It may have been a gray and rainy Sunday, but that did not stop a few brave runners from participating in the final Coast Mountain Sports Trail Run. The run, according to organizer Nancy Thompson, usually draws upwards of 40 runners in the spring and summer time, only saw five runners participate in the final event.

“I have been organizing these runs for about 11 years now,” said Thompson. “The Tuesday night fun runs are fun, but they are the same course, which is good for keeping track of time, but I thought there are so many trails, and I hate running on pavement, there is like 700 kilometres of trails in Whitehorse and they are so sweet.

It’s therapeutic, it’s meditative, to be out in the bush,” said Thompson. “I also won’t allow people to run with ear buds in because you have to hear what is going on.”

On Sunday, the runners ran a 14-kilometre course, following the Juicy and Girlfriend trails, which took the runners around Chadburn Lake. Despite the weather the runners were happy with the condition of the trails.

“I’m feeling awesome,” said Hayley Henderson-Tour. “It was great, it was beautiful, with lots of scenery. The trail was a little wet, and there was lots of leaves down, but there was no snow, so it was beautiful.”

“I’m feeling tired, it’s the first run I’ve been on, I was injured on a trail run with the kids that I coach last September, but I’m feeling pretty good,” said Don White. “The rain held off until the last kilometre, the trails were good not to sloppy, there has been enough leaf fall so there wasn’t any issues.”

The Coast Mountain Sports Trail Run may be finished for another year, but the runners are still committed to hitting the trails throughout the winter. According to both Thompson and Henderson-Tour the fat bikers keep the trails nice and compact, making for optimum running conditions, regardless of how cold it gets.