"Be Like Harv"

Someday I wanna be like Harv. Of course I grew up in the 80's where we were conditioned to wanna 'Be Like Mike', but BC's very own Harvey Nelson is a legend in his own time.

This past weekend Jackie and I headed out to get our Christmas Tree. I've always had a real tree, and absolutely refuse to get a plastic version, but this year I gave it a bit more thought. Instead of hunting for that typical free 'under the powerlines' tree (In BC these are free to take since they have to be cleared anyways), I realized that my actions were effectively taking a tree out of its natural environment, and hence removing that tree from its daily duties of cleaning the air we so effortlessly pollute. A tree farm on the other hand is specifically there for one reason, and as I was to learn, if the trees don't sell, eventually they have to be burned to make room for the new ones coming in behind. By choosing a farmed tree I could keep my real tree tradition alive, and not negatively affect my carbon footprint. (although the powerline tree would eventually have to go it would be years before this was accomplished by other means)

Anyways, that's my version of a segway into a little write up about Harvey Nelson, the 74 year old that just keeps going, and going, and going...

I'm not about to pretend that I know Harvey on a deeply personal level, for until this past weekend I simply knew Harvey through the race scene and as the crazy old dude who ran a race every single weekend and just wouldn't stop! Late last week however Harvey called up North Shore Athletics and offered a free tree to any staff member that made the hour drive each way out to see him. I could tell that his offer was sincere and thought it would be a shame if at least one person did not take him up on it, so off Jackie and I went.

It is amazing how little we generally know about the people around us, how we can very easily have a 'relationship' with someone without ever taking the time to actually get to know them for who they are. Especially in today's day and age where texting, e-mailing and facebooking are more common than an actual conversation. This past weekend was an eye opener and I won't soon forget the little slice of Harvey's life that he shared with us while we were out there. I'm not about to go into every last detail, but some of the things that truly stood out to me were:

-Harvey used to be a teacher before he bought his tree farm in 2000, and he has five grand kids
-Although most people who have met Harvey have undoubtedly seen his wallet pic of him in his 30's, and then again in his 60's...being fitter in his 60's is impressive, yet he lacked an ounce of body fat and had a chiseled physique while in his 30's...the man used to bench press 315 pounds and teach bodybuilding...he's like a Canadian version of Bruce Jenner, but instead of the Olympic medals Harvey has a guest house trophy room and numerous age group records.
-If I'm not mistaken, he ran a sub 42min 10k in his 60's! As mentioned he is currently 74 and certainly isn't slowing down anytime soon. The man has finished H.U.R.T. Hawaii three, or four, or five times...whatever it was, HURT is right up there as one of the toughest ultras out there...and this is pretty much all within the last ten years!
-Harvey used to train Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Ryan Walter, and Walter credits Harvey with getting him back into shape...umm yeah, imagine the guy training you is not only twice as fit as you, he's twice as old!!

The last few things that really stood out to me were that he used to prune each tree on his farm by hand, and he could do 400 a day...with nothing but a knife! On top of everything else that is going unsaid by me and certainly unlearned by me in our short visit, the man is almost complete in rebuilding his home from the ground up, pretty much by himself!

As he describes it:
"That floor is so solid you could drive a truck through here if you needed to!"



We couldn't thank Harvey enough, not just for the free tree, of which we snuck some money into a Christmas card for him, but obviously for opening up a little slice of who he was and sharing it with us. It was only a few hours time, but I learned more about the man in those two hours then I had in the four years since I had met him.

He would not let Jackie leave without a little two foot tree for her place as well, and after escorting us to our vehicle he opened and closed the door three or four more times, each time just to say something he had forgotten, like "Have a Merry Christmas!" The final time he opened the door he asked us to wait just once second, then he ran off into his garage to pull out a few Christmas tree decorations for us as well! With that, he officially told us we were free to go and he waved at us as we pulled out of his driveway.

I look forward to the next time I see Harvey out on the trails, for he will no longer be 'Harvey the crazy old runner guy' to me, he'll be 'Harvey the crazy old runner guy who just built a house at 74 years old, used to bench press 315 pounds, trained Ryan Walter, prunes 400 trees a day with a knife, has five grand kids, and just happens to be the guy who gave me the nicest Christmas Tree I've ever had!

When I grow up, I wanna Be Like Harv...and so does Roxy!


GR

Save $100 On Trans Rockies Run or Bike 2009

Off The Website:
TransRockies – the best organized and most rewarding team endurance events in the world. With participant satisfaction ratings consistently over 90 percent, TransRockies events are the benchmark for accessible, challenging and rewarding epic endeavours.

I have had numerous friends compete in both of these events over the years and all would agree that no matter which race you pursue, it makes for one incredible and unforgettable week long racing experience!

North Shore Ahtletics (the people who sign my paycheques) have recently jumped on board as an associate sponsor of TR, and with that comes the very cool benefit of being able to extend 100.00 discounts on any and all entries that go through us. Whether we have met or not, this offer is open to everyone. All you have to do is simply drop me a line and I will pass along the promo code that you would enter during your initial registration. You will still only need to pay your deposit up front and the 100.00 will come off of your later payments.

I am also exceptionally excited to announce that I will be racing TR Run in 09 myself! My teammate will be local runner Tamsin Anstey, and we are hoping to shoot for the podium in the co-ed division. Tamsin has a pretty solid resume, having only moved back to North Vancouver in the last few years. She ran on a scholarship in Florida throughout Uni, competing in 400m hurdles and eventually the 1500 if I am not mistaken. Since her return to BC she has won most, if not all of the trail races she has entered, and also managed to snag 2nd overall at the Canadian National Duathlon Championships...having purchased her first ever bike just six months prior! Not to mention that she had the absolute worst transitions in the entire race, and only lost by just over one minute!

Yup, I'm buying a tow rope and holding on for the ride! It's all about finding stronger teammates to pull you along!!

My personal post racing update. I've gained eight pounds, which I'm very proud of! That brings me back up to my racing weight of 161 in 2007, so it ain't that bad. I have limited the weight gain to just eight pounds though and have been logging semi-regular runs, with no pressure or thought process about time or distance. I've logged 35km in two runs so far this week, with last weeks total being 65km, the week prior just 25k, and the second week out from Mtn Mas consisted of just 40k.

I'm giving some serious thought to dusting off the ole road bike and seeing if it still works tomorrow morning...weather dependent of course!

That's it, now sign up for Trans Rockies so we can race against each other!!

GR

P.S. Almost forgot, BIG CONGRATS to MO for making it through her first ever half marathon and meeting all of her race goals in the process!

The Distance Of Truth

Gotta throw out some serious props to Ferg Hawke here. Ferg is the Canadian rep for Epic Endurance Products nee Carbo Pro and CP 1200. He also happens to be a great guy, and quite the accomplished athlete.

'Badwater' is known as the toughest footrace on Earth. Here is the info off the website:
Globally recognized as the toughest race of its kind, the Badwater Ultramarathon is a pure athletic challenge of athlete, shoes, and support crew versus a brutal 135 mile stretch of highway, a hellish environment of up to 130 degrees, and a sixty hour time limit. From the start line in the bowels of Death Valley to the finish line high on Mt. Whitney, this one-of-a-kind foot race offers the promise of a supremely personal achievement along with international accolades for those who rise to the occasion.

In 2004, as a complete unknown to the 'Badwater world', Ferg placed 2nd in the closest finish in the races history, just seven minutes! There's a great clip in the movie of the Race Director asking Ferg who he is and if he 'sandbagged' his race application!


This new ultrarunning documentary, 'The Distance Of Truth', chronicles Ferg's journey back to Badwater in 2005, to compete in the most stacked field the race had ever seen. I'm not just blowing smoke here when I say that this is one of the better, if not best running films I've ever seen. There have been five friends who have all watched the film independently, and all agree, the film is awesome!


Check out the trailer off the website, and this additional clip off of Youtube.
It's a steal of a deal at just twenty bucks!

(Damn, those nasty!)

GR

Gettin Old

I can vividly remember as an out of shape and over weight teenager thinking that I would somehow be in the best shape of my life when I was into my early 30's.

Well, I turned 32 a few days ago, Nov 19th to be exact, and I can confidently say that I am certainly in the best shape of my life right now! I'm not sure how I could have known this would be the case over a decade and a half ago, maybe I was simply making excuses to myself at the time for not being fit as a kid? Having said that though, there have been numerous occurrences throughout my life that I have 'envisioned' happening, must be the whole "think so, so...think not so, not so" theory, self fulfilling prophecies, whatever you want to call it.

I have been 'envisioning' the next few years of my life for quite some time now, call it dreaming, whatever it may be, but I hope to make those dreams into a reality over the coming years as well. Hopefully I can stay healthy, fit, and motivated enough to pull them off. Here's to always pursuing your dreams, and always dreaming out loud.

My B.Day weekend was to be a complete surprise from my girlfriend Jackie. All I was to know is that I had to finish work early on Friday and I needed the weekend off. I had guessed correctly that we were on our way to Whistler, the rest was all a bit of a shock that I can't believe I didn't see happening.

We arrived in Whistler at 7pm on Friday and checked into a sweet condo in Creekside. The 'shoulder season' allows you to find really nice retreats at very affordable rates. We had a good sized unit with full kitchen and outside hot tub. I was immediately banished to the room while Jackie cooked off a small Gluten Free feast, including homemade GF brownies for desert! I then received one of the best b.day gifts of my life, Edmonton Oiler vs Vancouver Canuck hockey tickets, on Trevor Linden's jersey retirement night...twenty rows from the ice!!


