ROC Trail Bits 2006 #32

Trail Bits # 32
Nice to know that there is still a large number of people that will show up for a bit of an adventure on a Saturday morning. The run on Saturday into the almost dry Ammonite Falls was great. The funny part was that none of us showed up with our maps as we all thought the other person was going to bring theirs. After some discussion the decision was made and off we went with NO maps in hand, but lots of courage and bravado. Thankfully, Jamie Gauthier stepped forward at the last minute and offered his first hand knowledge of getting into the falls from the yellow gate without having to run on the road. Two groups ventured off on a fairly warm and muggy morning. Group 1 added to their adventure by taking a different route back than the route they took in. Some good old bush whacking was required at one point, but knowing who was in group 1, I am sure that was a high light of the run for them. Anyways, we now have another route to add to the inventory. Amazingly, both groups got back to the cars at the 1:20 and 1:30 time marks as planned even though they took different routes back.

It looks like teams “Frontrunners -Norn and Stefan” along with team “Arrowsmith Bikes - Robin and Justin” are both having great races so far at the Trans Rockies Challenge. After two days of Mountain Bike Racing both teams are in the top 20 of the 87 team Elite Men’s Division. Norm and Stefan are in 10th place with a time of 5:07:48, while Robin and Justin are just behind them in 16th place with a time of 5:26:35. 140 km gone – 460 km more to go with over 11,000 meters of climbing still ahead of them over the next 5 days.


Ø Volunteers needed – if you can volunteer at the Half Marathon on September 10th, please contact Kim at kimcoulthard@shaw.ca

Ø Nanaimo Mountain bike racer Wendy Simms - has recently been named to the Canadian National Team. After a training camp in Victoria, Wendy will be heading to New Zealand for the upcoming World Championships.

Ø Wheelchair athlete, Michelle Stilwell - of Nanoose turned in a dominating performance at the Canadian Paralympic Athletics Championships. Stilwell, won gold in each of the four events she entered (100m, 200m, 400m and 800m) and in doing so was selected to the national team that will be representing Canada at the IPC World Championships in Assen, Netherlands in September.

Ø Rower, Tony Theriault, - has been named to the Canadian National Adaptive Coxed Four Team heading to World Championships in England. Tony's crew recently achieved 100.23 % of the gold standard at a training camp and unofficially have the fastest time in the world to date. Tony, who works at Frontrunners here in Nanaimo will be attending a regatta and training camp in Ontario before heading to England later this month.

Ø Westwood Lake 6km “a benefit for Mount Benson” – the inaugural Westwood Lake 6km Trail Race is SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 AT 10:00. This 6km race/run/walk around Westwood Lake is a fund raising benefit for NALT. All proceeds from the race will go towards helping to pay down the debt that NALT has from buying the top of Benson and creating the park. There will be the usual, food and drink, draw prizes, etc.

Ø Terry Fox Run – is September 17th in Nanaimo. This year there is a Corporate Challenge available as well. The website is https://www.terryfoxrun.org/english/corporate/company/register/default.asp?s=1

Ø Strathcona Park Run – as previously stated, it won’t happen until after the half marathon in September. Start getting you mileage back up though to where you are VERY comfortable with a two hour run, as this is how long the run is for us average folks.

Ø AB Classes, Spinning Classes, Yoga Classes, MTB Clinics, Running Clinics - and other classes offering other assorted forms of self inflicted punishment will be starting up again in the fall. I have spoken to Robin, Sean, Norm, Stefan and others and will have more information to pass along to all of you in the later part of August. If you have a clinic or class you want to offer, let me know and I will pass along the information.

This week the Trail Run is at Westwood Lake; 7:00am. We will be running the Saddle Trail. Bring a towel and have a swim afterwards.