2013 Spaghetti Trees Results

Report: Spaghetti Trees 2013

We had a smaller group than previous years (probably because of Easter weekend, and silly ol' Vancouverites who are scared of taking ferries!) but those of us who ran had an AMAZING time. The weather was spectacularly spectacular, couldn't have been better. Sunny but not too hot... kept those Lighthouse beers nice & cool, anyway! [Thank you Lighthouse Brewing for sponsoring our run, the runners & volunteers were very happy about that!]

Carlos the Jackal & Stefan (a CFA newbie!) ran 8k to the start from 17 Mile Pub. They got to the start super early, and when Teagirl & her entourage arrived (husband, 7.5-month-old baby) Carlos somehow managed to convince them it was time to go RIGHT NOW even though it was actually 1/2 hour early! And unfortunately with Teagirl's baby brain, she didn't quite figure out the time problem until about 15 minutes later... So we took a 3-runner starter photo & headed out - but after a kilometre or so Teagirl & Stefan figured it out & made Jackal run back because Kirk (another CFA newbie!) was waiting for us at the start. And then Teagirl & Stefan decided to run back as well because they decided water was boring & wanted to run with some beer :) [disclaimer: no potential illegal consumption of beverages shall be associated with our club or our wonderful sponsors... not that there was any illegal consumption or anything...]

So we took another starter photo, with the 4 people who'd actually let us know they'd be running (despite some website difficulties...) & headed out again. This time, everything was going really well until Teagirl's baby brain struck again and she turned left instead of right at an important intersection, meaning we were doing the route backwards. Which was fine, except there was a surprise aid station (hooray! Placed by Teagirl's husband Brendan, accessed along with baby in offroad jogging stroller) meant to be reached at km 9ish but which we instead hit at km 4ish. That was ok with us though, we were ready for a break. And we were even able to point it out to another runner who happened to be in the right place at the right time & got to benefit from the water, bananas & oranges in the middle of the forest. We didn't share any beer though. Because we weren't drinking on the trail OF COURSE!

Kirk (who competed in Sailing in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta & taught us about wind & currents as we ran along above the water) hadn't been doing a tonne of trail running lately, so thought he might just cut it short once we saw the ocean. But that Coast trail is just so gorgeous, we all kept running & did the entire short route together (backwards). Which according to Stefan's GPS is 14k (plus 2k extra for Carlos' out-&-back at the beginning). Took us all about 3ish hours - it's a looong 14k...

We saw beautiful vistas, scary copper mine shafts, an aircraft carrier, a few other runners & folks walking with dogs, and of course lots of Spaghetti Trees.

The post-run venue had to be changed from 17 Mile Pub to Stickleback restaurant in Sooke, because Teagirl's daughter is still a minor (for the next 18.5 years...) & the pub couldn't let her in. That was fine 'cause Stickleback is excellent! We look forward to another post-run gathering there in the future!

Stories were told, songs were sung, prizes were distributed, yummy food was eaten & yummy beer was drunk & then we headed out into the gorgeous sunshine to enjoy the rest of the long weekend.

We're already looking forward to next time :)

Here's some awesome video Carlos took with his nifty new toy! Please click the link below if the video doesn't work...

Your host: Teagirl Katie

Photos of the event can be uploaded to Flickr, added to the CFA Flickr group and tagged with SpaghettiTrees, SpaghettiTrees2013 ClubFatAssEvents ClubFatassEvents2013.  Instructions on how to add them via Flickr are here. They will automatically be added to the slideshow linked below (coming soon): 

Feedback:  We welcome and encourage your feedback and comments via the comment form below.  Please also take a moment to fill in this brief post event survey.

Thanks to Lighthouse Brewing for yummy beer; Stickleback West Coast Eatery for more yummy (Lighthouse!) beer, yummy food, a great location & super-helpful staff & TrailRunner mag for the two free subscriptions!

Results:

*     Bonus Point for garbage collection

**   Host Points
*** membership status