Tue, Jun 26 2007 - Evening Trail Run - Iron Springs & Elbow trails (View Original Event Details)
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A small but enthusiastic group of 6 set out on this run. I hadn’t done this route before so there were a few false starts through the maze of trails near the trailhead until we found the right one. The route followed a series of disused logging roads that are XC ski trails in winter. There were ominous “Ice Flow” signs, but not a bit of ice to be seen!
The minimal elevation gain and mosquitos motivated us to keep a pretty brisk pace. The route was a bit boggy in a few places but we managed to jump over and detour around the boggy bits except for the last couple of km on the westernmost section of Crystal Line trail, where the trail was essentially underwater! I think we’ll skip that section if we do this run again.
We met Rick’s mountain bike group at the far south end of our trail and again just west of the parking area near the end of our run. They looked a lot muddier than us, but I guess that’s part of the mountain biking mystique!
The group on the shorter route took a wrong turn and ended up arriving at the end of the run at about the same time as the longer route group, probably having run close to the same distance. We arrived back in Calgary at about 9:30pm, but only two of us decided to go to the pub. Where’s our team spirit? Perhaps we’ll have a better pub turnout next time!
See the photo album for visuals on the GPS track for the long route. Note that the profile ends 70m higher than the start. I forgot to calibrate my GPS altimeter at the start of the run and it was reading about 70m low until it self-calibrated over the first 3km or so of the run.
Stats for Long Route: 15.5km, 314m Cumulative Elevation Gain. Total Time/Speed 1:47, 8.7 km/hr. Moving Time/Speed approx 1:35, 9.8 km/hr
Mike