No time to spare in Beaudry

“You’re late.”

In 2019 I signed up to run loops of this beautiful little trail along the Assiniboine River west of Winnipeg during the annual Beaudry Fall Classic.

This particular year, the race was preceded by a couple weeks of heavy rain, and as I drove out on a dark fall morning, the windshield wipers flapping at full speed, I questioned whether this was truly the best way to spend hours on a Saturday.

The trail, we quickly realized, was a solid “6” on the Official Puddle Rating System, and after vain attempts to keep shoes dry, after the first couple minutes we succumbed to our fate, realizing the safest way was through the middle of the deep soul-sucking puddles.

After nearly 6 hours of soggy slogging, and very ready to be done, I was nearly finished my final lap.

Nearly.

As I looked at my watch, I realized I might run out of time to finish the last lap. (Time-based races count the number of laps completed within a set amount of time, the most laps wins.) I willed my tired legs to just keep moving, but there was no energy left to do more than jog the last couple kilometres of the 5km loop.

Entering the clearing to finish the lap, race director Joel announced (with what I judged to be a certain diabolical satisfaction) the sad news, I’d finished my lap 30 seconds over time, meaning the last 45 minutes of effort had meant nothing towards my total lap count.

Regardless, I was happy to settle into a chair and remove my soaked shoes, eat a snack, and stash away some great memories from the Beaudry trails.