Back when the earth was cooling I used to organize the Terry Fox run in Creemore. I recall set-up being simply a table for registration and another at the 5K turn-around point. Aid station fare included water and apples, nothing else! The TFR was subsequently moved to Terra Nova, a small hamlet south of Creemore. I believe the logic was that it would provide more beautiful scenery and avoid any traffic concerns due to the enormous congestion (up to 3 cars per minute) found in Creemore.
Ironically, the old Creemore route, which included County Road 9, has become rather congested (residents of Toronto: You are welcome for this humorous interlude) over the years, now 5 cars per minute at peaks. Unfortunately, the Terra Nova location did not attract many participants, as it is a bit out of the way. In 2016, only 17 participants enjoyed the event.
Early this year, the Terra Nova TFR organizers Keddy and Eric, approached Lee Anne and I with a proposal to move the event back to Creemore. Since Keddy and Eric live in Toronto and are in the country only on weekends, they felt that assistance from locals would be of benefit.
I couldn't help but compare the requirements of organizing the Terry Fox Run with that of the Creemore Vertical Challenge. Not that it was solely a case of sending out a couple of emails and sitting back, but think of it this way: No trail prep, bibs, prizes and timing. Even registration is mostly assumed by the Terry Fox Foundation. And the event day's itinerary looked like it was missing a few dozen key functions: 8:30 - registration, 9:00 - official start, 12:00 - end of event. One big reason we agreed to help was because there was so little to do!
Sunday, September 17 turned out to be almost perfect weather. Sunny and a high of about 25. For the event, we had obtained permission from the county to close intersections along Library Street, which runs north/south in the middle of town. We hoped that by doing so, Creemorites would become aware of the event, yet not disrupt Sunday morning traffic (again, Toronto, you are welcome).
The biggest stumbling block in hosting a Terry Fox Run in Creemore is getting the word out. Yes, we placed posters in numerous stores in the area, signage around Creemore, an article in the newspaper and made sure to speak with all our friends and neighbours, but the reality is that without heavy radio and/or televised promotion, it takes time to get the word out, in a small town. Several people who happened by the event mentioned that they had no idea Creemore was hosting a Terry Fox run.
We expected to draw 20 - 30 people, although I was hoping that more would show up. I had placed 5 large signs around the Creemore Farmer's market, which is well attended on Saturday mornings. The market is located at the Station on the Green, the same spot as the start/finish for the Terry Fox run. Perhaps people would pay attention to the signage and return on Sunday morning for Canada's 150th year? Not so much! One cute aside about attendance is that I am very much of the mindset that if a race starts at 9:00, everyone shows up for the start. I had forgotten that the Terry Fox Run is more of a social event and if you are not able to make it at 9:00, no problem, show up at 10:00 or 11:00! So I was quite disappointed when only 7 people had started by 9:00. I thought the event was going to be a bust. However as the day progressed, people trickled in and by final count, we had about 25 participants, which is reasonable for the first year.
The Creemore chapter of the TFR raised over $1,000 for the foundation, so by that standard, the event was successful. I would like to thank all who attended. Organizing the event was also a blast. Everything needed for the event fit into my car. For the CVC, I needed 4 trucks! Event day started at 6:30 for me, with a leisurely breakfast. Setting up registration, the 2.5K (turn-around) aid station and all the barricades took about 90 minutes. Tear down started at 11:45 and was complete before 1:00 PM. By contrast, for the CVC I was up at 4:30 AM and still at it circa 9:00 PM.
Will the Terry Fox run continue in Creemore next year? You bet! Are there any reflection items? Definitely. Keddy mentioned that we should have placed posters on the barricades, so that people would know why the roads were blocked. It might be possible to get a few minutes on the radio to promote the event. I hope to entice a few of the Creemore businesses to help promote the event. For those familiar with the Creemore Vertical Challenge, no, there won't be 3 kegs of Creemore ale at the finish, sorry! We could also reach out to the surrounding towns and cities. Running or walking in Creemore for such a great cause is worth the drive.
I would like to thanks Giffen's Country Market, who donated a bushel of their finest apples for the event. By the way, Giffen's makes the world's best butter tarts. Seriously, it is not possible for me to go in their store without acquiring a fix. Giffens is the turn-around point on our 24K road route and I always carry a few coins. FYI: One butter tart = 2 gels.
