The Ontario North Face Challenge 2017
Date: Sunday, July 16, 2017
Location: Collingwood, Blue Mountain, Ontario
https://www.thenorthface.com/en_ca/get-outdoors/endurance-challenge/ontario-canada.html
What can I not say about this event, this is my third go around at this race, nothing short of awesome, it has it all. Very well organized tough course, and it’s been advertised as just that. I started small and worked up to the half marathon distance this year, and was pleased with everything. I drove up on a beautiful friday evening for the packet pick up and see if anything had changed. As usual, things went smoothly and I was race ready.
Arriving the following morning, I had my usual pre-race meal, sat and watched as people arrived into the start area. They have a small expo happening while different races begin. The starting area is situated at the base of the Blue Mountain ski resort, with the base village serving up the goods. So it’s a great place to run a trail event such as this. Running this event has been a challenge, and you have to come prepared, especially for the longer distances. The elevation changes are what makes this event live up to it’s name, if you like running hills, then this is for you.
My local RF group arrived yesterday, setting up their base camp, organizing to burn up the trails in all distances. I was doing 1/2 distance this time around and had learned lots from my previous outings. I had completed my last couple of attempts, but did not finish as strong as I had liked, this time I felt ready and able. I knew most of the area I was going to cover, with the exception of the forested run on the top of the mountain. As expected the race started with great fan fair, and we all proceeded west along the base of the mountain. The assault going mobile to the top was what I was unsure about, but made the distance and made my way into the forest. The forest was a nice 8-10 km route that allowed some type of regular pacing without too much grade involved. I was familiar with the back half of the race which takes you across the width of the ski hills and back, this is the rigorous up and downs I remembered, but came better prepared for. There were a couple of aid stations along the way, I carried a hydration pack, so i didn’t rely on them for water, but enjoyed some candies from the tables. Again this year, they used one large ski slope down prior to a short run back to the finish, which really lets your quads and hams yell at you.
The finish is always nice, since everyone here knows what you’ve done, they make you proud to cross the line. My local RF group were also here cheering on our co-runners like the wonderful people they are .. here’s my personal shout out to the O’ville group … thanks guys.
After some clean up at the water stations provided, I chose to bask in the nice weather away from people this time around and just enjoy this accomplishment solo. I will be back again next year.
