5 Peaks Buntzen Lake

5 Peaks Buntzen Lake

On Sept 29 the final 5 Peaks trail race of the year took place at Buntzen Lake. 5 Peaks holds 5 races in the Sea to Sky corridor every year and racers have the choice of a shorter Sport course or a longer Enduro course. Saturday’s race had a Sport course of a 10 km lap of the lake and an Enduro course of the Diez Vista trail, a 16 km loop with stunning views of downtown Vancouver, Indian Arm and Mt. Seymour. Unfortunately, it was overcast on the day of the race and there were no views to had.

The day started with a toddlers and kids race that both my kids ran in. After a bit of an apprehensive start, they both opened up and ran the course with smiles on their faces. To the left is a picture of them holding up their race ribbons at the finish line.

The last couple of races that I participated in were over 30 km each with over 1000m of climbing, it was kind of nice doing a slightly shorter distance with much less climbing. I have done Diez Vista as a hike on my own, with one of my kids on my back in a child carrier and as a run. It is a great course and I was really looking forward to racing on it. After a steep power hike to get to the top of the ridge the trail turns into a technical run with a lot of roots, rocks and short steep descents and climbs, the type of course that I really like.

I finished the race in 1:41 and in the 43rd spot. A pretty good finish for me in the top 25% of the pack (there were 185 finishers). I am looking forward to this one again next year and hope to get out to a couple more 5 Peaks races in 2013. A free pass to any 5 Peaks race can be found in the Vancouver Trail Running book which is sold at Kintec.