By Greg Balchin
The Finlayson Double is a grueling ultra challenge involving two trail races at Goldstream Provincial Park – the 100k and the 28k. The 100km race which actually covers 105km, has 20,000 feet of climbing, and for their efforts, are rewarded with spectacular views. The race is a night one starting on Friday evening. The 28km race is an out and back course starting on Sunday.
Well, I’d like to start the report with a whole list of excuses why I came in dead last!. But, bruised ego aside, every run, especially competitive trail runs, always end in a coulda ,shoulda ,woulda , if I had only done this, or that, my time could have been better! There is always next year if I want to attempt a faster run time.
This running event, is really a fun one. Yes we have a lot of hill climbing to do, and a lot of hard, rocky, rooty, tricky, winding, uppy, downy, back and forthy, and I swear to god more up than down trail than most people are used to!. But, the scenery is spectacular and the volunteers (who really make this run so special), are absolutely awesome. (Watch the video on the Coastline web)
Pauline and I love the night run. For safety, we cut back on our pace and enjoy entering each aid station, set up at regular intervals. Headlights, burning a path ahead, bright stars across an inky black sky. A near full moon this year, glowing a very strange yellow brown colour, from the forest fire smoke drifting up from south of the border.
This time however, we started at 26'C temperature, hoping it would cool down during the night loop. It didn't happen that way. By the time we got to the Durrance aid station (Mt. Work), I had begun to feel quite sick, I thought that I had eaten some tainted food. I couldn't run, just power hike the hills and try a light run on the downhills. By the time we returned to our starting point, (Goldstream), I had severe stomach cramps. We decided to press on to the next 52k lap, but by the time we entered Durrance again, I was ready to pull from the race. After a break , an ice pack cool down ,and "tissue for my issue" pep talk from the volunteers, we ran over Mt work to the Munn Rd aid station, and then back to the Durrance A.S.
(At this point, it had become apparent, that I was not suffering alone. More than 30 runners had dropped out with the same stomach cramps. Apparently, we were suffering from heat stroke, caused by a combination of the high temperature, plus a relative humidity, that decreased the effective cooling of our sweat.)
Since I didn't know how much longer I could run feeling ill, Pauline and I decided that she should go ahead on her own in order to finish the race under the cut off times. Half way between McKenzie Bight and Jocelyn Hill , I got quite sick, and afterward felt good enough to actually start running again. Some of the check point cut offs were close, by the time I hit the Roundtree aid station, I discovered that I had made the cut off by only 3 minutes! With only 72 minutes to go, I ran the last 5k in under 30 minutes. I wish the rest of my run could have been like that!
The 28k run the next day was hot again, and I still felt queasy. Since the cut off time was a generous 7 hours, I decided to take my time.
Pauline ran with me to Mt. Finlayson. Last year I ran out of steam half way up, but she revived me with some home made banana nut cake. This year, half way up, I found her sitting on a rock, waiting for me, holding two pieces of chocolate cake. That little break, got me to Roundtree!. Thanks Pauline!
Unfortunately, the Jocelyn Hill aid station ran out of water, so I had a minimal amount to drink over 7k. By the time I reached Roundtree, I was overheating again, so the volunteers stuck me on a stretcher for 15 minutes and covered me in ice cubes. That gave me just enough energy to make it back to Goldstream in one piece and under the cut off.
Although this story sounds a bit grueling, normally, the run back from Jocelyn Hill, is like a really fun, flat out sleigh ride. The last 5k have some climbing to do, and a nasty detour piece, but overall, it's quite a fun run. And really, so is the rest of the course.
It took me about 32:17: to do the whole 128k. Some people managed to do it in less than 23 hours!
Every aid station had great treats and drinks for us. At Goldstream there were three or four kinds of beer, coffee, pop, water, Gatorade, burgers, hot dogs, chips, fruit, etc. As much as you wanted, all free, even for family members, friends and spectators.
And just to make my day, we also had very kind massage therapists, and chiropractors on hand, giving the runners free tune-ups at the end of their runs!
Some lessons learned:
Every race, no matter how well you prepare for it, can go sideways on you. Analyze and make adjustments to your running strategies.
Don't agonize over the last race, learn from the event and move on. Know that it will make you a wiser and hopefully, better runner .
Two experiences that I have recently learned, is how to recognize the onset of both heat stroke, and hypothermia (that's a Kludahk run story).
No matter how nice the weather is, run with someone, and carry extra rations, batteries, clothing, and gear if the run is over 30k.
Don't be afraid to test your limits. How else will you find out what you are capable of doing?
Running alone has its merits, but I have discovered that the best memories experienced when running are almost always ones shared with fellow runners.
