Distance: 11.21 km
Weather: Sun, cloud, light shower
Temp: 17ºC
Wind: light breeze
Calories burned: 784
Average pace: 5:10/km
Total distance to date: 878 km
UPDATE, November 7, 2025:
Yes, I am updating this post over 14 years later after randomly coming across it. In particular, I wanted to make note that back in 2011 I ran using a pedometer strapped to one of my running shoes--the Nike one that worked with an app on my iPod nano. This was never as accurate as GPS-based tracking, but it was off more than I realized at the time.
In 2011, the Burnaby Lake loop did not have any distance markers. When they were added a few years after this run was recorded, it revealed that starting and ending a run at the 0K marker would be a total of 10.3 km, much less than the 11.21 km I thought I'd run.
Using the description of where I started and stopped the run, I am reasonably confident I began the run at what is now the 0K marker and ended it just shortly past the 10K marker. This means, with a total time of 58 minutes, my overall pace was not an amazing 5:10/km, but actually closer to 5:48/km, which is slower than my usual runs as of November 2025. The copious slugs remain accurate, however.
After more than two years of running at China Creek park I finally tried something new. Tonight, Jeff and I drive to Burnaby Lake and I did my run on the trail that circumnavigates the lake, a distance of approximately 11 km. I started at the parking lot near the Burnaby Equestrian Centre and ran counter-clockwise, finishing with a total distance of 11.21 km and a time of one second under 58 minutes.
There are two remarkable things about this run. The first was the huge number of black slugs on the trail. It was like a 1950s science fiction movie where black slugs invaded the Earth, except the slugs were normal-sized and not really invading. I successfully dodged all of them.
The other remarkable thing was my time. I finished with an overall pace of 5:10/km. This is a full seven seconds better than my previous best pace, and it was also the only time I’ve come in under 5 minutes on the first three km (and the fourth was only one second over). I’m not really sure why my pace was so much better. Was it running in the early evening after three full meals? Was it the excitement of a new course? The variety on not looping around the same path a dozen and a half times? Alignment of the planets? All of these things?
I did my usual — keeping the pace steady and there are several long straight stretches that made it easier to maintain speed (the northern Cottonwood Trail stands out in that regard), but I also had my share of miscues. One time I mistakenly turned down a path to a viewpoint and had to swing back onto the main trail. When the trail turns south it enters a stretch I hadn’t anticipated where it crosses a road, parallels another, goes over a parking lot and generally looks very un-trail-like. It also doesn’t help that most of the trail affords no view of the lake at all, so you can’t use it as a navigation aid except to know that it’s ‘somewhere over that way’.
The trail itself is fairly good for running. It’s not too hard-packed and the stretches over concrete and pavement are brief. There are a couple of points on the southern side where you have to run along wooden boardwalks built over top of the bog but they’re in good condition. It’s all very scenic and woodsy.
I look forward to doing it again, though I suspect it will be awhile before I can beat my 5:10 pace.
Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise):
| km | Jul 11 | Jul 9 | Jul 6 | Jul 4 | Jul 1 | Jun 28 | Jun 26 | Jun 21 | Jun 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 4:54 | 4:58 | 5:08 | 4:58 | 5:04 | 4:58 | 4:59 | 5:00 | 4:53 |
| 2 km | 4:56 | 4:58 | 5:11 | 5:02 | 5:06 | 5:03 | 5:05 | 5:04 | 5:01 |
| 3 km | 4:58 | 5:03 | 5:14 | 5:08 | 5:07 | 5:05 | 5:10 | 5:07 | 5:04 |
| 4 km | 5:01 | 5:07 | 5:17 | 5:12 | 5:09 | 5:08 | 5:13 | 5:11 | 5:09 |
| 5 km | 5:03 | 5:10 | 5:20 | 5:14 | 5:11 | 5:11 | 5:15 | 5:14 | 5:13 |
| 6 km | 5:03 | 5:12 | 5:22 | 5:15 | 5:12 | 5:13 | 5:19 | 5:15 | 5:15 |
| 7 km | 5:04 | 5:15 | 5:25 | 5:17 | 5:14 | 5:15 | 5:21 | 5:17 | 5:18 |
| 8 km | 5:06 | 5:17 | 5:27 | 5:19 | 5:16 | 5:16 | 5:23 | 5:19 | 5:21 |
| 9 km | 5:08 | 5:19 | 5:30 | 5:21 | 5:17 | 5:18 | 5:25 | 5:20 | 5:23 |
| 10 km | 5:10 | 5:20 | 5:31 | 5:21 | 5:17 | 5:19 | 5:27 | 5:21 | 5:24 |
| 11 km | 4:59 | — | — | — | 5:19 |
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