Ladysmith Gutbuster

Just a few stretches before the race






 Me-- Gail-- Nathan-- Kristal

 Having been in Penticton this past week to attend my daugters wedding I wasnt to sure if I would be able to race, But decided to give it a try .There was a good turnout for the gutbuster, and doing a mass start we started our race , the long course runners started at the front, or else they started faster then the rest of us, it didnt take long for the runners to end up running in a narrow line up Methuen str which started in a steep climb  going to the top of Ladysmith were we started to run along holland creek trail.Here I was able to get my breath back after the steady climb we had just finished, it was nice to run on the trail and out of the sun, this part of the trail took us back towards the hwy and down to sea level again. this course took us past some of the stairs which made it a bit easier seeing I didn't have to worry about running down the stairs.

Running up Methuen str

Running along the trails it became

harder to pass some one and you had to wait for the proper moment before I could pass any one and if i ended up behind a slower runner I was able to  slow my pace and wait for the trail to widen or the runner let me pass, running in a large group you cant really tell how far from the front you wear, getting to the split for the long and short course you had an easier way of telling here I could also speed up.

 Just over half way,crossing holland creek trail bridge

After crossing the bridge running became easier the  trail was wider and smoother  and no hills to run up.  At last I was able to pick my own pace and it took only a few more metres to get back to Mathuen street and fast run down  to transfer beach running through the finishing chute and the race was finished, I placed seventh  four spots better than the last Gutbuster I had run in.

Cooling down after the race