5 Peaks Adventures, in Collaboration with Parks Canada, and the Rouge National Urban Park First Nations Advisory Circle, held the inaugural Earth Run in the Rouge on September 29th, 2018. Featuring two race distances – 4K Sport or 8K Enduro – there were 200 entries available to enjoy the beautiful trails of the Rouge National Urban Park.
As with all 5 Peaks Adventures events, I found it to be extremely well organized; directions and parking were easily accessible, race day kit pickup was quick and efficient, and the booths set up by Parks Canada were interesting and informative.
The route featured a lot of single-track and there was one point that was out and back which was slightly awkward; the turn-around point on this section was also badly marked and a lot of runners missed the turn. Aside from that, there were a lot of friendly volunteers along the route, and plenty of trail markers to guide your way.
I thoroughly enjoyed running a race closer to home – I train at the Rouge a couple times a year – and will gladly do it again next year. The t-shirt and beautiful ceramic medal were nice touches as well.
