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The results/blog posts of anyone who runs the course will be listed here as they become available. 

If you run the trail we appreciate if you blog about your run and send us names of all runners, times, photos and a run report so others will benefit.

Please click here to see some amazing photos from the 2 September 2006 run.  Also, learn  from those who have come before you by reading the blog posts through the links below:

2006/09 Juan De Fuca Trail Run Times

Name Date Time 
 Dom Repta  02 Sept 2006 7:30
 Gary Robbins  02 Sept 2006 7:30
 John McGrath  02 Sept 2006 7:30
 Mark Fearman  02 Sept 2006 8:05
 Desmond Mott  16 Sept 2006 8:20
 Chris Benn  16 Sept 2006 8:20
 Tim Wiens  16 Sept 2006 8:20
 Carlos Castillo  02 Sept 2006 9:35
 Ean Jackson  02 Sept 2006 9:35
 Berglind Hafsteindottir  02 Sept 2006 9:35
 Carlos Castillo  09 Sept 2006 10:21

2007/07/19 My Juan De Fuca Marine Adventure

Beach ZenAfter wrapping up the Cleveland Dam aid station at the Kneeknacker, welcoming an exuberant husband at his 15th KK finish and packing the car for a 5 day camping trip, said husband and offspring were off to a secret location on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

We aced the ferry (the waits can be long and frustrating) having planned to make the 11:00am ferry we actually arrived just in time to drive on the 10:00am connection to Swartz Bay.  By 2:00 we were setting up camp, which involves a 2km hike to our secret, beautiful, almost deserted, albeit not tropical beach.  The forecast was for rain, but the skies were blue and the sun hot. 

Somehow, I never manage to go for a run during a family camping trip... something to do with roughing it, no showers, limited clothing supply... excuses, excuses.  This year, I was hoping to get out for at least one run!

Juan De Fuca Marine TrailAfter a leisurely breakfast the next morning, I started to contemplate a run west along the Juan De Fuca Trail only to be rudely interrupted by Ean, who suggested I'd better get my ducks in a row as high tide would soon cut off my way back.  Oops.  Off I went, first briefly along a wide trail, then on a rocky shoreline.  The sun was beating down and I Run on the Juan De Fuca Marine Trailsoaked my headband a couple of times in icy creeks before gratefully picking up the forest trail again.  I had given myself 30min out to make sure I wouldn't end up waist deep in the Pacific Ocean, but a quick glance at the tidal chart reassured me I would be fine for another 20min or so.  The trail meandered along a ridge revealing breathtaking views of the ocean below and the Olympic Peninsular beyond.  Dark, fertile mud patches were almost dried out and easily navigated.  Finally, a a suspension bridge strung high over a gurgling creek seemed an adequate turnaround.  Scanning the water to assess the incoming tide I heard the telltale whoosh of a whale breathing just off shore and saw a huge tail fluke rise up into the air.  The humpback whale accompanied me along the shore line all the way back the tent, surfacing every so often. The tide was no problem and elated, I 2007-07-19 Sombrio Beach 096made my way back to a freezing dip in the ocean at our campsite.

The next day, my family had planned a visit to Botanical Beach west of Port Renfrew, where the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail starts.  I requested a drop off at Parkinson's Creek, about 10km before Botany Bay.  The access road was long and rough.  2007-07-19 Sombrio Beach 052The cougar and bear warnings a bit disheartening and the mosquitoes huge and voracious.  But once I set off on the trail, I quickly fell into a rhythm.  The trail is well marked and in various states of maintenance.  Dry, smooth forest floor changed to over grown, rooty and muddy terrain to extensive board walk sections.  Every so often the canopy of trees would open and allow glimpses of  the Pacific Ocean.  Fog loomed in the distance.  Frequent bear scat made me holler every few minutes...at least, I figured I gave the bears a choice of eating me or waiting for the next single traveller ;-)  At one point a loud buzzing noise made me stop and wonder what huge insect was attacking me.  Two humming birds were the culprits.  They must have mistaken my iceberg blue club shirt with a wild flower.  They came so close, I whipped my camera out and attempted to take a photo only to all of a sudden find myself on the forest floor, right leg thigh deep in a hole disguised by salal brush.  Luckily, apart from a few superficial scratches on the legs and ego, I didn't get hurt.

2007-07-19 Sombrio Beach 097Until hitting Botanical Beach after about 2 hours I only met 1 group of hikers. Definitely not a well travelled area.

