A Haunted 5K Run in Hamilton

Almost by accident this morning, I discovered a neat way to turn a run into a historic haunted run.

It started when I left my apartment, wanting to go on a relatively short run that had a bit of a challenge to it. So I decided to head south on James St S. towards the Hamilton Mountain where there's a path and set of stairs (part of the Bruce Trail).

Once I got to the top of the stairs, I thought it might be fun to keep moving along the upper edge of the escarpment and run out towards Century Manor. A week earlier, I took a short hike up there to do a Facebook Live video to help promote a new book (Haunted Hospitals) that includes a chapter on the beautiful old abandoned and boarded up building that used to be an insane asylum.

One of the spectacular views looking down on the city from Hamilton Mountain (ie, Niagara escarpment) on this run

When I reached Century Manor and lifted my iPhone to do a selfie (because apparently I'm a teenaged girl), I noticed that it was approximately 2.6 KM from my place to that spot.

While I'm not a math whiz, I knew that the full route would end up being approximately 5K, which is a decent short run.

Century Manor

So, considering the beautiful and picturesque landscape I'd gone through (not to mention the fun challenge of the hill and the stairs), I wondered it if might make a thematic run. A Haunted Run, I imagined.


So I mapped it out and created a "Haunted Runs in Hamilton: Winking Judge to Century Manor" route.

The Winking Judge to Century Manor & Back Route

I figured one haunted location might not be enough, and so, since I live near my favourite bar to haunt, The Winking Judge, I figured I'd add that into the route and have a fun haunted destination at both ends of the run.

Of course, after I finished, I realized that the route is pretty close to a few other haunted locations (Augusta Mansion on the mountain and Whitehern House down in the city). But I figured incorporating them into a slightly longer route might be more fun.

Warrior Dash 2014

Another Warrior Dash weekend in Barrie, Ontario has come and gone. It is always a weekend filled with much mirth, hanging out with both old and new friends, and, of course, somewhere in there, some running, too.

Pierre adding dye to Chad's beard

Is it too late to be reading the instructions WHILE dye is being added to my hair?

As always, Pierre and I spent part of the day hanging around the beer gardens enjoying the many free beer tags that were given to us. (One of the benefits of wearing a warrior costume is that people who aren't using their beer ticket give them to you - not that we needed any free beer - the giant "Beeramid" we had created above the fireplace in the condo was doing okay all on its own)

Pierre, Chad, Tricia and me prior to the race

Pierre, Trish and I after the race (Chad must have been at the beer tent already)

As had become tradition, we shaved our heads after the race. We tried dying our hair blond the night before, but starting with black hair (okay, mostly black with a little bit of grey), the hair only lightened a bit. So we then dyed half of our heads black (but it ended up turning a strange blue hue -- hmm, maybe the combination of two different hair dyes in a short time period combined with the chlorine from the swimming pools had something to do with it.

Pointing out each other's beer bellies

Menacing warriors are here to drink all your beer!

One of the funniest moments from the weekend was while walking around the beer gardens and posing for pictures with so many different people. It's fun to ham for the camera; people are always in such a happy and playful mood when you're in a costume. And we had three different people we posed with let us know that we simply HAD to pose with them because they have a picture with us from every year of the Dash.

Pierre and I hanging out with some pals from The Basement Fitness in Sudbury

The post-dash buzz cut is complete - now we're Breaking Marking Bad!

As always, the whole weekend was a really fun time. Somewhere in there we managed to make new friends, annoy old friends, bump into old high school pals, get lots of swimming in with the kids and help the kids discover the joys of fishing, paddle boats and catching frogs from a pond.

Good times.

Previous Warrior Dash Summaries:  2013, 2012, 2011 (This one I actually talk more about the run itself and less about the beer and hanging out in the beer tent)

Atwood For The Win!

Margaret Atwood's latest book MaddAddam is just out (Kobo eBook / IndieBound Print Book Link / Amazon Link).  Earlier this summer, she was at Kobo's home office in Toronto for a Kobo in Conversation with Carol Off to discuss her new book.

