Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #39

Trail Bits

After having been busy with summer holidays and Half Marathon preparations it was nice to get back out with the group, including a few new faces for a nice leisurely run on the Duomont Trails. The air was fresh (won't be afterthey spray bio-solids up there) and the trails were in great shape. There was no longer a need to run and try to carry on a conversation concerning some organizational aspect of the half marathon. It was just a run, a run followed up with coffee at Chapters. A number of the road warriors that are training for Victoria and Portland managed to join us for coffee. Speaking of coffee, the scuttle butt is that we will be relocating to Serious Coffee(fresh baked goods) on Saturday mornings once they open. While we were lounging around drinking coffee and socializing the girls (and Dale) were inKelowna working hard at the Dragon Boast Festival. All of their hard work paid off, as they claimed in 4th in their division which had 48 teams in it.Congratulations to all of you.

PLEASE NOTE: There is an article in Tuesdays Daily News that states thatRunners of Compassion partially sponsored Bobbie Jensen's trip to the WorldTrail Running Championships in New Zealand. This was not the case. Bobbie was sponsored by a number of local individuals who wanted to help Bobbie getto the World Championships, of which several happened to be members ofRunners of Compassion. NO FUNDS FROM RUNNERS OF COMPASSON WERE GIVEN TOBOBBIE. Owen Carr the Treasurer for ROC can confirm this. Sorry for theconfusion.

1. VOLUNTEERS & SPONSORS Appreciation Party - it is Thursday, September 29th at 6:30pm in the same location as last year, the Howard Johnson Harbourside Hotel.

2. NDSS Cross Country Team - You folks are fantastic, Mike Gill had 7 or 8 emails within a couple of hours of me sending out the request forvolunteers..Thank you. First race starts Friday at 1:00pm. Pioneer Park.

3. CHRISTMAS PARTY - The combined Bastion/ROC Christmas Party isconfirmed for November 19th in the Legion Hall at Townsite & Bowen. FYI;there was more response for a DJ than a band.

4. ROC Gear - The Runners of Compassion shirts have been re-stocked atFrontrunners so there is now a wide selection of sizes. Norm and Stefan have also arranged to have black Helly Hansen winter running toques to be brought in. I have attached a JPG of what the embroidery on the toque will look like (above). They should be available for purchase by the weekend.

5. 59:05 Half Marathon - Four competitors in the Great North Run, theworld's largest half-marathon event, died yesterday after collapsing instiflingly hot and humid conditions. The four men, who were among a field of38,000 runners, collapsed at separate points along the 13-mile route fromNewcastle to South Shields. All four had passed the eight-mile mark and onewas only two miles from the finishing line. The winner ran it in a time of59:05. Jon Brown who runs lives and trains in Victoria came in 8th and ranit in a time of 1:03:43.6.

This weekends trail run - This coming weekend - September 24th -7:00 AM we will be running the trails of Humility and the Abyss. The run will be about 80 minutes. For those of you that are new to the Saturday morning trail group here are the directions. Take the 5th Street Exit off ofthe Nanaimo Parkway - Turn right on Wakesiah - Turn right on Nanaimo LakesRoad - Turn left at Harewood Mines Road. We will be parked under the powerlines. If you are coming from other parts of town and need further directions, please email me back. Bob Patrick will have Half Marathon Shirts available at Chapters afterwards for those that want to buy one. Medals for those volunteers that ran the Volunteer's Half will also be available for pick up on the Saturday.

7. Early Warnings:
* Thetis Lake Relays - ROAD TRIP! - The Thetis Lake Relays ($20.00for a team) which takes place on Friday November 11th (Remembrance Day) is a4 X 5km Team Relay all run on single track trails.
* Frosty Foot Race - December 4th, 2005, Bowen Park, Nanaimo, 10 amstart, registration 9:15, 10km Run, 5km Run or Walk, 1km Tot Trot
* Nanaimo Track & Field Harbour Front 5Km - November 20th , Locationand time to be announced, this is a fundraiser for the Track & Field Club
* Gunner Shaw Cross Country - Saturday November 26th, Thetis LakePark Victoria, if you consider yourself a trail runner then you must come tothis race with us. It is one of the oldest x/c trail races in BC. Draws agreat crowd. Amazing course. It can be wet!!!! Put it on your calendar right now, so you don't double book yourself.