The Wandering Runners are all lined up on the edge of the not-so-underwater sea.
Dick (More Moses than Moses) Lemon appeals to the crowd: "You must believe", "You will
not drown", "This will be a fantastic memory", "Sure wish I could go
with you...", "There is a Promised Island". With a final "Let My People Go",
the assembled crowd rushes thru the funnel of cheering spectators and heads
on down the beach.
The race is on! Almost 300 runners with big smiles on their faces are
about to run a 5 or 10km race out on the muddy flats of the Bay of Fundy
by Five Islands. The scenery is fantastic, the weather perfect, the
runners and the volunteers all have really big smiles on their faces. What a day!
Oh yeah! I'm in this race. Time to put away the camera and tag onto the
end of this big homogenous mass. Dick says that this race will be a special
memory. I believe it already and haven't hit the flats yet. Dick used 3 words
to describe this event (Beauty, Community and Health) and I agree
totally. This is a most beautiful spot on the Earth. I've been here lots
of times and it always makes me very happy. This race is throwing the
community of Five Islands into the mix with a broad running community
that includes runners from all over Canada and parts of Europe. To be
able to be healthy and fit enough to want to tackle this event is also a
special blessing.
OK, the crowd has turned onto the sand and this race gets dirty real quick.
Within the next 2 minutes, I go thru some nice squishy mud that pulls at
my shoes, up and over a few rocks, jump some seaweed, splash thru some
water and pick the water's edge as a better spot to run than the really
sticky mud.
People are laughing like little kids. For the next hour of my life,
that's basically what I do, have fun. Extraordinary fun. My job,
mortgage, minor ache and complaints all fade into oblivion. All there is
in front of me is water/mud/sand/rock/seaweed obstacles and I'm
surrounded by people obviously enjoying this as much as I am. The
volunteers are a special crowd. Hard to say who is happier seeing who.
The good mood is so infectious that I start taking pictures of each
volunteer that I come upon. This really is too much fun.
If Five Islands is beautiful from the shore or from a kayak, the view
while you are doing this race is really a once in a lifetime memory.
When people say that they get high on life, this is what they are
talking about.
Of all the obstacles on this run, the 10km runners will pretty much all
agree that the washboard sand dunes between Long and Pinnacle beat the
stuffing out of your legs, assuming you had any left by then.
As much fun as I had running this race, the steps thru the hole on Long
Island are the key memory. I've seen this hole on pictures and websites and
with my own eyes for years. Now I have run out to, and thru that hole.
How cool is that!
The finish line was a lot of fun as well. Everyone quite glad to stop,
get some food, get out of their running clothes, wash off some of the
mud and share experiences with old and new friends. Sitting there on the
beach (which would be almost submerged by the time we got off) on a nice
sunny day, sharing a cold one with new friends Misty and Karen, the
sense of satisfaction was complete.
Dick was right. Thanks to him and his amazing band of volunteers, this
will be a very special memory indeed.
Bruce (aka Bruce)
 iRun
Running Mania
Not Since Moses Videos
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