Savaged by the Fluffy Bunny

I participated in the Fluffy Bunny Trail Run yesterday. Actually, that's not totally accurate, because the "Fluffy Bunny" is the 35K distance and my friend Doug MacKay and I attempted the 25K "Run in the Park" distance of the Fluffy Bunny Trail Run.  This was a bunny with teeth!

Our day started off excellently.  Doug picked me up at 5:45, we picked up another runner, Lori Moody, at 6:00 en route and we were at the restaurant before the opening time of 6:30.  Given that participants last year preferred to go home and sleep rather than attend the finisher party, Event Host Geoff Palmer had the party *before* the run.  Great idea!  About 10 of us had great greasy breakfasts and, thanks to Geoff's sponsors, everyone who was present received a nice prize of some sort.  (I won a prize for the biggest breakfast category...something that I would not regret as the day progressed!)

Doug and I were up for a 2.5 to 3 hours run...maybe a bit more.  Would we take it easy and do the 25K or should we suck it up and go 35?  I thought about what Geoff had told me earlier in the week, "Nobody has ever done the 25K.  You might find the 35K even easier than the 25K."  Somehow that math didn't register with me.  Doug and I figured we would opt for a leisurely "Run in the Park" distance and bag a course record.

Given the 4 different distance options, we soon split off from the main group of runners and  were on our own.  Geoff's course description was excellent and the day was perfect for a trail run.  Doug and I somehow managed to get off the Dilly Dally Trail and found ourselves at a lookout point, but no matter, the view of Indian Arm was spectacular and it was a 20-minute diversion at most.

The trail went up.  And up.  And up.  It was interesting to note that for the first 90 minutes or so of going up, we ran on asphalt that must have been put down around the turn of the century and was now broken up and had trees growing through it.  How in the devil did they get the asphalt way up there?  Why?

Anyway, I called my wife about 2.5 hours into our run and mentioned that we might be, ahhh, a bit late getting back given that we were no where near the summit and not even 10K into the course!  Meanwhile, Lori had completed the 11K "Extreme Punisher" distance and was patiently waiting for us at the car.

As we neared the summit, Doug, who didn't stuff his face for breakfast, was running out of gas.  The father-daughter team of John and Ali Jones leading the 35K event steamrolled past us and Carlos and Geoff, the only veterans of the 35K event, crossed us a few minutes later, so we soaked in the view together.

The view from the top of the mountain was the most spectacular I've seen in BC.  As a falcon played in the thermals above our heads, we were treated to a breathtaking 360-degree view of the lower mainland of BC. I swore at myself again for forgetting the camera.

Now feeling guilty that my household chores were at risk of not getting completed, I proposed to Doug that we cut the course short and take the direct route home.  Doug was cramping badly and mumbled something about having to up his training miles.  Consensus was quickly reached and we veered off at Swan Falls Junction, seeing our hopes of coming home with a course record vanish.

The trail went down.  And down.  And down.  We found a beautiful waterfall and cooled off.  (I tried a skinny dip, but it was too cold!)  By the time we reached Bunsen Lake and the trail that lead to the car, Doug was totally on empty so I had the opportunity to practice some of my motivational psychology that's been dormant since the last time I paced a friend in a 100-miler.  We shuffled into the finish at 7:03. Lori had been waiting 4.5 hours!!

Given that we didn't even do the whole 25K, I'd have to say that this was without doubt, the toughest trail run I've done. 

Beware the Fluffy Bunny!