The Ross Report-Island Relay 2005

Relay Wars

Strong with Bastion the force was. Truly, many, many, behinds kicked did we. A long time ago in a city far, far, away, Steve Middleton, Sherri Wade and the gang from Pacific Sports created an exciting event for runners a day in the doing and months in the making. If anyone's experience was like mine the day started at 4:00 in the morning and ended 17 1/2 hours later fixing a flat tire with a stripped lug nut. In between there were moments of drama, panic, and burlesque as everyone made there way down from Courteney to Nanaimo, some like our team learning on the fly. The excitement built up as all the teams and their cars which had started at staggered times from 4:00 to 8:30 converged at stages 9 and 10 making their way to Caledonia. There were tremendous numbers of volunteers, many from Bastion, guiding runners, halting traffic and keeping track of all the teams. Without them nothing could have been accomplished. At the stadium, Darrell had the Bastion finish frame up, Bill Jones handled the awards and congrats, Steve G. managed the money, Lisa Rispin gave us ice cream, Arlene Ward kept everyone lubricated while others I never saw did something that somehow contributed to the success of the after race festivities. The food from Jennifer Frost was great and all you could eat. Suckers. The sponsors were behind us all the way too, from Thrifty's who let us use the Courteney store's washroom to Subway, whose manager produced a tool box to help us with the aforementioned stripped lug nut.
Now our teams. Bill Hollingshead's Beauty and the Beasts (personally I think Bill is a pretty handsome guy but I wouldn't go so far as to describe him as a beauty) tore up the roads getting from Courteney to Nanaimo in under 8 1/2 hours and taking home the mighty sports bags of infinite power in the Male Masters category. Congratulations to Bill, Adam, Delbert, Malcolm, Warren, Dominique, Mike Gill, Steve Earle, Dave D and Kim (oh, that's where they get the beauty from) for a relentless effort. My team, the Bastion Trailblazers, after some last night searching for a runner came together and finished at 9 hours and 32 minutes to win the towels of eternal contentment in the Mixed Masters category. Personally, I was great but so too were Mike Mullaley, Pat Good, Joanne Hogan, Valerie Capewell, Ted Radstake, Ian Middleton, Codie Ward, Duncan Stewart and ZZ. Then there were the Enduring Endorphins who may not have had the age or experience of other teams but whose grace and poise under fire was an inspiration to the rest of us. Janice having finished running the first stage could be seen running along with a teammate later on. Congratulations to Pat and Janice Ross, Bill and Julie Benson, Jim and Laurie Ritchie, James and Denise Tierney, Terry Nimmon and Anne Middleton. There were Bastion runners on various teams such as Cam and Friends (Cameron Paugh, Janet Oxler, Doris Frank, and John Durkin), Dicks see Chicks (Eric McCormick and Shalene Carlson) and others. A great effort by all.

Obi-Ross-Kenobi