yes, are flats. I don't like them one single bit. However, I have been committing to working on them so I took this opportunity to just keep focused on moving through as best as I could. I felt amazing for the rest of the race. It ended up being a 12km run, not 14km. I had hoped for way more hills and technical downhills as that part of my running is starting to come together once again. In the end, the flats were my nemesis that day and I finished 2nd, 45seconds back of Stephanie. Jess kept the pressure on me from behind (and she is another very talented road runner with speed) so that kept me moving forward at least.
I think everyone who hit the trails on Saturday deserves a congrats. Tough conditions were an added challenge but the coolest thing of all is that everyone still has a great time out there. Gotta love trail runners - just get the job done and have some fun in the mud while you are out there.
The Salomon flight crew stacked up like this for the day:
Adam Campbell - 2nd male overall, 1st for men's 30-39
Duncan Coo - 9th male overall, 1st for men's 40-49
Tom Craik - 13th male overall, 5th for men's 30-39
Me - 2nd female overall, 1st for women's 20-29
Kudo's out to my wonderful client and friend Jude Ultra who had a stellar run, finishing 6th female overall, using the race as a speed workout prior to next weekends Elk Lake 50miler. She did EXACTLY what she was supposed to do out there, this girl is a force to be reckoned with.
After some good Mexican food on the way home, I headed back out for another run on Saturday afternoon with Norm. We then spend Sunday playing on the SUP's and out on our bikes cruising around and seeing friends over dinner. This morning, the legs felt great and I put a solid 2hr20min hilly route down with ease. Next up.......more flats....ahhhhh.....Vancouver Marathon this Sunday! Wish me speedyness and good leg turnover! Why is it that I prefer a 100km mountain trail race over a 42km flat marathon? Anyways.......gotta challenge the weakness.......it's the only way to get better.