Non hockey fans bare with me, these are gold as I have not been able to get my hands on Oilers tics for three years now, outside of scalpers of course. Now I get to see a game AND Trevor Linden's jersey retired!

Jackie had but two rules,

"You're not allowed to sell them!" (They would easily fetch over 300 a tic online, if not upwards of 500) AND

"You'd better be taking me with you!"

"Are you actually implying that I had a choice in the matter here? Of course I would take you, I couldn't dream of taking any of my guy friends to the game with me instead...baby!"

Saturday morning and we headed out to run the 25km trail route known as Comfortably Numb. It was overcast all day, but we escaped the rains and had a perfect temp for our run. The fact that we were even able to run this trail snow free in late Nov does not bode well for the local ski conditions! It was Jackie's first time on the trail and even without the views she commented that it was instantly one of her favorite running routes!




We then met my good friend Chad Fox for a drink and upon returning to the condo a total surprise party was awaiting me in the hotel room. I had incorrectly guessed that many of my Whistler friends and former co-workers from The Fairmont Chateau Whistler might meet up with us later in the night. Instead Jackie had organized a half a dozen friends from Squamish and Vancouver to make their way up for a surprise party!


I was in total shock as we opened the door to the room and even commented,

"Why does it smell like someone has been cooking in here?"




My good friend Aimee Dunn, who I raced Primal Quest Utah with in 06 had also baked about thirty pounds of gluten free goodies, from a huge cake, to muffins, cookies, and even more brownies!! After numerous beers and snacks we hit up a 'The GLC' to see some live music and I was pleasantly surprised to catch Newfoundland's hottest new band 'Hey Rosetta' on their West Coast swing. (my Dad subtly noted that I have not listed anywhere on my blog that I am a born and bred, proud Newfoundlander, this is my subtle way of saying 'see, I told you it's on here!') We unanimously agree that they were the best band on the night and we all bought their new CD 'Into Your Lungs', before shutting it down at the reasonable hour of 2am.

Not much was accomplished on Sunday, but I was ok with that, I am getting old after all!

GR

PS Don't ask me where and why the wigs n mullets appeared, I swear I had nothing to do with it!

And The Winner Is...

First and foremost, that was an awesome response from the blogging world to the Helly Hansen Lifa giveaway. Stay tuned in the new year as I will be duplicating this initial prize draw with similar efforts from my other wonderful sponsors! Next up, a free Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race entry, valued at $125.00!! These races have been selling out for a few years now, so this will be a highly coveted entry indeed! The MOMAR entry may end up being a little harder to win then just leaving a comment though, so you'll have to wait and see what Bryan Tasaka and I scheme up for that one in the New Year...

AND THE WINNER IS...Pano. Congrats Pano, I'm sure you'll put the shirt through its paces. Just drop me a line via e-mail at robbins_gary@yahoo.ca and we can figure out the details. Pano has a website called Train Harder which is a great resource for the BC Athletic community as it brings together the many different people and facets of our 'local' racing community, check it out.

Now, of course not a single person could help but notice that wonderful story from MO, the girl who Jackie, Roxy, and I met at Cle Elum back in Sept. I am absolutely honored to be a part of her running story, and must thank you MO for taking the time to share that with me, it truly made my day when I read it! There is no doubt that if this were not a random draw, then the Helly Hansen Lifa Top would have been given to you straight away.

To thank you for sharing your story, and to help out as best I can, I have managed to put together a little package from Helly Hansen and North Shore Athletics that should ensure that you won't be borrowing any tops anytime soon. Please drop me a line as well, at the above e-mail, and I can get that in the mail for you as soon as possible...maybe even in time for next weekend's Seattle Half Marathon. Good luck in your first half marathon MO!!

Thanks again everyone, it's really cool to see so many people hitting up my blog!

GR

Win A Free HH Lifa Top, Right Here, Right Now

As many of you may have noticed, my blog has recently been void of that bright red HELLY HANSEN logo that glistened in the top right corner of my home page for the last few years. I will go into more detail in the near future as to why that is, but basically, as you may or may not have noticed, ever since my DNF at BC Bike Race back in July, I've kinda been running a lot and biking very little. 2009 will effectively be a year of ultra running for me with my only adventure races being both MOMAR events. The reason for this starts at finances, and works its way down to a belief that I can truly excel at ultra specific racing if I am able to dedicate myself to it 110% like I have never been able to before. Western 09 will be the most competitive 100 miler ever run and I fully intend to have my name as high in those standings as I am physically capable of achieving.

Why is HH gone then?

Well, I picked up Montrail-Mountain Hardware as a sponsor heading into 2008 and was able to distinguish the M-MH sponsorship for ultra running and the HH for adventure racing. However I felt there was a bit of a conflict of interest but was able to separate them effectively throughout the year. Now that my focus will be solely on ultra running this is no longer the case. To celebrate two solid years of sponsorship from the great brand that is Helly Hansen I have been given permission to give away one FREE Helly Hansen 'Cool' Lifa Long Sleeve Shirt. I have, and will continue to, race in these shirts for years to come as they are one of the leaders in the industry in terms of breathability and water repellancy.

All you have to do to have a shot at this free top, valued at up to $60.00, is to throw a comment up onto my blog posting. Whether you say something of substance or post a simple 'YO', it's all good. In one weeks time I will draw one name from those who post a comment and award the free technical performance top to that individual. I will go out on a limb here and say that those are gonna be pretty good odds at winning a 'cool' HH shirt!

Good luck!

GR

Chillaxing

I am loving the 'off season' and taking full advantage of having nothing to think about, train for, or worry about AT ALL right now. Western training starts 01-01-09 and until then I get to drink as much as I want, eat as much as I want, party as much as I want, and run as little as I want!!

This past weekend I was a part of a relay team for the 12th annual Haney To Harrison 100km road race, and ultra. I ran the seventh leg which was about 13km and considered one of the 'harder' sections of the course...with a mole hill of a climb in the middle of it!

The only reason I agreed to do this relay race was because I got the chance to join 'The Chachies' in action. Now seven years in, the team is impeccably summed up by our 'baton'...a mullet! Yup, we have to pass along the same wet, smelly, disgusting mullet all day long!

I believe I slept about five hours from Friday till Sunday, could probably have failed a breathalyzer while running my section of the race, and was even handed a 'water bottle' full of tequila from my teammates half way through my leg...I nearly puked when I slogged it back, but it was pretty damn funny none the less!!

Here are some highlight pics:








Good Times, Good Times!

Big Congrats go out to Hassan Lotfi-Pour (Sammy), and Nicola Gildersleeve for winning the 100k Men's and Women's solo races, with an 8h15m and 9h31m respectively.


GR

My Weekend Of Masochism

The Build Up To The Race:

I've known about The Western States Endurance Run since I first started running back in March of 2004. I've seen the belt buckles awarded to the sub 24hr, 100 mile finishers. I can tell you the course record is held by Scott Jurek in a time of 15h36m...and 27 seconds. I know Western was first run by Gordy Ainsleigh way back in 1974, two years before I was born. I know the race finishes at the Placer High School track in Auburn, California, and I know that this race had been virtually impossible to gain entry into for years now, as thousands of people apply annually for the less than 400 spots awarded. As of November 1st, 2008 I know one more thing about The Western States Endurance Run...I WILL BE A STARTER ON THE COURSE IN 2009!!!

Montrail hosts a seven race series known as The Montrail Ultra Cup, which culminates at Western States on June 27th, 2009. The only way to get into Western now is to win your way in (the race was canceled this year due to forest fires, hence all entries were rolled over into 09, making the already difficult process of gaining entry, nearly impossible) Top three male and female finishers from each of the six Montrail Cup races leading up to Western, are automatically guaranteed entry into the highly prestigious event.

This is where The Mountain Masochist Trail Run comes into play for me. After reviewing my only options at possibly getting my butt to Western 09, which was quickly shaping up to be the most competitive Western ever run, I figured I could tackle two of the now five remaining M.U.C. races. Although I was hoping to grab an entry in my first attempt and to save on the additional travel costs of racing a second event.

None of this of course, is meant to take away from the fact that Mountain Masochist itself is one of the biggest, oldest and most established ultra races in the United States, with this being its 26th edition!

I was fortunate to get my name onto the MMTR starters list and after talking with Rune Melcher he informed me that there were a handful of guys in the race who could all take a shot at the win and hence the top three podium spots. As the race grew closer additional top names were added to the mix, and as I boarded my flight on the Thursday before the race it was with the knowledge that this was being billed as 'The Most Competitive 50 Miler In The US This Year', and 'The Most Competitive MMTR Ever Held'. I was already rolling my change for that second flight to another of the Montrail Ultra Cup races in early 09.

I flew in and out of Raleigh, North Carolina, about three hours South of Lynchburg, Virginia, and I'll cover that in my next posting which will talk about everything outside of the race.

I did not arrive into Lynchburg until Friday afternoon, and after a lengthy search for some edible Gluten Free pre race food, I ended up eating Sushi off of the floor mat of my rental car. It was night time before I located a place I could eat at, and I was rushing to get back to the hotel in time for the pre race meeting. As I exited the sushi/steakhouse it was into a median I had not noticed on the way in...and hence into oncoming traffic! I threw the car into reverse, and my overpriced, under flavored sushi went airborne. I was glad it was a rental car because there would be no such luck in my own car at home. The Sashimi would have its own fur coat within seconds of touching anything outside of its protective casing in my little dog friendly Subaru.

