Trail Bits #17 2006

Trail Bits # 17

Please remember that when we encounter other runners, walkers, and bikers on our runs, the leader needs to LOUDLY ANNOUNCE to the group that someone is approaching. The group needs to pass along the message to the rest of the group. At this time the group should start running single file – staying to the right side of the trail….thanks a lot.

Learn to Mountain Bike – Still a couple of spots left in Sean’s Bike Clinic this Saturday. 8:00 – 10:00 Email Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca for time and place. Remember 100% of the proceeds go to ROC.

I think the May 27 & 28 weekend is now full. Saturday May 27th is the Island Relay, while Sunday the 28th is the Oak Bay Half Marathon, the Knee Knacker 25km Trail Race in North Vancouver and the 8km Holland Creek Crunch Trail Race in Ladysmith. All four events are great, which one will you choose to do? Oh, if that wasn’t enough there is a big MTB race in Campbell River on the Sunday.

Ø Thank you to all of you that showed up on Saturday morning for the Shaw Cable filming. I now have a time schedule of when it will be running. The column appears in this Wednesday’s Harbour City Star and it will begin running on Channel 4 Wednesday at 6 pm. It is usually in the first 15 minutes of each hour and repeats each hour until Thursday at 6 pm. The whole thing starts again Saturday at 6 pm and runs every hour until 6 pm Monday. The feature will air a total of 72 times!

Ø It sounds like half of Nanaimo was over in Vancouver on Sunday for the Sun Run. 50,000 runners…..amazing!

Ø Congratulations to Sean and Corey on the opening of their new bike shop; Oak Bay Bikes last Saturday in Longwood Plaza. They are located in the same part of the plaza as Esquire Coffee and Great Clips. Drop in and check out their selection of bikes, clothes and gadgets. MTB Bikes, Road Bikes, Tri Bikes, Kids Bikes, etc. They also do service work.

Ø Steve Osiaduk was in London on Sunday for the Flora London Marathon which he was on a pace to complete in a time of around 2:15 when he had to withdraw due to cramping. When I last spoke with Steve, it was his intention to be back in time to race in this weekend Times Colonist 10k. Steves is hoping to defend the winners’ title that he has held for the past two years. Good luck to you Steve in your pursuit to be the first three years in a row winner of the race. Nanaimo will be cheering for you.

Ø Snow to Surf was held this past weekend and all I have been hearing about is how fantastic the teams made up of ROC members from Nanaimo did in the race. Congratulations ladies and gentlemen! Here are some of the great results from ROC related teams at Snow to Surf with Team Frontrunners placing 2nd in Open men and 2nd overall. Frontrunners Foxy placing 2nd in open women and 46th overall. Team Ampedphibians with team leader, Kathy Barber, winning the Masters Women category and placing 33rd overall.

Ø Margaret & Ceri Merrett were the cover girls in this past Saturdays Nanaimo Daily News. Great article about the two of them running and being able to run in the Boston Marathon together.

Ø Wendy Simms was also in the paper as a result of her second place finish in Mt. Tzouhalem GutBuster. Susan Briggs again won her age group and both Dave Metcalfe and Line Couture were both second in their age groups.

Ø Island Relay is coming up fast. The Island Relay which is an eight person relay from Courtenay to North Nanaimo is on May 27th. The Relay, which is a fund raising event for the BC Transplant Society would like to know if Runners of Compassion will be entering a team or two. If you are planning on entering a team, please let Steve Middleton know as soon as possible as it will help them with their planning. You can email Steve at saam@shaw.ca .

Ø Ladysmith Holland Creek Crunch 8km Trail Race – Looking for a really nice and short trail race close to home, then check out the Holland Creek Crunch. It is May 28th.

Ø Correct email address for the Yoga instructor is Domsull@shaw.ca I apologize for sending along the wrong address.

Ø May 1st- Women's Night (FREE!!) Join FR for this amazing night just for women. Make it a girl’s night out! Mingle, enjoy a glass of wine and nibblies, learn about proper sports bra fit and leave inspired by hearing accomplished runner, mother of twins, and teacher Bobbie Jensen speak on Striking a Balance! Doors open at 6:45pm. The evening begins at 7pm. RSVP for this FREE evening by calling Frontrunners at 729-8200.

