Mutha's Nature Trail Run - 2013

 2013 - 5 Starters

Report:  Good if not small run this morning. Frank Wimberly ran to and from the start plus our 10+k (more like 12 probably since we had a detour). We all ran together and with stops and detours etc. we all finished together in 1:23. 

Photos: If you have photos of the day, upload them to the Flickr CFA group, tag them with MuthasNatureTrailRun2013 MuthasNatureTrailRun ClubFatAssEvents  ClubFatAssEvents2013.  

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Results:
 

First Name	Last Name	Distance	Times	Points
Alli	Tai	12km	01:23	2+2**
Frank	Wimberley	12km (plus run to start and back home)	01:23	2+1*
Jen	Raworth	12km	01:23	1
Sonia	Woodman	12km	01:23	1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** Event Host Points
* Good Sportsmanship Point

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Mutha's Nature Trail Run - 2012

7 October 2012 - 5 Starters

Report:  This run has always been blessed with great weather nearly every year, and this year was certainly no exception.

While many others were no doubt away at the Victoria Marathon, a small but hardy group of Fat Asses met under the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in Vancouver for Mutha's Nature Trail run.

On this beautiful sunny morning we set off just after 9:00 AM. Sibylle was running the 10 km and with two final projects due for school the next day and two final exams coming up the weekend after and work every day in between I had the same intention.

After snapping some starter pictures we started our loop through the park and out onto the Trans-Canada Trail. Sibylle peeled off at the first sign of a washroom, and the four of us continued on. Realising I was the only one who knew the course, and blessed with such beautfiful weather I couldn't help but switch back to the 25 km.

The run was relatively uneventful until we came out to Hastings street where the police has conveniently blocked off all the intersecting side roads along our course! What treatment for such a humble little run. When we arrived at Kask Brothers on the Barnet Highway the real reason for this treatment appeared; a neverending stream of motorcycles participating in the Toy Run from Coquitlam to Downtown Vancouver.

Robert and I managed to dash across in a gap through the motorcycles while Andy and Jeff held back briefly, then there wasn't another gap for some time so we waited while they considered how big of a gap they had to wait for before they went dashing through the chain of motornikes.

Eventually they made it across and we continued on to the Velodrome Trail which has been restored and is now completely clear in comparison to the early days of this run when it was quite grown in and the slopes which have now had staircases installed have degraded.

After a grunt up Burnaby Mountain we were treated to some beautiful views of the city of Vancouver and the North Shore Mountains before heading down to the Trans-Canada Trail again and back to the start. Andy departed us on the way back to pick his kid up from a pool, while the rest continued back to the parking at the start.

This was the last run on this course, it used to be a favourite training run when I lived in East Vancouver. When I started it I had envisioned a much different run over to the North Shore and then up to Elsay Lake via a little known route although the course would have been quite long. Now I live right where I intended to go go up to Mount Seymour and know of a secret parking lot and know the route a lot better. It will be around the same time of year, although I will probably put on a weekend other than Victoria Marathon Weekend.

Other impressions:
The good:  

 

• sparkling sunshine and bright autumn foliage,
• runable trails and splendid views of the north shore moutains and Burrard Inlet
• intense smell of ripe plums on part of the trails, no plum tree in sight

The bad:

• Haven't seen that much dog poop on the trails in a long time...
• lots of "pod babies" plugged in, but tuned out, stomping past without a reciprocal "good morning"
• refinery stink wafting through the first part of the trail

Photos: If you have photos of the day, upload them to the Flickr CFA group, tag them with MuthasNatureTrailRun2012 MuthasNatureTrailRun ClubFatAssEvents  ClubFatAssEvents2012.  All photos will automatically appear in a slideshow posted here after the event:

Please also take a moment and give us your feedback here.

Results:

First Name	Last Name	Event	Points	Time
Robert	Westendorp	25km	1
Jeff	Narver	25km	1
Ryan	Conroy	25km	1+2**
Andy	Healy	custom - 20km	2	2:35
Sibylle	Tinsel	10km	1+1*	1:26

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mutha's Nature Trail Run - 2011

2 October 2011 - 7 Starters

Report: As always, the weather gods shined down on the spirit of the Godfather of Soul, Mr. Dynamite, James Brown.  RIP.  OK maybe not on him, but a trail run participated in a small but eager group of Fat Asses; which is named after his album Mutha's Nature, which aside from being one of his funkiest, also has a record cover which almost seems to be almost be a picture of his head superimposed on this course.  