I checked in for the race, met the Canadian transplant Race Director Clark Zealand, and previous race director David Horton, who is certainly a legend within the sport himself.

I should just say right away that without Clark's help this race would never have happened for me. He recognized a flat broke Canadian Ultra Runner and took me under his wing for a few days, allowing me to split a hotel room with him. It was 11pm before we were able to call it a night on Friday, and I had a short conversation with Clark before doing so.

I had mentioned my race plan to Clark, about starting conservative and moving my way up from there. I could see that he thought it was suicide with the guys in this field.

"Any chance that some of those top guys might pull each other apart at the front of the pack?"

"Hard to say. They are all very experienced, very fast runners."

With that, I grabbed 4.5hr of sleep and was up at 3.30am. A full thirty minutes in the shower to help me remember where I was and why I was there. Three bowls of G.F. cereal, and a 45min, 5am bus ride to the starting area.

Holy Crap It's Cold At 5am!

It was pitch black and freezing cold when I stepped off of the bus. I tried my best not to hide out on the buses like so many others, and forced mself into a not so warm 'warm up' run. The 6.30am start was upon us before I had time to blink.

3...2...1...

I set off under the light of my Princeton Tec Eos headlamp, which would end up being the perfect light for our initial 10km of road running. Two guys shot off the front and I found myself in third place. I anticipated more people passing me and kept waiting for it to happen. Eventually pairs of runners started to move up and as I held my own pace I slowly drifted back into 11th place before stabilizing position. There was a group of five runners in a pack just up from me, and although we were all running the same pace, I did not waste the energy trying to catch them just yet. I was enjoying the solitude of the moment, in fact on my pre race 'warm up run' I stopped about a mile away from the race area, shut off my headlamp, and looked skyward at the stars above for minutes on end. I said I would not fire up my headlamp again until I saw a shooting star, but after about five minutes I figured it better to run the race rather than get run over by the runners once it started. There was not a cloud in the sky and I knew we were in for a beautiful day of trail racing!

About 8km into the race we approached our first hill. The runners ahead of me started to spread out and as the hill crested I leaned into the downside as I like to do. I was surprised to effortlessly move past five runners and up into 6th place. We crossed a bridge as the sun was starting to rise and shortly after doing so we finally left the roads behind. We turned into the trails after our first aid station at about 10km /mile 5.7

Dirt, I Love Dirt!

As mentioned in this posting, and numerous before, I have a Gluten/Wheat allergy, but I have also noticed that I race better when I eliminate maltodextrin from my diet, along with dairy and soy. This leaves me with few options in terms of readily available race foods. I knew my good friend Hays Poole, down in Raleigh, NC would be there to meet me at the half way point of the race. He would then act as my support crew and transport my own race supplies to crew accessible aid stations along the way. For the first half of the race however, I had no choice but to carry all of my own calories. In trying to come up with the absolute best system to accomplish this, the day prior I decided to hack apart my favorite running bag, to cut about a pound of weight from it. I then used the vest pack of the bag to carry my drink mixes, and I kept an empty water bottle in the shoulder strap, so I could shift bottles and always have the empty bottle ready to go when I hit an aid station. It seemed to be a good set up and as we hit the trails, and our first sizable climb, I went about putting some drink mix into the empty bottle. I could hear footsteps from behind, but was not looking back. I still had a few more guys to catch.


After about an hour and a half of running I finally caught up to the fifth place runner. Local Jeremy Ramsey was listed as a possible threat to win it all and he was running strong up ahead. Again I paced off the back, awaited a descent, said hi as I pulled up alongside, and was then able to gain my gap on the downhill. What surprised me was that not 2km later, I caught Sean Andrish for fourth place! It was at this point that I started to question my pacing. Had I gone out to fast? Was I going to pay for this later in the race? Had I gotten too excited? I was confident that this was not the case and had a brief conversation with Sean when I caught him on a climb.

Sean was another top threat, someone who had won the race before, and had managed two sub 7hr race times in the past! It turned out that Sean has epilepsy and he was on a new medication for it. Apparently the new meds were not agreeing with his running, and he said his legs felt like lead. I thought for sure that a top runner like this, who was suffering this much, this early into the race, would end up dropping. When I later saw Sean cross the line for 8th place I immediately congratulated him for sticking with it out there on a tough day!

Me to Sean, "How bout the lead three? They blazing it up there?"

"Yeah, but you'll catch them. Nice work so far!"

I doubted his assessment that I would physically catch the lead guys and as the climb we were now on grew steeper I continued to improvise my race plan. I was not sure of their exact lead, but as I now closed in about 2.5hr of running I was starting to feel the toll of the almost entirely fire roads running route. I actually spoke to myself out loud, to ensure that I was listening,

"Just maintain position. You only need a third place finish out here today. One of the lead three will crack. One of the lead three will crack. One...of...the...lead...three...will...crack. Just maintain your position!"

The miles ticked away as we ran through a burgundy, copper, and apricot colored landscape. We gained a few ridges along the way that allowed for sweeping vistas out over the rolling landscapes we were traversing. The temperature had shot up to about 27 degrees, and there was no better way to be spending the first day of November!

Hays Poole, Anyone Seen A Mr. Hays Poole?

As I approached aid station 10, which is just past the mid way point, I found myself hoping that Hays had found the exchange area without issue. To have to search out my own drop bag would take valuable minutes to achieve. As I came into the clearing I could make out very little but silhouettes in the sunshine.

"HAYS!!!"

"Yup!"

Sweet! As much as I love my running backpack...for adventure runs, I could not get it off of my back quick enough in this race! I dropped the bag, grabbed a handheld from Hays, got a high five from Clark, and was through the aid station without having slowed down at all. So focused was I on getting outta there that I happened to miss what was going on right in front of me. It would be another hour before I would learn what had occurred.

After aid station 10 (43.3km) you go into the steepest climb of the race up to Aid station 11 (47.5km), and it would be aid station 12 (51.7km) before I would see Hays again. As I was speed hiking numerous sections of this climb I realized that I was going to suffer to the finish line. I just kept telling myself to stay smart and maintain position.

Aid station 11 was memorable because they were blaring the Rocky theme and you could hear it kms before you actually got there! It made it seem even farther away at times, but I did manage a short Rocky'ish' hands in the air dance as I approached and grabbed some water.

I arrived at aid station 12 and it had been just under an hour since I had seen Hays at aid station 10. I switched bottles and Hays looked at me,

"You're in second place."

I paused for a bit, somewhat confused, then looked back at him,

"NO, I'm in fourth"

"You, are in second, two guys dropped out."

Hays said this in a very Hays Poole kinda way. It wasn't like
"YOU'RE IN SECOND PLACE MAN!!!!"
It was, "You are in second."

My eyes nearly popped out of my own skull.

"ARE YOU SURE?"

"Yes."

I was about to keep arguing, as I like to do, but figured I should probably keep my legs moving, since I was in a race and now running in second place!

After departing Aid Station 12 there was another steep, yet short climb. I power hiked it and spent the entire time trying to calm myself down. There was still 30km and almost 3hr of running left to go.

Me...to myself,

"YOU'RE GOING TO WESTERN STATES!! Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm the hell down. You are not going anywhere till you finish this race with a top three placing. WESTERN! NO, nothing, so far so good, nothing achieved yet, still 30km to go. WHUP WHUP. GARY, get it together, wake up, you're starting to cramp up out already, there are three hundred runners still coming up behind you...some faster than others, but none the less, one mistake and you'll get passed like you're standing still! WESTERN, WESTERN, WESTERN, WESTERN!! Gary...ahh screw it, WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!"

Hearing Footsteps

At aid station 13 we headed out onto an 8km singletrack loop. It was some of the only singletrack in the race, and something that I was really looking forward to. By the time I hit this section however, at km 54 my legs were fully shutting down on me. I could not run any uphill at all, and was even struggling to pace out on the flats. I was fully aware of the fact that the last 25km of the race had significant downhill in it and went about conserving my energy in every way that I could. I hiked the climbs, slowly ran the flats, and just made sure that my legs would hold up on the descents. You can only loose so much time hiking a climb verses running it, but if you are forced into hiking downhill then it's game over! I actually remember looking at my watch during this and thinking, three hours till the finish...three hours till the end of your racing year! Suck it up baby!!

This section was beautiful and it was amazing to me how deep the leaves were that we were running through. There was foliage along the entire course, that goes without saying, but here in particular they were up to a foot deep in places. You just stepped in and hoped for the best. The funny thing is that there was a photographer in this section, and as passed by I stepped onto what appeared to be leaves...and I sunk in water up to my shin! I swear he was just waiting for me to do this!!

I really did feel like my race was falling apart during this section and thought that being caught for 2nd was inevitable. I never gave up on myself or stopped giving it 100%, but I just didn't see how I would not be caught as I felt as though I was moving backwards at times. I started mentally preparing myself to be passed for 2nd and to get ready to fight till I collapsed for 3rd!!

I somehow got through this section without being caught. In fact as I sit here today, looking at the splits, I am absolutely shocked to see that I ran the section from Aid Station 12 to the end of this loop in 1h02m, which is tied for the fastest split in the entire field, with only race winner Eric Grossman! Just goes to show that your pain is rarely as bad as you think it might be, and that absolutely everyone is suffering just as bad or worse at that point in the race. I remember telling my buddy Luke Laga, as I was pacing him during his first 100 Miler The Kettle Moraine 100 back in June,

"Don't ever convince yourself that your pain is any worse than what everyone around you is suffering from. If you do you're simply giving yourself an excuse to drop."