Ø Frontrunners Customer Appreciation Night/ Clubs Night- Thursday May 4th - Come out to this annual event. Talk to the reps, enter great draws, and get fabulous deals on merchandise in the store! Not to mention the opportunity to mingle and have munchies with all of your running buddies!


This week the run location is Duomont Road 7:00AM
The driving directions are fairly simple.
If you live in north Nanaimo, take Metral Drive to Duomont Road. Turn on to Duomont Road and head out past the Black Bear Pub. Follow this road for 10 minutes or until you come to the T-Junction with Biggs & Weigles Road. Turn Right and head up the hill for a couple of minutes. You will see us on the side of the road. If you get to the flat part of road near the Wasteland Motto Cross Track, you have gone too far.

If you live in central or South Nanaimo take the Parkway to the Jingle Pot/Mostar exit – Turn Left at this intersection.
Immediately turn right on to Biggs Road. Stay on this road. You will drive past the Correctional Facility, past the farm fields and will then start heading up the hill. Keep heading up the hill. This road simply changes its name and becomes Weigles Rd. Keep driving up the hill. You will see us on the side of the road. If you get to the flat part of road near the Wasteland Motto Cross Track, you have gone too far.

Upcoming Stuff
* indicates trail race
· Times Colonist 10K – April 30th
· Vancouver Marathon – May 7th
· Oceanside 10k – May 7th
· Island Relay – May 27th
· Knee Knacker 25km Trail Race, North Vancouver – May 28th
· Oak Bay Half Marathon – May 28th
· Ladysmith’s Holland Creek Trail Race – May 28th
· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Douglas, Victoria – June 3rd
· Panoramic Classic Triathlon, Saanich – June 4th
· Edge to Edge Half & Full Marathon, Tofino – June 11th
· New Balance Half Iron, Victoria – June 18th
· Kusim Klimb, Sayward – June 17th
· Scotia Bank Half Marathon, Vancouver – June 25th
· Comfortably Numb 25km Trail Race – June 25th
· GutBuster # 4 – Westwood Lake Half Marathon & 8km – July 16th
· Full (50Km) & Half (25km) Monty Trail Races, Victoria – August 19th
· Log Train Trail Half & Full Marathons, Port Alberni – August 20th

Another note from Ross....he forgot.

Dear Bastion

Sorry, forgot to mention the 5 K Run For Life Fund Run on Sunday, May 14 at 10 am at Bowen Park. We have always supported this race and got a lot of runners out because the money raised goes to the Nanaimo District Hospital. You can register by phone at 755-7690 or there are probably forms at most banks and maybe Frontrunners. If you register by May 1 you can enter for $25, $30 afterwards. Info is also available at http://www.equipforlife.com/

Thanks,
Ross

Bastion Ross Notes: Coming and Going

Dear Bastion,

It was a long weekend and a good one for Bastion. Saturday saw a large number tackle the Gutbuster in Duncan on a cold drizzly day. The most exciting part for those of us watching was a down to the wire dash to the finish by the three top women runners, including Wendy Simms who finished second by two seconds. The runners were all looking good coming in and very brave about there being no coffee or anything hot to drink.
Monday was the Boston Marathon and a good effort by 19 Nanaimo runners. John Grabher fell ill the day before but still took on the beast. Most of us would have done the same too. No sense in going all that way for nothing. A lot of good finishing times in spite of the massive amount of runners and I’m sure it was all very fun. Unfortunately, Kim Gagliano did not run negative splits, and as per our agreement, has to get down and give us all fifty and then buy us all some chocolate. And not the cheap kind you get in bulk. The good stuff.
We said goodbye to Karen Fry on Saturday and I would like to thank John Loewen and Bobbie Jensen for being such great hosts. Bobbie never let our glasses get empty even though Linda repeatedly chewed off every one of her son’s toes. A heroic grazing effort was made to get through the mountain of food brought and we made a significant dent in it by the end of the night.
Speaking of Bobbie Jensen, she is giving a talk at the Monday, May 1 “Woman’s Night” sponsored by Brooks/Frontrunners. This women’s only night will be held at the Frontrunners store with the doors open at 6:45 for wine and nibblies and the evening kicking off at 7:00 pm. Bobbie will talk about Striking A Balance and you will learn about things like proper sports bra fit. It’s all free but RSVP Frontrunners at 729-8200.
And now we split up this weekend and go in all directions. South to Sooke for the Sooke Spring Sprint Triathlon, the first in the Provincial Series. North to Mt. Washington for the Snow to Surf Relay, a monster 100 K event for those lucky enough to be doing it. And of course east to Vancouver for the Sun Run. Fifty thousand runners is a zoo.
This week the Wednesday track workouts move back to Wednesdays at 5:00 pm, as Marilyn has finished teaching her classes at Malaspina. If anyone would like a later starting time, email me.
Next week is the Times Colonist in Victoria. A great race and a touch saner than the Sun Run. If Karen is reading this, we did not just go to coffee on Thursday night. We actually did our workout.
Bastion has two teams ready for the Island Relay on May 27. We will pay the entry fees for three teams, so here’s a good opportunity to have a great time for free. Start with three or four runners and in no time you’ll attract the eight runners needed.

