While I've spent the last 2 years in the Haliburton Forest either
running or
pacing, this year I was in for a different experience - volunteering!
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| Sights like this being why "not going" just wasn't an option worth considering. |
We were able to make it up to
Haliburton Forest & Wildlife Reserve with a bit of time to spare before the mandatory 100 mile dinner, to which all volunteers are invited. We even managed to get another runner (who had just signed up on the Tuesday of race week) up there in time to set up her tent and still get to the dinner, while
Tanker was able to shower after work before heading to the Cookhouse.
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| Saying hello to friends, including co-Race Director Cameron. |
After dinner - at which everyone introduces themselves - we headed out to mile 6.0 to stay with the wonderful Merle at his cabins on Clear Lake. It had rained most of the way up to the forest, but tapered off around 6pm, and by the time we reached the cabins the last of the sunset was just visible through the clouds over the lake.
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| Just part of the 5-star accommodations we were offered thanks to Merle. |
With the rain gone, we couldn't help but take advantage of the fire bowl and Muskoka chairs to enjoy a damp but mild evening.
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| Nothing better to get the wet out of the air. |
The moon even came out through the clouds, casting its reflected rays on the lake's calm surface.
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| I didn't catch it at its best, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. |
Then it was time to climb the ladder up to our luxurious attic bedroom. With no fire going in the woodstove the cabin wasn't heated, but the exhausted warmth from the small refrigerator rose to the loft and a sleeping bag kept us cozy all night.
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| 10/10 would stay again. |
The 5am wakeup call came all too soon, though - we provided a percolator pot full of hot, strong coffee while Merle cooked up a lovely breakfast for us and fellow volunteer Irv on the gas stove. Then it was into Merle and Irv's 4 wheel drive vehicles for the trip out to Aid Station 5 near Marsh Lake.
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| Merle had been quite busy setting up tables and tents on Friday |
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| The smorgasbord comes to life! |
We were joined by another volunteer from Bracebridge - Matt is a member of their
O.P.P. detachment and brought along Mia (pronounced "Maya") the aodrable therapy dog.
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| Cutest aid station volunteer EVER |
With the tables wiped down to rid them of the prior day's rain and the food and beverages laid out, we just needed to add a few finishing touches: some beads here, a flag or two there, a mosquito coil to keep the tiny vampires at bay, and some more Canadian paraphernalia.
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| Rub the beaver for luck! |
With a bit of additional decorating, AS5 was ready to welcome runners in the 26k (who would turn around there), the 50k (who would turn around about 2km further along the trail), 50mi and 100mi runners.
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| Come on in - the Gatorade's fine! |
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| Tanker, Merle, myself, Matt, Irv and Paul (who is a longtime ultrarunner himself ) |
All set to go by 7:40am and not expecting the first runner until past 8am, there was nothing to do but wait.
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| Some more comfortably than others. |
Of course, the more energetic among us found creative ways to kill the time.
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| This stick ended up being a favourite toy for Mia throughout the day/night |
I popped over to check out the new outhouse that had just been built, and discovered it was slightly lacking in lighting - the one small porthole in the wall did very little in the wan light of an overcast morning. Not wanting to use up the battery-operated lights we'd need for the overnight, I got a little crafty with some glow bracelets I'd brought...and built a chandelier!
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| Which, unfortunately, did as little as the porthole to provide light. |
Much more usefully,
Tanker was able to find a small pallet to cover a nasty hole in the lawn out front of the outhouse that could have meant a nasty injury had a runner stepped in it unwittingly.
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| Found on the woodpile - it was the perfect size to cover the hole! |
With some time to spare and being at the nearer end of the aid station area, I decided to go for a stroll to the Marsh Lake observatory to have a look as the sun began to break through the cloudcover.
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| This is what's considered a road in the Haliburton Forest |
The view over Marsh Lake was stunning in the morning mist and sun
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| Well worth a visit! |
I decided I'd probably have time to wander down to the road bridge over Marsh Lake before things got busy, so I walked through the peaceful morning...only to have the sun disappear behind the clouds.