High on endorphins I planned a run from Parkinson's Creek back to our campsite for the following day.  Tide levels would be fine to allow me passage even if I'd get a late start.  Water bottle in hand, camera secured around my waist, rescue blanket and food tucked into a2007-07-19 Sombrio Beach 111 pocket I was dropped of at the roadside access to Parkinson's Creek (Ean mumbled something about not driving on that road again). Running down this forest road was the only time I felt scared of meeting a cougar... picking up a sharp rock I resolved to fight whatever would stalk me.   Once on the trail, I soon fell at ease.  There was no way any animal would be able to approach me unheard, the forest was so thick.  I kept up my frequent hollering from the previous day and was thankful not to run into other hikers.  Soon a steady rain began to fall and the ocean was blanketed by a thick fog cover.  Wet coast indeed!  The trail was much pityful club shirt after a muddy, rainy run and swim in the Pacificrougher than the previous stretch.  Salal and horsetail almost covered the track. What was almost dried out mud yesterday quickly turned into black liquid muck.  Roots and bridges were slimy slides.  No whales or humming birds accompanied me this time.  They all had found shelter somewhere else.  I was glad I had brought the emergency blanket along.  At one point I briefly lost the trail, but luckily didn't get off track very long. 

Once I hit the suspension bridge, the turn-around on day one, I knew I would be home soon.  The ocean stretch proofed to be a bit more challenging in the rain.  The rocks were slimy and had to be navigated carefully.  I didn't bother to return to the trails and another  bridge, but chose to fjord the river about a km west of our camp.  A welcome opportunity to wash the muck of my legs, hands and arms ;-) 

Arriving back at our beach after 3 hours, I quickly jumped into the ocean for a final rinse.  Thankfully, Ean and the kids had built a great fire and a dry lean-to shelter.  After changing into dry gear, I happily huddled close the fire watching the now torrential rains and mystical west coast fog for the rest of the day.  More photos of my runs along the trail are posted here2007-07-19 Sombrio Beach 193.

2008/08 Storming the JDFT


So the course record has now been lowered to 6:15:xx! Not by me, I hasten to add. This superhuman accomplishment was achieved by Shawn Nelson, the younger of the two Nelson boys. Both are elite athletes.

Jeff Hunt, Myke Labelle and myself were instigators of this last assault of the legendary Juan de Fuca Marine trail. 47K of rugged west coast glory. Mostly single track technical trails with some beach running. One of the 14 member crew, wearing a altimeter watch, clocked the entire trail with over 1600 meters of elevation change. It sure felt like it, what with that factor, the mud hollows at the bottom of most of the 40 or so major and minor creek crossings, each one preceded by a series of switch back descents and subsequent accents, made for a grueling day of "primo" trail running. I Love this sport!

2006/09/16 JDF 3

 

Juan de Fuca Trail Run 2006/09/16 Well here we go again with the weekly Juan de Fuca Marine Trail report!  This is the third weekend in a row that CFA members have done this event.  Des had planned for Chris, Bill Dagg, and I to run it this Saturday since we were all unable to do it on the long weekend.  Bill jammed, but for a great reason --  he was offered a trip to New Zealand on short notice.

Des planned for an eight to nine hour run starting at 7:30.  The idea was to enjoy the day and not try to set any speed record.  As planned, we left China beach at 7:25.  Showers the night before had us a little worried, but the weather was perfect.  Clear skies and a moderate temperature.  Carlos had recommended running the trail from the top end, but Des thought running from ChinaJuan de Fuca Trail Run 2006/09/16 beach would get the more difficult sections out of the way while we had more energy.  The day unfolded according to plan.  Great views and hours of listening to the surf while we took our
time running / hiking along the coast.  It took us about five hours to get to Sombrio where we took a 20 minute break for lunch.  We had stashed some food and water there the night before (no drinking from creeks necessary).  Des had his second of three containers of Mott’s tomato juice.  He kept boasting about the “2600 milligrams of Sodium!” in every container.  Seems to have worked.  The only thing I stashed were some Purdy’s almond clusters but they were welcome too.

I was surprised at how much climbing and descending we had to do on this trail.  I was picturing a nice trail along a sandy beach or something.  It was a little frustrating in that every time we Juan de Fuca Trail Run 2006/09/16tried to get some kind of running rhythm going, the trail would turn a corner and we would have to navigate a mud pit or some steep, slippery descent.  When we finally reached a section of access road, we blasted through it and finally had a chance to stretch out a little.  The only real disappointment of the day was the absence of whale sightings.  Just a couple of snakes.  The low high tides meant we could travel all the beach sections.  We tired a little toward the finish, but when the last kilometer turned into access road again, Chris and I charged up the hill to finish off the day’s trek.

Des talked a friendly Texan couple into giving Chris a drive down to Port Renfrew to pick up his vehicle and within a few minutes we were having cold beer at the local pub.  Unfortunately for Des there was no Guinness on tap.

It was good to get out on a trail after five weeks of no trail running.  I was a little worried about being able to run with these guys, but our 8:20 time allowed me to keep up.