Thanks,
Ross

Trail Bits #16 2006

Trail Bits # 16
We still need you to bring your toonies.

Boy, what a small little crowd on Saturday at the lake. I think we had no more than 18 people. The Easter Long weekend took a lot of people away as they attended to family, friends, going skiing, racing in Boston, racing in the Mt. Tzouhalem GutBuster. Those of us there still managed to have a good time.

This coming Saturday, The Board of Directors of ROC needs your help and cooperation in moving the start time of the run to 7:45am. The reason for the change in time (this weekend only) is in order to facilitate our group being filmed as we start out on our run by Shaw Cable. Shaw is doing a video story about Runners of Compassion and the charity work we do in Nanaimo. The film footage will be part of their segments on Neighbourhood Heroes, which airs on cable channel #4. There will also be a story written by Mr. Bill Robinson appearing in the Nanaimo Daily News as part of this. Having a positive affect in Nanaimo and doing the work that we as well as providing funding to others is why we started ROC in the first place, the trail running is only the social side of our society.
We would really love to have a big turn out of folks for the filming. If you have an ROC shirt please wear it. If you have been thinking of buying one, now is the time to go by Frontrunners and pick one up. Saturday, Westwood Lake parking lot, 7:45am –
The walking group is now a walk/run group starting this weekend…come prepared.

Learn to Mountain Bike - On Saturday April 29th, Sean Lunny is offering a "learn to mountain bike clinic" for the ROC. The course is only $20 and all money raised will go back to the ROC. The clinic takes place from 8-10am. This is a great introduction or refresher for those of you that want to learn some of the nuances of riding the trails. I took this course myself in the fall and I couldn’t believe the difference that just two hours of “proper” instruction made to my riding. There is a proper way to ride up or down a hill and there is a way to get your tires over those roots or small logs without having to dismount. Let Sean show you how. Email Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca to book your spot. A great course for that spouse or partner that needs that extra little bit of instruction, but doesn’t want you to be the one telling them.

Boys & Girls Club Marathon of Golf – The largest fund raiser of the year for the Boys and Girls Club of Central Vancouver Island is there annual Marathon of Golf, which is a 100 hole round of golf pledge raising event. They have asked ROC if we have any one in our membership that would like to enter into this event. I know we have lots of golfers, but do we have one that can handle a marathon.


Other bits of stuff
v It appears that everyone that went to Boston had great runs including a couple of PB’s. Check out the Boston Marathon website for all the searchable results.
v Once again the ROC gang turned in a strong performance at the GutBuster on Saturday. Suzanne Briggs won her age group again. 2 for 2 for her.
v Frontrunners Customer Appreciation Night/ Clubs Night- Thursday May 4th - Come out to this annual event. Talk to the reps, enter great draws, and get fabulous deals on merchandise in the store! Not to mention the opportunity to mingle and have munchies with all of your running buddies!

Clinics – lots and lots of clinics to choose from.

