Mike Vine scores big win at Xterra

MIKE VINE’S 2006 XTERRA Mountain Championship Report

The XTerra Mountain Champs took place this past
weekend near Ogden Utah at Snowbasin Resort. This
event was the end of my 4-week road tour of the
deserts of the southwest and high mtns in idaho,
colorado and utah. Unfortunately the trip was not
without complications... my once trusty honda endured
blown brakes( master cylinder ), a cracked windshield,
melted tires in the 100+ heat, and finally without
warning the battery fried. The car troubles forced me
to miss the Colorado excursion and Crested Butte
points XTerra, an event I won last year. Then at the
Milwaukee Pro Tour event( i flew to this one out of
san diego) a mechanical ended my chances early.
So i went back to my homebase for this trip in
southern Cali and carried on with my workouts. I tried
to shrug it off since that’s just how it goes
sometimes... even though it was in line with how my
whole season on the USA Tour has gone.

It was a tactical call for me this year to pass on
altitude acclimation for Utah and instead go for a 3
week camp at sea level in Del Mar. I figured I would
fit in more mileage to better prepare for the upcoming
UK race. I enjoyed every minute of my Cali visit but
still, upon reaching Utah last minute I realized I
should've arrived sooner to familiarize on a brand new
venue that is all point to point. I had some work to
do, especially after my car troubles in southern Utah
left me with only the day before the race to check
things out. And turns out acclimation wouldn’t have
been a bad idea either, because although the swim was
at 4850', the course description neglected to mention
last minute mods to the bike course which now had it
climbing up to 8200' with the majority of the run at
7000'.

Going into this event, there was no talk of the
Vineman going for the repeat win, likely due to my
lack of results so far this season on the USA Tour. My
name did not even make the race favorites list,
despite dominating last year’s Mountain Championship
by almost 5 minutes. Albeit that was a different venue
at Keystone CO, however the courses are near identical
with high altitude and rugged, vertical bike courses.
So all in all, I was not lacking confidence because
after a month packed with solid workouts I was feeling
ready for the title defense.

It started well with a solid swim, which had me
exiting only 45 seconds down. The first 2 miles were
slight downhill and with no sun yet peaking above the
mtns, the cold air quickly took its toll... within a
span of probably 3 minutes it became a severe problem.
I went hypothermic . Guys were pulling away and
nothing i could do about it. My glutes and lower
back were seizing as well which soon had me thinking
i'll place top 5 today, if lucky. But the course once
climbing went on for the next hour, so I kept plugging
away and eventually warmed up, starting to pick riders
off... just not as quick as i would have liked to. I
was suffering. About 2/3 of the way up I came upon
Conrad, who had earlier been powering the bike and
leading convincingly but now on the side of the trail
with a puncture. So the race was wide open now. I
perked up and caught the two leaders Seth and the
upstart Simpson near the summit then opened a small
gap over the top. With a 1500' descent to T2 I had to
let 'em know the Vineman can still blast the track. I
nearly stuffed the front end on a couple switchacks
but rode clean into T2 and opened a 30 second gap on
Seth and Simpson. Then a small miracle occurred.... my
slow start on the bike must have helped me for the
run, b/c I felt fresh as a daisy heading out . The
first mile of the run was pivotal- all steep uphill...
but in the race it felt effortless. I motored over it
then had no trouble holding it to the end over the
rolling course.
So on a short 30 min course, for the first time in my
XTerra career my run split was fastest of the day - 23
sec faster than Seth and 1:42 faster than Andrew
Noble, the best of the rest.
Now I can’t help but boast a little.... That was my
third Mountain Championships title. My two previous
wins at the Colorado venue( 2001 and 2005 ) were the
two fastest times ever posted there. Now I have the
fastest time over the new Ogden venue and you can bet
I’ll be doing my darnedest next year to improve on
that.
So with the preliminaries out of the way it's all
climbing venues from here on in... my speciality! The
Euro finale in UK Sept 3, USA Champs in Tahoe Oct 1,
and Maui Worlds' oct 29. Bring 'em on!

