My name is Tim and my goal is to run the entire Bruce Trail. in 2008 [make that "2008 and 2009"]. The Bruce Trail is is a semi-wild trail extending 885 kilometres (550 miles) along the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario from Niagara to Tobermory. Completed in 1967, the Bruce Trail is called “the oldest and longest continuous footpath in Canada.” It also happens to be within a short driving distance of Toronto, where I live.
I will not be the first or the fastest person to do this. People have run the Bruce Trail end-to-end, continuously, in about two weeks. That is a monumental achievement. If anything, my goal is to show that it doesn’t need need to be that difficult, just a fun adventure that I can string together on weekends to motivate me to get outside, exercise, and explore the wilderness in my backyard.
I decided to run the Bruce Trail in pieces from south to north so I could begin with shorter sections close to home and build up to longer distances as the trail got harder to reach. My other reason for running north – the lack of snow at the south end when I started – backfired because I was only halfway through before winter came and I had to continue on snowshoes.
The birth of my daughter in April 2009, one year after I started the trail, prompted a further shift in priorities. I decided I was in no particular hurry after all. Now I’m planning to finish the last few hundred kilometres of the trail over about seven days in 2010.
Tim, I was happy to find your website and hear about your start to this adventure. I started hiking the Bruce Trail last Canada Day weekend, and it is my goal to complete it by this Canada Day. I was out for 3 days this weekend and now I am on the West side of the Beaver Valley at Day 17. Maybe we will see you on the trail!
Hey I was wondering how many people have run the entire trail end to end? How long did it take them? Do you have any info or links about these people? Thanks so much
That’s a good question. I’d like to compile a list of everyone who’s done this. So far I know only of one person, Clayton Smith, though there are probably others, and at least one attempt I heard about and posted about here. Smith ran the trail in 15 days. I think it would be hard to go much faster than that, which is an average of nearly 60 km per day. At the bottom of that post there’s a link to an article about his run from the Globe and Mail. Let me know if you find out more. Are you thinking of running it?
The Bruce Trail Conservancy keeps a list of all registered Bruce Trail End-To-Enders. Starting June 1st 2009, I’ll be completing a Norbound End-to-end myself.
Tim,
I really enjoyed reading your posts. I invite you to check out our website The850race.com to follow our attempt on Sept 13 2009 to run the entire BT in 6 days as a two man relay team. Good luck on your adventure.