I would also like to thank Keddy, Eric and their "voluntolds", for helping out with the event. Our neighbours Jim, Susan and Rory also donated their Sunday morning to help with the aid station and marshalling duties. It was nice to have a couple of experienced people at the aid station and marshalling.
So circle Sunday September 16, 2018 on your calendar and we hope to see you up in Creetown.
Cheers!
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
England's Coast to Coast
We're back!
Most literature that I read about the Coast to Coast walk in England stated 2 salient points that I blithely disregarded... 1. It is long. At 309K (roughly 200 miles), the C2C in no way resembles a brisk walk to the store. If a return trip to the store measures 3K, it is 103 brisk walks to the store. 2. It is tough. We undertook the walk in 12 days, which means slightly more than 25K per day. At a brisk walk, that would translate into an average of 5 hours walking per day. The main aspect of what I blithely ignored is that the terrain does not include much dead flat paved road. In fact, during the first 4 days, picture many many mountains and a healthy does of ankle deep bogs. Instead of a brisk 5 hour walk, some days were over 9 hours.
Let me state that the walk was definitely worth undertaking. The views and walking-pace exposure to some of England's finest parks and town alone was worth the effort. You cannot get the same experience by driving by moors in an automobile. At times, we were out of sight of anything man-made, excluding the odd post or marker. However, consider adding a few judicious rest days to your trip. Give your legs, feet and blisters a chance to recover.
For those not fully cognisant of the definition of judicious, here is what it does NOT mean: Do not climb Helvellyn mountain on your rest day. The English probably pride themselves on both understatement and their ability to tough it out. So, Helvellyn is considered a walk. Here in Canada, we call such terrain by its correct definition, namely a cliff. With rain threatening, Lee Anne and I cautiously navigated England's masochistic concept of a walk called "Striding Edge". This is a fully exposed narrow rock face that is part of the "path" to Helvellyn's summit. The day after we inched across Striding Edge, a person fell 600 feet to his death. Another person (on the same day) also fell 600 feet WITH HIS DOG and had to be airlifted to the hospital. Walk, my ass! Seriously, who would take their dog on such an exposed cliff?
Okay, so you now know what not to do on your day off. What was the walk like? Lee Anne and I walked with our friends Russell and Jeanette, also from Creemore. Russell and Jeanette might have been a tad apprehensive as 300+K is longer than they would normally hike, and they would be undertaking the adventure with 2 ultrarunners. We assured them that we were slow hikers and by the second day they must have realized that this was so. Mostly, it was Russell waiting for us during the walk.
To say there was some rain would be an understatement, by Ontario standards, but we were quite lucky and only experienced pouring rain on one day. Most days we were treated to a sprinkling of rain, but we saw our fair share of sun. Trekking through the bogs and moors was another story. Bogs defy the laws of gravity. Water seemed to run uphill in bogs. If you are traversing a slope, the high side was always wet, whereas the low side was less wet. The deepest bogs were at the top of the mountain passes (saddles) and while off course at one point, we walked through 10 inches of saturated peat for about a kilometer, in order to crest a ridge. Keeping your feet dry was not an option! I was the only member of our 4 person team to wear trail running shoes (as opposed to hiking boots) and coincidentally, I was the only person who did not develop blisters during the walk. This was due to my running shoes drying out soon after leaving a wet section.
We took advantage of Macs Adventures, a self-guided walking tour company, to plan the trip. Macs provides maps and literature on the walk. They also book the hotels and B&B's; something that can be difficult if you are not familiar with where to stay in places such as Keld or St. Bees. Most important is they arrange luggage transfer from hotel to hotel each day. This is likely not easy, bordering on a logistic nightmare, but it allows us to walk with only a day pack, instead of 40 pounds of luggage! Macs charges a bit for arranging the trip, but I don't feel it is overly pricey; great value for the cost.
It is hard to describe all that we saw and experienced during 12 days of walking. At one point I laughed, because the guide book mentioned "turn right at the church". The Church was massive and built circa 1500! It would be a tourist attraction on its own in Canada, but in England, it barely deserves a mention. We stayed in a hotel that was built in 1691. I think the patroness was from the same era... Some of the "old roads" showed evidence of having been built by the Romans.
