People woke up to a typical January day on Sunday morning - too bad its June! I wasn't expecting much of a turnout this week due to the WET weather but we had 13 die hards show up, most of the usual Sunday bunch along with a few new faces (with only 1 dog this week - Ziggy).
We hurried from the parking lot for the welcome cover of the trees. A speedy group of four (Alex, Scott, Mike and Ziggy) took off at a quick pace while the rest of us maintained a slower slug up the trail. There wasn't much talking as people tried to conserve their energy to stay warm. Even Matt "the Jet" Sessions stayed back with the main group as he's now in taper mode for the WS. Good luck down in Cali. Matt - he's ready and we know he'll post a good time.
Apart from the rain, mud, fast flowing creeks, and cold there's not much to say about the run to Hyannis Drive. Did I mention the rain? Actually once we got settled into a groove it was pretty fun. At least no one had to worry about heat exhaustion today. Oh I should mention one thing, Matt's in the black for another beer as I witnessed his little slip up. There was talk at the beginning of going to Old Buck but by the time people cruised in to Lynn Valley I think everyone had silently decided that Hyannis Drive would be far enough. Most of the group took around 2 hours to here. There may have been one runner who did the Seymour Grind to the Buck.
The rain eased up somewhat for the return trip but by now we were all pretty well soaked through. It was a good hard run back to the cars and boy did it feel good to put on some nice dry clothes. Everyone's calves were covered in mud but smiles were aplenty, I'd say people actually enjoyed themselves! Total time was in the 4 - 4:30 hrs range. Ziggy looked like he could run for another 4 hours - what's in those doggy biscuits Mike? I think I may have to try some ;-)
A note about next Sunday's run. We will NOT be following the scheduled route. Instead we will be meeting at Deep Cove @ 7 a.m. sharp in the Panorama Park parking lot. We will carpool to the SECOND lookout on the road leading up to Cypress Bowl and run on the Skyline trail (which starts there) to the Baden Powell (and then follow the BP back to Deep Cove). This route is a little shorter that the last 3/4 of the race but it will still be a long run. Please come on time and be prepared for a 4.5 to 6 hour run (bring plenty of food). Water can be refilled at Cleveland Dam, Grouse Mtn parking lot, Lynn Valley & Seymour Demonstration Forest (or whatever its called now). Oh, bring some $ for a Honey's donut at the end - you'll be glad you did!
Cheers.