Run for the Toad - 25k Trail Race (report) (Read 477 times)

Sixth Annual Run for the Toad: A race to make new friends @ Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area, Sept 29, 2007, Cambridge, ON Canada The race course traces two loops for the 25k event and 4 loops for the 50k starting and finishing at Tent City. The multipurpose conservation area provides premiere trail running in a 70% natural environment. Carolinian Forest surrounding Kettle Lake with rolling grasshopper meadows and minimal rolling hard surface. Tent City: The core site for the event. A host of tents for housing the race registration, the post-race dinner and awards ceremonies, the children's theatre, the race sponsorship tents, massage and medical support, chip timing, the spearker's podium, and the sponsor's breakfast tent and more... Left Burlington about 6:30. Drove up with Kelly. About 45 min. Foggy and cool to start. Pinehurst is a gorgeous conservation area with camping, good facilities and sandy beach for swimming. Tent City was awesome! Coffee and donuts, plus fresh fruit, water, pop and gatorade. Race kit pick-up was smooth. Fabulous race kit: Hammer Gel, Advil, Omega Whey powder, Luna bar, Pita Break Pitas, etc. Lots of vendors with all their summer apparel at 50% off, plus no taxes. Met up with the gang from CanadaFit (Rob, Sherri, Leah, Cheryl, Glenn, Kathy, Bill, etc). Opening ceremonies started promptly at 9:00 with a parade of Canadian Armed Forces, OPP and Conservation Officers. Then, the two National Anthems and flag raising cermonies. Not long after, we queued up, the gun went off and away we went! The path in many places was quite narrow and only allowed for single track running, so we were bottle-necked for the first 2k or so. Right off the bat, we're up a hill. Things started to thin out a bit after 2k. The course meanders through the forrest, up and down, up and down, up and down, on mostly dirt packed trails. You pass through several campgrounds, up a few more hills, and out into sweeping, grassland open spaces with gorgeous views. Then, back into the forest, up and down, and up and down, and up and down, more hills. A huge long switch back decent and then back up a hill into the grassland meadows, past one of the fabulous aid stations and back into the forest. Could be treacherous in places and there were many, many falls. Plenty of roots, and rocks ready to snatch away your footing. More hills. In fact, there is a doozy about 1.5k from the finish of the first loop. From there, mostly downhill back to the start where Amanda, Sidney, Tom and Holly were waiting. Managed to snatch a quick kiss before heading back out on the second of my two loops. Second went just about as well, though I was about 5 minutes slower and walked most, if not all, of the hills. Managed to finish strong, and brought it home in 2:20. Pretty decent on this course. In fact, judging by the experience of the others, managing to stay upright was a bonus. Afterwards, grabbed a cup of coke and one of water and waded out (waist-deep) into the lake. It was quite cold and felt brilliant on tired calves, quads and glutes. Cheered on a few folks as they finished. It was clear from everyone that this was a tough, tough race and I think most of us under-estimated how tough it was going to be. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, post-race spread! Catering by St. Jacobs Catering included: Veggie tray and dip, seasonal fresh fruit, chick pea salad, asian slaw, Tuscan penne salad, black bean, corn and rice salad, BBQ lemon chicken breast served on a kaiser roll, condiments (mango chutney, BBQ sauce, chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato), Stone Crock Bakery Pie Squares (Blueberry crumble, Cherry crumble and Dutch Apple), plus assorted iced tea, water and lemonade. Fantastic, one-of-a-kind finisher medal and a Fiddlehead Green and Black Designer cargo bag from Saucony as a registration gift in lieu of shirts. SO AWESOME. Honestly, this is the race by which all others will be judged going forward with respect to race organization. Oh, did I mention that the race fee was only $60? Incredible day. Good result. 21 days to Columbus...

Sounds like a $60 five-star buffet with a complimentary race! Makes my lunchtime bologna and Swiss sammich look more than a little lame. Congrats on a great result, and best of luck to you in Columbus.

Sounds like a very well done race And great race!