During the conversation, Margaret began discussing the Wattpad novel (The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home) she had co-authored with Naomi Alderman of Zombies, Run! (an absolutely wonderful GPS-based interactive running app).  They ended up having a little side-bar conversation in which Atwood explained how a character could get out of a perilous seemingly dead-end situation being trapped in a cabin with a ravenous zombie trying to break in.

Kobo edited a snippet of that conversation into a video entitled Margaret Atwood VS Zombies.

Is there really any doubt as to who would win such an encounter?  Atwood FTW!

I have long been a fan of her writing. But I am also a fan of her spirit, energy and playfulness.

After decades of enjoying both reading and selling her books, I had the distinct privilege of being able to present her with the Canadian Booksellers Association Lifetime Achievement Award last year, which was an absolute honour for me.  And yes, I never get tired of sharing this picture.

A Bucket-List Type Thrill - May 2012 - Presenting Margaret Atwood a CBA Libris Lifetime Achievement Award

I was too nervous the night of the CBA Libris Awards to remember to ask for her autograph, but I did manage to get her to sign the back of my Kobo Glo when she was here at Kobo.

One thing I did neglect to remember to ask her, though, was for some tips on how to ensure I didn't get ambushed by the random zombie mobs when I run using the aforementioned Zombies, Run! app.

Barnaby Warrior

One of the photos I forgot to post in my Warrior Dash Barrie 2013 summary post from a few days ago was a picture I took of my skeleton Barnaby in my Warrior Dash t-shirt from last year.

It would have been hilarious to run with Barnaby or just have him posed on one of the obstacles in shirt, running shorts and shoes, as if he were a runner that couldn't make it over one of them - you know, as if he'd been at for THAT long . . .

In any case, here he is, ready for battle, but ensuring he is resting before the race . . .

Get Your Warrior On! (Warrior Dash Barrie 2013)

I ran the Warrior Dash in Barrie at Horseshoe Resort for the third year in a row.

Pierre and I in costume for 2013 Warrior Dash - photo from Barrie Examiner

And for the third year in a row I wore my "Conan the Barbarian" costume that my aunt made for me when I was 14.

My Conan costume - from my early teens (when I was a lot more skinny)

Yes, I know, it doesn't fit as nicely as it used to when I first wore it to the Halloween dance at Levack District High School

No, not even as nicely as it fit when I was in University

Halloween - at one of Pat & Mike's infamous parties in my university days

But it has been the tradition for three years now, that this is the costume I wear for the Warrior Dash.

2012 Warrior Dash - Me, Pierre, Tricia and Chad

For the first year, Pierre, Chad and I ran the race.  Last year, Chad's wife Tricia joined us.  And this year, Chad finally broke down and wore a costume. In previous years, he wore a shirt that read: "I don't do costumes!" -- but, a man of extremes, he went from wearing no costume to wearing a . . . wait for it . . . Borat bathing suit . . .

There are some things that just can't be unseen.

Me, Pierre and Chorat....for some reason, Tricia is nowhere to be seen

Chad, Pierre and I, post-race muddy

Needless to say, Chad's costume was the "talk of Warrior town" that morning.

Also needless to say, Tricia refused to run with us and ran on ahead, keeping a safe 1 KM or more in front of us lest people see us together.

Also needless to say, shortly after the race, Chad changed back into his civies.  But the damage had been done, the eyewash needed to be handed out along with the free beer that came with the tracking chits.

