By Greg Balchin
Saturday, October 22 marked the last race in the Vancouver Island Trail series this year.
We expected a wet, windy, run. The weather forecast called for it, but instead, we had a perfect running conditions. Cool, dry, and sunny.
The race offers two distances – 25km long course and the 11km short course – with breath taking views and great trails. Together, both races attracted nearly 400 participants for the grand finale of the series. We had 5 STARR members out running the courses.
The course has about 350 metres of elevation gain, but you don't notice it much, because you are so focused on dodging trees and roots. The best description of the course is that, where Port Alberni, (everyone's most favorite course), is up and down, up and down, the Qualicum trail, is left and right, left and right. Both have a river run along a creek, and along straight gravel road section. Some people didn't care for that road bit on the way back, but I liked it. You could switch to road leg muscles, straighten out, and reset your breathing and metabolism, before diving back into the relentlessly twisty trail system in the woods.
Marika - First place in her category for the series!
I think this run is now my second most favorite trail to run in the series. Port Alberni is still number one, but there were some really fun sections on the Qualicum trail, that really tested your ability to stay on your feet. Hard, short, up, down, left, right and runs that left me wanting to speed up and push harder. But the threat of more roots ahead and the constant need to balance speed with endurance kept the pacing relatively steady.
With 164 runners doing the long course, we thought the narrow, single track trails would be a problem for passing people. The trail on either side was a pretty gnarly tripping hazard. But the open road areas under the power lines and the runners themselves, made sure anyone who wished to pass could do so safely. About 8km into the race, everyone was well spread out, or running in little same speed clumps anyway.
Results
Long course
Greg Balchin (M60-69) 2:59:45, 3rdplace
MarikaNagasaka (F40-49) 3:02:45
Pauline Nielsen (F50-59) 3:07:31, 1stplace
Sarah McWhirter (F30-39) 3:32:34
Short Course
Maggie Curtis (F50-59) 1:33:11