About this new venue - racing in Ogden was incredible.
Sure it was partly due to the pristine Wasatch
mountains venue at Snowbasin and the backing of the
finely tuned Team Unlimited crew, but the success of
this event was largely due to the local support of
GOAL, the Greater Ogden's Athletic Foundation Legacy.
This org worked for months promoting this event and
bringing in an army of volunteers, as well as pulled
off a hitch-free event which was no small feat
considering the logistics of having a p2p course with
2 separate transition areas. Besides having huge
numbers of racers and a huge spectator turnout, having
the post race awards w/ big screen at the Amphitheater
in the center of Ogden brought out hundreds of people
also. (which was quite a feat for me having to do a
speech in front of so many people.)
In summary, this event took it up a level for an
XTerra event, it was simply bigger and better than
ever before.

Many special thanks must go to my homestays, both the
Morris-Berlin family in Milwaukee and the Waters
family in Utah. When people you've never met before
open their home and extend every bit of courtesy and
aid they can muster it really makes you feel welcome,
which for me travelling on my own makes all the
difference.

Also thanks to my sponsors with whom I couldn’t do
without- Rocky Mountain, Fox Racing Shocks, FSA,
Mizuno, Vega, Maui Magazine, Crankbrothers, Saltstick,
XTerra wetsuits, Frontrunners.


triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=12344&publicationID=92&pageID=1705

http://xterraplanet.com/races/view_results_full.cfm?race_id=368

Sorry no pics yet!
for now,
VineROC

ROC Trail Bits 2006 #34

Trail Bits # 34

I have attached a couple of items for you. One is a photo from Saturdays run the other is a Word Doc which fully explains a number of the fall clinics for Running, Ab Classes, Yoga, etc. Don’t delay in registering for the smaller capacity clinics as they always fill very quickly. Big thanks to Norm for hosting the run at his house. There was a ton of food.


Ø Half Marathon Message from Kim - Volunteers still needed Hello All! - Less than 3 weeks until the Half Marathon / 10K road race. I still need about 20 volunteers to Marshal the race. If you are not running and you are going to be in town, please consider helping out. It's a really fun event and your time is greatly appreciated. There is a volunteer’s luncheon at the Howard Johnson right after the awards ceremony. There is a volunteers meeting at NDSS track on Wednesday Sept. 6 at 6:30 pm where I will give everyone their assignment. Please email me at kimcoulthard@shaw.ca if you can help! Best Regards, Kim

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 which is being staged in partnership with the Running Room 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. Registration forms will be available at Frontrunners & Running Room.

Ø A Few things to remember when running with the group

Ø If you see a new face in the group, please take a moment to introduce yourself, make them feel welcome. I am sure it can be a little intimidating for someone showing up at a strange location to run with a bunch of strangers on some unknown trail in the middle of no where at 7:00 in the morning. The run is intended to be social in nature. We always try to head back to Chapters for a coffee after.
Ø If you ever need to stop to tie a shoe, take a washroom break, pick a rock out of your shoe or stop because of an injury, please yell out and tell someone. If we know you have stopped we can either wait for you or provide first aid assistance. The sweepers’ role is to normally make us aware of the need to stop, but there has been the odd occasion where it is the sweeper that has needed to stop. “When in doubt call out”
Ø If you are leading a group please make sure you know who your sweeper is and stay in contact with them.
Ø A group leader must do a head count at the start of the run
Ø Leaders must periodically stop to re-group and re-check your numbers. This is especially important at all major trail intersections. Past experience has taught us that all groups should be stopping to re-group
Ø When stopping to re-group please allow enough of a stop (1-2 minutes at the most) that all members of your group get a short break, not just the lead runners.
Ø If you are leading a group please remember to not take the group out too fast in the early stages.
Ø If you know you have someone in your group who is too fast for your group, strongly suggest that they move up a group.
Ø If you know that someone is in your group who will not be comfortable with the run pace of that particular group please mention it to them.
Ø Please remember that the Saturday runs are intended to be social in nature and are intended to be run at a pace that is comfortable for most.