Fun costumes = lots of extra beer from fellow Warriors

Speaking of tracking chits, Pierre and I scored quite a few extra free beers from folks who were driving and couldn't use theirs.  No harm done there. None of us were driving, because we stay both Friday and Saturday at the resort and enjoy it as party of a mini family vacation.  Horseshoe resort has some amazing activities for the kids, and they always enjoy the zip line, the rock wall climbing, the maze, the trampolines and the Aqua Ogo balls (giant hamster balls filled with water that you climb into before it is pushed down a hill)

Alexander coming in on the zip line

Zander on the climbing wall

Cuddling with my better half in the big red muskoka chair

Horsing around with the kids (Alexander, Gavin and Oliver) in the pool on Friday night

This year, thanks to advice from my pal Sean, we booked a couple of the condo suites and had tons of space, a full kitchen, fridge, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer and two bedrooms.  (Not that the male warriors got all that much sleep -- we made friends with some cool runners from Sudbury and hung out with them both nights)

I have to say that the race this year was even more challenging, more fun that last year. They continue to improve the obstacles each year. I hurt my knees and elbows falling down the back side of some of the obstacles.  I even rolled through the mud, across the gravel and right off the trail into the woods on one of the obstacles that I fell down.

Here's the washing machine with our Warrior costumes in it. Yikes!

They reversed the course from the previous two years, beginning the race with a climb right up a long slope to the top of the hill -- talk about exhausting the runners right away -- but it served a nice purpose, quickly thinning out the pack that used to bunch up the minute we hit the woods in the previous years.  So it kept things flowing nicely.  Going up and down the side of the ski hill continues to be the biggest challenge of the race -- I mean, who cares about the bared wire (which did slice open my back quite nicely at one spot), and leaping over fire or scaling ten foot walls when you have to go back up that damn ski hill?  At least there was a lot of shade on this year's trail.

After the race, Pierre and I shaved our heads (Chad was already shaved and again, Tricia stayed far away)  We had an audience for this and were laughing about Drunk Barber....

Drunk Barber - free haircuts, if you can handle the fact it's "one cut for all heads"

One of the most hilarious pictures is when I had just jumped off the cargo net and was doing my Warrior Yell for Francine, when Chad ran in front of me. Cheeky bugger!

My Warrior Yell pose "white washed" by Chad's cheeky photo bomb

Kudos to the folks at Horseshoe Resort and Warrior Dash for upping their game yet again.

It was a fun novelty race (we don't race competitively, but rather stick together as a team and run together, enjoying the fun of going through the obstacles, laughing at each other and having some fun) and a weekend that I look forward to every year.  We mixed our time between hanging out with our families, meeting new friends and, given that Pierre and I stayed in our costumes for quite a while on Saturday, posing for dozens of pictures.

I can't wait until next year. In fact, I have already registered for July 19, 2014.

Zombies, Run!

I have been using the Zombies, Run app now for a bit over a year. I haven't been consistent in using it for runs, since I tend to alternate between listing to podcasts and or audio books and music - and since the Zombies, Run app uses a playlist, injecting a fascinating story (and random zombie attacks) in between tracks, I tend to find it most interesting to use a music playlist when using this app.

My July 25, 2013 run map from Zombielink - Lakeshore, Toronto, ON

The story, in a nutshell, has you, the runner as "Runner 5" in a post-apocalyptic world overcome by zombies. You're a member of Abel township and are sent out on missions (with home-base folks providing commands in your ear).  The dialogue and narration from the various folks speaking with you help unroll a fascinating storyline with interesting characters and unique conflicts.

As you run, you end up picking up supplies that you can use to help build up your base and increase Abel's strength and population (remember Sim City?  Something like that)

The storytelling aspect of Zombies, Run is fascinating, but the random zombie attacks, are, of course, an additional benefit.

My June 15th ZombieRun from Zombielink

The app uses GPS to track you and how fast you are running. Thus, when a random zombie attack occurs, there's a warning, and a background beat that, like the classic Jaws theme, increases in intensity when the zombies get closer.  From 100 metres, to 50 metres to 20 metres . . . and all the while the sound of the zombies, uniquely three-dimensional in your ears, get louder and louder. It actually sounds like they're closing in on you and can be quite convincingly terrifying.

