By Sam Cooper
Sep 28 2006
You could say Club Fat Ass members tend to bite off large chunks of trail at their endurance sport events, but the members don't really have large posteriors.
In fact, all 300 members of the grassroots North Shore collective can run at least 42 kilometres per outing.
Club Fat Ass (CFA) runs originated in California about 25 years ago, as self-organized, low-key events, allowing distance runners to log mileage with friends and prove their ability for big races.
The North Shore CFA group has been hosting various outdoor adventure events for about 15 years, building a community of long-distance junkies that share a love of bone-crushing runs on beautiful trails.
A big part of the club's mission is keeping it fun - hence the name - and free, said CFA's Ean Jackson.
He's hosted his own Mountain Highway Madness run up the back of Grouse Mountain for 15 years now.
Photo: Ean Jackson treks through the white stuff at the
Squamish Scrambler Snowshoe Run in February of this year.
"At the successful events like Boston Marathon or the Vancouver Sun Run you pay your fee, get your number, run, get your time and go home," he said. "You're a number, not a person. But we all go to a pub or someone's house for a potluck or beer tasting after our events."
He adds in big races, only the top three finishers get recognition, but at CFA events, "the recognition goes to whoever picks up the most garbage, or helps someone who is lost on the trail."
But what drives elite distance runners like Jackson and his pals to willingly run for up to 800 kms or eight days straight?
Many have turned around unhealthy lifestyles and gone to the other extreme.
Jackson says he used to be "a fat kid," but ran his first 10-km race to win a beer bet in college. Like Forrest Gump, he never stopped running.
He has represented Canada in ultra-marathons, run the Hawaii Ironman triathlon, and once ran for two days straight on the Sunshine Coast Trail.
What does it feel like to run for two days with no sleep?
"I was told I was seeing things and going a bit wonky, but I don't remember that," Jackson said. "I just remember wanting to be the first to do the trail."
But ultra-distance runners are not born, they are made through years of training, he warns. Club members are typically 30 to 50 years old, with years of step-by-step distance advances.
"You don't just start at 50 kilometres," he said. "Don't try to go all the way with us unless you have someone to come out and pick up the pieces when the wheels come off."
Still, Jackson adds the point of CFA is helping others push their limits.
Running the 47-km Juan de Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island has become a mere leg stretcher for CFA vets like Jackson, but club member Berglind Hafsteindottir challenged herself to take the trail with some fellow Fat Asses in early September.
"I was beyond my physical limits and probably went out too fast," Hafsteindottir said.
But with team support, she completed the trail in 9 hours, 35 minutes, becoming the first woman to run Juan Da Fuca non-stop.
"If it weren't for my friends I'm sure I'd have gone to sleep on the trail and the bears would have finished me off," she said. Check out the group's next event at www.clubfatass.com
