Weekend Adventures: Crewing the Van 100

• • Weekend Adventures

Saturday, June 11

Courtney, Kyle, and Chris set out to complete the epic Van 100, a double crossing of the Baden Powell. Dayna and I crewed them on this insane journey of 100 km, 16,000 ft elevation gain, and just under 30 hours time on feet. We ran the first 25 km from Deep Cove to Cleveland Dam and then I met them at the turnaround spot at Horseshoe Bay in the evening. After, I made a quick stop back at Cleveland Dam to hang out with the West Van Run Crew and see Mountain Mark come through before crashing at a friends house for a few hours.

Dayna surprised our group at Cypress in the middle of the night with pizza. Kyle unfortunately had to make the smart but difficult decision to drop here as he had gotten wet and cold and just wasn’t able to warm up. He was also going a little loopy after nearly 24 hours of suffering. And then I met Courtney and Chris at Cleveland Dam around 5am with a car load of gear and a thermos of warm gas station coffee. They were doing awesome and were ready to finish the last 25 km.

I went back to sleep for a few hours before meeting Dayna and Jason for a quick Grouse Grind, because we needed to get some quick training in too! On our way back down the gondola, we realized that if we hurried we could make it to Deep Cove to see Courtney and Chris finish. We drove there, parked half in a permit zone and half in a no parking zone, and hopped out just in time! We congratulated them, took a few photos, and then ran back to the car when we saw someone issuing parking tickets. Apparently we were too late and he got us with a $50 ticket. Oh well … worth it!!!

Van 100 2016

Weekend Adventures: Volunteering at Be Fearless 2016

• • Weekend Adventures

Saturday, June 4

I’m catching up on some late posts so this is going to be short and sweet!

My friends Dayna, Courtney, and Hailey held their first trail race through Run Like A Girl called Be Fearless. The race was on Squamish trails and there were two distance options: 21k and 11k. Kyle, Chris, Mike, and I ran one of the aid stations that the 11k runners would come through once and the 21k runners twice. I was lead chopper (seriously, who put me in charge of the knives?) and I also checked in the 21k runners as they came through both times.

The race was a huge success based on my experience and the feedback received from runners. It was super sunny out and everyone seemed to have an amazing time. It was so great to be part this special day and I am so proud of my friends for putting on such a fantastic event that helped others push their limits and achieve their goals!

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Sunday, June 5

Since we didn’t actually run during the Be Fearless race, Kyle, Dayna, and I hit up Grouse Mountain for a double grind with a run down Skyline in between. It was crazy hot out and there were three rescues on the Grouse Grind that day. We saw once man being carried down in a stretcher. Skyline was a new trail for us and was fun to run down. When we made it to the top of the Grind the second time, we grabbed a bit to eat and took the gondola back to our cars.

Weekend Adventures: Happy birthday to me!

• • Weekend Adventures

Saturday, May 7

Part 1

A few of my friends took me for a birthday run at Deep Cove. We started at 8:30am and already the main parking lots were full but we managed to score a spot in a farther lot. It was a really fun 15 km run where we just enjoyed ourselves and relaxed. I felt like I was a kid again running and laughing through the woods. Afterwards, we hit up a nearby juice place for smoothies and headed over to the Salomon West Van store. From there Kyle and I made a couple quick stops at MEC, Metrotown, and then SFU to pick up my new Altra Running hat!

Part 2

Jesse and I had plans to go to dinner for my birthday. He was taking me somewhere in Langley but I couldn’t quite get it out of him. He mentioned near Colossus and I started listing restaurants … Montanas? Spaghetti Factory? He mentioned Eastside Mario’s and I told him that it closed a long time ago. You would think this would tip me off, but it’s not really out of character for him.

We turned down an industrial side street and he said “Oh, this isn’t 200th Street.” No duh … wait, there’s a trampoline park here!? I looked at Jesse confused. Are we going to the trampoline park? Wait … does this mean I’m not getting dinner? My stomach was rumbling. I had only snacked when I got home from my run in anticipation of stuffing my face full of restaurant food later.

A bunch of my running and non-running friends showed up and were surprised that I was already there. I guess we were early. But for the record, I was very surprised!

Before we had left for “dinner,” I had asked if it was okay to wear my new Oiselle roga shorts. No wonder he was so enthusiastic about that. It was all starting to make sense. However, Jesse had packed a bag of athletic clothes for me to wear in case I needed to change.

The trampolining was a riot! We paid for an hour (the minimum) and honestly, that was a good chunk of time. We were all sweating instantly – it was quite the workout! My abs and arms, surprisingly enough, were sore after. There were dodgeball courts, a foam pit for jumping and flipping into, basketball hoops for dunking, and a huge area to bounce from one trampoline to the next. Awesome music was playing overhead and every so often it would go dark and black lights would come on.

We all headed to the pub after for a drink (or four) and a bite to eat. Sunday was a rest day.