Ø Spin Classes - A new early morning spin class is set to start Tuesday April 25th, 6am. This clinic is 8 weeks and costs $50. You have the option of bringing your own bike and wind trainer or just using the spin bikes already at North Ridge Fitness. Watch for an upcoming evenings “outside” spin class. Stay tuned for details, seanlunny@shaw.ca

Ø Ab Classes - Core classes are also set to re-start. Five week sessions
Thursdays 6:30PM, April 27 - May 25th
Mondays 6:30AM, May 1 - May 29th Cost is $20. seanlunny@shaw.ca

Ø May 1st- Women's Night (FREE!!) Join FR for this amazing night just for women. Make it a girl’s night out! Mingle, enjoy a glass of wine and nibblies, learn about proper sports bra fit and leave inspired by hearing accomplished runner, mother of twins, and teacher Bobbie Jensen speak on Striking a Balance! Doors open at 6:45pm. The evening begins at 7pm. RSVP for this FREE evening by calling Frontrunners at 729-8200.

Ø Frontrunners Ready for Running Clinic ($30)-4 week clinic designed to get you ready for “The Learn to Run Program”. Starts May 25th. Clinic Runs on Thursdays at 6pm and is led by Gillian Goerzen.

Ø Brooks/Frontrunners Learn to Run 10k Clinic ($95)- 12 week learn to run program will take you from walking to running your first 10k at the Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City 10k in September. Starts June20th. Clinic Runs on Tuesdays at 6:30pm and is led by Gillian Goerzen and Stefan Jakobsen.

Ø Brooks/ Frontrunners Beginner Half Marathon Clinic ($95) -16 week clinic designed for those looking to train for their first half marathon or for 'proud back of the packers.' Train for the Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon. Clinic runs Saturdays at 8:30am and is led by Gillian Goerzen

Ø Brooks/ Frontrunners Advanced Half Marathon Program ($95) -12 week clinic designed to take your half marathon training to the next level. Training for the Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon. Starts June 20th. Clinic Runs Tuesdays at 6:30am and is led by John Loewen and Stefan Jakobsen.

Ø New Balance/ Frontrunners Advanced Marathon Program ($95) -16 week clinic designed to take you to the marathon distance in four hours or under. Starts June 22nd. Clinic Runs Thursdays at 6:15pm and is led by John Loewen and Stefan Jakobsen.

Ø Saucony/ Frontrunners Beginner Triathlon Clinic ($95) -8 week clinic to give you the tools and training program to put 'everything together' and complete your first Triathlon. Program is geared to a Sprint Distance Triathlon (500m swim/ 20k bike/ 5k run). Starts May 6th. Clinic runs on Monday evenings and Saturday mornings and is led by Gillian Goerzen.

Ø Frontrunners Open Water Swimming Clinic ($95)- 12 session clinic designed to help you gain the skills you need to be effective swimming in the open water. Starts May 10th. Clinic runs on Wednesdays at 7pm and is led by Tony Theriault and Kathie Van Doorn.

Ø NEW! Yoga for Runners ($25)- Yoga for runners is a 45 min class that will help you increase your mileage, prevent injury and shorten recovery times during the race season. The sessions will focus on hips, in particular, hip flexors, IT bands and hamstring flexibility. This class is designed for all levels of flexibility and for those individuals would like to deepen their enjoyment of running. Starts May 8th. Mondays at 6:45pm led by Dominique Sullivan. Contact Dominique directly for questions or to register at dom_sull@shaw.ca

This week run location – Westwood Lake for one more time. 7:45 AM for the video taping and then off for the run. The hiking group is now a walk/run group starting this Saturday….come prepared to run.
Upcoming Stuff
* indicates trail race
· Sooke Spring Triathlon – April 23rd
· Vancouver Sun Run – April 23rd
· Times Colonist 10K – April 30th
· Vancouver Marathon – May 7th
· Oceanside 10k – May 7th
· Island Relay – May 27th
· Knee Knacker 25km Trail Race, North Vancouver – May 28th
· Oak Bay Half Marathon – May 28th
· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Douglas, Victoria – June 3rd
· Panoramic Classic Triathlon, Saanich – June 4th
· Edge to Edge Half & Full Marathon, Tofino – June 11th
· New Balance Half Iron, Victoria – June 18th
· Kusim Klimb, Sayward – June 17th
· Scotia Bank Half Marathon, Vancouver – June 25th
· Comfortably Numb 25km Trail Race – June 25th
· GutBuster # 4 – Westwood Lake Half Marathon & 8km – July 16th
· Full (50Km) & Half (25km) Monty Trail Races, Victoria – August 19th
· Log Train Trail Half & Full Marathons, Port Alberni – August 20th

Trail Bits #15 2006

ROC Trail Bits # 14

Lots of stuff to report on…….sorry!