This week the Trail Run is a run of Humility Abyss. Usual time of 7:00am. Meet under the power lines by the yellow gate on Harewood Mines Road.
Driving Directions:

If coming from either the North or the South on the Parkway
Take 5th Street Exit off of the Parkway and head down the hill
Turn right on Wakesiah
Turn Right on Nanaimo Lakes road – follow for a few minutes
Turn LEFT on Harewood Mines Road. The Animal Control Shelter (pound) is on one corner, clear cut logging is on the other
Follow Harewood Mines Road for 500 meters, we will be under the power lines.

Please be sure to allow yourself at least 10 minutes driving time from the 5th Street exit to where we meet.

Notes from Bastion Ross.....in August

Dear Bastion

The steady diet of burgers and beer maybe getting the better of some of us but we’re almost through the summer and now is not the time to throw in the towel. Dig deep, fire up the barbeque, and spend as much time outdoors as you can until the fall arrives. People are gradually beginning to trickle back into town from vacation. Even Captain Cook had to take a break from the daily grind of retirement to land in port for a while. In order to build up some more summer memories while we can, we head to Upper Lantzville next Saturday morning for a run from Janet Wright’s place at 6863 Eastwind Drive. Then it’s back to her pool for food and fun. All you have to bring is a towel. There are directions on the Events page of the website and I’ll send them out again next week. Speaking of the website, there is some new photos on page 12 of the Photo Gallery I had to get from Mr. Peabody and the Way Back Machine. It takes about two or three minutes to download the photos but it’s all worth it. Just hit the buttons every once and a while.
Some people have been picking up the slack for the rest of us lately. Codie Ward took the whole enchilada this last Sunday at the Diva tri, beating all her older but not wiser competitors. Meanwhile at the Sri Chinmoy Tri/Du there were a number of people placing in the top five in their division. John and Kathy Grabher and Janet Oxler in the tri, and Kent Williamson, Doris Frank and Gord Witham in the Du. At last report Norm and Stefen had taken a wrong turn with the pack and were headed towards Dawson City. I wouldn’t worry too much. Somebody’s bound to tell them where to go. They always do for me.
This weeks Cadboro Bay tri is cancelled, leaving three events for August left, all of them next weekend. They range from the mercifully short but still competitive if you want Sound and Silence 10 K run/5 K walk in Victoria, to the fairly non-competitive but difficult Log Train Marathon/Half Marathon in Port Alberni, to the monumentally difficult 50 K Full Monty/25 K Half Monty trail race in Victoria. Any event hosted by Carlos Castillo is not for the faint of heart. Details in the Events page.
The Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half/10 K is a month away now on Sept. 10th, so I hope everyone’s training schedule is on pace who plans on doing the half and then Victoria. I keep hearing tall stories about how many hills or track sessions people have to do during the week. There is some nice prizes for the top three male and female finishers in both the half and the 10 K this year. If you are not planning on racing and would like to volunteer in order to get a good vantage point to see others suffer then contact Kim Coulthard at kimcoulthard@shaw.ca . There will be a great volunteer party right after the race at the Howard Johnson with plenty of good food.
The 17th is the Terry Fox Run at Beban. I will send out some information about the new corporate team challenge next week. Then on the 24th a fund raising run/walk at 10:00 am at Westwood to help pay off the debt for the purchase of the top of Mt. Benson. Since nobody wants to look at a bald Mt. Benson, we owe it to NALT to do whatever we can.

Have fun in the sun,
Ross

Wendy's training camp report

A long-long way from the bud of Belgium; Wendy spent 10 days in Victoria preparing herself for the upcoming World MTB Champs in NewZealand. Read her full report http://velobellarace.blogspot.com/


Keep posted here on the Frontrunners Blog for full reports from NewZealand world champs over the next two weeks.

Frontrunners finish 1 and 2 at XTC Campbell River

Jason Sandquist finishing the XTC triathlon in 1st place on the weekend. Dave Nowak came across the line 2nd.

