1998 - Year 5 - Vancouver New Year's Day Fat Ass 50 Run and Freeze Your Fat Ass Swim - Results

The new year dawned gray, windy, cold and wet in Canada's west coast evergreen playground. A perfect day for a run!

About 20 or 30 hardy souls gathered at Stamps Landing on False Creek for the annual affair organized by Greg Horner.  After the obligatory group photo, the run started promptly at 9 a.m. (Capilano Time) The run consisted of 2 scenic 25 K loops.  Each loop circled False Creek, Stanley Park and passed the English Bay site of the Polar Bear Swim (where the real crazies would later in the day prove their lunacy to the world).

Although the run started off in the cold, amazingly after about 15 minutes of running the temperatures suddenly became mild and balmy, except of course when you faced a headwind (which was most of the time).  This year there was an unusually high tide at the start, and with the high winds whipping up the big breakers in English Bay, there was a heavy surf crashing against the Stanley Park seawall, strong enough to lift up large concrete slabs from the wall and toss them on the walkway. There was no escaping the surf on the narrow seawall between the ocean and the cliffs, so that all runners were thoroughly drenched by ... uh, 'refreshingly cool' salt water. Fortunately, no runners were swept out to sea. 

By the second loop of the run, the tide had gone out, so that only the logs, sand and concrete slabs littering the seawall were reminders of the morning's display of hydro power.

All in all, it was a great run, the weather was delightful once you've warmed up and it was one more step down the trail to the finish of the Western States 100-miler at Placer County High School.

Ron Adams

1998 Vancouver Fat-Ass 50 Results

Total Starters:   26
Total Finishers:   ?