1989 - The first one!

June 24, 1989

The Presidente Rivera, a 749 foot Uruguayan tanker, ran aground in the Delaware River...

St. Louis Cardinals Vince Coleman steals record 39th and 40th consecutive bases

Meanwhile, at 6:00 am just above the Upper Levels Highway in West Vancouver, 8 young (and not-so-young) and adventurous lads embark on a 30-mile journey across the North shore Mountains. They would call this event the first-ever (and maybe last-ever) Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run. In coming years, they would come to be known as the "Original 8". Their names are:

• Louis Briere
• David Brown
• Tom Brown
• Gavin Cameron
• Shane Collins
• Enzo Federico
• Rob Hartvikson
• Brendan Kennelly

What follows is the abbreviated story of that fateful day that started the tradition that is celebrated for the 20th consecutive year in 2008.

As any self-respecting runner (or other long-distance athlete) knows, the day must begin a couple of hours earlier with a hearty breakfast. Half of the Original 8 were staying at my North Vancouver townhouse - just a block and a-half from Cleveland Dam (site of the future halfway aid station and drop-bag location for the race).

After a hearty breakfast (and ensuing bodily functions to dispose of any excess waste), we were off in my VW van to Panorama Park in Deep Cove to meet the other half of our group for a shuttle to our starting point just above Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. We were all quite anxious in that seemingly never-ending drive so early on a beautiful Saturday morning, with 6 of the Original 8 questioning why they ever let me and Shane talk them into this! For Shane and I it seemed like a good idea as we were both training for much longer races later in the summer - 100 Km. and 100 miles, respectively. More on that in a future post, as this is about June 24, 1989.

We started at the western end of the Baden-Powell trail in the Eagleridge parking lot just off the Upper Levels Highway. This would be the same start used for the next 16 years, until the Sea-to-Sky Highway construction project blasted that whole area out of existence in 2006. For those familiar with the race, you might ask about the out-and-back on the highway on-ramp. Well, it was not a part of the inaugural event. We did not think it would be necessary to spread out the 8 of us as we headed into the trail, and besides we all agreed ahead of time that this would be a group run - one for all and all for one :-)

Did I also forget to mention that I was the only one that actually was familiar with the entire 30 miles we were going to run that day? No extra marking with ribbons on this day, and also no triangular markers on the trees. I learned it mostly the hard way by trial and error (and error and ...). I was fortunate enough to get one of the last copies of my North Shore trail "bible" - Exploring Vancouver's North Shore Mountains, by Roger & Ethel Freeman. It's been out of print for over 20 years now, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it listed here at amazon.com. If you do buy one of the used copies, make sure it contains the separate maps that go inside a special jacket with a pocket. Bear in mind that the trails have changed a bit since then.

Back to "the day", and our start at the familiar trailhead signpost. Ignore the 45 km on the signpost, as the Freemans wheeled the trail twice and assured us it was 29.76 miles (47.87 km.). We would up it to 30 miles by adding a jaunt to the beach in Deep Cove, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our initial climb on the way to the south summit of Black Mountain was a grunt - what else can I say! But we did eventually reach the spectacular viewpoint at Eagle Bluff. As you can see from the picture, the 8 of us are are still together - count 7 runners plus the photographer (me). You'll also notice we were eating and drinking early on, like any good ultrarunner. From here, it was still a bit of a climb to the Black summit and some dispsy-doodles before our mile-long descent into Cypress Bowl. Quite a different scene there than what we have today at the quarter point in the race, with our first major aid station manned by the Pacific Road Runners. On this day, it would be family and friends meeting us at Cypress, Cleveland Dam, Lynn Canyon and Mt. Seymour Parkway.

Over the next section to the Hollyburn ski area, we did encounter a couple of miles of snow. We made a mental note that perhaps we should have done this a couple of weeks later - say, the second Saturday in July? However, we quickly descended from Hollyburn down what we now call the "Chute" and over Brothers Creek. And before long we were back into "civilization" and views of West Vancouver and the city beyond.

Now we were close to another significant milestone - the halfway point at Cleveland Dam. But, no fuss or fanfare there in 1989. Instead I made the 8 of us jog a couple of hundred yards off-course to my townhouse for our 15-mile aid station. By now, I think you're getting the idea that this was actually a day-long eating event interrupted by bouts of running :-)

Of course getting back on the road/trail for the last 15 miles proved to be quite a chore, especially the 1+ miles on the road heading back up to the re-entry point to the trail at the bottom of Grouse Mountain. We were all quite relieved to get back into the cool shade of the forest, except for maybe Louis. But, I must say that he did get it back about a half-hour after that point and we all went through many ups and downs that day - emotionally, physically, ...

The rest of the journey ended up being the start of our celebration as we all seemed to get stronger, especially in the last quarter. Our route followed the "classic" course over the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge, but not before fueling up at the old concession stand just before the bridge. That was not our last feeding opportunity, as our original volunteer (Ed Edmondson) met us at Mt. Seymour Parkway. The fluids he supplied were much appreciated as the temperature was into the upper 20's C by that time of the day.

We were now ready for the final 2.5 "downhill" miles to Deep Cove, with a bit of swearing and cussing from those who had never seen this section of trail before. No sounds of music and announcing from the Finish Line as made our way across and down the side of the mountain and finally reaching the small sign marking the eastern end of the Baden-Powell trail. But, our journey was not over until we reached the beach!

A few traditions started immediately:

• a post-run dip in the cool waters of Indian Arm
• carbo re-loading at Honey's Doughnuts
• first post-race banquet at Squarerigger Pub in West Vancouver
• handing out of the original finisher T-shirt
• collecting donations from the runners for our first charity - BC Children's Hospital

By the time the day and night ended for us, we had been up for almost 24 hours straight. The results of the run are posted here, but the real story was with us on the trails and is one that is still near and dear to our hearts.

If you've gotten this far, I hope I've been able to relate to your some sense of our day of adventure back in 1989. If so, please come back here over the next 4 months leading up to this year's race on July 12, 2008, as I add an account of each of our first 19 years. I also welcome your comments on my story (by clicking the comments link right after my post), and to add stories/pictures/videos of your own as they relate to each of my posts.

See you on the trails...Enzo