ROC Trail Bits 2006 #33

Trail Bits # 33


Final Results of Trans Rockies are in “Team Frontrunners -Norn and Stefan” finished in 8th place overall, while team “Arrowsmith Bikes - Robin and Justin” finished in 12th place. Both of these teams rode for over 32 hours in just one week; almost all of it being up hill on single track trail. Check out the website for full details. http://www.transrockies.com
Congratulations to both teams on your amazing feats of athleticism.

Special run this coming Saturday. See details below.


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

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 Check out the End of Summer Sale on at Frontrunners. Lots of great deals.


This week the Trail Run is a run of LINLEY Valley. The special part is that we will be starting and finishing at Norm and Wendy’s House. Norm and Wendy have offered to host the ROC run and will have coffee on when we get back the Hot Tub will also be going so bring a towel and have a hot tub afterwards. The run will have one or two km of road at the start and finish as we work our way in and out of the valley. This is an invitation to all ROC runners, so even if you are new to the group please feel welcome to come to Norms. Can you email Norm if you are coming, just so he has an idea of numbers? normont@islandnet.com Please don’t email me as I will be away most of the week.

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.

Notes from Bastion Ross

Dear Bastion



Are you tired of this heat? Are you starting to wilt in the broiling
sun? Have you plainly had enough? Scientists have known for decades that the
only assured way of causing it to rain is to go on a camping trip, or
failing that, the next best thing is to have a pool party. Bastion is going
to do its share to relieve the dog days of summer by heading to Lantzville
for our Saturday run on August 19th followed by an afternoon lazing around
and in Janet Wright's pool. We even supply the food and drinks. Mark it down
on your calendar and bring your favourite flotation devise and an umbrella
just in case. There are directions below and a pdf map attached.



Ross, here are the directions to our place - 6863 Eastwind Drive in Upper
Lantzville:



Going toward Parksville past Woodgrove Shopping Centre, turn LEFT onto
Superior Road, immediately cross railway tracks, and continue up Superior
Road as it curves to the right, then up a straight stretch, and then curves
left. Turn RIGHT onto Lorenzen Lane (it's the 3rd street on the right since
turning onto Superior Road). Down 1 long "block" of trees, turn RIGHT onto
Eastwind Drive, and we're the 2nd house on the LEFT (driveway is marked by 2
short brick pillars). There's ample parking either inside our property, or
on the road.



Janet

ROC Trail Bits 2006 #31

Trail Bits # 31

Lots of new faces in the crowd on Saturday morning for the run of the Dumont trails. Do you know that over 300 people in Nanaimo now receive the Trail Bits each week? It shows you just how popular trail running has become and how much support there is within Nanaimo for Runners of Compassion and what we do. With so many new faces in the crowd it might be a nice gesture if we all took 20 or 30 seconds away from our usual socializing and introduced ourselves to one or two people that we don’t know or don’t recognize. Some of these new faces (and old faces –lots of those around) are new to Nanaimo and are joining us in order to share our love of trail running. Who knows, this new face could be the face of the person that picks you up off the trail and dusts you off after you have taken a fall. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to know the name of the person that helped you or just ran with you in the middle of no where for close to two hours?

Good luck to Norm Stefan, Robin and others that are off to Fernie, BC for the TRANS ROCKIES mountain bike race which starts on Sunday. 7 days of mountain bike riding with 22,000 meters of climbing.
Also Good Luck to Sean Lunny who is off to Kamloops for the Raid the North Adventure Race – 36 hours to non-stop fun (biking, climbing, running, canoeing, rappelling, orienteering), with no sleep.

Hey, did you know that our Half Marathon is giving short sleeve technical shirts this years to all registrants and that the 10km Road Race is giving away Brooks running hats to the first 300 people registered?



Ø Strathcona Park Run – I now have commitments from enough qualified leaders that I will start to organize a trip up to the park. It won’t happen until after the half marathon in September though. Now is a good time to start getting you mileage back up to where you are VERY comfortable with a two hour run, as this is how long the run is for us average folks.

