Mt Tzouhalem Gutbuster May 4
What they should have renamed the race was “Death to the Legs” but I guess no one but the masochistic few would have entered then! Today was the perfect day for it: sunny, warm and not too muddy. Danielle, Rosheen and I drove up from Victoria, fueled on the prospect of a post-race lunch feast at the local organic bakery and arrived with plenty of time to spare. We pulled into the beautiful Providence Farm off Tzouhalem Rd and realized we were an hour early. Sweet, tons of time to really warm up the legs and lungs! Having not ever done the Gutbuster series before, it was a little unsettling to have no idea what route we were going to be racing. Danielle (this was her first race ever!) looked around at the flagging, which led down a trail into the bush, and asked me where we were going. I tried to be calm and nonchalant by waving my hand towards the mountain and saying airily, “Oh probably to the top, but it’s the 6km race so it won’t be that bad and there should be a great view,” while secretly hoping I was ready for this!
It seemed like only minutes later the announcers yelled “Go!” and the 200 of us were off. Rosheen moved smoothly and methodically through the pack and soon was out of sight while Danielle and I stayed midpack and dodged a number of mucky puddles. The first few climbs were good, always lulling you into a false sense of security about what lay ahead by alternating between moderate climbs and flat sections. After 3 or 4 of these boosters and passing a number of people (the smarter racers were taking it a little slower!) we came around a corner and faced an ascent that appeared to rival K2. It was STEEP and, worst of all, I couldn’t see the end. All around us people came to a screeching halt and the race of the power hiker began!
Yesterday’s rain left a few muddy gullies and some slick rocks to skirt around, but overall, aside from the steep grade, it wasn’t so bad… Until you realized 30 minutes later that you were still power hiking, sucking wind and pleading with your screaming calves and quads that “what goes up must, at some point, come back down” is a real law. This is where Danielle made great use of her long legs and I worked on my sisterly rivalry by keeping up! I also created a new way to power hike: hunched over so far that your chest nearly touches the tops of your quads, swinging your arms wildly and grunting like a gorilla. No one came near me and we even caught a few more people before the 6km short course split from the 11km long course. As we came around the corner all you could see was people hiking up the steepest part of the trail seen yet. Some of the people around us began to groan, but then as we came closer we saw the beautiful signs that indicated short course racers to the left (with only about a 30% grade! Yay!) and the long course racers to continue up the really steep trail. Maybe we’ll hit the long course next year.
About 40 minutes in we hit the first stunning viewpoint looking west into the valley we had just come up from and the farm way at the bottom. From here the trail levelled off and we were able to start running again. Another 2 viewpoints later the downhill began in earnest. It felt so good to let your legs have their way and we started to fly down the trail, almost to the point where I forgot about the pain I was in just a short time ago. After passing a few more people I could see I was holding Danielle back, (she’s got really long legs and I only have short ones!) As she started to slow down to wait for me to close the gap between us yet again, I yelled at her to keep going, open up and really go for it. She could catch more people if she didnt have to wait for me every 200 meters. She later told me she nearly started laughing because it sounded so melodramatic, but it wasn’t meant to be cheesey! I just thought for her first race ever she should have her fair chance of finishing within her abilities. She took off down the hill at break neck speed and I started to think, “wow, she’s going really fast… If she gets hurt Mom is going to kill me!” I started to use as much gas as I had left in my tank to hang onto her in case I needed to dial 911 but she quickly widened the gap. Within the next kilometer I didnt even see her at the end of the straight stretches anymore. I was alone.
That was until I came around another corner and saw a young boy running a little in front of me. “When did he pass me?” I thought. I caught up with him and I saw he had a cast on one arm. We chatted for a few strides and I told him I thought he was a trooper and continued on down the hill. I couldn’t believe he was out running this race with its nasty slick spots in a cast! Good on him! Almost instantly the trail turned a corner and opened into what I recognized as one of the farm fields. The finish was close! About 50 meters of open grassy field and up a small rise and I could see the finish line. That 50 meters was probably the most treacherous of the whole race! One mistep and someone was bound to turn an ankle (which I found out a minute later that Rosheen had!) As I fought the urge to start power hiking again up the small rise I could hear someone coming up fast behind me. “Uh oh, has that brave guy with the cast decided to crush me at the finish line?” I thought. I kept moving and turned to see one of the elites from the 11km course streak past me and move effortlessly to the finish line in just under an hour. Cresting the hill it was only a last surge of 150 meters across more sneaky dangerous grass and I passed over the finish line and was greeted by Rosheen, Danielle and Sean.
I had just finished the hardest race I had ever entered. The power hike up the mountain was worse than anything I had ever done in a MOMAR but I had stuck to my 3 goals for the race: don’t ever stop moving, finish strong, and to make sure Danielle had a good time. Judging by the big grin on Danielle’s face I think I could safely say I succeeded! Within half an hour Danielle was already asking when the next race was and if we thought she could finish the next one. I think next time I’ll attach a bungee cord to her and let her pull me!
When all the dust settled from the 500 meter climb I came in at 1hr 1min 7sec, good enough for 28th out of 62 overall and 6th out of 13 in my group. Danielle was a little over a minute faster than me at 1hr 3sec, 27th overall and the solo athlete in her group. She got all excited when we told her she was first, but then she was disappointed to learn that she was only one person in her age group! Rosheen came in at a blistering 53 and a half minutes, 14th overall and 4th in our group. It was an amazing day! I was so proud of us, especially Tambra and my sister Danielle for taking on a new challenge with 2 weeks notice and no idea of what she was getting into. I am slowly knocking off all the races on my list for the year. The Royal Roads Gutbuster was amazing and really unique when compared with Tzouhalem, and the TC 10km was my first experience of running with a large group of friends amongst thousands of other runners. Definately some great experiences this year already!