Marathon Shuffle - 2013

Report: The 20^th annual Marathon Shuffle brought out the participants like never before. A record-setting 184 participants gathered early on a crisp Sunday morning under a broken sky. Soon the rain of the previous day was forgotten as the brisk westerly blew away the remaining clouds. The Shuffle, a now popular rite of spring hosted by the Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society and their friends, is a hike or a run on a 29-kilometre long section of the Sunshine Coast Trail from Malaspina Road near Lund to the Shingle Mill pub and bistro on Powell Lake.

The 12-kilometre long Half Shuffle from Wilde/Tomkinson roads proved that it has indeed continued growing in popularity. Nearly 100 set out from above the Appleton Bridge, including a baby less than a year old. Apparently 12 km is old hats to her.

Forty-five participants came from out of town, mostly from the Lower Mainland and the Island, but some from as far away as Australia and Germany. They came to see what all the buzz was about and maybe to claim some bragging rights. They found the Shuffle section of Canada’s longest hut-to-hut hiking trail technically challenging, and the local runners were stingy in giving up the top spots. In fact many had been training hard and owned the podium, in a manner of speaking. Craig Dunbar came first in the men's divistion with a 2:45 time, and Val Smith took the women's division with a personal best of 3:43. People were impressed with the trail, the stations, the volunteers, the refreshments and the atmosphere. We noted an interesting and welcome development. The greatest growth in attendance came from those in their twenties and thirties.

This year we began preparing three months before the start of the Shuffle. It was a busy time for the maintenance crews that accumulated just under a 1000 man-hours whacking, scraping and raking the route into tip-top shape. The crews began shuffelizing the route - clearing undergrowth two feet or more on either side of the tread, and leaving the appearance of a mossy carpet. Still more red metal squares were added this year. The advise bearing in mind when hiking it independently is that if you don't see a marker within 15 - 30 seconds from the last one you must be off trail. Stop and look around. Retrace your steps and soon you will find where the trail took a turn that you missed. Also be careful when coming upon a road and carefully look around for markers. 

The Shuffle organizing committee learned from last year’s comments, started early, and was excellently prepared on the day of the event. Of course they learned some more new things this year that they will adopt and implement for next year’s event to make that an even better experience. PRPAWS does appreciate getting constructive feedback that helps us improve as we strive to become a world-class destination. We have received many positive and constructive comments after the event.

Now hikers or runners can simply head out to Malaspina Road and do a Shuffle at their own leisure, or go up Wilde/Tomkinson roads to do the less strenuous, but no less equally beautiful Half Shuffle along the Sliammon Lakes and over panoramic Scout Mountain.

A Thank You ad will be published separately in the Powell River Peak newspaper, a gesture of PRPAWS’ sincere appreciation of the 30 volunteers and the numerous generous donors who helped make this year’s Shuffle yet another record-smashing success.

Other reports: Paul Prussner from BCAdventuresWest took some beautiful photos of the day and the scenery.  You can view them here: http://bcadventureswest.com/?page_id=491

Photos can be posted to Flickr, added to the CFA Flickr group and tagged with MarathonShuffle MarathonShuffle2013 ClubFatAssEvents2013  ClubFatAssEvents, instruction on how to do this are here.