Poco Trail River Run Half Marathon

Poco Trail River Run Half Marathon

I only learned about this race a couple of months before it started while out on a trail run with a Caresse. I thought it’d be great to do a local race that was only 5 minutes away from home. It means I could sleep in a bit, not worry about looking for parking or parking too far from the start, and I could get home quickly afterwards.

I was very impressed with the organization of this event and was excited to be part of this year being the first time every they had over 100 half marathon participants. I was even more excited for my brother-in-law, Stan, who I finally convinced to do his first half marathon. We were also joined by Kintec run clinic instructors Jason, who was doing his 2nd half marathon, and Caresse, who was running this half marathon in preparation for her first full marathon in Victoria in October, and run clinic participant Erik also running his first half.

This out and back race took place on the Traboulay-Poco trail starting at Hyde Creek and continues along the dyke at the DeBouville Slough all the while enjoying views of Golden Ears Mountain, the Pitt River, DeBouville Slough, and Burke Mountain.

One of my favourite parts of the run was the high-fives and words of encouragement as I passed by friends on the out and back route. I was also impressed by the person running in a minimalist style sandal. The cheering section of kids and their parents, banging away at their tambourines made for a great finish.  Another highlight was achieving a new personal best, which I didn’t intend on doing but got anyways.

Thanks to all the event coordinators and volunteers for putting on a great event. I would definitely do this race again and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to run their first race (they have 10k and 5k options) or their first half marathon.  Fun course, great views, easy parking, no bathroom line up, cheap registration fees, and even a pancake breakfast following the race…and of course a finisher’s medal!

Next up for me is the Surrey World Music Marathon this coming Sunday, September 30.

Thanks for reading! Look for my next Blog after I run Surrey Half!