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| So much incredible beauty |
Another runner came hauling past as I approached my post from the east, with my fellow volunteers being much more useful than I.
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| It would sort of be a theme for the day. |
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| Even the volunteers with paws were pitching in! |
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| Looking for runners coming in from the tough, technical section between AS4 and our location. |
The morning was a flurry of filling bottles, filling cups, giving high fives, disposing of garbage, telling runners they were doing amazing, offering snacks and beverages, and telling people how far they had to go to the next aid station. Before we knew it, Jamie the driver was showing up with lunch for everyone!
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| Well, all the humans anyway. The fuzzy ones had to beg for sandwich scraps. |
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| How could you say no to a face like this? |
Now of course, I couldn't eat the lunch - heck, I hadn't been able to eat anything at dinner the night before (fortunately I'd bought a freshii bowl on the way up as I'd suspected that would be the case) - but I was able to eat the AMAZING gluten free brownies made by fellow AS5 volunteer Kyra!
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Pictured here with her wee lad Henry on her back, and volunteer Matt
(Photo stolen shamelessly from Merle as I didn't catch one of Kyra!) |
I promise I only ate two of the double batch of brownies, though, and left the rest for the runners. The aid station was well stocked with peanut butter oat power balls, butter tarts, various candies, trail mix, chips, ginger ale, cola, Gatorade and water - all sorts of fast calories for hard-working runners. I'd made sure to bring a lot of food I could eat, too; stuff that either required no cooking (nuts, snack bars, veggie chips) or could be quickly and easily made with just boiling water or a camp stove (oatmeal, instant soup). I actually made myself a bowl of oatmeal during a lull in the traffic around 2pm, as it started to rain. Tired from my 5 hours of sleep in the cabin Friday night, I decided to be pro-active about getting down for a nap so I'd be fresh for the overnight; I climbed into Merle's Subaru and dropped the seat back around 3pm, snoozing while the rain fell, then waking when some thunder and lightning rolled in around 4:40pm. I missed Kyra departing, and held all the runners out on course in my thoughts; I knew that many of the 100 milers would be nearing base camp on the Normac Trail and having to make decisions about whether or not to go back out once they got there. The temperature dropped about 7 degrees in the next hour, too; from a mild fall afternoon to a damp chill. I could foresee cases of hypothermia and injuries from slipping in freshly churned up mud, and hoped everyone would be ok.
Returning to my post, it wasn't long before Jamie came by again to deliver dinner for the aid station volunteers. I was delighted to discover I could actually eat most of it, and the roast chicken breast with roasted beets and yams was delicious - I traded my roast potatoes to
Tanker for his beets and yams, which was to our mutual satisfaction.
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| Stuffing my face while Matt does some actual work signing runners in by their bib numbers |
I did actually help a bit by suggesting that we light the fire around 6pm, and giving
Tank a hand with getting in going in the wet - but thankfully no longer rainy - evening.
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| It begins! |
Shortly thereafter, we were actually treated to some sunshine as the skies cleared!
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| Looking toward the curve that leads to the Marsh Lake observatory |
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| Blue skies overhead gave us hope for a clear night |
Of course, not all of us were ready to ditch our rain gear just yet..
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| Overall twinsies! |
The sun dropped almost as soon as it had appeared, showing us faint traces of colour in the sky over the hunt camp.
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| I just happened to be over there to snap a photo |
As darkness settled in and made itself comfortable, we added a few touches to the aid station to greet runners in the long night ahead.
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| A little illumination can go a long way |
Around 9:30pm, when almost all of the 50 milers had come through for their second (and final) time on the way back from the turn-around past AS7, I started getting prepped for a little side mission.
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| Which - being me - required an entire change of clothing and footwear, plus an extra backpack. |
With a wee bit of scotch mist falling, I set off not long after 10pm, hiking in the direction of AS6.
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| On what would turn out to be a rather squidgy Black Creek Trail |
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| Up the hill past the 50k turn-around |
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| Puddles from the afternoon's rain |
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Wet corduroy (large timbers buried in the mud to facilitate logging trucks) is not especially runnable;
I was happy to just be hiking this! |
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| Plenty of mud puddles |
The moon shone brightly overhead as I traipsed along through the dark woods.
