I'm the son of a runner. I don't just mean someone who does a fun run here or there, or one who goes for a jaunt around the block after a day of work to unwind. I mean a hardcore, $200-sneaker buying, carb-loading, energy-gel slurping, nipple-taping runner. My dad has been in better shape than me my entire life and likely will be until he dies (likely while running some unimaginable distance for absolutely no reason). The year he turned 50 he ran three full marathons including the exclusive Boston Marathon. Seriously...I get my craziness from him.
Anyway, back on track: the running fool came up to me last weekend and told me about the greatest thing to happen to fun-runs in Nova Scotia since the
Bluenose Marathon. It would be tough to get a full count of all of the 5 and 10K gigs that happen year round all over the province, but the
Not Since Moses Walk/Run is about to burst through the crowds to become the valedictorian of organized running - that, and steal all the major sponsorships (see? There's the PR edge again...).
Not Since Moses was organized by a man named Dick Lemon who is apparently wealthy and bored. The man owns an island - let's take a moment to think about that - on which he has built his own relaxation retreat, one with conspicuously placed double beds all over the place: in lighthouses, in boat houses, and one even in its own glass case overlooking a cliff. Pure sass.
The event itself is a fundraiser for the local firefighters and starts at about six in the morning. Runners load up onto two or three boats and sail out wildly into the Bay of Fundy. Arriving on two different islands (one for the 5k runners who just get a bonfire, and the main resort island for the 10kers who lounge about and soak in the luxury...I'd say the extra 5k is worth it), the participants watch the water drift out of the bay, leaving the ocean floor - and their race course - exposed. That's right, they run on the bottom of the ocean.
Not Since Moses. Get it? Of course you do. If not, you're a heathen.
So that's it. Let's review why this event is awesome:
Excitement - boat ride, luxury (sassy) retreat island, dangerous and unique terrain.
Nothing else like it - what other fun-run has you sinking up to your knee in ocean mud, sprinting through small rivers as the tide comes back in, side-stepping past fish?
Good cause - we all love the firefighters.
I predict this event is going to explode next year. My crazy running father explained that almost every participant was running while taking hoards of photos to share and if the others are even half as excited about next year as Dad is, there's some pretty good word-of-mouth on the go.
I was going to go next year and do the walk, but then you get stuck on crappy Bonfire Island. I plan to get in shape for the 10k if for no other reason than the few precious hours on Nova Scotia's own bed-filled Temptation Island. Who's with me?
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