5Peaks: Rattlesnake Point

5 Peaks at Rattlesnake Point

4.5km trail run

Where: Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area – Milton, Ontario

After doing little running this year (I’ve been spending more time in the gym building strength after coming off of a broken wrist bone) I was reluctant to enter into my first race. Having a close friend who wanted to try their hand at an organized running race, I took a leap of faith.

On the beautiful Sunday morning, we made the trip from Toronto to RP. It was quite a winding drive after we got off of the 401, and I noticed we gained significant altitude. This could mean either a beautiful view, a devastatingly hilly course, or some combination of the two.

Given my lacklustre track record with running this year, I conservatively placed myself in the 4th of 6 waves. At the organizers direction, I should be in this wave if I could run a 10km run in 45-50:00. Certainly this would be good.

After waiting for the endure, and then the first waves of the sport course to go off, I finally moved to the start line. With the words over the mic, we were off. I felt great the morning of, and I bolted to the front of our wave. Within 90 seconds, I had caught up to the wave in front of me. I was surprised given that we were spaced out about 3 minutes apart. This would, unfortunately, be how it was all day.

After a quick 1km loop through the bush, we circled back and across our initial point of entry on to another section of forested area. The trails were beautiful, and well-marked as always. We had been warned of wet terrain, however this was luckily not the case. The limestone rocks, many trees, roots etc made for an incredibly exciting course. About 1.5km in I took a look to my left and I could see where we had come from on the drive up! It was a beautiful view from the top of the Niagara Escarpment. It made the race that much more pleasurable.

As the race progressed, I passed when the opportunity presented itself, otherwise was held back by runners in front. During the most technical section, which was completely covered with limestone and guarded by densely packed trees on either side, I was stuck behind someone. Luckily, their pace was more than a walk as others were doing.

There were a few steeps climbs, but the strength work I’ve done as a hockey player over the last many years allowed me to make quick work of any hills. The last hill was quite a steep incline with some tricky footing, but it allowed me to break from the pack a bit.

I kept a good pace (which I forgot to time according to the markers on the route) and the adrenaline kicked in when I got back to the grassy area indicating that I was near the finish. Once I saw the finish line, I gunned it for a final time of 25:42 by my watch (Sportstats had some issues with their chip timing that day). I was happy with my finish, but it left me hungry for more! I’m looking forward to Terra Cotta in early August.

Lesson learned: don’t underestimate inherent athletic ability!