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| There were clusters like this all along my path |
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| ..as well as more permanent forest sights. |
I only passed a couple of people on the trail on my way, offering encouragement to all of them, though some would turn out to just be out walking and not part of the race at all! After
a little more than an hour of hiking, I reached the brightly lit and welcoming AS6 and was invited to sit by the fire.
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| Friendly folks in the forest |
I hung out and chatted for an hour and a half or so, trying to help out runners when they'd come in and offering enthusiastic praise for how well they were all doing in the damp night. The temperature continued to drop, and I was glad I'd brought a sweater in my pack to throw on while I was sitting still at the aid station. After filling some more bottles for runners, encouraging at least one not to quit (with the aid of a hot cup of coffee), and generally trying just not to get in the way, I made my preparations to set off back to AS5...but not before Gary generously allowed me to pilfer some of his famous burritos for the lads!
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| Stand up guy, that Gary! |
With my pack laden with snacks for my AS5 compatriots, I set off again into the darkness to
hike my way back.
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| The forest is stunning even by the light of a headlamp and waist light. |
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| Back through the corduroy, which is not nearly as even and predictable as it looks here. |
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| Down the largest hill of the flattest, least technical section of the course. |
Arriving back at AS5 around 2:15am, I sent
Tanker off to get some sleep (after munching back a burrito), got changed, and made myself a hearty dinner on one of the two camp stoves we had been using to boil water and make coffee.
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| Hopefully bringing a dry day to those still on course. |
In spite of the nearing dawn, it seemed to get even colder - the fire alone wasn't enough to keep me warm, so I threw on my
Honcho Poncho to keep away the damp, frigid air.
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| It's the most ridiculous piece of clothing I own, but has saved my easily-chilled butt so many times. |
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| The closest thing we saw to a sunrise |
As morning broke and the radio chatter informed us that there were few runners left on course, we began to pack up the aid station to leave the bare minimum available for those who would still be coming through. I helped a bit, but soon felt the call of the rising sun to go visit the observatory once more.
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| The dawn breaking through the forest. |
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| One more dance |
I was glad I made the effort, as the view was - if anything - even more dramatic than the morning before.
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| That low-lying mist! |
Upon my return, of course the lads had largely got everything stowed away. It was still before 8am!
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| I'm not particularly useful, except I suppose as a documentarian. |
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| The stalwarts who stayed through the night - Paul, Tanker, Merle and Matt |
We caught a ride with Merle back to his cabins to pick up our car, and headed for base camp, cheering for runners along the East Road and stopping off at AS2 along the way to say hello and see how everyone was doing. We were back to base before 11am, in plenty of time to see the end of some of the amazing stories of the 100 mile runners.
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| Like Grace and Grant pulling into the finish with a half hour to spare |
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| And Carlos - who lost 100lbs in the past year and traveled all the way from Buffalo, NY to race - come in right at 31 hours, then be awarded the Canadian Beaver by Merle for his determination and tenacity |
The post-race brunch was a wonderful chance to see all of the triumphant runners collect their buckles, and to pass a kind word with those who hadn't quite made it - the rain had made for a huge DNF rate, but everyone out there gave it their best shot, and that's always worthy of praise.
For me, it was incredibly fulfilling to make a tiny contribution to their efforts, and to get to enjoy the beauty and wonder of the
Haliburton Forest with so many friends both new and old.
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| You couldn't keep me away. |
So, now it's time for me to try a little running of my own at
Falling Water tomorrow. I have no idea how this will go, as I've only run twice since
Foxtail, and those were just 5-ish kilometer trots on Monday and Wednesday. I'm even more sleep deprived than usual after the weekend - I was up for about 37 hours off that 5hrs of sleep at Merle's cabin Friday night plus my 1.75hr nap in his vehicle - and have some lingering physical issues that I'm not sure will react well to the 5,000' of climbing on rock-strewn Bruce Trail...but it's bound to be pretty, so I'll give it a go.
How bad could it be?
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