For some reason this run always seems to be a great way to capture the last of the fall rays before the ten months of rain begin.  Eleven this year.  Not quite warm enough to get some sun on your balls at Wreck Beach, but not cold enough to go into hibernation just yet.

We had the pleasure of both Sibylle Tinsel, our club matriarch, and Ean "Somebody's Great-Great-Grandfather" Jackson, our club patriarch.  Usually eager to slug it out was Rachel Fouladi, although today she was eager to enjoy some beverages at her UniverCity condo instead after downgrading to the 10K.  We also had Jay Jardine and Kim Taylor doing the 10K, and Adrian Powell. who was the only person to take on the 50K.

I elected partway through the run to do the 25K.  I had threatened my coach with 50K at track but wisened up increasingly.  I really didn't see anyone out there after I passed Sibylle who cut through the park to take care of some business until I passed Adrian who was going up Pandora's Trail when I was coming down.

Back on the Trans-Canada Trail I ran into Chris Downey, fresh off a 2nd place finish at the Pine to Palm 100 miler in Oregon. I ended up talking to him for about 20 minutes, then coasted in to finish in 2:30 on the button.  2:10 of running with a break near the end, I'm sure coach John Hill won't think I went too hard at least!  Oh well Victoria Half next weekend I'll be good and rested.

All in all beautiful weather and some good people for a casual run on some easy trails.

Photos: If you have photos of the day, upload them to the Flickr CFA group, tag them with MuthasNatureTrailRun2011 MuthasNatureTrailRun ClubFatAssEvents  ClubFatAssEvents2011.  All photos will automatically appear in a slideshow posted here after the event:

Please also take a moment and give us your feedback here.

Results:

 

First Name	Last Name	Event	Time	Time
Adrian	Powell	50km	2	6:20
Ryan	Conroy	25km	2	2:10
Rachel	Fouladi	10km	2+1
Kim	Taylor	10km	2
Jay	Jardine	10km	2
Ean	Jackson	10km	1+1
Sibylle	Tinsel	custom	2+1	0:40

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mutha's Nature Trail Run - 2010

 

3 October 2010 - 11 Starters

Report: This year's running of Mutha's Nature saw overcast conditions, but luckily despite there being not a sky in the cloud, the rain held off.  Perfect running conditions, especially at these low elevations, while for those who skipped it to go bagging, not so much.  A good day for a 'shit-bag' I guesss though.

Unfortunately life happened, and aside from working until 3 in the morning the previous night, I had to go move some large heavy stuff immediately afterwards, so I had to switch from the 50 k to the 10k, and draw prizes were given away at the start.  Turned out my ankle was giving me some grief so doing the shorter course was not a bad idea after all as it was pretty sore after as it is.

Everyone started off together in the short run through New Brighton Park, and out through the tunnel to the Trans-Canada Trail.  Shortly after that people began to settle into their pace and broke off into small groups.  I had stopped at my car and came up from behind.

On the way past I talked to Reagan, who was out for his second Mutha's Nature after completing the 10K last year as his first Club Fat Ass Event after he had just recently started running.  Turns out this year he was doing the 25K, maybe by next year we'll have officially turned the poor guy into an ultra runner!

I pulled ahead, and Eric settled in behind.  We headed under the Second Narrows Bridge together and then up the side trail that adds a bit of elevation and a tiny bit of extra singletrack into the course.  As we came down the other side, a group of four runners lead by Sibylle came up from behind.  I guess they had missed the turn, naughty, naughty, fat-asses!  Oh well, it is a bit unnecessary anyway, maybe next year I will remove it to simplify things a bit.

Anyway we continued along the Trans-Canada Trail, and shortly after I lost everyone.  When I got to Confederation Park, I was suprised to see that one of the sketchy downhills I had worked so hard to put into the course was sporting a new staircase.  I ran through the lower loop, and along the railroad track and back up, and when I arrived at the intersection, I could see a large group of runners looking at the staircase quite puzzled.  Sorry guys, news to me too!  It doesn't look nearly as much like a sketchy hill when its got a fancy brand new staircase I know.

At the top of the Confederation Park Loop was where my turnaround was, but I was pleased to see so many 25K runners.  The run back was uneventful but fast, the out section is flat to uphill, and the back section is flat to downhill so you can really get going if you still have some juice left.

