Another great weekend that can only be described as
AWESOME! In the span of 24 hours we saw
weather in Grande Cache change from hot and sunny to thunder, lightning, hail
and rain (not a good time to be on the top of the mountain, poor Darcy). Our team of 5 stuck it out and came out
smiling even at 2:00am (thanks to the 2 little guys who tried to stay up). The wet conditions definitely changed things;
this ain’t a walk in the park at the best of times.
I found running at
night a whole other experience (also found out moths aren’t as soft as one
might think when running and that they love head lights). For someone who trips over shadows I’m not
sure if meandering through the woods in the dark was a good idea but I can say
I had only one trip on a slippery root which took me down; it so happened to be
as I was trying to open my chocolate bar (stupid wrapper).
I knew this run would be in the dark and in knowing that I expected
to miss the grand mountain views and to see only what my head light lit up in
front of me. I was wonderfully surprised
to find myself twice standing by myself on a ridge and a lookout with only the
faint outline of the mountains around me, the fresh rain smell and the absolute
quietness with the most peaceful and amazing view of the stars I have ever
seen. There truly is no way to explain
how grand a moment it was. This memory will definitely be one that stays with
me.
Although each leg has its ‘thing’ that makes it unique and
challenging this one is going to be hard to beat. I got the coolness of the night, the
adrenalin of the dark, the ‘Crack of Doom’ (really cool) and the meeting and
paying my coin to the Grim Reaper to get on the river boat to get to the other
side and carry on. How many people can
say they’ve done that in their life? I
have tackled my fear of the boogie man in the dark and only thought for a
second of the potential of running into a bear (I even decided at the last
minute to ditch the bear spray, what a rebel).
I really was enjoying myself and the moment way too much to worry about
stupid fears and the what if...
As we first came into Grande Cache Thursday night, a sign in
front of the school read “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change
you.” I believe if a person takes the
time to reflect on their life, it’s the moments that have pushed you, the ones
that have required the biggest and many times hardest decisions, the moments
you were filled with fear and the moments that exhausted you, these are the
ones that change you as a person (hopefully in a positive way). It’s these moments that help you accomplish
out of the ordinary things.
I want to thank JC, Darcy, Shau and Vince who together made
the coolest and most awesome team ever!
I also want to thank the husband, wife and grandma who supported and
cheered us on.
Alana Regier
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