Why do people enter The Great Walk, a 63.5 kilometre jaunt from Gold River to Tahsis?
The answer is simple: for the same reason someone decides to climb a mountain. Because it's there.
Remarkably, The Great Walk has been in existence since 1977. The first time I remember hearing about it was in the mid-1980s when an older Duncan resident named Cy Sterling told me about his participation during back-to-back years.
I wrote articles for the paper then without first-hand knowledge of the event. In hindsight, I probably didn't do the story any justice.
The subject of the walk simply never went away. It attracted enough attention that myself and a group of family members and friends planned more than a year ago to give it a whirl.
Yours truly, brother Dave, wife Theresa, Marla Bossons, Arita Rai, Debbie Hooson and Kerisna Johal had no concept of the monumental adventure that awaited us. Fortunately, we had my mom Peggy Cavanaugh and step-father Pete along to drive the support vehicles.
The first thing you must understand is the use of the word walk is a misnomer. It's more like a trek, hike, challenge, or to be specific, human endurance test.
There's a very good reason why this is dubbed North America's toughest walk.
Whether you're in shape or not, this walk will take a toll on you. Blisters, aches and pains can be expected at the very least.
Starting at four o'clock in the morning doesn't help you put a proper perspective on the whole thing. It felt like being in an X-Files episode in the pitch black at the start, with large floodlights illuminating the scene.
It was hard to fathom being among more than 900 people ready to venture onto the dusty logging road for the better part of the day.
It didn't take long for daylight to come, however, with the first signs at about 4:40. At least you could start to get your bearings.
The extent of where you were and what you were doing suddenly became clearer.
Dave and I intended to do a fair amount of running along the course, but soon found that wasn't possible. Conditions were extremely difficult in spots and we took plenty of breaks along the way to ensure we could finish.
We came across Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle publisher Bobbie Cloke on the first steep section and chatted with her about the event between huffs and puffs.
She made us appreciate how lucky we were to have a relatively clear and warm day. As we all know, there haven't been too many of those lately.
The previous year, Great Walk participants endured rainy conditions the entire way.
Cloke has obviously done a great job of promoting this event in her neck of the woods. There were 24 finishers from Ladysmith and six from Chemainus.
The total for the rest of this area (Duncan, Cobble Hill, Mill Bay, Shawnigan Lake and Youbou) was just 22.
But I chalk that up to a lack of knowledge and hope my ramblings here may inspire others to take up the challenge. If I can do it, anybody can!
The event is always held on the first Saturday in June. You can mark down June 2, 2001 on the calendar right now if this sounds like your cup of tea (but pack loads of water and Gatorade).
Dave and I guessed we could realistically finish in about 10 hours. Our final tally of nine hours and 51 minutes put us into Tahsis just before two o'clock in the afternoon, but wasn't reached without plenty of blood and sweat (no tears!).
I noted to Dave that the road profile map showed a slight incline remained between Checkpoints 8 and 9 before reaching our goal. The section turned out to be a series of five back-to-back hills of epic proportions and just about killed us!
We walked for quite a while after that, but managed to conserve enough energy to run portions of the final stretch.
Many incredible stories result from such grueling endeavours. Steven Royer of Courtenay was the first to finish in less than five hours - the same time I reached the halfway point!
Also truly amazing is Mill Bay's John Downing. At 60, he was only 12 years younger than the oldest person in the field but finished ninth overall in six hours and 40 minutes.
Some of Downing's comments were featured on the Great Walk web site, operated by the sponsoring Tahsis Lions Club. By the way, club members are to be commended for their spirit and an attention to detail that defies description.
"Never once did I hear a complaint and one and all were treated with the same open friendliness and enthusiasm that has made me come back year after year,'' noted Downing.
"The run/walk is, for me, a chance to enjoy the truly beautiful setting and the warmth of Tahsisians at the end of it all is the proverbial icing on the most delicious cake.''
As you might expect, letter carrier Justin Point of Duncan was also fleet afoot with his two dogs Wasgo and Gracie. He finished 50th overall in 8:04. Other local results can be found on the Sports Scoreboard page.
Participants have the option of raising money through pledges for a particular cause that's near and dear to their hearts.
A group that included Duncan's Colleen Foster, Audrey Nichols and Chris Youngman and Port Hardy's Cameron Blacklock gathered pledges and raised more than $1,000 to assist local boxer Jeannine (The Machine) Garside with travel expenses. Foster and Nichols are Garside's aunts and Blacklock is a cousin.
Garside is still on the shelf with a torn ACL in her knee suffered during a touch football game that required reconstructive surgery. "It's a slow healing process,'' confirmed her mother Lorna.
"Her goal is to be able to fight at the next nationals in November. She's also hoping to travel to the worlds in January of 2001 in the States.''
Garside is on the national women's team, but the family members still felt they wanted to help in some way since funding for amateur athletes remains minimal at best. The Great Walk pledge drive was their contribution.
"They thought it was good, but grueling,'' said Lorna. "They were glad they went.''
And I must say I was glad I went, too.
Would I do it again? You bet! And that's not making a mountain out of a molehill.