I arrived back at Confederation Park after 46 minutes of running, and Sibylle was waiting there.  She had turned back after 20 minutes because she was nursing an injury.  We shared ankle injury stories and waited to see if any of the 10K runners would show up.  Unfortunately time started ticking by too close to when I had to be on my way to Surrey, and we both had to leave before anyone got back. 

Anyway, sorry to all participants I was not able to stick around after, but I have recently moved from a house into a 1 bedroom condo, and a friend who is letting me store some outside stuff at a property they own was available only at that time to load the stuff there as they work days and I am in the middle of 10 late night shifts straight.

I hope all had a good time, and if there are any comments/concerns about the course directions (especially if you notice anything that is unclear or unnecessary) please let me know.  When I created the course it was an attempt to run through a part of town where there are very few trails, on trails as much as possible.  So there are many short stretches of varying terrain and it is hard to make sure there is enough info to follow the course, but at the same time so that the directions are not 10 pages long.

Photos: If you have photos of the day, upload them to the Flickr CFA group, tag them with MuthasNatureTrailRun2010 MuthasNatureTrailRun ClubFatAssEvents  ClubFatAssEvents2010.  All photos will automatically appear in a slideshow below:

Please also take a moment and give us your feedback here.

Results: coming soon

First Name	Last Name	Event	Points	Time
Jim	Swadling	50km (53.8k)	2	6:35
Chris	La Rose	25km	2	3:21
Eric	Rannaud	25km	2	3h39m
Dana	Samis	25km	2
deavah	yerxa	25km	1
Reagan	White	25km	2+1	4hrs 11min
Jessica	Glowacki	custom	2	2:07
Pamela	Keck	custom	2	2:07.
Ryan	Conroy	10km	2+2	0:46
Jess	Dagg	10km + detour	2+1	1:15
Sibylle	Tinsel	custom	2+1	0:40
reza	ghazizadeh		-1	No Show

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mutha's Nature Trail Run - 2008

 

The first running of the Mutha's Nature Trails is wrapped up. Please find below results and event report. Make sure to email any missing times/names to Ryan or Sibylle.

 

Despite forecasts of rain, there were clouds blanketing the whole sky but only a very light mist of rain for the prelimenary running of Mutha's Nature.

We had 2 runners show up for the 50K and 4 for the 25K, which was not too bad considering there were at least 3 local trail races and a couple of road races that weekend.

After a quick briefing with me trying my best to describe the course a bit to help simplify the instructions and we were off. Mark and I were planning on doing the 50K and we set out at a slow pace so that the others could follow our lead at least out of the park. Behind us, Killaine and Allison ran together, with Amy and Kim behind them. Once we turned off the Trans-Canada and up a hill we pulled away and that was the last we saw of the 25K runners. We ran a fairly good pace through the first 10K until we slowed right down at the Velodrome trail. Even though it wasn't really raining the overgrown trail soaked us to the bone from all the water on the leaves. The last couple weeks seem to have allowed the bushes to encroach further onto the trail although thankfully they weren't thorn bushes (the trail along Cliff Avenue was overgrown with thorn bushes but I got out and trimmed them back before the run).

I began to have some pain in my foot and leg which were tightening up at this point and began to slow down especially on the climbs. When we reached the top of Burnaby Mountain near the park there were beautiful views which were added to but also obscured by a light fog. Amy and Kim had cut off a couple km up here so they could get home a bit early, while Killaine and Allison came up to the intended turnoff up here before heading back towards the start.

The east side of the mountain was a blast with long downhills and some technical trails and then we arrived at North Road and the trail along Stoney Creek. By now my foot was starting to pinch and burn and I was starting to think that it wasn't such a good idea for me to finish the run. When we arrived at Burnaby Lake I asked Mark if we could stop for a couple minutes and I tried to stretch it out. We ran the short loop at Burnaby Lake and turned around to go back, but my leg just wasn't having any of it so I told Mark to go ahead and I was going to get to the Sky Train and then ride my bike back to get my car. It was at 27.2 K where I dropped out.

Mark pressed on ahead and without me limping along slowing him down he picked it back up to post an impressive finish of 5:05.

When I arrived back at the car on my bike later that afternoon I was suprised to find that the signup sheet was gone from under my car. I guess someone couldn't resist getting their hands on the well used bic pen. Goes to show that people will steal anything in East Van.