As I came into aid station 13 again, Hays told me I had a 15 minute lead. (I thought he meant over 3rd, but would later learn he meant 4th as he knew this was all that mattered to me) None the less, this was exactly what I needed to hear. Eighteen km to go, fifteen minutes in hand. There was no way I was going to be caught before that finish line!

Aid station 13-14 was almost all downhill. Hays was hoping to make it there in time, but he missed me by a few minutes. It was alright though as I knew I could fudge my way through the last few aid stations with fruit, water and some coke.

From aid 14-15 was another climb, which was good cause I needed the break to walk those sections. Again the leaves were so deep and thick that I actually found the noise of it all started bothering me!

"Damn rustling leaves! I can't even hear myself think out here!!"

It was time to end this race! We had some awesome singletrack running after this climb and with a blanket of leaves covering the ground it became increasingly more difficult to distinguish the actual trail. Thankfully the MMTR was pretty much the best flagged course I had ever run! On top of that there was basically an aid station every 5km! The race organization was certainly showing that it had been around for over 2.5 decades!

It's All Downhill From Here!

I hit aid station 16, the last one on the course. Just over 6km to go, and almost all downhill! I stopped at the aid station to try and get some food into me before the descent. I stuffed in some bananas and oranges, and then promptly turned around and spit them out. I then placed my hands on my knees and tried not to puke. There was nothing wrong with the fruit, my stomach was gone. It was time to end this race!

I thanked the volunteers and then leaned into the downhill, trying to appreciate every second of it, and to stay in the moment as much as possible. Before I knew it there was a 'one mile' marker sprayed onto the ground, only a bit of road running left to conquer.

I could hear the finish line, then it came into sight. I was going to do it, it was going to happen, and for the first time all day, I finally allowed myself to believe that I was Western bound. I burst through the line and Clark Zealand was there to give me a huge hug in congrats, followed shortly thereafter by my awesome crew Hays Poole!
(No I'm not drinking as I cross the line, I'm yelling in excitement!)

I FREAKING DID IT! I needed some luck to pull it all off, but none the less, Western States 2009 here I come baby!!!

Again, sitting here looking at the splits, somewhat in shock, from Aid Station 15 to the finish, I had the fastest closing time of 1h09m47s! Must have been the adrenaline kicking in! That and race leader Eric Grossman knowing he could have run it in backwards for the win at that point in time!



(Top Ten, with Eric on the right and moi on the Left)

GR

(More to come on the entire weekend experience, but that's plenty for now)

The Post Race Hangover

I know, I know, where's the race report, where's the write up, where are the stories??

I arrived home on Monday night at 8pm after traveling for almost 14 hours straight. Actually I spent the night at Jackie's place as she was watching Roxy and it saved me another 30min drive to get home proper...well that and I wanted to see her again after being gone for five days!

The next morning I drove straight to work. Immediately following work yesterday I attended a slide show that was put on by some 'Fat Ass' running friends here in North Van. I had to jet early as my bed was calling my name. I slept in this morning and basically had just enough time to take Roxy out for a two minute pee break before heading back to work again. I was cranky all day and am still pretty edgy right now. I intended to post my race report this evening but am feeling none of the post race excitement that would allow me to properly recap my incredible experiences down in Virginia and North Carolina. I had a wonderful and eventful five day get away and refuse to write about th0se experiences until I can do it justice.

The moodiness following a big event like this is pretty typical for me, and I know I am not alone as I have had numerous conversations with other athletes who suffer from the same emotional hang overs. Even though I work in a great environment at the running store for North Shore Athletics, and I have amazing support and congrats from those around me during and after such events, it does not lessen the time it takes to recover from such incredible adrenaline rushes!

I know I'll be fine in a day or two, hopefully tomorrow morning, and I'm not looking for pity or sympathy here. I'll be right back on top of the world when I can reflect upon what an accomplishment this past weekend was for me. I just need a few days to come to terms with reality again...it's like people who say they need a vacation to recover from their vacation, before heading back to work again.

Anyways, the race report will come shortly, and I promise it won't be of novel proportions this time either!!

Before I head to bed here, and it's not even 9pm, I would also like to take two seconds to extend my sincerest thanks to everyone out there who follows along on my stupid little adventures. The fact that so many of you take the time to share your thoughts and energy will never cease to amaze me. I spend a lot of my time while running and racing thinking about family and friends, and I am constantly reminding myself of how damn fortunate I am. The most recent comments regarding Mountain Masochist did everything from make me laugh, to stir up emotions and help inspire me to go further...and hopefully faster! From the bottom of my heart, thanks so much!!

GR

Western Here I Come Baby!!!!!!!!!

Mountain Masochist quick cap:

I managed to snag a 2nd place finish here in Virginia today, and am Western bound for 09 baby!!

I know I had some Lady Luck on my side because there was just no way that I could match Eric Grossman, Zach Miller, and Lon Freeman's pace up front. After moving into 4th place however I kept telling myself that one of them would crack as they were blazing it up there. I had no choice really, I would have ended up with a DNF myself had I tried to make up the gap they had on me. I actually verbally told myself that one person would drop, and that if I could just maintain my position then I might be able to sneak out a 3rd place finish.

What I did not expect, and could not believe, was that two of them dropped!! I moved into 2nd place without having passed anyone and just tried to stay calm and to keep my gap over 3rd.

I suffered immensely in the mid portion of this race and was amazed that I was not caught for 2nd and 3rd place. In the end I ended up finishing in 7h22m47s, Eric Grossman cruised in for a 7h08m48s overall win and local runner Jeremy Ramsey finished third in 7h31m44s.

WE ARE ALL WESTERN BOUND IN 2009!!!!!!!!!

Off to grab a shower, some eats and some drinks. I then intend to burn my running clothes and will run next to nothing for a full two months. It's been a very long year and I needs a break baby!

Canes vs Leafs tomorrow and home on Monday night. What a weekend!!

GR

Follow Along Live Online

From the RD:

In an effort to show your friends and family as much of your suffering (I mean running) as possible, here are several recent efforts we are going to implement for this year’s MMTR.

You can catch up on the MMTR in multiple ways (You'll have to cut and paste):

1. The Blog (http://www.eco-xsports.blogspot.com/) where there will be audio posts from me

2. Live Splits (http://eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=2&year=2008) for each runner as we have signals.

3. Twitter Feed whenever we post updates (http://twitter.com/mntmasochist)

4. Flickr Photo Stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8977494@N08/)

5. YouTube Videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/ctwzeala)

Comments by Karl Metlzer:
More darkhorses out there, this could be the best 50 miler of the year in term of competition…hands down!

David Horton, course designer and original RD:
There are 4 very well known threats for the MMTR this Saturday: Zach Miller, who won last year, Eric Grossman and Sean Andrish who have both won the MMTR before and Lon Freeman. These are 4 very fast runners. Zach, Eric, and Sean all ran the Tussey Mountain 50 miler very recently and may still feel the effects of that race. A local runner, Jeremy Ramsey, is ready to make a major breakthrough in this race. I think anyone of these 5 runners could win the race.

No matter what the outcome, at least I am finally getting to test myself against some of the best while I am feeling good. I'll go on record right now and say no excuses, this is the race that I will judge my season on.

GR

Gettin Odds On The Big Boys Blogs

Mountain Masochist 54 Miler is only days away now and I'm already having trouble relaxing!

This is gonna be an all out battle for a top three placing and that highly coveted auto entry into Western States 09. Some top names within the sport are down there and everyone has the same goal. I've been told that there are at least ten of us shooting for the podium.

I managed to get a mention on the big guys blog this past week. Karl Meltzer is a bit of a legend within the scene and he posts odds on most big races on his website. Thanks to a comment from a friend I'm being given an outside shot at making some noise.

Race Director Clark Zealand just released the 'seedings' and they contradict Karl's blog slightly as there is some confusion as to who will actually be on that starting line. Even with the few names in question potentially missing out, it still makes this the most competitive running race I've yet been a part of. Here are the seeding's from RD Clark Zealand:

1 Miller Zach MALE 32 MICHIGAN USA

2 Grossman Eric MALE 40 VIRGINIA USA

3 Freeman Lon MALE 33 CALIFORNIA USA

4 Andrish Sean MALE 39 VIRGINIA USA

5 Ramsey Jeremy MALE 32 VIRGINIA USA

6 Basham J.B. MALE 31 VIRGINIA USA

7 Melcher Ryne MALE 29 BC CANADA

8 Robbins Gary MALE 31 B.C.CANADA

9 Schuster Michael MALE 35 VIRGINIA USA

All I know for sure is this. I've battled through a few issues since Stormy in August but have managed to keep my feet moving the entire time. In the last few weeks I finally feel like I am close to 100% again and I know definitively that there is absolutely zero more that I could have done to prepare for this race. With that in hand, all I can do is run my race and let the chips fall as they may.

'The race has already been decided. The training in the months and even years leading up to this event have determined who will finish where, and that training includes mental preparations and actually running a smart race come race day. All that is left now is for the opponents to show their cards.'

On that note, I'm off to bed as I intend to get some early starts to the next few days. With the time difference of the race being in Virginia, the start will be at 3.30am Pacific, and the bus to the starting area departs at 2am PST. I figure a few days of an obscenely early wake up call should help prepare me Saturday...at least I hope that's the case, otherwise I'm just gonna be cranky for a few days for nothing!

