I began at 6:31am on Saturday, October 29th from the Southern Terminus of the Bruce Trail, with the goal of running the entire Niagara Section as an out and back. To my knowledge this route hasn’t been completed as an out and back before. Two of my crew members, Geoff and Denny saw me off from the terminus and I began the run in the dark on my own. The first leg was fairly uneventful, I was moving well and made my way to the first planned stop at Woodend Conservation Area without issue. At Woodend I refilled my bottles and got something to eat from my crew. This became routine for all the stops for the rest of the run.
From Woodend, Denny joined me for the next leg. Luckily the lift bridge at Glendale Ave was down when we crossed the Welland Canal, so we did not have to wait. Denny was supposed to run the next 15km with me to Decew House, but unfortunately, he suffered an injury and had to stop at Mountain Locks Park. He called the crew to come pick him up and I continued on alone. The freshly fallen leaves made it very difficult to see the trail and I missed a turn between Tremont Dr and Glenridge Ave. When I realized my mistake, I retraced my steps to the last blaze, and then continued on the correct path. The leaves continued to be a challenge for most of the run.
I met up with Geoff and Denny again at Decew House, and at this point Steve had also joined the crew. I refilled supplies and headed off for the next 16km section through Short Hills with Geoff pacing me. We arrived at the next stop at Rockway Conservation Area, where Geoff switched out pacing duties with Joe, who ran with me for the next 26km, stopping once with the crew at Fifth Ave in Vineland. I was still feeling good, but at this point my pace slowed due to the more challenging and rocky terrain through Rockway, Balls Falls and Cave Springs.
Joe and I arrived at Mountainview Conservation Area around 5:15pm, where Chris tagged in to run with me. Chris and I headed off towards Grimsby, with my sights set on the halfway point which was now within 10km. The leaves and rocks continued to challenge me, and combined with the fatigue that was setting in, I was reduced to hiking most of this section. About 0.5km before the turnaround, I looked down and noticed that my watch battery had died. I had a battery pack on me but missed the low battery notification and forgot to plug it in. I plugged it in and started a new activity. I later merged the two GPX files for Strava, but am missing 28 minutes, and I estimate about 2km (although Strava seems to have corrected the distance for the merged GPX).
I arrived at the end of the Niagara section around 7:15pm, touching the sign that signifies the start of the Iroquoia section of the Bruce Trail. I took a longer stop here with my crew to change my clothes, eat, and tend to my feet before heading out for the return trip. It was now dark, and the night was getting colder, with the expected low around 0 C (32 F). Tom joined in for pacing with Chris, and we headed out for the 10km stretch back to Mountainview to see the crew again.
The next 35km after Mountainview were a bit of a blur. I was having a lot of trouble staying awake and found myself swerving on the trail or having moments where I would startle and couldn’t remember the last few steps. My one knee was also very sore at this point, causing pain on any step up or down hill, but thankfully it was okay on the flats. Tom and Steve ran with me from Mountainview to Quarry Rd, and then just Steve from Quarry Rd to Glen Rd. Joe then ran with me from Glen Rd to Rockway. I was almost exclusively hiking these sections – between the leaves, the rocks, and fatigue, I couldn’t run without tripping. My stops with the crew were becoming longer, and I was adding more layers as I went to stay warm. My goal was just to make it to Rockway, and then I knew the terrain would improve after that. I should also note that I went off trail briefly in Cave Springs, but again retraced my steps back to the last blaze before moving on.
I arrived at Rockway just before 4am. It was like a switch flipped in me, and I had a renewed sense of energy and motivation. I was in and out of the crew stop in 3 minutes, not even waiting for my pacer Geoff to finish getting ready. Geoff caught up to me a few minutes later, and I told him I was feeling better and needed him to push me. We made good time into Short Hills, had another 3-minute stop at Wiley Rd, and then continued moving well to Decew House.
Steve tagged in at Decew to run with me to the finish just as the first light was showing in the sky. I was happy to have made it through the night, and knew the hardest part was behind me with only 30km of less technical terrain left. Steve ran with me to Tremont Dr where the crew was, and then to Woodend. Luckily, I did not have to wait at the lift bridge once again. From Woodend, Carrie joined in with Steve and I as well. As I exited Woodend onto Warner Rd, a group of friends from my local running group were waiting at the road to surprise me. It was such a nice boost to see some familiar faces and have them talk with me for a few minutes as I made my way down the road. I saw my crew one last time at Firemen’s Park and was off quickly to tackle the last 7km.
As I headed in towards Queenston, I took a moment to stop and sign the trail logbook that I had signed some 29 hours before when I was just beginning my journey. I wasn’t so sure I was going to make it back to this point when I had signed it the first time, but now had no doubt I was going to finish this. At 12:18pm on Sunday, October 30th I reached the Southern Terminus once again and finished the 100+ mile journey surrounded by the amazing friends who helped me through.