2012 is going to be another awesome year to get outside and participate in the great events all over the island. There are races of all size and description for you to participate in. You can run, mountain bike, ski, kayak, snowboard, road bike, canoe and sail.

Make sure you check back to this page as it will get better and better every month! I’ll be adding to it whenever I hear about a new awesome event. If you’ve got one for a different area let us know!

* There are currently lots of events still to be announced and a date set for, so check back often if we’ve not listed your favorite event yet!

If you know of any that aren’t on this list, email us at pureoutside [at] gmail.com or head over to the contact page.

January

1 – Bastion Running Club New Years Run and Dip, Nanaimo

8 - Prairie Inn Pioneer 8k, Saanichton (Island Series)

10 – 14 - Kokanee Winterfest at Mount Washington (Ski and Snowboard Festival)

22 - Cobble Hill 10k, Cobble Hill (Island Series)

28 - Mount Washinton Yeti Snowshoe Race, Mount Washington (Snowshoe Race)

February

5 - Cedar 12k, Cedar (Island Series)

19 - Hatley Castle 8k, Colwood (Island Series)

19 - Historic Half Marathon, 10k and 5k, Fort Langley (Road Run)

March

3-4  Outdoor VanIsle Backcountry Festival, Mount Cain (Ski and Snowboard Festival)

4 - Bazan Bay 5k, Sydney (Island Series, Road Running Race)

TBA -Victoria XC #1 Mountain Bike Race (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

18 - Comox Valley 1/2 Marathon, Courtenay (Island Series, Road Running Race)

TBA - Powell River XC (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA - Duncan XC #3 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA - Victoria Populaire Road Ride by BC Randonnuers 50/100k, Victoria (Road Ride)

April

1 - Merville 15k, Merville (Island Series) (Road Running Race)

TBA - Campbell River XC #4 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA - Tour of the Cowichan Valley 200k by BC Randonneurs (Road Ride)

TBA - Cumberland XC #5 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA - “Eau de Hell” Week 300k by BC Randonneurs, Chemainus (Road Ride)

TBA - “Eau de Hell” Week 400k by BC Randonneurs, Chemainus (Road Ride)

TBA - “Eau de Hell” Week 600k by BC Randonneurs, Chemainus (Road Ride)

15 - Sooke River 10k, Sooke (Island Series) (Road Running Race)

TBA - Cumberland DH #1 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

21-22 - Outdoor Adventure Expo (Victoria)

TBA - Fletcher’s Challenge 12k Trail Run and 6k Family Walk, Nanaimo (Trail Running Race)

TBA - The Hills are Alive 300k by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

29 - Times Colonist 10k, Victoria ( Road Run)

29 - Comox Valley Snow to Surf, Courtenay (Multi Sport Relay)

May

TBA - Gutbuster Trail Run #1, Mt Tzouhalem, Duncan (Trail Run)

12 - Mud Run Ride, Campbell River (Mountain Bike)

TBA - Port Alberni XC #6 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA Vancouver Island Paddlefest, Ladysmith (Paddling Exhibition)

TBA - Highway to Hell 400k, by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

13 - Oak Bay Half Marathon, Oak Bay, Victoria (Road Run)

TBA - Port Alberni DH #2 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA - Hammerfest XC #7 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA - 600 km by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

27 - New Balance Triathlon, Shawnigan Lake ( Triathlon)

TBA - Hammerfest DH #3 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

TBA - Gutbuster 2 Westwood Lake, Nanaimo (Trail Running Race)

June

2 - The Great Walk 63 k, Gold River to Tahsis (Trail Walk/Run)

TBA - Sproat Lake Marathon (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

TBA - Eureka 1000 (Diablo’s Triple 1000 Mini Series) by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

TBA - Port Alice XC #8 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

10 - Edge to Edge Marathon, Half Marathon and Relay, Tofino (Road Run)

TBA - Hare & Tortoise 1000 by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

23 - Kusam Klimb , Sayward (Trail Run/Walk)

TBA - 12 Hours of Cumberland (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

17 - New Balance Triathlon, Victoria (Triathlon)

24 – Tour de Victoria (Road Bike)

TBA - Hornby Island XC Final (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Cross Country)

TBA - Hornby Island Super D (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Super D)

TBA - Gutbuster Trail Run #3, Ladysmith (Trail Run)

31 - BC Bike Race Day One (Mountain Bike Cross Country)

July

1 - BC Bike Race Day Two (Mountain Bike Cross Country)

