The Dirty Farm Trek – Who could resist a race with a name
like that? Not me, especially since it was practically in my own backyard.
Well, it was about 10 miles down the road but that’s pretty close for out here.
The race was organized by the VZ Foundation a local non-profit
whose goal is to have fun and raise money in support for other local charities.
The winners of the race get to choose a charity of their choice to donate some
of the proceeds to so it’s not just about winning for themselves.
This was an “adventure” race, something that’s becoming the
latest fad in popular non-elite racing. This particular race had a set of
obstacles, a variety of riddles to solve and a challenge – if you could carry
and egg throughout the whole race and not break it, 5 minutes would be deducted
from your overall time.
Race day was cloudy and cool, looked like rain but it didn’t
happen till the race was over. Alison and I had a plan, since neither one of us
ever tried anything like this we decided to not push it but just to have fun.
A lot of racers dressed up for the event. There were pink
pigs, black assassins, super heroes in golden tights and capes, and plenty of
farmers in bibs. The start was like a gala and it continued throughout the
race.
We clamored over 4 foot hurdles and crawled under fences,
slogged through water and mud, hit a slip and slide, carried tires, walked
balance beams and tried to solve riddles. They were tough, some of them at
least. Maybe it was because we were a bit tired and stressed but some of those
riddles were pretty basic (once we were told what the answers were) and we
still missed them.
We each had our own method for the egg. I tucked mine in a
tiny pocket at the back of my shirt and Alison wrapped hers in her windbreaker
tied around her waist. The overall winner of the race packed his egg in
Twinkies. Best of all tho was the girl who tucked her egg in the crotch of her
men’s underwear, which she wore on the outside of her bibs.
We arrived at the finish with our eggs intact, riddles half
solved but happy. Since I was the only person over 60, I won my age category.
The prize was a twenty dollar gift certificate to Ryan Styles’ Upfront Theatre
and of course we all got a “Dirty Farm Trek” T-shirt. All the adults also got a
free beer from the folks at Boundary Bay Brewery so it was all good. Next year
– costumes!
Check out the start on Youtube. Just Google Dirty Farm Trek.
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