*Authors Note- this post was edited Saturday July 15 with the final official time for Chantals FKT*
There's no nice way to be woken up at 2am, especially when you didn't go to sleep until after 11pm. Today was the final push to the finish line, and in order to beat the previously set FKT, Chantal had to finish before noon Friday. Our goal for Chantal today was to finish by Thursday evening. Today was going to be her biggest mileage day, and longest day, and the weather forecast was miserable, so we knew we had a big day ahead of us.
Craig somehow managed to get Chantal out of bed (I still don't know how he did it) and into the car by 3am. They were at the trailhead by 3:15am (stupid o'clock) and were met by two bright and smiling Wild Bruce Chase (WBC) friends, Nyki and Kristin. Seriously, these girls!
Here is an overview of their leg from Kristin: Leg 1, day 13. Nyki texted to say what time we'd be leaving the city to catch up with Chantal at 'stupid o'clock', and I believe her last words were 'OMG. The bars will still be open!' Reality hit indeed when I stumbled out of our building in my running gear at 1:25am, bewildering to myself and the clusters of bar patrons standing smoking across the street.
The QEW was gloriously clear and before we knew it we were waiting in quiet darkness outside Grimsby, applying copious amounts of insect repellent under a 3/4 moon. Chantal, Craig, & Alan rolled in next, and we all shared a "last daaay!" group hug, during which Chantal snuggled in and rested her head, wanting even 3 more seconds of sleep. A quick thumbs-up photo for day 13, #morebugspray, and we headed down the trail.
It was mostly (slightly muddy) downhill toward the end of the Iroquoia section, and the flying insects were loving our headlamp party. We passed through a quiet residential street, and then back up into some rocky sections of trail. As you'd expect, Chantal was most definitely weary and tired, and the main topic of conversation turned to coffeecoffeecoffeequadrupleespresso. For the next little while it felt like we were climbing around in a quiet dark forest sauna. So much humidity!
Chantal kept telling us she was tired, but it felt like her pace never wavered, no matter how "bouldery" the terrain got. We started to hear the birds waking up, and kept looking for those first pink & orange signs of sunrise, but with all the fog the forest simply went to a lighter shade of misty grey. It must have felt like sleepwalking, but the good news is that Chantal can really navigate the Bruce Trail in her sleep!
At one point Craig ran in to meet us with an emergency (cold, leftover) coffee, which earned him even more all-star crew points, but didn't quite hit the spot. Towards the end of leg 1 there were a couple of stubbed toes and Chantal delivered those rocks a well-deserved cussing out. It was an emotional arrival at aid station 1, with a massive hug from Cait, pancakes and most importantly hot coffee from Sonya. Wet wipe showers and back to the city for Nyki and me, onward to Niagara for Chantal!
Above: passing on the 'baton'
Meanwhile, while Chantal was running leg 1 with the girls, Sonya and myself (Cait) drove out to AS1 to meet them and help out. It was a very foggy morning and the weather was calling for rain and thunderstorms. We helped get the aid station set up, and Philippe kept a lookout for Chantal on the trail:
Philippe wasn't the greatest at his job though, because he fell asleep shortly thereafter.
AS1 was a long one, because Chantal really was too tired to move. Sonya massaged her feet, I rubbed her head, and we wrapped her in a sleeping bag. She had a short nap, and was so tired that even the smell of bacon under her nose couldn't rouse her! She did, however, manage to get herself up (otherwise this would be a very short blog post haha) and moving. Next up (leg 2) was Chris S!
Chris wanted me to pass on this account of their leg:
Please just pass along how much I enjoyed helping her along. I was nervous something was going to happen to her on my leg, especially when the lightening got close. The heavy rain made our leg more interesting for sure but it is something I will definitely remember. I really liked talking to her about her kids and family and was so impressed how she responded at that point in her journey when I asked her to keep moving- it would have been so easy for her to say something in response. As well, every time I pointed out a trail hindrance or if a branch was going to swat her, she ALWAYS said thank you which really shows what kind of person she is.
Unfortunately I couldn't be there at the finish but I watched the videos both on course and at the end. Was really happy to see how well she finished. Please pass along a big hug and tell her how proud I am of her."
Leg 3 was Cait (myself) and Chris W. We were planning on Chantal taking much longer in the rain, so when she arrived early, we were in a mad scramble to get dressed and ready for her. Sorry Chantal! At the Aid Station Chantal ate some pasta Sonya made, had a foot rub, a quick nap and warm up, then was again ready to go like the trooper she is. Chantal wanted to change her shoes for drier ones, however it had rained so much that the trail entrance from the road looked like this and there wasn't really much point in dry shoes:
It wasn't a puddle. It was practically a lake. Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable, we thought as we plunged in. The first 8 km of our leg were really slow going, because it was really rocky and the rain had made things super slick. We didn't want anyone injured (Chantal's ONLY rule of the run was 'no one is allowed to get injured') so we made sure to be careful. There also were lots of fields with really high grass which is really hard to navigate through, and this slowed us down again.
Not to be deterred, we kept moving on and were able to pick up speed in Short Hills Provincial Park.
During our leg Chris had some interesting conversations with Chantal about leadership, her learning on the trail, and teamwork. Chris and I are also gear reporters for Get Out There Magazine, so we talked gear, race planning and other running nerdy things to keep Chantal occupied. During the run I told Chantal how Steve H. proposed a virtual run for those who couldn't join in today, and I shared with her all the posts I had already received from people out running near and afar to show their support for Chantal.
At some point along the way we met up with Craig and Sonya for a water re-fill, and Chantal mentioned she would really love some fish and chips. As soon as she said that, it was all I could think about the rest of the leg. Luckily for Chantal, she has the BEST crew in the world, and boy did they deliver! Luckily my watch says I burned 2000 calories on that leg of the trail, so I made sure to pig out. Side note- if I burned 2000 calories for 16km, can you imagine how many calories you need to be running 70+km a day?! What a machine!