TBA - Gutbuster Trail Run #4, Mount Washington (Trail Run)

TBA Vanisle 1200k by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

August

12 - New Balance Triathlon, Sooke (Triathlon)

TBA - Gabriola 360 Kayak Race, Gabriola Island (Ocean Kayak)

September

TBA - Campbell River 50k (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

TBA - Fall Isle-Lander 200k by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

TBA - Run for the Mountain, Westwood Lake, Nanaimo (Trail Run)

15 - Great Lake Walk and Ultramarathon 56k, Lake Cowichan (Road Walk/Run

TBA - Terry Fox Run, Nanaimo (Road Run)

12 - Momar Adventure Race #2, Cumberland (Adventure Race)

October

TBA - The Ramble (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

7 - Royal Victoria Marathon, Half Marathon and 8k, Victoria (Road Run)

TBA - Perseverance Trail Run, Cumberland (Trail Run)

TBA - Shawnigan – Kinsol Half Marathon, Shawnigan Lake (Road/Trail Run)

November

11 - 14th Annual Harriers Thetis Lake 20k Relay, Thetis Lake Park, Victoria (Trail Run)

TBA - 26th Annual Harriers Gunner Shaw Cross Country, Thetis Lake Park, Victoria (Trail Run)

December

TBA - 7th Annual Harriers Stewart Mountain Cross Country, Thetis Lake Park, Victoria (Trail Run)

***

Also look back on Vancouver Island’s 2010 events.

Looking for events in Vancouver? Check out the Outdoor Vancouver Event Calendar.

Other Awesome Events

The Victoria Track Series

Cancelled

Benson80 (Mountain Bike Race)

Harbour City Half Marathon and 10k, Nanaimo (Road Run)

Westwood Lake Relay, Nanaimo (Trail Run)

2013

June Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race (Sailing Race)

It’s coming.

There are Q&A sites all over the place like Yahoo Answers and a variety of others but they are terribly designed and full of junk. You have no idea who’s answering your question and if what they say has anything behind it.

Enter StackExchange.

Originally designed as a Q & A platform for computer programmers, the StackExchange universe has expanded to include everything under the sun. There’s a catch though.

All the ideas for the future sites are incubated in Area 51, where they must gain enough supportive users to push them to the next stage of incubation. One of the requirements is a long list of on and off-topic questions that could end up on the future site. The idea is that the flaws in the idea need to be flushed out before the site goes live. This is done in the Definition stage.

Once enough example questions and answers are posed then they move the site into the commitment stage. This is where things get tough. If a site doesn’t enough users to pledge their commitment to it, it doesn’t go anywhere. It doesn’t launch and start to clutter up the already cluttered world of the internet.

So, with the introduction out of the way, here’s the reason for this post. We need your help.

A small number of adventurous computer-users have committed to helping the Great Outdoors StackExchange site get off the ground. But to take it all the way we need you in there too. You and everyone you know should sign up. And commit to the Great Outdoors site. All you need to do is sign up and say that you’ll help. What we need is numbers to get the site going and then it will take care of itself.

You can sign up here http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/3659/the-great-outdoors

If you have any questions about it, just ask below!

The whole idea is that a bunch of bloggers get together and each do a blog post along a certain theme. Each month the carnival is hosted on a different site. The host puts all the posts together in a creative way and then, Bam! Everyone gets to see an outdoor blog carnival!

The first one will be hosted here, on PureOutside. You’ll be able to get your hands on the greasy goodness on April 30th when we post the first one.

The theme for the first one will be: Favorite Spring Gear.

If you want, you can just read all the awesome posts and get stoked for getting outside this spring. If you run an outdoor blog I high recommend you participate! All you need is a blog and a sweet post ready to go before April 28th. Fill out the Blog Carnival Sign up form after you’ve written your post and you’ll be on your way.

If you’ve got any questions, chuck em in the contact form or email us at pureoutside@gmail.com.

If you don’t like this one try the regular version of the Event Calendar.

There is also the 2010 Vancouver Island Outdoor Event Calendar.

The dust is settling from a great weekend trip to Mount Washington for the Yeti snowshoe race. For the last 3 years we’ve made the trip up to the mountain to “compete” in the only snowshoe race on Vancouver Island. For the past 2, a bunch of friends and I book a cabin on the mountain and make weekend of the event. My birthday falls around the last weekend in January as well so it works out well for me as well. An exciting event, a beautiful venue and a bunch of awesome people makes for memorable birthdays.

