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Sanctioned Event
This event is sanctioned by the Canadian Volkssport Federation (CVF), a member of the International Federation of Popular Sports (IVV) and is eligible for the IVV achievement award program.
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Iron Matron: Inspiring stories for the Great Walk
Sharie Epp, Times Colonist
Published: Monday, June 16, 2008
I can't believe how many people have done the 56-kilometre Great Lake Walk around Cowichan Lake and/or the 63.5-km Great Walk from Gold River to Tahsis, or have a friend, co-worker, or second cousin once removed who has lived to tell about it. I've heard about bears, an energy bar full of maggots and sausage fingers, and how lubricating body parts with Body Glide becomes an obsession.
Several of you have shared your footsteps, blisters and all, and we've included a few excerpts here. Read the whole stories on the Times Colonist website at timescolonist.com.
GRACE DELDAY
What is important to say here is that I am not some skinny mini and I did it! All 250 lbs. of me! You can too! You don't need to be intimidated by all these skinny fitness babes. You are probably way more fit than I was on my first Great Walk. This is Your Walk, Your Body. Three things are important. Walk it at your own pace. Do it on your own timetable. And, learn from other walkers.
PAUL LIDGATE
We started training for the Great Walk ... with a 15-km walk over snow and ice along the Goose and Lochside Trail. Then every few weeks, we'd push out for a little longer -- 22, 30, 44, 56 km -- and we varied our route. From View Royal by Victoria General, you can walk about 31 km to Fuse Restaurant on the edge of the Sooke Basin and have a wonderful, restorative meal. With a drink, of course. Just don't do that if you're planning to walk back! Have somebody pick you up there instead. And order a second drink.
KATE INSLEY
The day before the walk, (daughter) Amanda and her True Love sailed up to Maple Bay and (granddaughter) Chelsea and I drove up that night. We would all sleep on TL's boat so that we could get an early start for Lake Cowichan. ... Well, we were all settling down for the night and putting our things out for a fast getaway in the wee hours when I realized I didn't have my hiking boots! What could I do? I didn't think my old Birkenstocks would hold up for even one km and I had already sent my runners on ahead to the half way point of the walk! T.L. to the rescue! He had an extra pair of runners on board so he kindly offered them to me. To make a long story short, I walked half the route in his shoes before I could pick up my own runners. I finished the 56 km, danced to the music in the hall and collected the Oldest Female to Finish award while my three companions nursed their aching, injured feet. I guess the moral to this story could be "it always pays to walk a mile (or 28 km) in another's shoes!!"
JANET MAXWELL
Rose (friend Rose Arsenault) says, "Hey I bought these power coffee drinks at London Drugs, they're supposed to give you a boost of energy for up to four hours." Weeee!!!!!!! We downed these tiny cans of power juice that they should call Ex-Lax in a can. We had walked about 10 minutes when our stomachs started to make these horrible noises and we both looked at each other and without saying a word headed as fast as we could to the little blue houses that were within reach, and thank God they weren't any farther. Lesson #1 -- Never ever try something new.
ROBIN DURKIN
I slept all the way back to Victoria. I did not remove my shoes until I got home, at least I don't think so, my memory is vague. Good thing. My feet were a mass of blisters, pushing up through my toes, just horrible. I had a hard time walking for a week.
Of course I did not train for the walk -- I was healthy, worked out at the gym three times a week, ran three times a week -- how wrong can one be!
TED WALKER
There was one absolutely amazing woman I called the Energizer Bunny -- she had great energy and a great black silk outfit, I might add. She obviously had trained hard for the event so I followed her for quite a while then sped on by, her when we hit a monstrous hill. At one point I had lost my walking friend for a while and was all alone on the road -- all of a sudden I was walking along alone and crying crocodile tears to myself. ... That was the first time in years I had sung the Lord's Prayer.
HELEN EVANS
(Helen was 70 when she completed her first Great Lake Walk.)
I haven't signed up yet for this year, but I will soon. Just being part of that electric buzz while we wait for the starting signal is worth the price of entry. And when we all sing O Canada I'm so proud of our community. About that picture: I'm sorry I can't send it to you. I have it in my head, though -- for when I get old.
I'd love to see you there on Sept. 20.
sepp@tc.canwest.com
Read more walking memories from our readers at timescolonist.com
sepp@tc.canwest.com
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