Chantal's family also came out to the aid station and her daughters showed her the motivational signs they made for her:
By this point we were about 2 hrs behind schedule due to the weather. Mother nature c'mon!!!! The sun was out at this aid station, but it was calling for more thunderstorms later that afternoon. Chantal headed out to leg 4 with David H. (back again for more after yesterday) and they crossed their fingers and toes for better weather and more runnable terrain so they could make up for lost time.
Luckily the rain held off for this leg and they were able to run! This section had a few road sections and rail sections. They also lucked out as this section crosses the Welland canal bridge and sometimes the bridge is closed while boat traffic goes by. It just so happened that a boat passed through 30min before they arrived, so the bridge was back down and traffic able to pass through when Chantal got there. Good timing for us!
The next aid station at the other side of the bridge was the last 'formal' aid station for the day. Chantal ate avocado, chips, salsa and cheese, had a massage, and had a short visit with her family. This was where I did the first 'Facebook live' video if you were able to catch that.
From here, we were so excited to tell Chantal, was the FINAL 18km. A bit of road, more trail and rail trail, then THE END. It was so surreal. We were all so excited. Chantal headed out on the final leg with David H who just didn't want to stop running, and Craig.
From this point the aid crew was busy shuttling cars ahead, getting ready for the final approach, and prepping for our mini pit-stop 7km from the finish where we would do a re-fuel of water and snacks. Chantal kept picking up speed and we kept having to re-adjust what time we thought she would be finishing. At this point we were planning on a 10:30pm finish, but when we saw them and chatted at the 7km out mark, they had made up more time and were really moving. Al, and WBC member Michelle joined the team at the 7km out mark to run in all together. We also had some family and friends show up at the mini aid station to cheer Chantal on.
With a fire in their stride, the aid station crew raced back to the finish (the southern terminus) to make sure we arrived before Chantal did. We couldn't believe it. She had almost made it! She was FINALLY HERE (in a matter of minutes)! After all the planning, all the running, the ups and downs, the highs and lows... she did it. We thought they were moving so fast they could be there anytime, so we posted online that they would be there in 10-15min! Then 15min passed, and we still hadn't heard from them... where were they?? We were too excited to be patient. Alan ran out towards them to intercept them, and at around 9:00pm we heard they were about 15min out. AHHHHHHHHHHH! SO EXCITING!
Then finally, in the distance, they were there.
This moment I will remember forever. Here are a few videos that show those final moments:
Here is a link to the Facebook live video. It's long, the last 4 min are when the magic happens;)
Chantal finished at 9:15pm Thursday night, which means her official time is..
12 days 15 hours 14min (from Saturday July 1 at 6:01am- Thursday July 13 at 9:15pm)
.... which is a new Bruce Trail woman's FKT! She did it! Chantal, you are an inspiration to so many of us. By doing this run, you have shown us that with determination, focus, training and optimism, you are capable of more than you ever thought possible.
So, today's final fun facts are:
Kms run from 3:20am Thursday July 13 to 9:15pm Thursday July 13: 83km! Her BIGGEST day yet.
TOTAL kms: 906 (Note- I rounded some of her numbers up that ended in a decimal place).
Pacers today: Nyki and Kristin, Chris S, Cait and Chris W., David H., Craig, Alan, Michelle, Al
Aid station: Jeff and the girls, Phil, Sylvie and Brian, Sonya, Cait + Philippe, Alan, Craig
+ all the friends and family who came out to cheer at aid stations, the 7km mark, at the finish line, and online!
Finally, THANK YOU's from Caitlin (I'm sure Chantal will have her own later, once she has slept):
Chantal, first and foremost, thank YOU for letting me be a part of this. You gave me free reign on all your social media, and I hope I served you well. It was incredible to witness your journey, to see the pictures people sent in, the comments shared and see how YOU brought people together. In a world with so many things that are wrong, you are a light and a beacon of hope and inspiration. You are my athlete mom idol and I am so glad and honoured to call you my friend. Thanks for putting up with my nagging on the trail, and for trusting me to represent you. I love you!
Thank you to Alan and Craig, my new bffs. You guys were the most amazing support team for Chantal and I am eternally grateful that you were both able to drop your lives and help Chantal for this. Thank you for being patient with me, answering my questions, my late-night nagging that I needed her final kms and stories for the blog, and for showing me what it means to be a friend. Frig I'm tearing up.
Thank you to my and Alex's family who supported me so I could help support Chantal. I couldn't have done it without you.
Thank you to Jeff and the girls for letting us steal your mommy for 13 days so she can show the world what it means to #runlikeagirl
Thank you to Blaire, for being an amazing support to us, and for asking me how I was doing when I was having a rough day.
Thank you to every pacer. I am so glad Chantal didn't have to run alone, and I am grateful for your time and energy.
Thank you to everyone who helped at the aid stations. Your support was invaluable.
Thank you to all the friends, family and even strangers who came out to watch Chantal on the trail, to cheer her on, and show your support.
Thank you to Charlotte, Virginia, and Rhonda for blazing the trail for women on the Bruce.
Thank you to Chantal's sponsors for helping to make this possible. Running Skirts, Altra Running, Clif Bar, Ultimate Direction USA, IceSpike, Discomfort Zone Performance Zone. Please consider supporting these companies/ groups/ organizations that supported Chantal.
Finally, thank YOU for reading this. You rock.
Signing off for now (unless Chantal ropes me in for some other epic adventure... but maybe wait a few weeks before you ask me first :P),
Happy Trails,
Caitlin Foisy
