Well I feel down writing in the blog this year. I meant to many times post 100 miler but alas. So here we go catching up and keeping a nice memory of what I accomplished in my 51st year.
The main goal this year was the Weekend at Wentworth 100 miler. So all of my training was going to focus on that and breaking 24 hours in my first 100 miler.
Of course we still had to keep a little speed in the legs, and Chain of Lakes parkrun is always a great place to do that. I kicked off the year with a 17:34 5K, in what would be my fastest of the year. Glad I still had that speed after a hard December of running. But with more and more focus on distance and building a resilient body, my overall speed drifted off, something I was aware would happen.
I ended up 3rd overall, 2nd place male and 1st place in the over 50 category. This netted me an amazing Eastwood Pottery Mug and a free pair of On trail running shoes (I eventually got the On CloudUltra 3).
Speed and trail running? Sure, canicross can do this. The Halifax Harness Hounds put on their Rust Buster 3km trail race again and thanks to the amazing Phoebe, we placed first overall. My little buddy was a true speedster.
After what seemed like forever (6 months of dedicated training), the big day came. We set off on a humid morning in June in Wentworth. With potentially bad weather coming, I opted to go with plan B, which was bank some time ahead of the bad weather. So I pushed the effort a little and hit 100K at 12 hours. With the humidity the way it was, this took a lot of hydration and salt to keep going and a lot of Anchor Anti-Chafe Balm. But the legs felt good. All fueled on Naak Hydration, Naak gels and Naak Purees.
Then the rain started as the night descended. I said goodbye to the On CloudSurfer Trail shoes as the need for bigger grippier lugs became apparent. Hello On CloudUltra 2.
When I say rain, it was 10 hours of torrential rain and ankle deep mud. Blisters appeared, I dealt with them solo as most people were tucked away hoping for a bit of clearer sky. In fact there was a flood warning on for our area and the river that was calm mere hours before was a ragger now.
I definitely slowed in the mud, only able to really run a small portion of the looped course. Each lap had about 1 km of runnable terrain. But, I fuelled up and kept my spirits high and pushed as hard as I could. As the light started to peak and the sun came up, the temperature dropped and I was so cold, but pushed though and Stacy pushed me on the final lap to get in at 23.5 hours. Goal achieved, and amazing 100 mile story unlocked.
I definitely slowed in the mud, only able to really run a small portion of the looped course. Each lap had about 1 km of runnable terrain. But, I fuelled up and kept my spirits high and pushed as hard as I could. As the light started to peak and the sun came up, the temperature dropped and I was so cold, but pushed though and Stacy pushed me on the final lap to get in at 23.5 hours. Goal achieved, and amazing 100 mile story unlocked.
The buckle was mine!
We went to see family shortly after in Colorado. I kept my running light, hitting a parkrun in Boulder, but mostly doing some great hiking at altitude.
Trail season took a switch with the kind of trail hybrid Truro parkrun. I managed to get there a few times this year and love their new course with a horrific hill climb.
Road season! I started training with the idea of a Fall race. But which one? Valley Harvest is always a favorite, so I just started training to see what I might be capable of. I decided to go for the marathon, as I have done the 10K, Half and 50K there with success. But first up Rum Runner Relay.
This was the final Rum Runners Relay, with teams of 10 running 100km from Halifax to Lunenburg. I have had great luck with good finishes at this event. I wanted to go out on a high. With tough competition I knew I had to go hard and picked a hilly leg to use my strengths. A miscue sent a couple of us on a short detour. I fell from 2nd to 8th just like that. So I ran harder, pushed on the hills and made my way to 3rd until about 200m to go when I caught and passed the last runner I could, taking back the spot I lost earlier and coming in second. I'll take it.
This was the final Rum Runners Relay, with teams of 10 running 100km from Halifax to Lunenburg. I have had great luck with good finishes at this event. I wanted to go out on a high. With tough competition I knew I had to go hard and picked a hilly leg to use my strengths. A miscue sent a couple of us on a short detour. I fell from 2nd to 8th just like that. So I ran harder, pushed on the hills and made my way to 3rd until about 200m to go when I caught and passed the last runner I could, taking back the spot I lost earlier and coming in second. I'll take it.
The Valley Harvest Marathon came. It was great weather. I had trained well, I was not injured, I had lots of gels. I had a smart plan and out I went. The goal was 2:55 and I kept the first few kilometers easy. At about 10km in I was in about 10th place overall. But I stuck with the plan. Lap 1 of the two lap course finished up and my pace felt good. Now it was all about relaxing, fuelling (Naak Boost Gels), and feeling the course. I started picking up spots and was soon in 5th place overall. Then came my time to shine. The final 6km starts with a decent down hill. I finished with a 19 min 5K and pushed over the finish line for a 2:51 finish and 1st in my Age Group. Another Peter Eastwood mug for the year!
Turns out this was also the 10th fastest marathon in Canada for men aged 50-54.
Turns out this was also the 10th fastest marathon in Canada for men aged 50-54.
The only official marathon I had run was 10 years prior and I ran a 3:02. So a 2:51 was pretty darn good. I had run 2:57 during my 50K road races twice, but this was nicer.
Rest time. A few parkruns, but mostly taking it easy. And then in November I switched to race director for the 14th annual Movember Run. We raised money, we ate cake, we had coffee, oh and we had some fast runners. It was amazing.
As December came, the BLT Runners opted to host our Christmas Marathon again (8 days of running at least 42.2km starting on Christmas Eve). We start by hosting the Miracle Mile. I love timing this event.
I was running two virtual events in December. The Route541 Christmas Island fundraiser and the Christmas Marathon.
I managed to run / hike / walk 507km for the Christmas Island Virtual Run and 162 km for the 8 days of the Christmas Marathon. The year ended with a self supported marathon, where I ran 10 loops of my home course. The perfect end to a year of long distance running.
I had tremendous support from New World Marketing and their partner companies, On, Darntough, Naak, Knockaround, and Grangers. Local amazing soap maker and creator the Anchor Soap Anti-Chafe cream Anchor Soap was a key to my success as well. Without an amazing product that keeps you running in the worst humidity and muddy conditions, I wouldn't have gone as far as I did.
Support for my events and other local event from 3 Mile, Aerobics First and Sportwheels and Habeneros has also been amazing.
