Trail Bits 2006 #5

Trail Bits 2006 # 5

Do you know that ROC now has 200 PAID up members for 2006? In addition to that, there are about another 15 people that receive the Trail Bits that are not paid up members of ROC as of yet. An interesting bit of news is that from the 2005 membership base, I only had 2 people tell me that they were not going to renew their membership for 2006. It is pretty amazing how quickly our small little group of Trail Runners has grown into such a great resource for our community and how much support we receive from all of you…..Thank you!



I think that a few of you might have used the excuse “it’s windy outside” to stay in bed on Saturday morning. I couldn’t, I had to leave my house and come to the Lake to help organize a bunch of dysfunctional trail runners into three groups. Actually, I was out anyways so I dropped by. It was really great to see those of you that were at the Lake on Saturday and yes it was a tad bit windy. The number of people out for the Saturday run was slightly less than normal, but still there were about 25 people out for what turned out to be a fantastic morning for trail running. Lots of water on the ground, a little mud (actually lots of mud), glimpses of blue sky, what more could you ask for? You have no idea how much I miss running the trails with all of you on a Saturday morning. Group 1 now knows that if you chose the easy routes when trail running and that if you choose to run down hill for the first 45 minutes, it makes for a long, up hill run on the way home.



I need to apologize to those of you that were planning on joining me this coming Saturday for the start of the Run/Walk Program. Since last weeks email I have been told that I need to wait for at least another 4 weeks before I start again. There were at least a half dozen people that emailed me to say they were going to come along with me, so there is definitely interest. In the meantime, if you were one of those people that wanted to get out and do some hiking/walking on the Saturday mornings with the other folks let me know and I will pass your email addresses to each other so you can organize something. Is there someone else out there with enough knowledge of the trails that you could lead a Run/walk group for the next few weeks?



Sunday saw over 30 runners head down to Mill Bay for the Mill Bay 10k. The race had a record number of entries (740) and a record number of finishers (660). A large number of ROC members raced either under the ROC, Bastion, Frontrunners or Carrot on the Run Club names. ROC & PIH member, Steve Osiaduk was first across the line in a time of 30:40. Stefan was 9th over all with a time of 33:02 and the top female times from Nanaimo were Michelle Krall at 41:55 and Julie Greenhill with a time of 44:01.

Next up is the Cedar 12km on February 12th. See # 3 below for details.



Check out the Frontrunners Blog at http://frontrunners.blogspot.com to read all about Wendy Simms adventures at the World CycloCross Championships this past weekend.



Don’t forget that the Oceanside Cross Country is this Sunday.



Next weekend will be a run of the Nanoose Trails with Lynn and Kathy. Watch for some very exciting information on the snow shoeing coming at you tomorrow.



1. Poop Patrol – a heads up that Malaspina University College will be applying Bio Solids in the forested areas in behind the Wastelands Motocross track up at the end of Dumont. Please avoid this area for the next while.

2. Oceanside Cross Country - the Oceanside Cross Country Race Sun. Feb. 5th. It is a very low key, fun event. The registration is day of race only at 12 noon in the parking lot behind the Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Quallicum Beach

3. Cedar 12k - this is Bastion Running Club big race of the year. Lots of volunteers, marshals and racers will be needed for this race. February 12th, please email Darrell Orosz at janddorosz@shaw.ca if you can help with set up, registration, marshalling. There are duties that will allow you to volunteer and race.

4. Island Relay – The organizers of the Subway Island Relay are still in need of one or two bodies that would be able to commit to being the Trouble Shooters on the day of the event. May 27, 2006. They need someone to stay on top of everything, putting out fires and any last minute panic's. You will have a list of all contacts, a vehicle with a courtesy driver and generally be everywhere fixing race day problems & checking things are set up correctly. If you would like more information on this, please email me.

5. The RUN Details – Westwood Lake- main parking lot, 8:00 am. This time it will be a run of the Saddle and back to the Lake by going through Morell. This run is usually takes about an Hour & fifteen or so. It may be a wee bit wet in spots!!!!!

Upcoming Stuff

· GutBuster #1 – March 5th – CANCELLED

· Oceanside Cross Country – February 5th

· Cedar 12km – February 12th

· Hatley Castle 8km – February 26th

· Bazan Bay 8km – March 12th

· Comox Half Marathon – March 19th

· GutBuster # 2 Royal Roads - March 25th

· Sooke River 10km – April 2nd

· Whidbey Island Marathon – April 2nd

· Merville 15km – April 9th

· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Tzouhalem – April 15th

· Kusim Klimb – June

· GutBuster # 4 Mt. Douglas – June 3rd

· GutBuster # 5 – Westwood Lake Half Marathon & 8km – July 16th