Frontenac Perimeter Loop FKT
On June 8, I set off to run a record fastest time on the "Frontenac Perimeter Loop". It was a perfect day and it really cemented why I'm doing this project. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and it was just me and the trail and some heavy breathing.
I drove up the night before, in Clifford the Big Red Van. I then proceeded to head into the trail and get a little taste for the conditions. It was definitely wetter than I thought. Spring in southern Ontario was notably wet this year, seeing considerable flooding in the area. I thought that since it had been nearly a month since the flooding that the ground would be dry by then, but alas, it was still quite wet and swampy thought. This meant that the running was slower and wetter than I thought it would be. I went to Westport to grab a pizza for dinner and then headed to a quiet spot to sleep.
The next morning I drove the remaining 15 minutes to the park office and got my park pass. It was only $14 (great buy!) After filling my bottles I got started.
The Frontenac Perimeter loop, which I planned to run isn't so much of a single trail, as it is more a collection of trails which follows the perimeter of the Frontenac park. Its very cool because you get to see so much of the park and all the different topographical features in a short period of time.
What's so unique about the Frontenac park is that it sits on the southern border of the Canadian Shield. There is a massive chunk of granite that covers most of Ontario and Quebec and its southern terminus is right around Frontenac. That means that you get to repeatedly run across the most beautiful open chunks of granite. If you go just 20 km south, towards kingston you get into Limestone. The mix of mature Ontario Forests, pristine lakes and perfect granite makes this park a gem. Whats really cool too, is that its only a 3 hour drive from Toronto, 30 minutes for Kingston and 1.5 hours from Ottawa. These are three of the biggest cities in Canada (certainly Ontario), so the accessibility is wonderful. I think most people don't know about the park, but its a great getaway destination.
The trail running went very well. Despite the VERY wet conditions, I felt good that day. After 1 hour of the most technical running, I was already 10.5km in and feeling strong. The pace just kept rolling and I kept running. I passed a few occupied campsites along the way, but I only saw 3 other hikers. These hikers were right near the park entrance, so the first 3:30 of the run were done in blissful solitude. As you progress on the route, the trails get hillier, but smoother and more runnable. This allows your to put your head down and really put in an effort.
The last few km are very much the same and you never really know how close you are until you hit the "corridor trail". I stopped the watch with the Strava CR route saying I was 4:19:48. This was a new FKT and I was pretty stoked about it. After a refreshing swim, I got back into the van and drove home.
The most surreal part of the drive was coming through Toronto. There are thousands of people, all in their cars looking stressed out and hurried. I was fresh off a wonderful day and I couldn't help but wonder if some of these people may have their priorities askew? Less work, more time spent in nature? I think that could do us all a lot of good.
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