To escape from the random zombie attacks, you need to run faster for a full minute, or else you get caught.  And no, you don't die. If the zombies get too close, you end up dropping all your supplies (to distract them and lighten your load to get away), meaning you lose anything you found.

Two different zombie chase stats - Caught & Evaded

The random zombie chases, of course, make for a fantastic interval training experience.  The frustrating thing, of course, is when they come when you're at the bottom of a hill.  That can be truly killer.  (I much prefer when the come just as I'm about to run downhill)

One of the fun stats to look back at shows you your average speed during different songs, which can help you adjust and manage a playlist of songs that you might just run faster when listening to.

Zombielink song stats

Of course, this doesn't show if you happen to be running up or down elevations, so you have to sometimes remember that.  (For example, in the screen shot below, I'm running down the "Jolly Cut" of the Hamilton escarpment and am thus going a lot faster than average speed due to the favourable incline....

 

....and on the flip side, the chart below shows just how slow I was moving when I was heading back UP the Hamilton mountain up a set of stairs....

Deathly slow speed going up stairs

 

In any case, it's a fantastic app that I have gotten a great deal of benefit and entertainment from.

Warrior Dash Barrie 2012

I completed my second Warrior Dash. This one took place in Barrie, Ontario at the Horseshoe Valley Resort on both the Saturday and Sunday.

My buddies Chad and Pierre, who ran with me last year, joined me again.  All three of us brought the families, and the weekend up at the resort makes for some fun family times, with the kids enjoying the pool and the Adventure Playland at the resort.  This year, Chad's wife Tricia joined us, bringing our team up to four members.

Pierre and I, of course, wore the same costumes as the year before.  I dressed up as a barbarian (my old Conan costume) and Pierre dressed as a Spartan. After all, we don't take the race seriously (ie, looking to beat last year's time), but rather to enjoy the novelty run, the obstacles and the horsing around.

We ran in the 9 AM heat, which was the first one on Saturday July 21, 2012.

I didn't dive head-first into the mud this year, nor did I crawl on hands and knees through the mud (which is what had really messed up my knees last time -- last time there was gravel under the mud that chewed up my knees.  The barbed wire was real this year, so that was impressive (and motivating).

The race is over (just before 10 AM) - let the goofing around begin!

The course was slightly different than last year. The hills (ie, racing up and down the side of a ski-hill), was the worst obstacle, making running the whole time virtually impossible for us amateurs.  There didn't seem to be as many difficult long hills - it seems the big hill in the middle was broken down differently, making it easier than I remember it being last year.  And there were different fun obstacles this time around, which is always fun.

We enjoyed a turkey leg and beer (or two or three or four, ah you get the picture) after we had been washed down by the fire-hoses.

And I had ended up posing for a heck of a lot of pictures with people.  Would love to see some of them.  Below are a few shots taken of some of the other people in the race (though I didn't get a lot because, well, there wasn't a good place for me to store my camera with the costume I was wearing)

Alexander and I checking out the finish area before the race starts

Getting pumped up before the race starts

Us posing at the top of the cargo net obstacle

A close-up of the previous pose on top of the cargo net

A couple of friends we made (also from Hamilton) - a nice couple, wish I could remember their names

This gentleman was raising money for a cancer cure -  Check out: www.wayfarerquest.com

I loved this guy's Silver Surfer costume (which held up even after he got hosed off at the end)

The Warrior team the night before the race

Another pic taken before the race started

Fire jumping 101

  

Posing in the hallway before the race

 

Pierre nodded off while we were waiting in the restaurant for our take-out. We made sure nobody made fun of him.

We were able to wake Pierre up for this pic

One of the fun teams I posed with:  The Dirty Old Birds.

Since I know that I posed for a lot of pictures with many different people, I'd love to see those shots -- so if you posed with a half-naked barbarian on the Saturday and you have a pic, I'd love to see it.  Fire it over to mark (at) markleslie (dot) ca or leave a link to the picture(s) in the comments below.