Note from Dan the Trail Guy #12

Trail Bits and News Bits

New 7:00 AM Start time A Great run of the Duomont trails was had by all on Saturday. Theturnout was surprisingly good considering that a large number of theSaturday morning gang is now involved in Marathon and Half Marathontraining and was off pounding the pavement...they will be back.

1. Hornby Island - We are set to LEAVE (not arrive) at 6:30 am fromChapters on Saturday morning. We will figure out the car pooling then.Make sure you bring enough cash money for your share of gas, ferry,coffee and snacks or lunch afterwards. There are places on the Islandthat don't take Debit Cards so be prepared. It looks like there isn'tgoing to be rain on Saturday, but bring a change of clothes, socks andshoes just in case. It looks like there will be about 20 of us going.Could you please email me if you are planning on coming..Thanks.

2. This week's run - For those of you not coming to Hornby, the runwill be from Westwood Lake at 7:00 am. ONE HOUR

3. Length of the Saturday Runs- I have been asked if I can try andalternate the length of the Saturday Trail runs in order to try andaccommodate the people taking part in the marathon training. I will giveit a try; we will do a shorter run (1 hour) one weekend and then alonger run the next weekend. We can decide how long to make the long runwhen we get together next.Some of us will be doing a large portion (not all) of our marathontraining runs on the trails, so we will be starting to head out onlonger and longer trail runs as the training progresses. I don't expectthat the group will want to head out on two and three hour runs, so Iwill arrange other leaders to take the main group out. We will all meetand start at the same time; some of us will just run a little longer. Iwill let you know how far we will be running in case you want to comealong.

4. New things to do -* The Tuesday afternoon trail runs are now back. Tuesdayafternoon, 4:00pm, Westwood Lake. One Hour Maximum, A steady, easierpace run, with few stops, but there definitely could be some hill workinvolved, depending on where we go each week.* Saturday Morning Bike Rides. A group will be meeting atChapters Starbucks: 7:30 am to bike since they are injured and can notrun. The ride will be 1 to 11/2 hour and probably follow the Parkway andE&N trails. The bike group will meet back for coffee at Starbucks withthe rest of the group.

5. First GutBuster of 2005 is coming up soon, only 2 moreSaturdays. The Stewart Mountain 15k & 8k is Saturday, March 12th 10:00am. We will be leaving from Tim Horton's, Southgate Centre at 7:45 am.This will get us to Thetis Lake by 9:00 am. Is that okay with all ofyou?

6. Mark July 9th on your calendar, that is the date of the veryfirst GutBuster Half Marathon Trail Race.

Remember..."Only those who risk going too far, can possibly find out howfar they can go."..T.S. Elliot