GR

HSCT Adventure Run

Howe Sound Crest Trail V2.0

I ran this trail last Sept with a group of five, just one week after returning from XPD Australia. Not only did I pay for it physically, but it just happened to be the only day in Sept 07 that wasn't spectacular. The highlight of the run was seeing an emergency shelter by a lake, with just under ten km left to go. We had fun, but I did not see a single view along the way and was continually being told how gorgeous this route was and that I had to do it again. Here is the best pic from our 07 running of the trail,

Contrast that with this:







and you can see that we were rewarded for our patience with a late season gem of a day up in the mountains. The route is only 30km, but very little of it is fully runnable and it ends up being a lot of power hiking and, of course, photo opp stops!

Our total time on the HSCT itself was 7hr45m with an additional hour to scramble up and down The West Lion. I think a group of focused runners could pull it off in under 4hr if they packed the camera away and were shooting for pure time out there. Myself, I took nearly 200 pics and struggled to trim it down to just under sixty. Check it out, it's A MUST DO in terms of locally accessible adventure runs!



Eleven days till Mountain Masochist in Virginia, and I haven't felt this good in months...bring it on!

GR

Working Through An Injury, And Logging Miles Again

I guess I should have elaborated when in my last posting I said "I've come to terms with my injury". It's not like I woke up one morning and was like, 'yeah, ok, I'm injured, I can handle that...now I'm going running!'

The issue is an overuse injury that has shown me definitively that my Glute Med muscles are underdeveloped. This lack of running specific muscle development has managed to cause me quite a bit of misery over the last few months. By far the worst day I have had since this flared up back in mid August, was when Jackie and I did Wedgemont Lake in Whistler over the labor day long weekend. We were not pushing the pace at all, and yet after our ~15km return run I found that I could not walk without significant pain for days afterwards. Jackie wasn't even sore! My glutes were not firing properly which would lead to secondary muscles having to pick up the slack. This secondary muscles strain lead to exceptionally sore IT bands, and then played out with a serious knee pain. So bad was the pain in my left knee that even after being diagnosed by one of the best sports med Doctors in North Van, I questioned that accuracy of his opinion.

Me to Jackie...the physio!

"It's not possible for my KNEE to be hurting this much from weak muscles up around my hips! I think I have cartilage damage or worse?"

"Have you been doing your strengthening exercises Gary?"

"That's besides the point, my knee is messed up here!"

"Uhh huh..."

Eventually I got it through my thick skull that I couldn't question a diagnosis until following the Dr's orders of daily strengthening around the area in question.

The days following Wedgemont sucked, and then I started wondering if I should be skipping races to fully recover. Of course the answer to this would be yes, and of course I would do no such thing! After a solid race at Cle Elum in Wash I was again left sore for days, but it seemed to be getting somewhat better and was nowhere near the pain suffered after our run in Whistler a few weeks prior.

Two weeks after Cle Elum I had two goal races, in back to back weekends. The MOMAR on Sept 27th, and Run For The Toad on Oct 4th. I knew that if I competed at C.E. then I'd be racing three times in four weeks as The MOMAR and RFTT were not races that I would be able to pass on so freely. At least by making it through the C.E. 50k I knew that I could still run for 4+ hrs without making things worse then they already were.

I started in on a daily routine of rolling my quads and legs on a 'foam roller' to help alleviate the tension at its source. I would also take cold water showers over my legs after every run and elevate my legs whenever possible. This was to help flush lactic acid build up, and 'bad blood' from my legs. As always I used 'the stick' on my calfs and shins twice daily. I also started booking in for a weekly suffer session known as deep tissue massage...seriously, deep tissue masseuses like to hurt people...yeah I'm talking to you Lesley-Anne White!! Oh yeah, and I was utilizing a knee wrap that would act as a band-aid between the source of my pain, and the area it was being played out in. Basically a mini shock absorber that stopped my knee from shutting down on me, which was a good thing! Through all of this however I still managed to overlook the basic importance of helping to strengthen the actual Glute Med muscles.

Todd and I had a solid MOMAR, even if I was stressing out about my knee just minutes before the race started, and I was able to hold onto a 2nd place finish at the Run For The Toad in Ontario. I had made it through the toughest part of my racing year. Three races in four weeks while struggling with an injury that limited my training runs to 1.5hr max. Outside of these races I had not run even 2hr since my knee originally shut down on me while Jackie and I were tackling 'Golden Ears', one week post Stormy. I was very happy with everything, but starting to fear the most important race of the year for me, the November 1st Mountain Masochist in Virginia.

I arrived home from The Toad on Sunday and as mentioned in my previous posting went to work on logging kms again. I figured that if I can run 50k races then I must certainly be able to get through training sessions of 2hr or more! What I found was that while racing I was ignoring quite a bit, and in training I was unwilling to do so for fear of worsening my injuries. Over the previous six weeks whenever my knee flared up on me I shut it down. As it turns out, whenever my knee flares in training, all I really have to do is stop and stretch for a few minutes. The pain that feels like it's going to cripple me subsides instantly and I am free to go for an additional hour of somewhat pain free running! With this knowledge firmly in hand...and having finally added a daily strengthening routine through usage of a simply piece of latex known as a 'Thera Band', I started knocking down miles again in training.

Last week I was very happy to have put in my second biggest week of running ever, behind only my 100 mile week of training back in July! I was originally shooting for another 100 miler, but after logging about 85 miles / 135 kms of solid running I decided it was alright to pass on my original plan of a 25km night run on Sunday (following a 20k fast paced am run before work). The 85 miles were far more intense then the 100 I did back in July and I was finally starting to feel good both mentally and physically.


I was feeling great after such a big week and most of all without making my injuries any worse. I was even starting to think...dare I say it...that I might actually be recovering finally! I've been religious with my daily routine for a few weeks now and it has certainly making a massive difference to how I've been feeling.

I took Monday off of training and they yesterday decided to fully test myself. We were blessed with another incredible October day here in North Vancouver and I set out to run the Hanes Valley route. This is a sweet little run of about 26km which starts in Lynn Valley. The coolest part about this run is that although readily accessible it has a very definitive back country flare to it. You end up climbing close to 4,000 feet and go straight up a mountain pass in the process. This would be my second time doing this route, with Jackie and I running it in the late evening back in July. We finished with our headlamps on in about 4.5hr...I was thinking it could be done in under three.


I started at about 12:30 and if memory serves me correctly I hit Norvan Falls in about 37m, came into the clearing at the base of the main climb in 1h06m, topped out on the climb in about 1h34m. Hit the forest service road at the top of Grouse in exactly 2hr, and then the Grouse Lodge in 2h05m. I had 55 minutes to descend all of Mountain Highway and then run a short singletrack route back to my car in Lynn Valley to hit my goal on the day. I believe the distance from here was about 11-12km...and all downhill. I started in on the descent and was tentative for a few minutes. I was truly worried about how my legs would hold up after such a pounding as it's pretty much all a hard packed forest service road. I even had 'flashbacks' to Wedgemont Lake but told myself that I simply needed to know where I stood so I leaned forward and let it go.

Roxy logged every single mile with me last week, which amazed me, but with the cooler temps she's been a rock star runner lately. As I was bombing down Mtn Hwy she started falling off the back for the first time since I upped the miles again. I kept calling her on and telling her we were nearly done, and she responded by short cutting the switch backs through the forest!

I hit the final turn onto the last section of singletrack in 2h50m and pulled up to my car just over five minutes later! I had knocked down Hanes Valley via Mtn Hwy in 2h55m30s, and felt great in doing so!! The best news of all is that as I sit here today I am not suffering any ills effects whatsoever. A few more long runs this week and then a taper till Mountain Masochist, and things are finally starting to look good for this race!!




GR

Roxy's First Ultra Run, And Countdown To The Big One...

I was very happy and surprised by my recovery from The Toad last weekend and on Monday, two days after the event, which is normally the worst day of recovery, I managed a solid 25km run. It was painful but very beneficial as I did a loop along The Baden Powell Trail, up Mountain Highway, and back down BCMC. Local jargon to say that there was some good elevation gain and loss in the run! As we topped out on the climb, we being Roxy and I, we came across a Deer and Doe. Roxy was obviously enthralled by the duo but she obeyed command and quietly took it all in from a distance.



I took the Tuesday off from training and then on Wed ran a 7km a.m. road run followed by a p.m. headlamp run with two friends. We tackled Lynn Peak, which again means some good elevation gain and loss.


Thursday morning I managed a solo interval training session, but took it down to 4x400 meters instead of the 3x1k that I have done with my buddy Simon in the past few weeks. I won't post times, but will say that I managed to get faster with each lap and at least felt somewhat fast on the final interval. Total distance was about 8km.


I was off today and headed to Bellingham, Washington to run some completely new terrain with trail running buddy Daniel Probst. Dan is planning a possible 100 miler in Bellingham for 2010 and we ran about 50km of the course today. We could not have had a better October day for running, and although I did scrape frost off of the car at 7am, when we started running at 9.30am we were blessed with nothing but blue skies and spectacular views!


We started the run with a six mile out and back along Watcom Lake and then proceeded into a climb of almost 3,000 feet that lead to breath taking views out over Mount Baker. The run finished off with some sweet downhill singletrack running and I decided to add on one more out and back along the lake to bring the distance up to about thirty miles, while Dan decided to soak his legs in the lake. I told myself that I wanted to push the last ten km and see what I could manage, and I was very happy with a twenty minute first five km and nineteen minute final five km for a 39min 10k finale to my day.