Remember to bring your toonie on Saturday. Thank you for all your donations so far.

A thank you goes out to those of you that showed up to move the bikes on Saturday. Believe it or not there were 5 truckloads of bikes to move.

At the Monday night ROC Board of Directors meeting funding applications were approved for the following; $ 900.00 for the Nanaimo Rec & Reading program. This is a summer reading program which helps children whose reading levels are below their age level. The money we have provided will be used for providing lunch for those children that are attending the program. The kids go for three weeks to all day sessions. There are two sessions this coming summer. According to the program Director the results of this program have been amazing.
$ 500.00 towards the Woodlands High School Spring Fling. The staff at Woodlands High School offers an eight week walk/run program to the students at the school, which culminates with a 6km run around Westwood Lake. Our funding helps to pay for the cost of transporting the kids to and from the lake as well as providing some funding for water and refreshments. This program, which we are funding for the third year has been very successful in getting the kids interested in running.
$ 300.00 in funding to help a family pay for their two sons Baseball registration as well as providing footwear and gloves. Financial circumstances of the family would have meant the two boys could not have played.
$ 500.00 in core funding to the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital 5km Run. This 5km run is organized by the Nanaimo banking community and is staged with the help of both Bastion Running Club and ROC. All proceeds from the race go to the NRGH.
===========================

Over 60 people showed up for this past Saturdays for the run of the Westwood Ridges (original GutBuster Course). My understanding was that things went pretty smooth once the main body quickly broke up into 4 or 5 smaller groups. Did we get any pictures?? Apparently the real congestion took place at Starbucks when close to 50 sweaty runners all showed up at the same time all wanting some fancy concoction. Maybe now Starbucks will realize how much business we bring to them and maybe, just maybe they will re-consider being a sponsor of the Half Marathon.
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The Nanaimo, Island Cup Downhill mountain bike race, put on by Arrowsmith Bikes and the Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club, was not only the first in the island series but also in the province and they had a surprising high turn out. One Hundred twenty six riders (Island, Mainland, and Washington State) came out to challenge the short fun course of “Close Encounters” and “What’s its Name”, with a majority of the riders being under the age of 20. This was great to see so much enthusiasm in the younger riders because they are the future of the sport. The racers were escorted up the hill in crew cab trucks provided by National Rental car and the shuttles started at 9:00 as the riders had to have at least one pre-ride under their belts. The race started at 12:00 and had the racers leave at one minute intervals, which gave everyone plenty of time to have a smooth run down. The winning time was 1:46:66, a tie down to the hundreds of a second between Dan Espeseth and Dean Tennant. The next stop for the DH Series is in Victoria and the XC series will be in Parksville on May 6/7 an event put on by Arrowsmith Mountain Cycle and the Arrowsmith Mountain Bike Club. The Nanaimo DH would not have been possible if not for the hard work and contributions from the Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club, The McGarrigle Family, Arrowsmith Bikes, National Rental Car and Race Face components….great effort by all.
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While all the bikers were out ripping up the trails on Sunday, Steve Osiaduk was in Campbell River tearing up the streets of Merville at their 15km Island Race Series event. In winning the event, Steve set a new course record with a time of 46:25 (3:06 per km pace). Steve will be heading over to London to compete in the prestigious Flora London Marathon on April 23rd.
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OPEN HOUSE – John Lowen and Bobbie-Jean Jensen are hosting an open house this Saturday for Karen Fry who is leaving Nanaimo to start a new job in Surrey.
Saturday, April 15, Any time after 7:00pm
BYOB
Bring an Appetizer or Sweet
3476 Falcon Dr. 729-3870
Everyone welcome!
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Mt. Tzouhalem GutBuster Race - the second race in the series is Saturday, April 15th. The race starts and finishes at Providence Farm. The winners of the draw for the complimentary entries into the Duncan GutBuster race are . There will be car pooling on Saturday from the Southgate Tim Horton’s at 8:15 am. Driving directions are as follows; Highway # 1 to Duncan, turn left on Trunk Rd, follow this road past the 7-11; the road turns into Mt. Tzouhalem Rd. Follow this road until you see the sign for Providence Farm; turn up the driveway. Have a great race.
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Adrenaline Weekend –If you pick up the April issue of Outside Magazine you will read inside that one of their suggested “Adrenaline weekends” starts out with Mountain Biking the trails on Hornby Island, followed by some rock climbing in the Horne Lake Caves area, dinner at Delicados in Nanaimo followed up the next day with some chutes and ladders riding (great single track with a bunch of man made drops and bridges) on the Duomont Trails. Pretty cool to have our region written up in such a major American Magazine.
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Upcoming events at Frontrunners –

