I wanted to do this run for over two years, and it finally happened. Since running my first loop at Cape Chignecto a few years ago, I wondered if I could complete the infamous "Triple Looper" someday. When I ran two loops a couple of years back, I remember thinking, "I could do another loop today." Since that day, it always ate at me that I didn't just go for it that day. Now I'd have to start at kilometre zero again to get there. We set a goal this run to set a new FKT (Fastest Known Time) but in reality would be happy to just finish in one piece.
| Just Follow the Little Dots. Easy..... Right? |
Cape Chignecto Provincial Park is home to one of the most challenging hiking/running trails in the Maritimes. The 48km-ish loop has roughly 2100m of vert on it. The trail has a mix of terrain; from the nicest buffed-out singletrack to rugged shoreline trail and knee-deep bog holes, there's genuinely a bit of everything on it.
The section from Seal Cove to Cape Chignecto is affectionately known as "the torture chamber" – a term coined by Jodi Isenor, I believe. It's a section of trail that repeats itself with areas of mud holes, slippery roots, and steep little climbs. It goes on for kilometres and really sucks the life out of your legs... and soul.
There are multiple significant climbs, some of the largest on mainland Nova Scotia. There are also beautiful scenic coastline views and red towering sandstone cliffs with waterfalls for those who like to take it all in. An abundance of brooks and streams provide a good source of drinking water using a simple filter. The park is home to many different creatures. We saw multiple deer, a couple of rabbits, a porcupine, and many kinds of birds.
| Krista navigating a brook before a climb |
I was planning to do this run last year around this time, but life got busy, and other priorities led me to put running on the back burner for a while. This year has been a strange one due to Covid-19 in terms of running. I was still running quite a bit, but I wouldn't say I was taking it very seriously without any races. I did, however, meet a couple of new running pals, Lee Alonzo Murphy and Peter Smith, who brought the fun back to running for me. Along with my old-time friend Steve Taylor, you could find the four of us on the trails pushing each other, and most importantly, just having a ton of fun almost daily!
It was about three months ago I started thinking it was time to go for a big run. My mind knew where it wanted to go, but I wasn't sure if my body was up for the challenge without much hill running this summer. I started hinting around the idea with the guys, and it didn't take much convincing for Lee and Steve to say they were up for a trip to "Chiggy". Pete already had plans to run a fast marathon in PEI, or I'm sure he'd have been there too. We agreed that we all needed some time to train and thought sometime around Halloween should do. We started ramping up the running, spending even more hours on the trails together.
With only 12 weeks to get in shape, I knew it would be a fine line between being trained or being injured for myself. I never really ran any insane weeks leading up to this run; I just focused on quality. All of my runs were on singletrack, with hills if possible. I kept the pace slow, hoping it would keep injuries at bay. Everything was going well for the first six weeks.
We ran a 50km out and back on the Granite Ridge trails in Musquodoboit that gave me a bunch of confidence. This trail will definitely be my go-to training ground for my next tough run. It is arguably more challenging than Chignecto and begging for a 100km effort.
It was the following week where training went off the rails for me. One evening, Steve, Lee, and I were cruising around the Bluff trail when I stepped on a small stump rolling an ankle. It didn't hurt at the time but started giving more and more issues into the next week. Eventually, it forced me to stop running, biking, or even walking. At this point, all I could do was wait for the pain to subside and give the run a try and see if it would hold up. Lee was having some lower leg issues himself. Our confidence was low, but at least we'd be rested for the run. Steve, on the other hand, was crushing big weeks with ease and avoiding injury.
Fast forward two weeks and the pain in my ankle was settling down. After running a couple of shorter test runs, I figured it would be good to go in about two more weeks. After confirming the date with Steve and Lee, I reached out to some friends to see if anyone could help us out. Laurie Currie and Krista Keirstead both said they would be up for some running that weekend. It was music to my ears. I knew these super positive, experienced runners were just what we'd want on an adventure like this.
Everything was just about set, then the last setback occurred... I got a cold! I hadn't had a cold in over two years. I was starting to think that some greater power was trying to tell me not to do this run. Nothing was going to stop this run now; we had to give it a shot.