Of course Roxy joined me for the entire run, but surprisingly enough this was her first ever ultra run! Her longest run prior to this was back in July when we logged a 40km day along the better portion of The Knee Knacker course. That was a hot day and it really took it out of her. Being a Husky-Sheppard (or Doberman, still not sure) mix she ate up the kms today with temps topping out at about seventeen degrees. Check out this short vid to see that she was in no way exhausted whatsoever after our five hour run!


My weak glutes that have lead to IT Band soreness and hence knee pain has not been resolved, however, after racing three times in four weeks I have come to terms with it. You may be asking why the hell I'm still running at all as we head into October...well I managed to get into a race called Mountain Masochist, which takes place on November 1st in Virginia. The course is listed as fifty miles, but apparently being a David Horton course it comes in closer to 54 miles, or 87 kms.

Still you may be wondering, why am I pushing myself this late into the season, with a serious race in November...at least I am left wondering that sometimes! I rarely race in October, let alone Nov and historically have not done well after the final MOMAR on the last weekend of Sept. The reason for all of this comes down to just two words, Western States. WS is the premier 100 miler in North America. There are others that are right up there, but in terms of history, appeal, and notoriety, nothing else compares. So sought after is this race that every year it goes to a lottery and each year it becomes harder and harder to gain entry, as more and more people apply. I may be mistaken with this number, but I believe they get well over 2,000 applicants for a race that is capped at ~400 runners!!

Long story short, the race was canceled this year, for the first time ever, due to wildfires. The Montrail Cup Series consists of seven races, six leading up to Western, and they award automatic entry into Western for top three male and female at each of these events...it's the only possible way to get to the starting line for WS 2009...which is looking like it could very well be the most competitive race they've ever held!

It's a dream to be a part of this event next year, and I'm doing everything I can to make it happen. I found a return flight from Seattle for just 275 Canadian, and I have a friend in Raleigh, NC, just three hours South of the race start in Lynchburg, Virginia. Hays Poole n family are who I stayed with in 2006 when I attended game five of the Stanley Cup finals...the Oilers won in OT to stay alive...that's all I care to remember about that playoff series!! Anyways, Hays has been kind enough to offer up accom for a few nights and a free NHL hockey game the day after the race! Can't say I'm a Leafs fan, but on Sunday Nov 2nd I'll be hard pressed for who to cheer for in North Carolina...the team that stole my Stanley Cup dreams just a few short years ago...or the always hated Toronto Maple Leafs...I'll decide when I get there...maybe Carolina if I can pull off a top three and gain the highly desired WS entry, The Leafs if I do not and am pouting anyways!!

GR

Run For The Toad Race Report

Wow what an incredible weekend!

Pre Race:

Ellie Greenwood, Rune Melcher and myself just got back from the 7th annual 'Run For The Toad' 50k in Cambridge Ontario. As the slogan says "An event that is focused completely on YOU. An unforgettable 25/50k trail experience". Ummm, yeah, couldn't have put it better myself!

Just to clarify, this is not some kind of fund raiser for rare and endangered Ontario Toads, the RD's Peggy and George are the creators of the animated children's show 'Toad Patrol'. At 1100 people this is BY FAR the largest trail race in Canada and with over 100 registered racers in the 50k division it makes it one of Canada's largest ultra races as well. The course is a 12.5 loop and we all decided to head out and pre run the trail the day before the event.

The first people we met were George and Peggy and they made us feel like family within minutes. It's rare in life to meet two people as genuine as them, and it truly shines through in everything that they do. They take over a week to set up and tear down the race course and accompanying tent city!

We laced up our Montrails and proceeded to check out the course, Ryne having run the race twice before, both times finishing second. In his description to us on the flight out Ryne made it sound like it was pancake flat with one tiny hill towards the end. If you were directly comparing it to a B.C. ultra, then yes, it's pretty damn flat. However there were plenty of undulations and small hills in the loop and what I took away from our scouting trip was that I might actually have a shot at a decent time and placing within the race. Having never run a marathon I simply do not possess the foot speed to do well on flat terrain...yet! If I were to compare it to an ultra in B.C. I would say it is actually slightly harder than the Club Fat Ass, New Year's Day 50k, but without the hangover!

Ryne had told me that the locals to watch out for were three time winner Giles Malet, and local speedster Clayton Sloss. There was a big ceremony before the race started complete with the National Anthem and bagpipers. As we approached the starting line I recognized a face off the cover of a recent edition of Canadian Running Magazine, Reid Coolsaet. He is one of the top runner's in the country and if not for an injury would have been representing The Maple Leaf in Bejing. With personal bests of a 13m21s 5km and 27m56s 10km, I was glad to see that he was out to blaze the 25km route!

In the weeks and then days leading up to this race I would learn that numerous friends and even a close cousin were all within driving distance of the race and most of them would make it out to cheer me on! The day prior I managed to catch up with a good friend from Banff and her newborn son Max...she said I could call him Maximus if I liked. I had not seen Jessie in about eight years, it was a great start to my race weekend!

Go Time:

As we were awaiting the countdown till suffer time, my teammate from last year's Raid The North Extreme, Christiaan Piller managed to find me in the pack! He was running hung over and for fun, but it was great to catch up with him again and once the race began we ran the first 5km together.

Off the start Melcher bolted, as we expected he would. In fact I earned a beer with his first lap time going almost a full minute faster than he 'guaranteed' me he would run. I started at a steady pace and then started to move after about thirty minutes as we got into the guts of the course where there were some hills to take advantage of.

Another friend from Banff, Trevor Richmond, who I only reconnected with a few months ago after a gap of years, met me prior to the 9.30am start and offered to be my support crew. I would see him at the 9km point in the race and on each lap thereafter. The course was great for spectators as the 6km and 9km points intersected each other, and the start finish was but a three minute walk away. You could very easily follow your favorite runner and see them a minimum of twelve times during the event! It was very much like a cross country race, or so I was told.

Trev cheered me on, threw a bottle at me and collected whatever piece of wet smelly gear I peeled off with each lap as I passed by...did I thank you properly for that Trev?


I clocked a first lap time of 55m27s and was holding down second place, three minutes back of my Montrail teammate Ryne Melcher and just 17sec ahead of three time winner Giles Malet. I was feeling strong though and continued on with my set pace.

Where'd This Pavement Come From?

The course in a nutshell, from what I remember, flat start, small climb, pavement for one mile, undulating trail, short climb to nice vantage point, cross country grass running to the 6km aid station, a three km forested yet grassy loop back to 9km, some muddyish (but not really) forested running till 11.5k, the biggest climb of the event, and although not large by any means they did manage to somehow make it longer and tougher with each additional lap, followed by a pretty much downhill km to the finish line.


(the big hill)

I was hating the pavement by the second lap and could really feel it pounding on my IT band. The good part about this race however, was that for the first time since running Stormy in August, I knew before the race began that I would at least be finishing it. Something that was in question, at least in my own head, before my last two events. As I was power hiking a climb around km sixteen I glanced back to see Giles just down the slope behind me. I did not panic, but was well aware of the fact that he was a very smart and experienced racer. I knew that if I made one mistake in my nutrition or pacing over the next 34km that he'd pass me like I was standing still.

As I rounded the corner toward the now 18.5km aid station, I heard my name being screamed and it jolted me with energy. My good friend Stephanie Price, who I had not seen in a full decade informed me a few days out that she would be at the race cheering me on. Her boyfriend was in town visiting from Calgary and for some reason she could not make it to the 9.30am start...

Seeing her HUGE smile and feeling her genuine excitement propelled me past her faster than I would have liked, but I knew we'd get a chance to catch up properly after the event.

Again at the now 21.5km aid station Trevor supplied me with a full bottle of fluids and Steph was there bouncing around and ensuring that I could feel no pain as my adrenaline kicked in. I actually had to tell myself to chill out a bit and to not pace faster than I thought I should.

Six Minutes, Are You Sure?

I clocked a second lap time of 55m52s, but Melcher had managed a 53.08 and was now almost six minutes clear of me! Giles was holding strong and still just 55sec back in third. I've only known Ryne Melcher for just over a year, and in that time I've seen him lead out almost every race he participates in. Not once had he beaten me though and I told myself to stick with my own plan. I could stay strong and wasn't sure that he could continue his current blistering pace. We were only half way done and we all knew that the race had just truly begun.

Again I was hating the pavement and my favorite volunteer on the course was quickly becoming the lady in the chair at the 3km point. She wasn't exactly cheering on the racers and she didn't even make eye contact with me once, but every time I layed eyes on her I knew that my IT's were about to get a break thanks to the plush terrain hiding just to her right. Ahhh, trails, I love trails!

Over the first two laps I had paced off with a 25km runner. We exchanged leads with each other numerous times, talked intermittently, and overall really helped each other along. On the third lap I was solo however, and I knew it would stay that way till the finish. Rounding the corner to the now 24.5km aid station I caught my three person support crew off guard sitting on a picnic table with their backs to the runners. I threw my sweat soaked hat on the ground in front of them and kept on running. They yelled as I passed, and of course I thanked them...but did I thank you guys properly for actually picking that thing up and returning it to me after the race!!

Three kms later I could see and hear them calling me on and again Trev supplied me with a full bottle of fluids. They could then walk a few hundred meters down the trail and see me one additional time before I headed out on the final three km of the loop. Steph in particular was supplying me with such energy and enthusiasm that the 25km walkers I was passing along the way all took the time to comment to me on how great my support team was...and it was about to get better...

Maybe He'll Blow Up!