April 18th. Adidas Fit Night - Come to Tuesday night clinic and test drive a pair of Adidas shoes. Arrive a little early to get sized up with a pair to try out for the clinic night. Clinic leaves shop at 6:30 so try to arrive by 6:15.

May 1st Brooks Women's Night 7- 9pm. Make it a girl’s night out! Your evening will include wine and nibblies, professional bra fittings and a motivational talk with Bobbie Jensen (voted soccer player of the decade, Brooks sponsored runner, world mountain running team, dedicated teacher and mother of twins). Doors open at 6:45, presentations start at 7pm. Space is limited. Please RSVP no later than Friday April 28th by calling Frontrunners at 729-8200.


This week’s run –This weeks run will be a run of the Saddle - The run starts in the Westwood Lake parking lot at 7:00am. I will be taking out a hiking group on Saturday if anyone is interested. Bring you Toonies please.
Upcoming Stuff
* indicates trail race
· GutBuster # 2Mt. Tzouhalem – April 15th
· Boston Marathon – April 17th
· Sooke Spring Triathlon – April 23rd
· Vancouver Sun Run – April 23rd
· Times Colonist 10K – April 30th
· Vancouver Marathon – May 7th
· Oceanside 10k – May 7th
· Island Relay – May 27th
· Knee Knacker 25km Trail Race, North Vancouver – May 28th
· Oak Bay Half Marathon – May 28th
· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Douglas, Victoria – June 3rd
· Panoramic Classic Triathlon, Saanich – June 4th
· Edge to Edge Half & Full Marathon, Tofino – June 11th
· New Balance Half Iron, Victoria – June 18th
· Kusim Klimb, Sayward – June 17th
· Scotia Bank Half Marathon, Vancouver – June 25th
· Comfortably Numb 25km Trail Race – June 25th
· GutBuster # 4 – Westwood Lake Half Marathon & 8km – July 16th
· Full (50Km) & Half (25km) Monty Trail Races, Victoria – August 19th
· Log Train Trail Half & Full Marathons, Port Alberni – August 20th