The race is more fun than business for most of the participants which makes it even more appealing. There are regularly large teams that dress up in themes. One of the longest running is the snow queens who have fantastic queen costumes every year. Most of the costumed runners elect to spare themselves some pain and participate in the 5 km race. If you’re looking for scenery, you won’t need to go any further than 5 km the 10 is only 2 laps of the same track.

This year the track felt short. I was chatting with a girl that was doing the 5k for the first time as we neared the finish and she couldn’t believe that it was almost over. I was a little surprised when we got there how short it had felt. I had my Garmin 405 tracking the entire time (and accidentally for an hour after) and it didn’t look like the track was 10 km. I can’t point pinpoint the exact finish because I forgot to top my watch when I finished but it looked like it tracked out 8.6 km for the race. It was a little disappointing paying for a 10km race and then running 8.6 but I wasn’t going to go run another kilometer and a half to fill it in. You can see my track here on Yeti snowshoe race track on Garmin Connect.

The results aren’t in at the time of posting this but they’ll show up on Race Day Timing pretty soon. I’ll add in a link straight to the results when they get uploaded.

The weather was perfect for the race, if a little cool. Most people had pants or tights on which was right for the weather. In years past, I’ve been ok temperature-wise with a short sleeve poly-propylene shirt. I have run into problems with the t-shirt though not because of the temperature but because of the snow. It depends on the type of snowshoes you have but when you run, they tend to flick up a lot of snow. The Atlas snowshoes that are rented out at the Yeti are particularly bad for this. Because the Atlas snowshoe bindings are attached to the snowshoe by an elastic band of sorts, the flick up when they’re unweighted, bringing snow with them. This airborne snow usually ends up on your back, neck and arms, making for a bit of a chilly race. The wet didn’t bother me on my clothes but on bare skin it stung a bit. The back of my arms were red from getting barrages with snow pellets and near the end of the race my neck suffered from the assault as well. I don’t think I’m going to be wearing a collared shirt for snowshoeing any time soon but a long sleeve definitely helps block the snow.

Another thing I learned quickly in the race, and nearly every time I snowshoe, is to not kick your ankles. It hurts. I don’t recommend it.

If you haven’t yet done a snowshoe race, I highly recommend it. If you’re not up for the not-quite-10 10 km race, you can sign up for the 5.

Oh, and don’t forget your costume.

2011 will be, as every year has been, full of awesome events all over Vancouver Island.

Make sure you check back to this page as it will get better and better every month! I’ll be adding to it whenever I hear about a new awesome event. If you’ve got one for a different area let us know!

If you know of any that aren’t on this list, email us at pureoutside [at] gmail.com or head over to the contact page.

January

1 – Bastion Running Club New Years Run and Dip, Nanaimo

9 – Prairie Inn Pioneer 8k, Saanichton (Island Series)

10 – 14 – Kokanee Winterfest at Mount Washington (Ski and Snowboard Festival)

23 - Cobble Hill 10k, Cobble Hill (Island Series)

29 – Mount Washinton Yeti Snowshoe Race, Mount Washington (Snowshoe Race)

February

4-6 Outdoor VanIsle Backcountry Festival, Mount Cain (Ski and Snowboard Festival)

6 – Cedar 12k, Cedar (Island Series)

20 – Hatley Castle 8k, Colwood (Island Series)

20 - Historic Half Marathon, 10k and 5k, Fort Langley (Road Run)

March

6 – Bazan Bay 5k, Sydney (Island Series, Road Running Race)

13 -Victoria XC #1 Mountain Bike Race (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

20 – Comox Valley 1/2 Marathon, Courtenay (Island Series, Road Running Race)

20 – Powell River XC (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

27 – Duncan XC #3 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

27 – Victoria Populaire Road Ride by BC Randonnuers 50/100k, Victoria (Road Ride)

April

1-3 – Outdoor Adventure Expo (Victoria)

3 – Merville 15k, Merville (Island Series) (Road Running Race)

3 – Campbell River XC #4 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

9 – Tour of the Cowichan Valley 200k by BC Randonneurs (Road Ride)

10 – Cumberland XC #5 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

10 – Mount Curran Snowshoe (Island Mountain Ramblers)

10 – “Eau de Hell” Week 300k by BC Randonneurs, Chemainus (Road Ride)

12 – “Eau de Hell” Week 400k by BC Randonneurs, Chemainus (Road Ride)

14 - “Eau de Hell” Week 600k by BC Randonneurs, Chemainus (Road Ride)