Ø The Sprint to the Summit - is a grueling 2km race, THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!! straight up the face of Mount Washington on August 5th. Check out the web link for details. http://www.mountwashington.ca/summer/default.cfm?page=event_details&eventID=793

Ø Night Trail Runs- something that was missing last fall and winter were the Night Trail Runs. That’s right, running the trails in the dark. The BIG DIFFERENCE is that you run the same trails we run in the day with either a small halogen or LED light strapped on your forehead in the pitch dark. Incandescent lights, flashlights, etc don’t work. So, starting in October sometime there will be a scheduled night run, so get out and buy yourself a light. They are available at Frontrunners, Valhalla Pure, Alberni Outpost, ONO. Make sure you tell them what you will be using the light for as you want something very bright, but also very light. I will be sending out a separate email in regards to the Night Runs, so if you are interested, let me know and I will add you to the list. Space will be limited for these runs. These runs are a blast!!!!!

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.

Trail Run this weekend. This weekend the group will be running into Ammonite Falls. Meet at the same yellow gate as last week at 7:00am. The run time will be about 1:20 and will be a bit of a mystery tour as the leaders will be using maps not first hand knowledge to get you in and out of the falls. It is actually a very straight forward run, so don’t worry.

I will be on my bike, riding in the general vicinity as usual if someone feels like riding with me….Dan

The driving directions are fairly simple.
If you live in north Nanaimo,
o Take Metral Drive to Duomont Road.
o Turn on to Duomont Road and head out past the Black Bear Pub.
o Follow this road for 10 minutes or until you come to the T-Junction with Biggs & Weigles Road.
o Turn Right and head up the hill for a couple of minutes.

If you live in central or South Nanaimo
o Take the Parkway to the Jingle Pot/Mostar exit – Turn Left at this intersection.
o Immediately turn right on to Biggs Road. Stay on this road.
o You will drive past the Correctional Facility, past the farm fields and will then start heading up the hill. Keep heading up the hill.
o 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 by the yellow gate. If you get to the flat part of road near the Wasteland Motto Cross Track, you have gone too far.

ROC Trail Bits 2006 #30

Trail Bits # 30

Great turn out on Saturday to run the new trail in Linley Valley. It
actually looked like it was the biggest turnout for a run so far this
summer. It is pretty amazing how the mention of a new trail brings out the
crowd. The report back on the trail run was that it was fantastic, a little
rough in spots, but so it should be. This new trail means that you can
easily get in a 1 ½ - 2 hour run in Linley without having to double back.
Thanks go out to Brad & Kathleen for leading and sweeping the run. If anyone
else has a route they would like to take the group on please let me know.



Lots of people asking "when are we going to Strathcona to run?" the simple
answer is that it will be sometime after the Harbour City Half marathon in
the later part of September. I do need a couple of people to offer to lead
the different run groups as there is no way my Achilles we allow me to run
for 2 hours with just 7 or 8 weeks training. I will lead a fast paced hiking
group, but not the run. Let me know if you are interested in helping out.



For those of you that are new to ROC, please note that we always head back
to the Starbucks at Chapters for coffee after the Saturday run. Please join
us.



* World Mountain Running Championships - Congratulations to our man
Stefan on being selected to represent Canada at the World Mountain Running
Championships in Turkey on September 10th. Stefan has been watching
Midnight Express for motivation. He knows the consequences of not running
quickly and to be carry too much luggage.



* The Sprint to the Summit - is a grueling 2km race, straight up the
face of Mount Washington on August 5th. Check out the web link for details.
http://www.mountwashington.ca/summer/default.cfm?page=event_details
=793> &eventID=793



* Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon & 10km Road Race - our
website for the Half Marathon is now up at www.harbourcityhalf.com
As a member of Runners of Compassion you
should be receiving either an email or a phone call from the Volunteer
Coordinator for the Half Marathon, Kim Coulthard any day now. Kim has the
wonderful job of arranging for 70 people to commit to volunteering on race
day. If you are able to help on race day - September 10th, please drop her a
email at kimcoulthard@shaw.ca . Please remember that this race is our
biggest fund raiser of the year. It is with the $13,000.00 we net from the
race that we are able to do the charity work we do. Please consider either
running the 10k, the half marathon or volunteering on race day. Any one of
three options will greatly help us. The trail running is the social side of
ROC, the charity work we do and the fund raising we do is the meaningful
side of ROC. There will be a Volunteer Appreciation BBQ luncheon out by the
pool of the Howard Johnson Hotel right after the race.

