Driving a few hours to just race a mile seems like a silly idea, but with the benefit of being able to see the Loggers Day parade and a world-class lumberjack competition after, I found it to be totally worth it.

The race:
The race itself is a family-friendly event with runners ranging in age from toddler to seniors and in speed from walkers to professional runners. The winner of the 8k, I found later, was a runner of Kenyan origins who only participates in races with prize money. When picking up my bib for the mile, I quickly realized I was the only adult who was not racing with his or her child. My little one was not yet walking, so I could not even sign her up at the last minute. Oh well, it would not be the first time: my first race ever was the 1k at the CIBC Run for the Cure that nobody told me was supposed to be a fun run for kids and moms with strollers. So I toed the line with the objective of not getting beaten by anybody under the age of 13. The race started very fast as it is often the case in kids run, but after a few minutes a young teen pulled ahead of the pack while the rest of the kids faded behind me. I decided to follow him from afar as I had not managed to find a map of the 1 mile course before the race. To avoid getting psyched out, I had also decided to run without a GPS watch. As I eventually passed a 1k marker, I started getting worried. If this is an out-and-back course, I had already gone too far! But the kid ahead seemed confident and the volunteers I passed before did not tell me to run back or take a turn. Then, as I could not see any finish line ahead, I got even more nervous. When I saw the leading runner turn around and shout that he passed the 2k marker, I got both angry and nervous. I waited for him to pass me and followed him, then told every kid I passed beyond that 1k marker to also turn around and follow us. I felt like that fairy tale piper leading the kids to the river... Some competitive kids did not want to just follow us, though and pushed to stay ahead of me. Once I had ran for about 1 mile, it took a lot of effort and all of my competitive willpower to not let them just stay ahead of me. Eventually, I managed to finish ahead of all the smaller kids as I had hoped... except one. As we crossed the line, we found out that one of the youngest kids and his mom who had started in the back got actually directed down the right path by a volunteer and ended up finishing first. He was so happy and proud of it: it was very cute. For the rest of us, we probably ran the hardest and longest mile of our lives. I told the race organizer about the issue and asked for a course map on the website, some signage for the mile race, and more volunteers at the spot where the milers are supposed to turn. The volunteer at that spot probably missed seeing us or thought we were actually running the 8k...

Post-race expo:
The post-race expo had one of the widest selection of quality snacks I have seen at a race. They also had the skilled and helpful Sea to Sky Physiotherapist

Medals:
Thankfully for the speedy teen who finished third behind a toddler and mom team, there were no awards ceremony for the Mile. Just a super cute medal shaped like a soldier ID tag for all participants and the choice of whatever cute sticker to put on it.