August 14, 2022 - day of the Not Since Moses Race in Five Islands, NS! I decided to register for the 10 km run just a few weeks ago, so off I went, early in the morning from Amherst, to get parked and bussed to Soley Cove for the start of the run.
It was an overcast day - just right for running - and we got a bit of drizzle along the way. This event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, so folks were glad to be back at it: running on the sand, gravel, rocks, seaweed and mud. Sharon and I were here for the second annual NSM in 2008. We walked the 5 K, at the end of our honeymoon. Ah, the crazy romantic things we did! Back then, the run took participants out to the islands - we 5Kers finished on Moose Island, and later were taken back to shore by boat. Nowadays, everyone runs along the shore, and no boats are needed.
The scenery from Soley Cove to Five Islands is spectacular, even on a drizzly day. I turned my head and looked back quite a bit. I have not been running this year, but when I decided to take in NSM, I quickly got jogging. Last week I did ten kms a couple times, with some walking amid my running. Today, in the run on the beach, I paused my running very little, and made good time.
Here is the route I took (we took - was it about 100 or 200 people in the 10 k?). My app indicated I actually went just 9.06 kms. Whavever. It was an accomplishment and a fun time.
Here are some scenes from the final half, along the cliffs of Five Islands Provincial Park, by the basalt formation called 'The Old Wife,' and the finish line at Lighthouse Park.
My time was one hour five minutes. Fine by me, for my first official 10K ever. Surely it will not be fourteen years before I try it again. I paused for water and a granola bar, gathered my bag and my medal, and hopped a bus back to the parking lot. After a restful break with friends in Parrsboro, I took a scenic route home to Amherst, where Sharon was tinkering with household tasks. She it was who first walked with me in NOT SINCE MOSES, back in 2008.
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