Report: Contrary to the weather forecast leading up to Saturday, we truly had Sunshine in September on the Sunshine Coast this weekend. On Saturday morning, we arrived at the ferry terminal to find our starters properly caffeinated and ready to go.
After a brief summary and details for those unfamiliar with the trails, everyone was off. Starting off on the short section through the local neighbourhood before getting into the canyon, Jason, Ran, Bill and Des quickly took the lead, followed by Heather, Craig and Helen with Jess, Kelly, Lishe, Ben, Dave and Jackie meandering along until the guilt got to us and we took to our feet as well.
As much as it might be preferred to the old route that followed the highway to the mountain bike park, the first 500m or so (or 500km as Kelly noticied in the course description!) can best be summarized as "miserable". But we soon hit the canyon and started the true climb. This was the first time I have seen mountain bikers, hikers, mushroom pickers and other users on the trail. It was nice to see the trails actually being used!
Thanks to the frontrunners for finding the first flaw in the course description and confirming that taking a left at the second junction is indeed the wrong way to go. Changes will be made! But everyone made it back onto the trail and continued the climb as planned.
As we continued to climb, we first encountered Des on his return trip to the ferry terminal. Wow! We were barely halfway and he was on his way back?!? Des was kind enough to warn us about the mother bear and two cubs shortly ahead of us on the trail, but the head wandered off by the time we got there.
At the 10k/2hr/clearing we decided that it was time to turn back. After an entertaining chat with a group of mountain bikers, and some encouraging words from Ran and Jason on their descent, Jess, Lishe, Kelly and I started back down the hill. Dave decided that he was going to keep on climbing.
Shortly after turning around, Kelly and Lishe very kindly found the wasps' nest and saved Jess and me from also getting stung (thanks!). Kelly seems to be a wasp magnet - this wasn't her first sting while running this summer. Those three went on ahead and I decided to hang back and wait for Dave since he was just a bit behind.
Shortly afterwards, Bill came screaming (not literally) down the hill and was hot on the trails of the girls. A short while later (I couldn't help thinking about this mother and bear and cubs wandering around) Craig, Helen and Heather came running up. Deciding that standing around was not going to get me to the finish in time wasn't the best idea of the day, I decided to follow this group down the hill.
Have to say - other than the second turn, the directions worked well getting up the hill. Coming down was another story... I eventually encountered Jess, Kelly and Lishe again and realizing that there was no way we were going to get to the finish in time for our planned 12noon rendezvous, snacks and prizes, Kelly and Lishe booked it back to the start. Since this was just the beginning of our weekend on the coast and we didn't have to be on the ferry, Jess and I came in at a more sedate pace.
Upon reentering the ferry terminal, we could see a group of runners making their way to the loading area across the parking lot. We had missed the entire post-run social! Oh well - Bill took care of everyone for us and made sure we had finishing times and garbage points recorded. Thanks Bill. We finally caught up with the group as they reached the loading gate. But where was Ben?!? Just as we were starting to worry, Ben can storming up the parking lot and even found the strength to hop the fence to get into the pedestrian area. Good show!
Dave caught up with us back and the car and must have been caught up in the excitement of the event. Not only did he run to the gravel road as planned after we turned back - he ran the entire 26k course! Well done!
That was it for the 2010 Sunshine in September. We started the drive to the cabin for the weekend and the rain started!
Thank you all for coming out! Hope to see you next year. Jackie
Photos: If you have photos of the day, upload them to the Flickr CFA group, tag them with SunshineInSeptember2010 SunshineInSeptember and ClubFatAssEvents. Photos uploaded so far are posted in the slideshow below:
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Comments
Top-Notch day, Jackie!
Great event you put on, Jackie - I thoroughly enjoyed all the Sunshine with everyone. Thanks for hosting and having me along!