Bastion Ross Notes: Glory Days of April

Dear Bastion

These are the glory days of April, hog heaven for runners, Valhalla for those seeking new horizons to conquer. Last Sunday saw two big running races and a mountain bike race with Bastion bringing home a lot of hardware and ribbons. Meanwhile, people are jetting off or coming back from warm, exotic locales.
Down in Sooke, Bill Hollingshead set a new course record for his age group, Cameron Pauph and Brendan Decontie finished 1-2 in the under 16 age group, Michael Gill and Delbert Horrocks finished 2-3 in their age group and Robert Cross finished ninth in his age group.
Everyone knows by now that Stefen won the half at Whidbey Island but there were a lot of other stellar performances down there. Janet Oxler won her age division and got a honking big statue for the trophy case. John Loewen finished seventh overall and second in his age division. Julie Greenhill finished second in her division, 11th overall in the women’s category. Ken Jones, Monti Burtini, Darren Frey and Tony Pires held hands and skipped along the course to finish 3rd, 5th, 6th and 6th in their age divisions. Rumours are they are opening a flower shop downtown (Renee put me up to that one, I swear). Tom Barr finished 8th in his division. Terri Merritt-Worden finished 5th in her division, Kathy Barber 6th, and Inge Hornby 5th in hers. Then there are the many, many runners who trained hard and did well down at Whidbey.
Wendy Sims won the expert women’s division at the Nanaimo XC at humility/Abyss. Andy Watson finished 7th in the men’s division. I’m hoping Wendy skips the downhill race coming up. Norm is too young to be a widower.
Finally, Steve Osadiuk finished the second Canadian, 92nd overall at the World Cross Country Championships in Japan. Next, he’s off to the London Marathon.
This Sunday brings the Merville 15 K way up north. Car pooling is from the north end Tim Horton’s at the Canadian Tire Mall at 8:00 am. It’s a scenic course in the country and the last race of the Island Series until May.
Next week is the Gutbuster in Duncan, then the Boston Marathon, the Snow to Surf Relay, Sooke Sprint Tri, a kamikaze downhill bike race, the Sun Run and the Times Colonist 10 K to go in April. Enjoy these days while you can.
Speaking of the Snow to Surf Relay, our President Dave De Pasquale is looking for two men, 25-45, to join his team. This relay involves alpine skiing, cross country skiing, mountain biking, road biking, running, canoeing and kayaking, so there’s something for everyone here. You can reply to me if you are interested.

Remember, rest, ice, and elevate,
Ross

Trail Bits 2006 #14

ROC Trail Bits # 14

Remember to bring your toonie on Saturday. We have collected almost half the
money needed for the First Aid Kit.

Last weekend was very busy in terms of things to do and choose from; there
was the usual Saturday morning run, there was the Whidbey Island Marathon,
the Sooke River 10k, and the Cross Country mountain Bike race on
Humility/Abyss, as well as the talk at Frontrunners. The week started off on
Wednesday night for a number of us that attended the Mind Over Mountain
Adventure Racing presentation that was put on by Frontrunners. Norm Thibault
and Dave Norona gave a great talk and slide show on Adventure Racing. They
have inspired a number of us to start training for the Cumberland Adventure
race in September.

The Saturday morning run of Linley was very well attended despite the nice
warm April showers; I understand a few not so dedicated people stayed in bed
because of the rain..what is with that?? As expected the trails in Linley
were rocky, rooty, muddy and slippery. The trails in the valley probably
offer the widest variety of running surfaces of all the trails we run on. A
great area for training to run the trails. The report from Whidbey Island is
that the scenery was spectacular, but the hills were long and plentiful. 37
people from Nanaimo (12 guys & 25 gals) and almost all ROC members had a
great road trip. Our own Stefan Jakobsen won the Half Marathon with a
personal best of 1:11:37. Full results are available at
www.perfecttimeevents.com
<http://www.perfecttimeevents.com/>

Bob, Suzanne and I were spectators at the Humility/Abyss Cross Country race
on Sunday, which was hosted by Arrowsmith Bikes and is part of the Island
Cup. The race appeared to be well attended with over 60 riders from all over
the Island showing up for the first race ever held on those trails. To give
you an idea of how tough that loop is to ride on a bike, it took most riders
almost as long to rider a loop as it does for us to run it. One thing is for
sure, we end up a heck of a lot cleaner at the end than those riders did.
Man where they dirty.

Sorry, no Sooke River report as of this time.

*     Mt. Tzouhalem GutBuster Race - the second race in the series is
Saturday, April 15th. The race starts and finishes at Providence Farm. I
mistakenly told you that it started at the Ships Point Pub. Old race
route..sorry. I have two free entries to the race to give away. Email me
your name if you want to be included in the draw. I will do the draw on
Monday, so don't delay.

*     Mountain Bike Racing - Robin Dutton and Arrowsmith Cycles are holding
another mountain bike race on the April the 9th.  Registration starts at
10:00 and racing commences at 12:00.  The April 9th race is a downhill race
on the trail named "What's it's name" at Duomont, registration is at 10:00
and start time is 12:00. This will be a good race to come watch, as these
are the crazy folks that catch the big air as they ride themselves off some
pretty high drops.