As I crossed the line for the third time I had logged a 12.5km time of 58m34s, Melcher had managed another eleven seconds on me though and as I was given the splits I knew that he would have to blow up for me to have a shot at the win. For a second I hoped it would happen, then realized that I was wishing my own teammate and good friend would crumble in a race on his home turf, in front of his hometown crowd, where he knew everyone, and had finished second in this race twice before...I asked my support to tackle him if they could catch him!!

Coming across the line on that third lap was the highlight of the race for me. My close cousin Robyn Beresford was the first person I saw and heard as she was screaming at me. I had not seen her in over three years! Following Robyn were absolute throngs of supporters as most of the 25km runner's were now finished for the day. Robyn's husband John, a childhood acquaintance of mine that I had not seen since elementary school managed to hop out of the crowd as well. The full Montrail executive squad who were manning the Montrail tent were clapping and yelling, Trev, Steph and her boyfriend were screaming (sorry I can't recall his actual name right now...not cool of me as he is a great guy). There was easily two hundred people there screaming and yelling at me to "go get him", "keep it up", "just one more lap", "You Can Do It!", it was phenominal!! Christian Piller came out of the crowd and ran with me for a bit, telling me that the split was almost exactly six minutes...he then reminded me of my EXACT words to him on the first lap as I watched Ryne disappear in front of us after just 1.5km of running,

"There goes Melcher. I could take six minutes out of him in the final twelve km if I had to!"

I wasn't being cocky, I was speaking from experience...but I had never seen the Ryne Melcher that showed up for this race. Christiaan's reminder to me did what it was supposed to though, it propelled me outta there with a renewed fire in my legs. Anything could happen in the final 12.5km of a 50k and I certainly wasn't throwing in the towel just yet!

As if my race experience had not been complete enough, as I was leaving the start-finish area I heard my name one last time. Standing off to the right, with her two children by her side, was Jessie's sister Paula, who I had met numerous times over the years. She made the drive out with her kids just so that she could see me for a fraction of a second. Unfortunately she was not able to stay until the finish, and although I wanted nothing more than to stop and hug her, I knew she'd understand if I did not!

I was pacing well, yet feeling like I was right on the verge of what I could handle. I had been on top of my Thermolytes and Carbo Pro 1200 all day but the pace of 50k on flat terrain was something I was not accustomed to. I downed a few more salt tabs and tried to maintain my cadence over the paved section. Again I celebrated when I spotted the lady in the chair under the blanket.

In my head I felt like I was flying. I told myself that I was making up the 30s per km that I needed to catch Ryne before the finish line. I thought that I might be able to pull it off if I could just maintain exactly what I was doing at that moment. Then it happened, five km into the final loop I passed some 50k runner's and they felt the need to cheer me on,

"Nice work, you're only ten minutes back of first place!"

TEN MINUTES! How in God's name...I didn't say a word, but the wind in my sails started to evaporate. I know how innacurate info like this can be and I tried not to let it get to me. I had one km more till the aid station at now km 43.5 and I knew I'd get a proper split at that point in time.


As I rounded the corner to the aid station I could not believe the support I was getting. My cousin actually ran onto the trail with me and wasn't sure what to do. I thought she was gonna grab me for a second and we kinda gave a half hug as I ran past!! Then I yelled back at them,

"TIME?"

There was a delay, "12.50"

Twelve minutes and fifty seconds. WTF, how in hell was that even possible! At that moment, with just 6.5km to the finish line I knew it was beyond over. All I could do was picture Melcher somehow knocking down 3min kms on the final lap...I was in awe. My mental focus shifted towards preserving second place now. I had no idea of where Giles was (he was just 96sec behind me at the start of the last lap!), and knew that I just had to stay smart to pull of a Team Montrail sweep. Ellie had won the wmn's 25km race and was now also a part of the support crew!

I was on the verge of cramping numerous times but kept on top of my electrolytes and as I was trying to mentally process how Ryne could be finishing so strong, it dawned on me...when I asked for 'TIME', they had given me just that...it was ten to one when I ran past them! I was less than five hundred meters from receiving my last fluids of the race from Trev. Again they cheered me in with every ounce of energy they possessed. Ellie knew the mistake that had been made,

"Ryne is six minutes ahead."

Didn't matter, everyone knew it was over and my hat was off to Ryne anyways, he was about to get his first win of the year! That certainly didn't dampen the spirits of my support crew though, sensing that the end of the race was imminent they seemed to put even more effort into their encouragement and I could actually hear them through the forest without even seeing them! I found myself welling up a little bit, I'd never been in a race where so many close friends were on hand to cheer me on. They had all taken time out of their own weekend schedules to come out and watch me run in circles for almost four hours...all the while doing everything in their power to ensure I crossed the finish line as fast as I could, and with the biggest smile on my face.

I managed to kick up my heels over the last five hundred meters and at least give the appearance of finishing strong. They were all there to see me in, they were all as genuinely excited to be there as I was to have them there. It was one of the best race experiences of my racing career! (yes I am finally calling it a 'career', just like it took me three years to actually call myself an 'athlete')


My final lap time was 1h00m43s for a total time of 3h50m34s, Melcher was the only racer to pull off four sub 1hr laps and he stopped the clock in 3h43m11s. Giles finished 3rd in 3h54m20s and Clayton came in fourth in 4h02m19s. Full Results Here

The Social After The Race:

Of course George and Peggy weren't done there as they had more prizing then I've ever seen at an event before in my life! Every finisher received a nicely branded Run For The Toad mug, and for second place I walked off with a branded china serving plate, which I will proudly bring to every Christmas party I attend this coming off season!!


My cousin Robyn and her husband John were gracious enough to host all of us for dinner on the evening. I'm allergic to Gluten, Melcher is Vegan and Ellie is a veggie, not exactly your easiest guests to appease! They didn't flinch however and what ensued was a fabulous dinner followed by numerous drinks and a ton of good stories...like the time John and I nearly died on the way to a hockey tournament in Saint-Pierre Et Miquelon, off the coast of Nfld as eleven year old kids...but that's a whole other story...

A brief blurb on Ryne Melcher, as I think it's fully deserved here. As mentioned I've only known Ryne for just over a year, as have most in the BC scene. What I did not know until recently is the following:
-Ryne has run 124 ultra races, yes I said 124, having competed in his first at 14 years of age! (RFTT was my 12th)
-The Toad was his 39th win!
-His marathon PR is 2h32m!
-He holds the Canadian trail record for 50k at 3h17m!
-His race resume would be a full blog in and of itself. Apparently he burned out a bit after being at the top of the Cdn scene for so long, as is to be expected. I've seen him drop close to fifteen pounds since Miwok, and a few weeks ago he logged 130km of training...in two days. Ryne will be a force to be recconned with in 09 and is only going to make our entire Montrail Canada Team that much better. I can't wait to hit the trails with him this winter in training!!

GEAR:
Montrail Streaks
Mountain Hardwear Team Shirt
Helly Hansen Lifa boxers n shorts
Carbo Pro 1200, one bottle into three water bottles
Thermolytes x15
Shot Blocks, 1/6 of a packet

HUGE THANK YOU to Montrail for taking care of us all season long and George and Peggy of Run For The Toad. This is truly a top notch race and if you are planning to be in the area late next year I'd definitely add it to the race calendar. The fact that there were 1100 runners and walkers on the course, and I never once felt crowded is a testament to how much effort they put into this race. Hopefully we'll be there again in 09 to get those bigs hugs from George and Peggy once again!!

GR

Running For Toads...

CORRECTION, BIGGEST TRAIL RACE IN CANADA...1100 people between the 25k and 50k, WOW!!
Apparently there are also upwards of 1,000 spectators...this is gonna KICK ASS!!


Tomorrow morning Rune Melcher, Ellie Greenwood, and myself are flying to Ontario to compete in one of the biggest trail races in Canada, The 7th Annual Run For The Toad 25 and 50k. Montrail are sending us out there to represent so hopefully we can all put in solid performances. I'm still not sure as to how I will hold up on a pretty much completely flat 50k where winning times are well below 4hr...but we'll see soon enough I guess. Rune Melcher has finished second in this race twice before, so we are getting the inside scoop during our flight tomorrow.

Either way, I have not been this excited about a race in a long, long time. Partly due to the travel, but a big part of me is looking forward to the challenge of trying to hold my own against the marathon speedsters, something I have not been able to do to date. I came into ultra running from more of a hiking background and have yet to even attempt an actual marathon, so this should be interesting!

Wish us luck. The Race Director gave a great write up to Dom Repta of Team Montrail Canada that he posted on our team site a few weeks back. Check it out

GR

MOMAR Cumberland Race Report

This past weekend was the third and final MOMAR of the 2008 season and series owner Bryan Tasaka managed to hit an absolute home run with this one. After taking the time to design a brand new course he was rewarded with record numbers as the event sold out with almost 280 racers on the starting line.

The 45km course would consist of five disciplines, kayaking, trekking, biking, navigation, and swimming.

I found myself more nervous then normal while preparing for the 9am start, and I could sense that I was almost starting to stress out Todd as well (which would take a lot!). I didn't want to tell him but I had basically done nothing but run since the end of BC Bike Race back in early July, having only ridden a bike four times in that span. I knew my fitness was at an all time high, and I was weighing in at 153 in the days before the event. I raced most of 07 at 161, so I knew that alone would allow me a solid race. My concern however was that I would not be able to hold onto Todd on the bike and that I might cost us the race in doing so. Maybe it was my nerves, maybe it was bad luck, maybe it was carelessness...

"5...4...3...2...1...insert air horn here!"

