Phantom 19km Race Report

For the past 2 years, I have volunteered with Peter and the Phantom Race, which takes place in the Lynn Headwaters area. This race is put on by the lovely Heather Macdonald of Mountain Madness trail events/clinics. There are 3 distances to choose from- 12km, 19km, and 24km. This year, very last minute, I decided I would run it.

I decided upon the 19km because I just like the route better than the 24km. This race is not a cake walk and has it's fair share of hills, however, none too long. The weather was perfect- not too cold. I wore a long sleeve wool top and shorts.

I got there 20 minutes before the event started because I had to pick up the keys to the moving truck we rented for our big move to Squamish. I was really excited to run and after the gun went off, I darted out full of energy. I lead the female race from start to finish however, I always had a girl on my heels. I was a bit under the weather and my body was not feeling 100%. Often, I will do a race and everything just clicks and I hardly feel any fatigue in my legs. Other times, specifically during this race, that was not the case but I still managed to push through and keep the others behind me.

My favorite part of the run is getting the satisfaction of reaching the top of Lynn Loop. The trail from here is simply fun and uber technical. No matter what the state of my body is, I always have the energy to just giv'r through this section. I saw my buddy Rajen on this section and that gave me a big boost of energy. Before I knew it the race was over. I finished in a time of 1:50, 1st female. I stuck around to cheer on all the other race participants and chow down on all the yummy food that people brought. The save your skin foundation was out in full force and they brought, as per usual, their homemade ministrone soup, yum!

After that it was back home to pack up our place as the big move happened last weekend. Another blog on that to come soon.

Thanks again Heather for putting on such a fabulous race. The volunteers were amazing and it was nice to see Peter, who was manning an aid station, along the way. What's up next? I am not sure...other than a lot of Squamish exploring. I just got my new ski's and am just waiting on the boots and bindings...Can't wait!

See you in the trails!