Race Reports – 5 Peaks, Golden Ears & Buckin’ Hell

This post is one in a series about my personal running; training and racing. For other posts like this, click here.

5 Peaks Golden Ears

Last weekend, on May 11, the trail running season really kicked off with the first 5 Peaks event of the year; Golden Ears. I was really looking forward to putting on the trail shoes after finishing the Vancouver Marathon. After the marathon, I took the entire week off running to rest and not do much except drink beer and enjoy some free time to catch up with friends.

I caught a ride to the race with Jeff Pelletier who was volunteering as course sweep. It was great to see some of the regular faces and friends I’ve made running these events over the last few years.

I felt recovered from the marathon, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from my legs after having given such a hard effort the week before, followed by 7 days of sitting on my butt. I placed myself at the back of the first wave and decided to just give it as much as I could muster.

Off the bat, I felt pretty good for the first few kms. However, it didn’t take long before we started to hit some small hills and I immediately began to think it was going to be a slow, painful race.

Check out all the amazing photos by Rob Shaer from the race here.

I kept pushing on and hit the big, huge hill on the course which I have come to know and depise over the past few years. I hiked/ jogged what I could, and on this stretch I ended up meeting Shannon Penway, who is on the Canadian Trail and Mountain Running team, and had just run her first road race just the week before at the Vancouver Half-Marathon. She was not showing any signs of fatigue though and took off ahead of me during the subsequent downhill section.

The technical, downhill switchbacks are always my favorite, and I like to push my comfort zone a bit going down. However, I could tell my legs just weren’t ‘trail ready’ after the previous 5 months of training on pavement. I slowed my pace a tiny bit as my legs felt weak and I was a worried about twisting an ankle or falling on my face.

I came across the line in a time of 1:08:18 and 4/12 in my age group. It was a full 2 minute improvement over last year, so I was very happy with the time.

After the race, the fun continued as I had a few beers and hung out with James ‘Cariboo’ Marshall, Mike Murphy (race report), James Wanless, Rob Kirkpatrick, Greg (race report), Solana (race report) and Jay Klassen, Rob Shaer and Jeff (among others!)

So one 5 Peaks race down, and I’m looking forward to the next one in Squamish.

 Beast Mode

Race winner Mike Muprhy and James Marshall enjoying some post-race hydration

ROAD TRIP!! Greg, James and Rob enjoying some post-race sunshine

Buckin’ Hell

Then yesterday, May 18, after another week of no running and enjoying an extended marathon recovery, it was time for a brand-new race; Buckin’ Hell. This is the second race in the new Coast Mountain Trail Running Series that launched this year. The first race was Cap Crusher, and based on my experience at that race I knew this would be a fun one.

Let’s begin with the weather. Compare the photo below, to the photo at the top of this post. We weren’t graced with clear blue skies, however it is May in North Vancouver, so a little rain is to be expected. And I don’t think trail runners are the type to bitch about getting a little wet anyways.

View atop Mount Seymour in between uphill and downhill legs.

The race started behind Parkgate Village at the base of Mt Seymour. The start line was actually in a church parking lot. A church. For a race called Buckin’ Hell. I’m pretty sure all participants will have 6.66 years of bad karma, but nevertheless we had a lot of fun on race day.

This race, as promised by the race directors, was totally different than any trail race I’ve done before. From the start line the course was a straight shot up Old Buck trail to the top of Mount Seymour. No less than 1050m of elevation gain over 10km, with ZERO flat sections to give our burning legs and lungs reprieve from the unrelenting climb. At the top, the runners would wait until a 10am ‘re-start’ where everyone (doing both legs or just the donwhill option) would bomb back down the hill.

After the first surge, I was in 4th or 5th place and just tried settling into a slow and steady pace I thought I might be able to sustain all the way up. Peter from NSA, along with the volunteers, were out at various sections cheering the runners on. Other than that, it was a pretty solitary slog to the top of the mountain. The weather for the first 7km or so wasn’t so bad, and I enjoyed the trail up though some beautiful forest, passing by a few small waterfalls. I had previously run a small section of Old Buck, but most of the trail was new to me and I really enjoyed it.

Snowmelt has been slower this year than usual, so the final ~3km of the course was run on Mt Seymour Road. I actually found this part nice and easy (relatively) to find a groove, put the head down and continue the slog up on the pavement. Must have been the marathon training.

The weather at the top was cold, foggy and rainy. I had forgotten to start my watch at the start of the race, so I wasn’t sure how long the road would continue for. And it didn’t help you couldn’t see far in the dense fog. When I figured I must be getting close I decided try and finish with a strong kick to the top, which was a mistake because as I reached the parking lot where I assumed the finish line would be, I was directed up and over a final 300m of uphill running over snow. A painful way to finish, but I got across, and had about 50 minutes to rest and eat before the downhill portion of the race.

At the top there was an aid station with snacks and some nice warm soup. We also had gear bags transported to the top, so the runners were able to congregate in the warm lodge, dry up a bit, refuel, and stare outside at the massive downpour we knew we’d be out running in again shortly. It was really weird having a race broken up into 2 legs like this, but it gave the race a unique feel and was just one more chance for everyone to talk and joke around with each other. It was great meeting some new people during the break and the people are what by-far make doing these races so compelling.

Dianna keeping dry before the start of the downhill

Volunteers keeping us fed

At 10am we were summoned back to the re-start line, Gary gave us the 10 second countdown, and we were off (with a random firework explosion?!).

I was looking forward to the downhill, but my lack of trail training so far this year caught up with me about half-way down the hill. I could feel my right calf was beginning to tear slightly. I continued on, just holding a steady pace, and with about 3km left I could feel it getting worse. Then the left calf started to pull also, and my right shoelace came undone. Graham Perkins was just 30 yards ahead of me, and I was trying my best to reel him in so I didn’t want to stop or slow down.

I ended up getting across the finish line behind Graham, and I think placed 4th or 5th overall.

I got a much-needed calf massage from at the Moveo tent and hung out during the awards ceremony. I said after Cap Crusher that there was a unique vibe to race and this was again the case at Buckin’ Hell. An awesome event and group of people. You gotta love a sport where everyone is at least one-of blistered, bloody, tired, wet and cold – and yet every single person has a smile on their face. You also gotta love a sport where you collect awards by sticking your head in the race director’s car to grab your prize off the car seat with the warning that you would need to clean off his dog’s fur from your prize as “his dog wasn’t here today but was with us in dog-fur-hair-spirit”. The awards had the added bonus that draw prizes were handed out via a game of trivial pursuit which Gary had bought randomly in the church parking lot during a community sale the day before.

I don’t think Survival of the Fittest is going to fit into my schedule, but I loved the first two races in this series, and am really looking forward to Squamish 50 in the summer. The only thing missing from these races, as a brand-new series, is a bigger group of runners. So if you’re looking for a trail race, don’t miss the next one and let your friends know about this series.

 Race winner Mike Murphy (again!) getting his award

 Solana and her beloved ‘chawel’, sneaking in a post race wardrobe change

After the race I grabbed lunch/breakfast with Solana, Jay, Dianna at Rob at a cool local place called Tommy’s. Perfect way to to cap off the morning.

Again, great photos on the day by Rob Shaer which you can check out here.