India and I arrived in the area Friday just after noon time. We took a drive out to Eatonville to look around. It was a beautiful day. The Fall colours were amazing! I was starting to get that nervous, excited feeling, knowing we were hitting the trail in less than 24 hrs. We encountered a guy who asked if we were planning to hike the trail. When I told him we planned to run at least three loops he replied, "you mean like 150km?" puzzled. He went on to tell us the trails were slippery and wet. I thanked him for this valuable info before he wished us good luck.
| Eatonville Harbour from the Visitor Center |
Back at "Blueberry Cottage," our friend Shane Patelakis stopped by for a quick visit. We learned he was planning on running the park loop Saturday as well. He wished us luck and said he'd be around for the weekend if we needed any help. Lee and Steve arrived around dinner time, with Krista rolling in a little later. We shared a great pasta meal thanks to India and slowly got prepared for the next day's adventure. We got everyone's phone set up so that India could track our progress via GPS (India's awesome idea!). We turned in around 10:30 pm, planning to wake up around 6 am.
| The Blueberry Cottage was so Comfy! |
It was around 6:30 am before anyone was brave enough to get out of bed. Steve was snuggled up, spooning with our dog, Jimmy. I wasn't sure we'd get him out of the cabin. We ate breakfast and made some last-minute preparations before heading to the trail. When we arrived, we noticed Shane's car in the lot. He had already left for his loop. Our friends Sara, Renée, and Susan joined us in the parking lot shortly after. They were also running a loop that day.
| Steve, Lee, and I along with Jimbo ready to go! |
Loop 1
The four of us tapped the gate shortly after 8 am and hit the trail. Sara, Renee, and Susan left with us but planned to do their own thing and let a gap form quickly. We took it pretty easy on the climbs but were probably running a little fast on our way out to Eatonville. Krista was leading the charge, Lee behind her, with Steve and I acting as the brakes on the train. We hit Eatonville (about 13km) ahead of schedule, where India and Jimmy met us to cheer us on. We made a very brief stop and continued.
The weather was great for running at about 15 degrees Celsius with a breeze. I felt myself settling into the run and became more aware of the effort we were exerting. I have done enough of these long runs now to know you pay later for mistakes made in the early hours. The first loop for me was all about staying hydrated and keeping up with nutrition. We made our way along the coast, through the "torture chamber" and all of its muddy fun.
We descended into Refugee Cove, one of the two notorious climbs on the loop. I think it was here that I coined the phrase "one small, shitty little step at a time," explaining how I approach the big hills. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other and got to the top in decent fashion.
We continued to run on to Millbrook, the biggest and steepest climb on the loop where we repeated the same process of many tiny steps. I remember thinking Millbrook seemed bigger than I had remembered, or maybe it was steeper? I knew this wasn't the case, but the thought of doing it two more times seemed like a big ask of my legs and lungs.
Lee left the group near the end of loop 1 and ran fast to the finish. See, the man loves Strava segments, and he wanted a good place on the leaderboard. Lee finished slightly ahead of my 8:19:31 loop and got himself a nice place on the top ten.
Back at the gate, I wasn't really feeling the best. My legs were tired, and I had slacked on nutrition for the last 15km. I was hoping some food and drink would bring me around. We sat on the picnic table where India had prepared a gourmet spread of my favourite running snacks. Boiled potatoes with butter and salt, along with about a half-pound of bacon, caught my eye and were quickly devoured. I washed these down with some soup broth and Gatorade, which seemed to recharge my spirits.
We spent about 40min eating, changing socks, and gearing up for a night loop. We spent longer than I would have liked there, but in hindsight, it gave me the energy to hit the ground running on loop 2. Steve decided it wasn't his weekend for a multiloop run; we were on our own. This news was a bit devastating as Lee and I are both pretty quiet dudes. We were hoping to have Steve's entertainment to not only keep us awake but to ward off wildlife.
| Loop 1 in the bag. Time for some grub. |
Loop 2
When we left the gate on this loop, I think I felt better than the first time. At this point, my head cold was not bothering me, and my head was finally in "the zone." We ran out to Eatonville slightly more conservatively than the first loop; the sun was setting and headlamps were on within an hour.