Trail Run this weekend. This weekend the group run will be a run of the
trails in Dumont. Meet at the yellow gate at 7:00am. The run time will be
about 1:15 time. I will be on my bike as usual if someone feels like riding
with me....Dan

The driving directions are fairly simple.

If you live in north Nanaimo,

o Take Metral Drive to Duomont Road.

o Turn on to Duomont Road and head out past the Black Bear Pub.

o Follow this road for 10 minutes or until you come to the T-Junction
with Biggs & Weigles Road.

o Turn Right and head up the hill for a couple of minutes.



If you live in central or South Nanaimo

o Take the Parkway to the Jingle Pot/Mostar exit - Turn Left at this
intersection.

o Immediately turn right on to Biggs Road. Stay on this road.

o You will drive past the Correctional Facility, past the farm fields
and will then start heading up the hill. Keep heading up the hill.

o 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 by the yellow gate. If you get to
the flat part of road near the Wasteland Motto Cross Track, you have gone
too far.

ROC Trail Bits 2006 #29

Trail Bits # 29

What a Sunday!

If you were bored on Sunday in Nanaimo, I don’t know what to tell you. Your day should/could have gone like this: run a half marathon or 8k trail race in the morning, then drop over to the new Nanaimo Ice Centre and skate a few laps with the Premier, followed by a quick drive down to the inner harbour where you could have crewed on some Silly Boat racing team and then to finish it all off, you could have had a cold beer and a salmon burger while you listened to Rubber Soul, Blue Rodeo and Powder Blues Band. You could have even driven to Quallicum and had a quick bit to eat with the Premier if you were politically connected. All in all it was a fun filled day in Nanaimo.

Ø GUTBUSTER - the main event for ROC was the GutBuster, which went off without a hitch. There were a record number of entries in both race distances, no serious injuries, no lost runners, no complaints and we walked away with a cheque for close to $ 1600.00….perfect! The number of compliments that I received on Sunday was overwhelming. People simply loved our race and they loved the way the route was marked and flagged and they commented on how positive it was to see so many of our members out in some very remote sections of the route. These compliments are a direct result of the hard work from a large number of people who answered the call to action and helped out over the last two weeks with trail clearing, removing of downfall from the course, flagging, marshalling, traffic control, sweeping, water stations, biking, set up, and timing. I won’t mention anyone by name as I will probably forget someone, but I want each and every one of you that came out and helped to know that we could not have pulled off this race without all of your help…..Thank You. You are a truly amazing group of people.

There are several hundred photos at the website http://www.pbase.com/autie/gutbuster_nanaimo_2006 which feature almost all of the runners and a large number of the volunteers. There are also great photos of the mud pit that was added to the long course this year, as well as photos of the river crossing. Full race results are available at http://www.gutbustertrailrun.com/results.html

Ø Music for the Mountain – Sunday night was pretty amazing. The weather cooperated, a beautiful sunset, the sound was fantastic and the selection of music was great. For a first time event, it was first class. NALT (Nanaimo and Area Land Trust) deserve a huge pat on the back. Talk has already started about next year’s concert. How about that Iron Man Drummer Billy Hicks, he drummed for two bands after having run in the GutBuster earlier in the day.

Ø Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon & 10km Road Race – our website for the Half Marathon is now up and live. Check it out at www.harbourcityhalf.com On line registration is now available. A new added feature to this year’s 10km Race is the Corporate Challenge. Full details are on the website. If you are able to distribute race brochures through your place of work, please let me know and I will drop off brochures to you…..thanks.

NEW Trail Run this weekend. This weekend Kathleen & Brad will lead the group on a tour of the NEW Trails in Linley Valley. A 1:15 time for the route is the estimate. Meet at the end of Burma Road at 7:00am. Email me if you need driving directions. I will be on my bike if someone feels like touring around Linley with me….Dan

Wendy's Whistler race report posted.

Check out the report and pictures from Wendy's Canada Cup race in Whistler:


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