Running in East Sooke Park and Harvesting Spaghetti Trees

I packed my bags during Friday's howling windstorm and amidst stories of power outages, canceled ferries and closed roads.   While I was looking forward to the run, sailing to Vancouver Island through high waves was very low on the list of my favorite things to do... 

Assuming the weather forecast would prove right and we'd run in cold rain for most of the 16km of the Spaghetti Tree run, I threw my rain gear and warm stuff for afterward into the ever growing pile for the road trip and added some Gravol to my breakfast menu for good measure.

A sleepless night despite the sudden calmness outside.  I tossed and turned fearing I would miss Kat's carpool scheduled to pick me up at 5:30am...or did she say 5:00am?  At 4:00 I finally rolled out of bed to toss the last forgotten items into my bag, switched on the coffee machine and swaddled Active Porker, the golden pig and club mascot in a warm blankie for the trip.   Just as well, Kat, after not sleeping a wink herself, arrived 10 min early.  Next stop, Reagan, near the city centre - then Claudia near the highway in Richmond.  The happy bus was loaded!

We were plenty early for our 7am ferry reservation in Tsawassen.  Porker decided to get out of the car and enjoy the ferry ride on the passenger deck.  Nobody objected having a pig on BC Ferries and he got quite a bit of attention when he posed for photos in Active Pass.  The skies were dry and beautiful, but the forecast called for more rain for the afternoon and by the time we drove off the ferry in Swartz Bay, the rain was coming down again.

Reagan and Active Porker had never been in Victoria and we gave them the whirlwind tour of everything important:  Elk and Beaver Lake, location of the annual Elk/Beaver Ultras and 2010 ACU 50K National Championship, Thrifty Foods to stock up on food, the Empress for afternoon tea, the Parliament Building,  the Royal British Columbia Museum and the Gorge (where we watched UVic win a rowing race over UBC). 

Just so happened that Lysanne, one of the Spaghetti Tree Run organizers, was also on the Trestle Bridge watching the rowing race, and we were able to follow her car to the start in East Sooke Park.  By the time we arrive at the little parking lot in the middle of nowhere, we were all cold and tired and eager to start running to get rid of the cobwebs.  

Teagirl, aka Katie, had organized everything beautifully.  There were maps and sign-in sheets, handheld radios and the little mainlander's group even ended up with their very own guide, non-other than the famous Jackal.  Active Porker greeted everybody and then decided to wait in the car.  Patty promised to keep him out of trouble.

Our little group soon fell to the back of the pack with an islanders group around Linda, Elaine and Fergus just ahead of us and fasties Doug, Lysanne and Katie disappearing immediately in the distance.  The single track trails climbed steadily up and no one stayed cold very long.  The trails were in exceptional condition, especially given the major windstorm that blew through just a day prior.  All intersections were marked with big wooden trail plaques. Together with Katie's perfect route descriptions we didn't really need Carlos ;-)  but it sure was nice to sit back and relax.

The chit chat centred around the scenery, past bagging mishaps and helicopter rides as well as April Fools pranks and looking for the elusive Spaghetti Trees.  Did we find them?  Did we harvest Spaghetti? This video might shed some light on these questions:

While Katies route description was impeccable, her GPS measurements were thought to be off.  Because of all the ups and downs and zig and zags, the distance turned out farther than the GPS had us believe.  The route wound its way past mossy rocks, Arbutus trees, wild strawberry plants in bloom, strange succulent, semitropical ground covers and ancient, abandoned copper mines, west to the shore line where the waves crashed against high cliffs.   The views more than rewarded for the constant ups and downs.  The weather had cleared up and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, USA was visible in the distance.  I scanned the horizon for the tell tale sign of whales, but couldn't see or hear the spray from their blow holes.  

Somehow, we missed the cut off for the shorter route.  Because Claudia hurt her knee in a hard fall I had considered taking the shorter route back, instead of heading further west on the Coast Trail.  Thanks to Carlos' unintentional (or so he claims) oversight, we all ended up committed to the long course - and were glad we did.  Just before a little ghost cabin high over the water, Carlos pointed out that this part of the course was an out and back - the girls opted to visit the cabin next year and headed inland...only to discover that they missed the Bobbington Hill loop when the group ahead of is appeared from another trail at the next intersection. A bit confusing, but we waited for Carlos and Reagan and sorted it all out.  

Despite my lack of training - resting an injury - I was feeling good and didn't fizzle out at the end.  We clocked in at 3:40h.  As soon as we stopped, the rains started. Perfect timing.  Porker was happy to get to the pub, for some well deserved beers and a burger.

If you'd like to run the Spaghetti Tree Run next time, please find details here.