Well, it’s only a year or so since I ran this, and after a year or so of reflecting I think I am finally ready to express my day last July into a race report…
This was only the second 5-Peaks race I’ve done, the first being Whistler the prior year, in 2007, a week after completing the TransRockies with fellow RF’ers James G, John Y and Bill T. James and I decided to spend our vacation after the bike race at a friends (another RF’er!) place in Whistler. While there, we thought we’d also do our first 5-Peaks race (partly because it included a free gondola ride to the top, which was the price of entry). The race was cold, snowy, mountainous and I was still recovering from TRC. The elevation gain was 2200 ft in a 10K race so very hilly, very tough and very different than what I was used to being a trail runner from Ontario. It was definitely the toughest 10K race I’ve ever competed in.
Fast forward to spring of last year (2008…) and I am lucky enough to receive an entry into any 5-Peaks race in Ontario. I live close to Rattlesnake so I chose that race to enter. There was somewhere near 600 participants across both Enduro (13K) and Sport (5K) event, which I think was the largest entry that had to that date in Ontario (Canada?). Good to see people are getting off the road… although I was a little worried about congestion in any singletrack. Thoughtfully they seeded us according to our own estimated ability, which seemed to take care of the congestion problem.
I seeded myself in the second wave for the Enduro course, not an elite runner, but still better that average. The race started on some nice doubletrack, allowing for any seeding adjustments within the first few kms and I settled into a comfortable pace. Eventually we descended into the Nassagaweya Canyon and along some technical singletrack, typical Bruce trail terrain. Rocky, rocky, rocky. Good stuff! I pushed myself fairly hard, but knew I needed to keep some in the tank for the ascent out of the canyon and back onto the escarpment. It appeared to be a good move as during the ascent, I passed 4 or 5 more people with only a few km’s to go. The last 2K I had 2 others in my sights, but I could only catch 1. I finished the race happy with my time and result and cheered on a few friends I also knew participating.
Overall a great race, with some tough climbs and technical running. I was surprised with how well the race went with that many runners on trail, but the 5-Peaks folks did a great job of keeping just enough doubletrack to allow for passing. I see from the site this years is going to be capped at 650 and the 2009 Durham Forest race has already sold out. I would highly suggest registering for this one in advance, trail running and 5-Peaks appear to only get more popular. Hope to see you on the trail!
