North Shore Enduro 2014 Edition

After a glorious sunny week in Vancouver with temperatures in the mid-20s, we were excited to take on the North Shore Enduro for the first time.
The weekend forecast, of course, was for rain! They don't call it raincouver for nothing, after all.

The race is a 7.6 km looped course on trails in the Lower Seymour/Lynn Valley area. The idea is to run as many laps as you can in six hours. Each lap has approximately 200m of elevation gain, so its not just a walk in the park. The event is run by Club Fat Ass - a just for fun running club where people post a variety of races and runs. You can check out upcoming events here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/clubfatass/

We were just using this as a fun training run, however we set ambitious goals as always. Chris set out aiming for 7-8 laps, and I was hoping for 6-7. The record for the most number of laps completed within the time limit is nine.

It was overcast to start, but warm enough to be in shorts and a t-shirt. Chris took off at a blistering pace - completing the first few laps in 40 minutes each (on pace to do 9 laps!). Unfortunately he suffered from some diaphragm and stomach issues from lap 4 onwards, and had to throw in the towel after lap 6. He ended the day completing 6 laps in 4h 42m!

I paced myself a little more conservatively, completing 6 laps in 5h 42m for a total of 43.87km with 1250m of elevation gain! Not bad for my first Club Fat Ass event - I will definitely be back for more!

North Shore Enduro elevation profile from my new Suunto Ambit2R

The highlight of the day was midway through lap 3 when the rain came! Of course, I was on one of the most open parts of the trail, trying to hug the side of it to stay under the trees for protection. This section is followed by a gnarly uphill section with lots and lots of staircases. As I started the ascent - it began to hail! I crossed paths with someone coming down the hill who noted that the hail felt quite exfoliating, which I found rather humorous. The hail only lasted a few minutes, and it only rained for about an hour and was replaced by an attempt at sunshine. So I guess we can't complain.

Hope to see you out at the next Club Fat Ass event!

-J.B.Running