Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #42

Trail Bits

Congratulations to Roberta and Owen on their wedding which took place on Saturday afternoon.

A “job well done” to all of you that ventured off to either Portland or Victoria for races on the weekend. There were over 325 runners from the central part of the Island (Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Nanoose, and Parksville) that went down to Victoria to run in either 8k, Half Marathon or Marathon. I won’t mention the results of any one by name as there are far too many of you to mention. Judging by the results, you all had great runs as did the folks that ventured down to Portland.

Those of us that remained in Nanaimo were given the honor of running with Owen and Roberta, just 6 hours before their weeding ceremony. What a great way for them to start their wedding day, a trail run with us.

The run (1hr & 15 min) of the Foothills (partly new route, thanks to Andrea) lived up to its name and delivered us a number of long hill climbs. The new route, was great and allowed us to take in a new viewpoint which gave us a spectacular view of the Winchelsea Islands. The long 15 minute downhill is a killer though.

Trail runs now start at 7:30 am


Hornby Island Run – Trail, Beach and Bluff Run is October 22nd. Car Pooling. There are about a dozen people confirmed so far. Let me know if you are thinking of coming…details below.

CHRISTMAS PARTY – The combined Bastion/ROC Christmas Party (Fall Dance) is confirmed for November 19th in the Legion Hall at Townsite & Bowen. I hope I will have more details this week to pass along to you.

This weekends trail run – This coming weekend – October the 15th will be a run of the Morell & Westwood area .….7:30am, it should be brighter at that time, we will try and keep the run at an easy pace for those of you that just ran the Marathon. We will be out for about 75 – 80 minutes. Meet in the Westwood Lake Parking Lot.

Early Warnings

· OCT 17 FULL MOON RUN – Only if the weather permits.
· OCT 22 HORNBY ISLAND - Trail, Beach and Bluff Run – (no, not a buff run…so keep your clothes on!) Depart Chapters 6:30 am, 1:00pm arrive back. I need to know if you are coming.
· OCT 30 Shawnigan Lake Half Marathon – check out the P.I.H. website for details http://pih.bc.ca/Calendar.php
· NOV 11 Thetis Lake Relays – ROAD TRIP! - The Thetis Lake Relays ($20.00 for a team) which takes place on Friday November 11th (Remembrance Day) is a 4 X 5km Team Relay all run on single track trails.
· NOV 12 Frontrunners Annual Shop Party – November 12th, DJ, Lots of Friends, Lots of Food, Lots of Fun, Scooter Racing, more details to come each week.
· NOV 20 Nanaimo Track & Field Harbour Front 5Km – November 20th , Location and time to be announced, this is a fundraiser for the Track & Field Club
· NOV 26 Gunner Shaw Cross Country – Saturday November 26th, Thetis Lake Park Victoria, if you consider yourself a trail runner then you must come to this race with us. It is one of the oldest x/c trail races in BC. Draws a great crowd. Amazing course. It can be wet!!!! Put it on your calendar right now, so you don’t double book yourself.
· NOV 27 Women Run Wild – Girls only. Annual fund raiser for Haven House. Details at Frontrunners or via Women’s Pace website.
· DEC 1 Nanaimo Give & Go! – Thursday December 1st is the date of the 3rd Annual Nanaimo Give and Go!
· DEC 10 Stewart Mountain Cross Country – 10 miles on a really classic cross country course.
· DEC 4 Frosty Foot Race - December 4th, 2005, Bowen Park, Nanaimo, 10 am start, registration 9:15, 10km Run, 5km Run or Walk, 1km Tot Trot
· JAN 1st Bastion Running Club’s Run & Dip – New Years Day, Westwood Lake, Time - TBA, one lap or more of the lake, followed by a very quick dip in the lake. Rain or shine, snow or sleet, it doesn’t matter, Darrell and the Bastion crew will be there waiting for you. Great way to start off 2006.

That’s enough….Gotta go!

Dan