Sunday, October 17, 2010

"Sign, Sign, Everywhere a sign..."

"To keep people out or to keep Mother Nature in?"

Boy - what a difference from the north - I noticed as soon as we hit the Orangeville area yesterday (Saturday) that the roadways by trails are littered with "NO PARKING" signs.  This means that "parkable" areas are jam packed with vehicles.  I was stopped to be told I couldn't park somewhere and when I explained that I was crewing a runner coming from Tobermory, I was kindly allowed to stay parked "illegally."  This makes for a hectic couple of days.

To top it off, Henri's pace is only increasing.  Yuppers - day no. 14 - that's two weeks into running fifty "k" a day and he's getting faster.  Today was his fastest pace yet.  Although he had ONLY 44k to do today, he finished at around 3 p.m. so decided to keep going.  He bagged another eight kilometres out there and finished in Milton at the back of Kelso/front of Rattlesnake Point (while I waited nervously parked illegally).

What's up with his pace?  Here's some thoughts (I've informally interviewed Henri but it turned into a casual conversation about running):

-Henri's demeanor is just plain casual.  He has a low operating stress level and takes everything in stride.  So 50k a day in the woods is merely a wonderful "walk in the woods" for him - everyday

-we could all do it if we trained (hmmm...he laughs when people ask him about training & claims that the first week of running the Bruce was his training)

-Charlotte has been pacing him (For those not in the know, Charlotte broke the End-to-End record on the Bruce this past June with a time of 13 days and 10 hours)

-Similar to point 1, he LOVES being in nature & is compelled to run on trails any day, any time

Whatever the reason, he's remarkable to watch (and lovely to crew for!).  Here's some visuals from the past couple of days:

 Henri laughing at the start of Day 14 - Terra Cotta
Henri laughing at the end of Day 14 - Milton

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