Notes from Bastion Ross

Dear Bastion


It was a long, long exciting day last Saturday. There were four Bastion teams and eleven Nanaimo teams lined up and heading down the highway from Courteney to Lantzville and it was an extremely competitive group. Of the four teams that started at 8:00 am there was only 15 minutes difference from the first to last. Between my team, Eight Bucks An Ear with Mike Mullaley, Pat Good, Joanne Hogan, Codie Ward, Dominique Roelants, Mike Jorgensen and Zlatko Zlavich, and the team in our Male Open division who beat us out there was only 19 seconds difference. I have to take the blame for that. I started out too fast, blew up and took Anne Middleton with me. But to put things in perspective, Dave D’s team, Jake and the Stray Dogs, would have crushed all by 45 minutes if their times would have counted, but they had entered too late and were disqualified from actual competition. The incredible Enduring Endorphins, with Anne, Bill and Julie Benson, Denise and James Tierney, Terry Nimmon, Laurie Ritchie and Janice Ross won the Mixed Masters again and were so dominant it seemed at times they had ten runners on the road to every one else’s eight. Janet Oxler’s, the Nanaimo Bars, placed third in a very competitive mixed open division. Kim Gagliano and Inge Hornby’s Shoe Shoppers Express won the Women’s Open division. The Wheaton Crewz Control team with Troy and Michelle Rudderham, Darren Katila, Billy Hicks, Norm Hayward and Darren Frey won the Corporate Division mainly on the strength of some pretty snazzy team vests. But it was the Firkin Longwood Brew Pub gang with Julie Greenhill, Ken and Jodie, that won the whole day and took the Mixed Open Division, which only goes to prove what I’ve always said. That if you give people enough beer, there’s nothing in this world they can’t accomplish. The one thing that sticks out from the day was standing at the top of the hill that leads from the Petro-Can to Lantzville Rd. and watching the runners making their way up. It is what people refer to as a character builder. Long and steep with lots of wind and traffic beside you. There were a few who looked very good but you could see the strain in most faces. Still there was no quit as they chugged around the corner, especially from the lone female Ultra who was pretty done by that point and was walking as much as she was running with her support crew running behind her all the time. It was all just one step at a time for most. Best team was the Yoggers from Chilliwack, a family of mother, father and kids who best represented the spirit of the Relay. Some pictures in the Photo Gallery.

Saturday and Sunday there was a track meet at the Rotary Bowl. Codie, after running with us on Saturday, ran Sunday in the 3000 m with Bill and Carla Dunn (they just lumped everyone in) and won her division. Valerie Capewell placed second in the 200 m and I don’t know how Mike Gill did. Sunday also saw the Kool Half Marathon and the COPS Crunch trail race. A couple of Bastion runners did the half, with Steve Osadiuk winning again. The trail race was definitely not as easy as most thought it would be.

This brings us to the Gutbuster at Mt. Douglas, Victoria on Saturday. They have allowed enough time to lapse so that you will forget all the horrible awful things that have happened in the past races and only the positive memories remain. I say go with it and imagine yourself cruising to the top and back.



Thanks,

Ross