*     Mountain Bike Riding Clinic -Sean Lunny is once again offering ROC a
Mountain Bike Clinic. Saturday April 29th 8:00 am - 10:00am. This two hour,
$ 20.00 clinic will teach you the basic techniques you should know before
venturing off into the woods. Proper up hill riding, down hill riding, how
to get over those dam logs lying across the trail, what you should take with
you when heading out for a ride, etc. 100% of the proceeds from this clinic
will go back to Runners of Compassion..Thanks Sean     
Email Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca to reserve a spot.

*     This week's run - in honour of those of you that have been faithfully
running the roads for the past 10-12 weeks we thought we would welcome you
back with a nice scenic run of the Westwood Ridges and a tour of Morell. The
long range forecast is for sunshine on Saturday so the view from the look out
and the ridges should be spectacular. Remember a couple of things; 1. If you
are comfortable with the outside air temperature when you get out of your
car, you are way over dressed for the run. 2.  we now start at 7:00am. The
run starts in the Westwood Lake parking lot. I will not be in town this
Saturday to lead the hiking group.sorry. Ross, would you mind collecting the
toonies again?

Upcoming Stuff
 * indicates trail race
*         Merville 15km - April 9th
*         GutBuster # 2Mt. Tzouhalem - April 15th
*         Boston Marathon - April 17th
*         Sooke Spring Triathlon - April 23rd
*         Vancouver Sun Run - April 23rd
*         Times Colonist 10K - April 30th
*         Vancouver Marathon - May 7th
*         Oceanside 10k - May 7th
*         Island Relay - May 27th
*         Knee Knacker 25km Trail Race, North Vancouver - May 28th
*         Oak Bay Half Marathon - May 28th
*         GutBuster # 3 Mt. Douglas,  Victoria - June 3rd
*         Panoramic Classic Triathlon, Saanich - June 4th
*         Edge to Edge Half & Full Marathon, Tofino - June 11th
*         New Balance Half Iron, Victoria - June 18th
*         Kusim Klimb, Sayward - June 17th
*         Scotia Bank Half Marathon, Vancouver - June 25th
*         Comfortably Numb 25km Trail Race - June 25th
*         GutBuster # 4 - Westwood Lake Half Marathon & 8km - July 16th
*         Full (50Km) & Half (25km) Monty Trail Races, Victoria-August19th
*         Log Train Trail Half & Full Marathons, Port Alberni - August 20th

This message

Owen's Rome Marathon Report

Hi Dan - thought I'd send alnong somne results from the Rome marathon.

Berta and I arrived Saturday evening after 24 hours and four flights, tired but ready for the event the next morning. After an invigorating two hours of sleep, we met the driver in the lobby that our traveling companions had thoughtfully provided, and after a five minute £30 ride ($42Can) we arrived at the marathon start with 30,000 other jabbering souls. The weather was far from ideal - very sunny and hot - and the day turned out to be quite a trial.

Our little Canadian contingent had a tough day. Cobblestones, heat, relentless pooping and vomiting plus tears galore challenged our group, but they did remarkably well under the circumstances. Berta posted a personal worst, but it was a terrific result under the conditions she faced. She was in the top third of all women, and was the 4th best Canadian woman! 20% of all registered runners dropped out during the race - and there were a lot of sick, cramping, pooping, barfing and other ugly looking humans along the way.

It was wonderful, however, to see the beautiful sights of Rome along the way. The marathon was very poorly organized - there was no way for finishers to connect with their friends and family and it took Berta and I two hours to reconnect at the finish.

On a happy note, despite the fact that my hip injury did nopt allow me to participate, I received an email from the Rome marathon organization congratulating me on my finishing time that was a full two minutes faster than Berta! I have been taunting her ever since, and intend to print out my finishers certificate, have it framed, and lord it over her for the rest of our lives. The only small issue is that my name is now apparently "Rwanda Forwen", but I am prepared to have a legal name change if only to beat Berta one time in my life.

The rest of our trip was wonderful, we recovered quickly and walked millions of miles and saw many incredible and beautiful things along the way. We return a few pounds heavier, but that is a small price to pay for such a terrific experience.

Feel free to share this with the running gang
Rwanda