So who’s planning to run the JDF next weekend?

Tim

2006/09/09 JDF Take #2

The field was smaller this time than last week,Danimal, FT and I started this wet drippy morning from China Beach this time to try and avoid the tide on Bear Beach.
The plan was that FT would run with us to Bear Beach and double back leaving Dan and I to continue, right on through to Botanical.
There were a few factors that made this run harder than last weeks.
1.) The rain the night before. We were wet from the getgo from the salal and the bushes, we were cold on the slower sections,(the beaches)
2.) The recent full Moon.(making the tides higher than usual.)
3.) The footing was more trecherous, what last week were small mud hollows became shoe sucking quagmires.(Dan sunk up to his knee in one spot!)
4.) The rain had turned some of the trail into clay, making the decents faster but somewhat out of control. Both Dan and I ended up on our asses so many times we were getting very "stained".
A combination of these factore, plus miss-judging the tide on Sombrio, led Dan to pull of the course.
I had puchased a couple of walkie talkies so we were able to make limited contact with FT who waited to see who came out of the bush at Parkinson Creek.
I saw FT first and refueled at his fun-mobile, told him to not move from there and to wait for Dan.
I was feeling pretty good as I knew that the worst was behind me, so I pushed on in the warm afternoon sunshine to the end at Port Renfrew.
10:21 for me. 40 minute slower than last week, but I had to bushwhack off the beach and find a washed out over grown bear infested bypass trail to get by the head land and back onto the JDF, North of Sombrio.
All in all we survived another epic trip to the Wild Wet Coast of VI!

2006/09/02 JDF Trail Run

So it's done, and this was the finishing order:
 
Dom Repta (sub 8)
Gary Robbins (sub 8)
John McGrath (sub 8)

Mark Fearman (8ish?)

Carlos castillo (9:35)
Ean Jackson (9:35)
Berglind Hafsteindottir (9:35)

The first 3 guys were flying today and were absolutely blown away by the run, they all said it was  one of the toughest 47K they had ever run and the most beautiful.
The fourth guy Mark and his pal Garry had just got off an adventure race, this years Primal Quest in Utah.

Ean, Bergrind and I were the mere mortals of the group, and we had a blast!
We took lots of picture, and at Sombrio point were mesmerized by a whale show as three huge gray whales basked and lolled about for about 30 minutes as we gawked took pictures and ate our provisions at the half way point...
This is the link to my photos:
http://cookieo9.dyndns.org/~carloscastillo/JDF-Trail/JDF-Trail-Event-06/JDF-Trail-Event-06.html

 

2006/09/02 Running the Juan de Fuca Trail

When they say the west coast of Vancouver Island is beautiful, they aren't lying!

I was fortunate enough to join some CFA folks on a run of the Juan de Fuca trail this past weekend and, without much prior knowledge of the trail, I didn't really know what to expect.
The day offered up perfect weather, stunning views, steep ups and downs, some classic ridge running, rock hopping, cliff scrambling and (unsuccessful) wave dodging.  There was more bear scat then kilometer markers (but thankfully no bears), and the show put on by the pod of whales at Sombrio Point was amazing!

It was a tough 47km but I'd do it again in a heartbeat!  Same time next year - who's keen???


Thanks Carlos for the ride back to my car and thanks Ean for pushing me the last few kilometers and making sure I was okay.  You guys are great!

Juan de Fuca Trail 
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Juan de Fuca Trail
 

2006/09/02 Whale Farts

 

Whale Farts
Did you know that whales fart?  Well, they must.

At first I though it was Carlos.  (He's the pirate standing next to me in the  blue Club Fat Ass t-shirt.) The evening before our attempt at running the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, the boys went out to Buffy's Pub in Sooke, BC and we stuffed our faces.  Carlos had a humungous plate of liver and onions and a couple of pale ales.  Add 12 hours, pile on a bunch of gels, some bagel and some jalapeno beef jerky and you have all of the ingredients for a bad case of gas.  He was a natural... but he wasn't the skunk.

I didn't think it could be Berglind. She's such a small woman and this was a powerful smell.  Besides, I've been told that women don't fart, so it couldn't be her.

True, a skunk smells it's own smell first and I have been known to generate some brutal methane, but this time it wasn't me, either.  

So there we were:  Berglind, Carlos and me in the middle of nowhere on a rocky outcropping on Sombrio Point with trees behind us and the Pacific Ocean in front of us, and one bad smell circulating around us.  Then we saw the whales.  Three of them, in fact.  We could almost reach out and touch them, they were so close to us. You can see 2 of them in the photo if you look closely.

What an amazing sight it was to behold.  Certainly the highlight of my running this year!  

So now that the source of the foul wind has been identified, can anyone clarify which orifice a whale farts from?