17 – Sooke River 10k, Sooke (Island Series) (Road Running Race)

17 – Cumberland DH #1 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

22 - Fletcher’s Challenge 12k Trail Run and 6k Family Walk, Nanaimo (Trail Running Race)

23 – The Hills are Alive 300k by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

May

1 - Times Colonist 10k, Victoria ( Road Run)

1 - Comox Valley Snow to Surf, Courtenay (Multi Sport Relay)

7 – Gutbuster Trail Run #1, Mt Tzouhalem, Duncan (Trail Run)

7 – Mud Run Ride, Campbell River (Mountain Bike)

8 – Port Alberni XC #6 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

14-15 Vancouver Island Paddlefest, Ladysmith (Paddling Exhibition)

15 – Highway to Hell 400k, by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

15 – Oak Bay Half Marathon, Oak Bay, Victoria (Road Run)

15 – Port Alberni DH #2 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

22 - Team X Juan De Fuca Triathlon and Duathlon, Victoria (Triathlon, Duathlon)

22 – Benson80 (Mountain Bike Race)

22 – Hammerfest XC #7 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

28 – 600 km by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

28 – Tour de Victoria (Road Bike)

29 – New Balance Triathlon, Shawnigan Lake ( Triathlon)

29 – Hammerfest DH #3 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

29 – Gutbuster 2 Westwood Lake, Nanaimo (Trail Running Race)

June

4 – The Great Walk 63 k, Gold River to Tahsis (Trail Walk/Run)

4-18 Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race (Sailing Race)

5 – Team X Panorama Classic Triathlon and Duathlon, Victoria (Duathlon)

5 – Sproat Lake Marathon (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

9 – Eureka 1000 (Diablo’s Triple 1000 Mini Series) by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

11 – Port Alice XC #8 (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike)

12 - Edge to Edge Marathon, Half Marathon and Relay, Tofino (Road Run)

18 – Hare & Tortoise 1000 by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

18 – Kusam Klimb , Sayward (Trail Run/Walk)

18 – 12 Hours of Cumberland (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

19 – New Balance Triathlon, Victoria (Triathlon)

24 – Hornby Island XC Final (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Cross Country)

26 – Hornby Island Super D (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Super D)

26 – Gutbuster Trail Run #3, Ladysmith (Trail Run)

July

3 – BC Bike Race Day One (Mountain Bike Cross Country)

4 – BC Bike Race Day Two (Mountain Bike Cross Country)

23 – Gutbuster Trail Run #4, Mount Washington (Trail Run)

21 – 25 Vanisle 1200k by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

August

7 - New Balance Triathlon, Sooke (Triathlon)

20 – Club FatAss Juan De Fuca  Run, Juan De Fuca Trail, Sooke (Trail Run)

21 – Gabriola 360 Kayak Race, Gabriola Island (Ocean Kayak)

September

4 – Campbell River 50k (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

TBA – Harbour City Half Marathon and 10k, Nanaimo (Road Run)

TBA – Juan De Fuca Duathlon, Victoria (Duathlon)

11 – Fall Isle-Lander 200k by BC Randonneurs, Victoria (Road Ride)

TBA – Lands End 1/2 Marathon and 10k, Sidney ( Road Run)

17 - Run for the Mountain, Westwood Lake, Nanaimo (Trail Run)

17 – Great Lake Walk and Ultramarathon 56k, Lake Cowichan (Road Walk/Run

TBA – Terry Fox Run, Nanaimo (Road Run)

24 – Momar Adventure Race #2, Cumberland (Adventure Race)

October

3 – The Ramble (Island Cup Series, Mountain Bike Marathon)

9 – Royal Victoria Marathon, Half Marathon and 8k, Victoria (Road Run)

30 – Westwood Lake Relay, Nanaimo (Trail Run)

30 – Perseverance Trail Run, Cumberland (Trail Run)

30 – Shawnigan – Kinsol Half Marathon, Shawnigan Lake (Road/Trail Run)

November

11 – 14th Annual Harriers Thetis Lake 20k Relay, Thetis Lake Park, Victoria (Trail Run)

19 – 26th Annual Harriers Gunner Shaw Cross Country, Thetis Lake Park, Victoria (Trail Run)

December

10 – 7th Annual Harriers Stewart Mountain Cross Country, Thetis Lake Park, Victoria (Trail Run)

***

Also look back on Vancouver Island’s 2010 events.

Looking for events in Vancouver? Check out the Outdoor Vancouver Event Calendar.