We arrived in Eatonville, greeted by India, Steve, and Jimmy. We made a quick pitstop to say hello. Steve happened to mention there was a Petzl headlamp battery in our car, which I thought I had packed. I was pretty certain my battery would last for the lap but decided to throw the spare in my pack just in case, and it was a good thing I did! We left Eatonville on our way to Seal Cove with darkness setting in. Within 20 mins of leaving Eatonville, my headlamp started to flash, indicating my battery was dead. It must not have charged fully. I had plugged both batteries into the same charger, which I hadn't done before.
As I plugged the new battery in, I wondered if this one was only going to burn for a couple of hours as well. This was a pretty sinking feeling to know our run could be messed up by a silly gear failure of my fault. There was nothing to do but keep going at this point, so on we went. We talked about how we could use a cell phone or take turns with Lee's headlamp, but I'm pretty sure we both knew we were screwed if it died.
Nearing Seal Cove, we got stuck behind a porcupine for a few mins on a section of singletrack. The little dude was stubborn and didn't want to get off the narrow trail despite nudges from my trekking pole and some verbal encouragement. Lee and I had a pretty good laugh about this. Eventually, the porcupine got the hint and moved over. We were back up to speed.
We hit the shoreline and were almost blinded by three fishing boats on the water armed with insanely bright lights. We would occasionally see them move their spotlights onto us. They must have been wondering what the two little lights moving on the shore were.
The temperature was nice for running at around 14 degrees celsius. We were in t-shirts and shorts and both very comfortable, even with the odd rain shower. The trail was starting to get pretty slick from the rain and the continuous downfall of leaves. The time spent in the "torture chamber" was a little more punishing this time.
We took missteps that led to knee-deep mud that stopped us dead in our tracks on numerous occasions. We descended into Refugee Cove for the second time, where we filled up with water and, once again, took many "shitty little steps" up both Refugee and Mill Cove climb. We backed off on the climbs this time because of some pain in the back of my heels. I was concerned an Achilles would give out, a problem that I had encountered one other time on a Chiggy run forcing me to walk backwards up all the large climbs.
We were both lacking nutrition in the late stages of this loop, my stomach was asleep, but I could still consume caffeinated Tailwind to keep going. I shared some with Lee, which seemed to bring his spirits up as well. We were about an hour away from the gate when we started joking about if we should call our crew just in case they were sleeping. We were about 20mins out when we decided to make that call and good thing we did. India answered the phone, and I asked, "where are you, babe?" She said, "at the cottage." I responded with, "we're about 20 mins out". I could hear the panic but knew they wouldn't let us down. We hit the gate at 18:18:22 around (a new 2 loop FKT by about 42 mins) and started drinking beverages from Lee's truck. India and Steve arrived about 10 mins after and had a full-blown aid station set up within minutes.
We ate more potatoes, bacon, cheese quesadillas, along with Lee's mothers' homemade turkey soup. We washed it down with Coke and coffee. It was truly a meal fit for a king. To our surprise, Sara, Renée, and Susan showed up to see how we were doing. It was really uplifting to see everyone there at 2:30 am, though I don't really remember conversing with anyone in particular. Lee was having some blister issues that needed some attention. Renée was brave and kind enough to perform some minor foot surgery and apply some moleskin.
| India's Gourmet 2am. Pop-Up Aid Station |
After some convincing, Lee agreed to try a pair of double-layer socks and a new pair of shoes I had to see if they felt any better. I reasoned that adjusting the pressure points by changing shoes could help. During my sock change, I realized I had a few small chafe marks on my heel, likely from some debris in my shoe. It was a relief to find this was the cause of my heel pain after being worried about an Achilles strain earlier.
I was eager to get back on the trail, knowing we had killed the better part of 50 mins on this stop. I forgot to plug my watch in and somehow stopped my run while messing with a battery pack. Luckily Lee had plugged his in and had enough charge to finish this off. We quickly got geared back up and left the gate wearing matching Salomon Slab Ultra 3's, which relieved Lee's foot issues for the most part.
| Loop 2 complete...but where's our crew??? Who cares we just got the 2 loop FKT! |
Loop 3
The trip out to Eatonville this time was much slower. I didn't have the exact pace with my watch off, but I was trying to keep track of the time between km markers. We were still moving well, but mostly power hiking partly to let the food settle. I'm not going to say I wasn't sleepy, but it was apparent that Lee was super tired. He joked that he had ended up in the bushes from falling asleep while running several times.