Was it worth the cost and effort? Definitely. I recommend it highly. Would I changes things? Definitely. We had to pass by the ruins of an incredible castle in Richmond, as we didn't have time to stay and investigate. I think that being from Canada, I cannot grasp how much history there is in "rural" England. We could have easily added 3-4 extra days to explore what England has to offer.
Cheers!
Most literature that I read about the Coast to Coast walk in England stated 2 salient points that I blithely disregarded... 1. It is long. At 309K (roughly 200 miles), the C2C in no way resembles a brisk walk to the store. If a return trip to the store measures 3K, it is 103 brisk walks to the store. 2. It is tough. We undertook the walk in 12 days, which means slightly more than 25K per day. At a brisk walk, that would translate into an average of 5 hours walking per day. The main aspect of what I blithely ignored is that the terrain does not include much dead flat paved road. In fact, during the first 4 days, picture many many mountains and a healthy does of ankle deep bogs. Instead of a brisk 5 hour walk, some days were over 9 hours.
Let me state that the walk was definitely worth undertaking. The views and walking-pace exposure to some of England's finest parks and town alone was worth the effort. You cannot get the same experience by driving by moors in an automobile. At times, we were out of sight of anything man-made, excluding the odd post or marker. However, consider adding a few judicious rest days to your trip. Give your legs, feet and blisters a chance to recover.
For those not fully cognisant of the definition of judicious, here is what it does NOT mean: Do not climb Helvellyn mountain on your rest day. The English probably pride themselves on both understatement and their ability to tough it out. So, Helvellyn is considered a walk. Here in Canada, we call such terrain by its correct definition, namely a cliff. With rain threatening, Lee Anne and I cautiously navigated England's masochistic concept of a walk called "Striding Edge". This is a fully exposed narrow rock face that is part of the "path" to Helvellyn's summit. The day after we inched across Striding Edge, a person fell 600 feet to his death. Another person (on the same day) also fell 600 feet WITH HIS DOG and had to be airlifted to the hospital. Walk, my ass! Seriously, who would take their dog on such an exposed cliff?
Okay, so you now know what not to do on your day off. What was the walk like? Lee Anne and I walked with our friends Russell and Jeanette, also from Creemore. Russell and Jeanette might have been a tad apprehensive as 300+K is longer than they would normally hike, and they would be undertaking the adventure with 2 ultrarunners. We assured them that we were slow hikers and by the second day they must have realized that this was so. Mostly, it was Russell waiting for us during the walk.
To say there was some rain would be an understatement, by Ontario standards, but we were quite lucky and only experienced pouring rain on one day. Most days we were treated to a sprinkling of rain, but we saw our fair share of sun. Trekking through the bogs and moors was another story. Bogs defy the laws of gravity. Water seemed to run uphill in bogs. If you are traversing a slope, the high side was always wet, whereas the low side was less wet. The deepest bogs were at the top of the mountain passes (saddles) and while off course at one point, we walked through 10 inches of saturated peat for about a kilometer, in order to crest a ridge. Keeping your feet dry was not an option! I was the only member of our 4 person team to wear trail running shoes (as opposed to hiking boots) and coincidentally, I was the only person who did not develop blisters during the walk. This was due to my running shoes drying out soon after leaving a wet section.
We took advantage of Macs Adventures, a self-guided walking tour company, to plan the trip. Macs provides maps and literature on the walk. They also book the hotels and B&B's; something that can be difficult if you are not familiar with where to stay in places such as Keld or St. Bees. Most important is they arrange luggage transfer from hotel to hotel each day. This is likely not easy, bordering on a logistic nightmare, but it allows us to walk with only a day pack, instead of 40 pounds of luggage! Macs charges a bit for arranging the trip, but I don't feel it is overly pricey; great value for the cost.
It is hard to describe all that we saw and experienced during 12 days of walking. At one point I laughed, because the guide book mentioned "turn right at the church". The Church was massive and built circa 1500! It would be a tourist attraction on its own in Canada, but in England, it barely deserves a mention. We stayed in a hotel that was built in 1691. I think the patroness was from the same era... Some of the "old roads" showed evidence of having been built by the Romans.
Was it worth the cost and effort? Definitely. I recommend it highly. Would I changes things? Definitely. We had to pass by the ruins of an incredible castle in Richmond, as we didn't have time to stay and investigate. I think that being from Canada, I cannot grasp how much history there is in "rural" England. We could have easily added 3-4 extra days to explore what England has to offer.
Cheers!
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