If you have photos of the day, upload them to the Flickr CFA group, tag them with MuthasNatureTrailRun2008 MuthasNatureTrailRun and ClubFatAssEvents.

Please also take a moment and give us your feedback here.

Results

Points	First Name	Last Name	Event	Time
2	Mark	Lesack	50km	5:05
3	Ryan	Conroy	27km	2:50
1	Killaine	Sharman	25km	2:55
1	Allison	Mackay	25km	2:55
1	Amy	MacArthur	22km	2:35
1	Kim	Taylor	22km	2:35
-1	Janice	Vallis	25km	DNS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mutha's Nature Trail Run - 2009

20 September 2009 - 5 Starters, 5 Finishers + the Red Bull gals

Report: It was a beautiful day for a run this morning but with a small turnout on an action packed weekend.  We changed the date from last year to avoid a contact with Gottfried's apparently totally stunning Frosty Mountain 50K.  Unfortunately it ended up being the day before, along with the Buntzen Lake 5 Peaks event.  Add the Grouse Grind Mountain Run and there were a small but enthusiastic group of runners.  Only Craig actually took up my advice to run this as a way to recover from Frosty, but apparently it actually worked quite well for him.  Seriously this is an easy course, but interesting for any level of runner with great views of the Indian Arm from 'the other side of the tracks'.

At the start line we had the Red Bull Girls show up, with some ice cold Red Bull and for a photo op.  They said they might actually join us for a run sometime and one took this picture while the other one joined us (far left).  Then they left and we started our run.  Ean and I pulled away pretty quickly chatting about possible ideas for future runs, including some of our more isolated local trails and an idea for a forage run where we run to collect food such as a sweet potato like vegetable called wapato that was a staple of the Coast Salish and many other native people, mushrooms ect... and cook it up after.

Reagan (on his first organised run ever) had run the course a few times preparing for the event and led Craig and Sibylle to a steady pace not far behind us.   Clear skies and a warm autumn morning greeted us as we entered the trail section of the Trans Canada Trail.  We passed many people out for walks with their dogs enjoying the beautiful day. 

My favourite section of the 10K course is the section heading into Confederation Park, a nice rocky little piece of single track.  Shortly after turning onto Confederation Park Loop, we see a big barrier at the next intersection where we are supposed to go left.  It had warnings on it but someone also drew a little picture on it that said 'why?' turns out there was a piece of the staircase missing but we were just running beside it anyway.

We barely made it up the short, steep, slippery section and it wasn't even that wet.  Reagan commented on that afterwards then mentioned how cruel I was when I told him that the 25 and 50K courses also go back down that little hill.  As long as you don't want to stop until the bottom it is OK though.  If you want to stop, then you're pretty much screwed to sliding down on your butt.

There is a decent climb out to Penzance Drive where the trail is beside the road for a short stretch back to the park entrance, then we started our return leg.  It was pretty uneventful until we got close to the finish and I had to stop and think for a second which was the right turn.  Ean bugged me that the event host had almost taken him off course.  After 50 minutes we were back at New Brighton Park.  Not long after we saw Sibylle steaming in with Reagan keeping up and Craig falling just a few metres behind on his tired legs.

We headed to JJ Bean of Powell and Victoria for coffee and muffins where Reagan cleaned up in draw prizes, since only him and Craig were eligible to win any.  He walked away with a Trail Runner Magazine subscription, a Nalgene Water Bottle, a Devinci/Jim Beam shirt and some running socks.  Craig walked away with a 3 pack of technical socks and could have won the other Trail Runner subscription but had just won one recently.

Anyway next year we will try to find a quieter weekend, this course would be fine for a rainy day or even when there is snow up higher but is still quite enjoyable.  Hopefully we see more of you out next year!

Photos: If you have photos of the day, upload them to the Flickr CFA group, tag them with MuthasNatureTrailRun2009 MuthasNatureTrailRun ClubFatAssEvents and ClubFatAssEvents2009.  All photos will automatically appear in this slideshow.

Please also take a moment and give us your feedback here.

Results:

First Name	Last Name	Event	Points	Time
Ryan	Conroy	10km	4**	0:50
Ean	Jackson	10km	2*	0:50
Craig	Moore	10km	3*	1:04
Sibylle	Tinsel	10km	3*	1:04
Reagan	White	10km	3*	1:04

 

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