My buddy Dave and I have a goal to get together every week of the school year and do The Coquitlam Crunch, a 5k round trip up and down the south-facing side of the lower Westwood Plateau. We first did this starting in late January and in August we decided to commit to missing a maximum of 4 weeks the whole school year. We’ve only missed one so far.

Usually we go after school on a Friday, and the last few have been in the dark, because we can’t get there early enough when the days get dark so fast. However, I couldn’t go Friday, and so we went at 8am this morning. According to the thermometer in my car, it was just 2 degrees Celsius when we started, but when you start your walk going up, it doesn’t take long to get warm.

These walks have been one of the things that have helped me get through the last year. Beyond my immediate family, I can count the number of social events I have done during work weeks this year on one or maybe two hands. It has been an isolating experience, and except for another connection through my archery, nothing social is regularly scheduled.

On these walks Dave and I might ‘talk shop’ for a little bit, but then the conversations can go anywhere… and they usually do. Good conversations, good exercise, fresh air, and quality time that has strengthened an already amazing friendship… The Crunch has become a bonding experience and a tradition that probably never would have happened had covid-19 not limited our ability to be social.