Other Awesome Events

The Victoria Track Series

Halfway at Sombrio Beach

There’s only one more day to go until we hit the trail for the first annual PureOutside Juan De Fuca run. 47km of sweet ocean-side single track awaits us tomorrow on the trail near Sooke.

The nearly 50km Juan De Fuca Marine Trail is hiked by hundreds every hear and provides a moderate way to experience hiking on the West Coast. Most tackle the trail in 3 or 4 days, hiking 10-15 kms each day.

Our plan is to run it in one day.

In under 10 hours.

My good friend Ryan and I will be starting at 5 am at the China Beach trailhead. The plan is to hit Sombrio beach around 9am and then finish at Botanical at 1-1:30.  Another group that we’ll most likely meet up with along the trail is starting at 4.

I was on the trail last weekend checking out the north end. It was incredibly dry for that trail as some parts never dry out. The weather for this weekend was initially supposed to be dry with a temperature around 11-15, perfect for long run. That’s been degraded to cloudy with showers in Sooke and 40% precipitation in Port Renfrew.  One thing that would make this run a lot harder would be any sort of rain. Our fingers are crossed.

I’ll be posting on Sunday with photos and how the run went.

Good luck to everyone on the run!

http://www.racedaytiming.ca/gb004long2010.html

Today was definitely an off day for me. I’ve been nursing an injury from Ultimate all week and wasn’t sure I was going to run today. I did race but it was an easy one. Being out on the trail not pushing as hard as I could was weird but nice. I enjoyed the views more, chatted with some other runners.

Another day I’m not really counting the results from this one was that we got lost. I was following about 20 other people along the trail when it started to go downhill instead of up. I’m not a huge fan of just blindly following others because they may take a wrong turn but I could take a wrong turn as well. After doing a few extra kilometers the wrong direction we made it back on track near the top and headed on down to the finish. The most important reason to get back on track was the water stop at the top!

Photo Credit: Shayne Kaye

The race starts at Providence Farm and winds it’s way up Mount Tzouhalem. It lulls you into a false sense of accomplishment at the beginning and then knocks you on your ass within the first 2 km of the 13. Nearly on all fours “running” up a section of the trail I overheard called “The Wall”, you eventually hit a couple of beautiful viewpoints and then the summit. Or what you thought was the summit. The trail heads down for a little bit more and then back up to the real summit. Almost completely drained from the hard climb, you start the descent at the summit and relish the break from the grind up. But wait, there’s one more ascent to do before the final downhill.

The descent will take you back to Providence Farm as fast as you, or your body and joints, will let it. The fast double and single track winds it’s way through the lush area. Almost done, the track winds into a beautiful meadow with views of the farm and then on to the finish. There’s one small uphill lurking just before the finish though so save some energy for it or you’ll be crawling to the finish!

I had on my GoPro camera for the race and put together some pieces into a video below.

If you’re not aware of the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series and are looking to get your trail running shoes a little (ok, a lot) dirty it’s something you need to check out. This year there is a different series of races held in 5 provinces. This year’s circuit for BC’s coastal region boasts five great runs:

1. Golden Ears, April 24
2. Simon Fraser University, June 12
3. Mount Seymour, July 24
4. Whistler Blackcomb, August 21
5. Buntzen Lake, September 25

Each race has 3 or 4 course lengths. The Children’s Challenge; a 1km trail. The Sport; a 4 – 8 km trail. The Enduro; a 10 – 17km trail. Ant this year, the Buntzen Lake event will really push people who want to try their hand at the half-marathon distance.

A bit more info about 5 peaks:

5 Peaks is the premier trail running company in Canada. Our goal is to provide an exciting atmosphere, a challenging course, a competitive field, and an amazing off road experience, all while practicing & promoting sound environmental ethics.

British Columbia Trail Running Series

The British Columbia Coast Mountains offer tremendous terrain and incredible scenery. The 5 Peaks courses cover single-track, hiking and cross country trails, with elevation gain varying according to the course design. The trails are always challenging and you get to experience some of BC’s finest, most beautiful backcountry.

Each race venue is located within one and a half hour drive or less, from Vancouver. So here’s your chance to get out of the city and into the backcountry for an exhilarating Saturday morning experience. What better way to start your weekend?! You’ll be physically challenged while experiencing some of the most spectacular terrain BC has to offer.

If you register for all 5 of the races, you get one race free. Also, the website has a lot good information on training, clinics, course descriptions, and so on.