With 280 people on the water it was bound to be a mass chaos and we had stratigically positioned ourselves behind the fastest boat. Sasha Brown and Brian McCurdy were in a double surf ski and are absolute animals on the water. We were hoping to maybe hold their wake for a portion of the paddling stage.

We dug in hard left, then went to dig right...and before we even knew what had happened we were upside down and swimming!! It only took us maybe ten to fifteen seconds to get back in the boat, and the whole debacle cost us less than half a minute, but the lead boats were now dissapearing in front of us and by the time we got moving I was freezing and we were back around 50th or so. Todd actually managed to laugh at the whole thing and although I was cold I think it may have been the best thing for us as it immediately alleviated all of my stress and replaced it with adrenaline!

Todd and I figured we had the 3rd fastest boat on the water, now we just had to prove it! We went to work on tracking the boats in front of us and slowly but surely made our way up into 5th by the first turn around. The paddle section was 9km and by km seven we had moved into 3rd spot, but Brian and Sasha, and John Markez (who I considered to be the favorite in the race) were minutes ahead of us.

We came off the water in 57m34s, John had a 4m22s lead on us. Brian and Sasha will be the first to admit that they can't nav and although solid athletes we knew they were not in the overall mix. Todd and I had a solid transition and started attacking the first trekking/navigation section. As Todd sprinted away from me I yelled to him,

"I can't feel my feet yet dude, just gimme a minute to get the blood flowing again!"

We struggled with our second CP and ended up searching for it with Markez before going in separate directions. After almost 30m we arrived at the final CP just behind Markez and proceeded to hit the bike transition neck and neck!

Todd and I had a nearly flawless transition and were off in advance of John. He managed to catch us after about 2km of flat riding and then proceeded to pass us and allow us to draft off of him. The first hill wasn't far off and once we started climbing John fell off the back. I was truly amazed at how good I was feeling on the bike and I went about leading us up and over the main ascent we had to endure, or as Todd called it, 'The Crux Of The Race'. We glanced down at our time and figured we were about 1/2 way done the course, which allowed us to dig a little deeper and continue to widen our lead.

Once we hit the singletrack downhill Todd regained the lead and I followed along. I recently sold my Specialize Epic and was riding Keith Nicol's Santa Cruz Blur for the race. It was the first time in six months that I truly enjoyed being on my bike. If I can pass along one very hard lesson learned, please take the time to be properly fitted on a mtn bike. It can truly be the difference between riding and running technical terrain, and loving and hating your biking experience! In fact it's the main reason that I wasn't on my bike throughout most of the summer. I was LOVING the terrain Bryan was throwing at us and Todd and I ate it up while letting out the occasional hoot and hollar!

We managed to post the fastest bike time on the day in 1h05m and after another flawless transition we were off and running again. Todd was like clockwork on all but one of the CP's, but even when Todd isn't 100% on the CP he still manages to recover in a hurry and we cleared the trekking stage in an additional 1h05m.

A quick transition back onto the bikes for a short but fun singletrack leading us into 'downtown' Cumberland. We then proceeded to drop our bikes right at the finish line while be handing our final map on the day for a quick Urban Nav to the finish line. We had no idea how close or far the next competitor was behind us, but were feeling confident that we had enough of a lead to relax a little...that confidence evaporated when we couldn't locate the first CP on the Urban Nav! We were looking for a CP in a bush by a mining cart in a park, but after doing three laps of the park and finding nothing I was about to run back to the finish to tell them that the CP had been taken! Todd then yelled out that he had found it. I guess in our rush we failed to distinguish between the mining cart and the benches that had mining cart wheels on them!

We knocked off the last few CP's and came across the line in 4h01m25s to scoop our first MOMAR team win of 08 and our 4th overall title!! It, as always, felt amazing to cross the line in first place and I can't believe I was left stressing about so much just 4hr prior.

Being that you had to drop your bikes at the finish before the final nav section it made for some exciting viewing at the line. Previous Cumberland winner and local rider Jeremy Grasby came into the final transition just seconds ahead of John Markez, while Garth Campell and Shane Ruljancich were following closely behind both of them. Grasby managed to hold onto second place with Garth and Shane third and Markez fourth. Team Dart-Nuun, with Ryan Van Gorder, Tom Roozandaal, Norm Hann, and Jen Segger came in a solid 5th overall, just ahead of Roger MacLeod for 6th and John Barron and Tom Jarecki for 7th. Big congrats go out to all racers, but especially team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island, who finished 2nd in the team of four co-ed...with Carey Sather racing as a new mother of just two months...nice work guys!!

From there we were off the the legendary MOMAR after party and I drank like I had not in months! The theme was Hawaiian and rightfully so with a grand prize trip for two to Hawaii!! Bryan also auctioned off an entry for the 2009 B.C. Bike Race, with all proceeds going to charity and in doing so raised $4200, which when coupled with the rest added up to over $8,000 going towards 'The Make A Wish Foundation'. What an incredible weekend!!!

Thanks so much to Bryan for another great year of MOMAR's. Jacqueline Windh gives a great race report on Sleepmonsters in which she takes the time to truly express how much Bryan has meant to the local Adventure Racing community over the past nine years!
Thanks as well to Mark Campbell and Helly Hansen for their continued support and great products!
Carbo-Pro 1200 and Thermolytes, the perfect mix!

Apparently there will only be two MOMAR's next year, Squamish in May and Cumberland in September...better get your entries in early cause they are guarenteed sell outs!!

Full Cumberland Results Here

GR

Frosty Mtn Success and MOMAR Countdown

This past weekend was the 1st annual Frosty Mountain 50k ultra...and NO, I was not racing it, although I would have loved to have been there. In fact if I were not racing the next two consecutive weekends I would have been there for sure!

Race Director Gottfried Grosser and organizer Heather Macdonald apparently put off a flawless event and it's been getting nothing but rave reviews from all involved! On top of a downright incredible mountainous 50k singletrack route, there were the finish line goodies, straight out of Gottfried's bakery of course! I was sad to have missed out on this one and can't wait to be there in 09. Check out some of these pics...






Taken on your standard digi cam these absolutely speak for themselves! The fact that this race takes place right at the Northern tip of the Pacific Crest Trail, in Manning Park, B.C. ensures that it can draw racers from The Lower Mainland, The Okangan, and even some 'wannabe Canadian's' from down South!! Not sure what permitting allows for race numbers, but can assure it will approach the limit in 2009.

This year's winner was, "Some guy named Chad who drives a Lotus!"

I then recognized the name Chad Ulansky but could not for the life of me figure out why, until I saw the finisher photos. Chad has been amongst Canada's top adventure racers for years now, racing on Supplier Pipeline, and I kinda met him at Raid The North Extreme last year. Apparently he mines for diamonds...and apparently he's quite good at it! Check out his race resume, or what I could quickly find, he finished 16th at Marathon Des Sables 2003!! Just one more shining example of the caliber of athletes involved in adventure racing. He'd probably win a mtn bike and kayak race immediately following Frosty Mtn if it were available to do!

The Cumberland MOMAR is only days away and with record numbers it's going to be the most competitive field we've ever seen...wishing I had been riding my bike more now!
Check out Todd's update as he gives a full rundown of who to keep an eye on this weekend.

And finally, Shane Ruljancich of Victoria B.C. has finally made his way into the world of blogging. He'll be making an appearance at this weekend's MOMAR with teammate Garth Campbell. They scooped the category during my unscheduled absence from the race in July, where Todd took the overall without me of course...greedy bastard!

GR

Exciting News From Princeton Tec...

I was just talking with the Princeton Tec rep today and he happened let slip some of the exciting news coming down the pipes at P.T. I'm not even sure if I should mention this stuff yet, but I got excited...and I'm sure someone will let me know if I should have shut my mouth on this one!

So, the Princeton Tec Apex leads the industry in terms of sheer lighting abilities, and pretty much always has. The only strike against it would be the battery life, which is kinda inevitable when you're pumping out three watts of light and 60 lumens. A great secondary headlamp, or primary lightweight headlamp, has always been the Princeton Tec Eos, with 25 lumens of light and running on just three AAA batteries. The battery life of the Eos has always been respectable as well, so it's no surprise that many runners and adventure racers actually prefer the Eos for its packability and weight savings. Well check this out...the Eos is getting a bit of an overhaul in 09 and Princeton Tec have somehow managed to almost double the output of this little warrior. The Eos will now be pumping close to 50 lumens of light! AND, and...I can't even believe this goes in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence...they have IMPROVED the burn time of the light as well!!

Sounds to me like the Eos is gonna be the go to light in the industry next season. I for one can't wait to get my hands on one of these guys to fully test it out for myself. Stay tuned, I'll be sure to let ya know just as soon as I can put one through its paces!

I should also throw down a mention of the Princeton Tec Switchback 3 bike light set up, since I'm on the topic of lights. I got a hold of this gem early in the season and got in some sweet Squamish singletrack night rides thanks to it. Of course with the long summer days the bike lights can fall by the wayside a bit, but after biking home in the dark after work last night I realized it's time to pull this baby out and get back to some good ole nighttime fun! Say what you will about a sponsored athlete talking about his own sponsors gear, I have never owned a bike light that even came close to the Switchback 3 in terms of how well thought out it was. From the second you open the box you know you've got a top end product! My first two bike light set ups were a Night Hawk and then a Light & Motion, and although very recognized brands within the industry, I never had any luck with consistency while racing with these lights.

On that note, I'm off to bed...I think I might just wear my Eos and get in some reading before falling asleep though!

GR