We both knew sunlight was still 2-3 hours away, but luckily, Laurie would join us in Eatonville for this lap. We made it to Eatonville, where Lee took one of the most impressive naps I've ever seen. The man was out cold, lying on the ground, snoring within seconds. I used this time for a bathroom break which greatly improved the condition of my stomach. After napping for 6mins, Lee sprung to his feet, and we were off again into the dark.
| This is how napping is done folks! |
It was still a slog in the wet, dark night until about Seal Cove, when the sun finally showed itself. I think it was about this point we both knew we were going to finish; it was just a matter of how fast now. At this point, we were throwing around ideas of running an extra 16km's to get Lee his first "100 miler". Our spirits were good. We chatted with Laurie, who would give us little pep talks about attacking hills and how pain is only temporary.
This time through the torture chamber, we could see all our misstep "post holes" from the last loop. It was pretty apparent where not to step now! The weather was still about the same, with the odd sprinkle of rain. We could smell the finish line and knew there were just three big hills left in our way. We hit Refugee climb and chugged up it pretty well, with Laurie encouraging us not to stop the whole way. Before getting to Millbrook, Shane appeared on the trail to let us know he had set up a mini aid station at Milbrook cabin for us. It was really nice to see another face! We knew we couldn't stop for long, so we had a refreshing splash of root beer each, said "thank you" to Shane and ran off.
I knew the Millbrook climb would be a struggle with over 130km and 5600m of vert in our legs. I was honestly blown away that we both made it over that hill without taking a break. I can still hear the sound of our trekking poles chiseling into the stone-covered footpath as we pushed up the incline. Laurie later said the grunts and groans coming from us were pretty hilarious... and somewhat concerning.
The benches were calling our name, but we didn't give in. Laurie wouldn't have let us anyways. With about 4kms to go, Steve appeared on the trail, I was feeling damn good, and both Lee and I were running well. I think we both secretly wanted to try and drop Steve. We started running faster and faster, knowing the end was near.
We arrived at Christie's field, where we could hear cheers from the parking lot. We ran up the last section of the trail, slapping the gate together in a total time of 29:16:56. We had surpassed our goal, and more impressively (to me anyway), we were able to stay together for the whole run!
| The new 3 looper FKT (for now) |
We had set off with a goal of beating the existing FKT of 31:29:28 set by Jodi Isenor back in 2014. Since that date, only Rick Canning had completed the "triple looper" that we know of. I'm sure this FKT won't last long, but I'm also not afraid to give it another, not so conservative, go with Lee. It was a successful run and one that I learned a lot on.
Strava Link to the "Chiggy Triple Looper"
I would never attempt a fast time this time of year again. The night just goes on forever. We had headlamps on for over 13 hours which definitely cost us some time. I also learned how much more satisfying it is to share an experience like this with someone else. Lee was the perfect partner for this run. Even when things got tough, we just joked about them and shrugged them off. There was no doubt in my mind he'd finish this run one way or another. We made a pact on the second loop that we'd only split up if we thought we wouldn't get the FKT because one of us was too slow. I'm really happy we didn't have to make that decision and pleased to share the crown with him. I learned just how mental these events are. I didn't think of my cold or my ankle sprain once on that run.
If you just think of these big runs as "one shitty little step" after another, it's amazing what you can do.
I want to thank everyone who helped out along the way: Steve, for all the long runs and hours of training together. It's always a pleasure. We'll get you a multi-looper up there next year, buddy! Krista and Laurie, a big thanks for running with us and keeping things positive. (Anyone looking for a guided adventure in this area should look Laurie up https://www.localguyadventures.com/). Shane, Sara, Renee and Susan – always great to see familiar faces on the trail and thanks for cheering us on. Lee, you're one tough dude and an absolute pleasure to run with. I look forward to future adventures together... I already have something in mind (hint hint). Most importantly, though, my wife India who not only crewed all of us for the weekend but also puts up with all the long hours of training. I commonly hear her use the term "running widow" leading up to these big runs. Truthfully, I couldn't do these kinds of things without her support and help. She's an absolute Rockstar when it comes to keeping me moving.
| Laurie, Lee, Myself, Krista, Steve , and Shane in the back. Big thanks guys! |
I can't help but think we should have done one more loop though...
This post originally appeard on my blogger site, https://singletrackedmind.blogspot.com/