MEC # 2 Birds Hill Park Race

MEC # 2 Birds Hill Park Race
MEC #2 Birds Hill Park 2017 3rd Overall After A Sprint Finish!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Trail River Run 10K

Sunday's race was the Trail River Run 10K, starting and ending at the Hyde Creek Recreation Centre in Port Coquitlam. I got there before the half marathon was supposed to start at 8 AM, but they were running a bit late so it went off at about 10 minutes after, and myself and Arnold watched them go until they all disappeared around the corner. He was racing the 5K but still had to register. He told me he was running the Surrey Marathon next Sunday, and he did the South Fraser 8K with us on Saturday, so I've possibly found someone who's more insane than I am.
 
We were about 10 minutes late starting our race too, heading out at about 8:55, with the 5K race scheduled to start 5 minutes later. We rounded the corner of the rec centre and headed up a wide gravel path for a few hundred meters, then turned right and continued for a few hundred more. Next we were directed onto a concrete path for another couple of hundred meters, before running a block down a residential street, at which point we hit a fork where they had cops blocking off traffic for us. The arrows on the road pointed for the half marathoners to go left and for us to go right, so we turned right and ran a little ways more until they sent us through a gate and up onto the dike.
 
 
 
By this time we were spread out pretty well, and I could see a guy and the lead woman a couple of hundred meters ahead of me, and one other fellow about 100 meters behind them, but that was it. We headed down the wide gravel path on the dike, turning right, and I kept the fellow in front in sight, and now we started passing some of the slower half marathoners, and bunches of them passed us going back the other way. I kept looking for the first 10Ker coming back wearing a white bib instead of the half marathoner blue bib, and finally he passed me, heading back at warp speed. Next were 2 other guys close together, and a little while later 2 other guys and the lead woman running in a small chase pack, and I finally saw the turnaround point with the aid station tent up ahead.
 
A half marathoner was there when I hit the tent, and we grabbed some water and I headed back while he carried on the other way. It wasn't until I'd gone at least 100 meters before I saw the next person behind me, a young fellow who looked exhausted. Still, I had to make sure to keep my pace up, you never know when someone will get a second wind. Plus I could still see the guy in front of me, who'd dropped off the chase pack, so I concentrated on trying to catch him. I made a little headway, but as it turned out he was just too far ahead, and I saw him speed up as we approached the fork in the road. I came out onto the street and almost went down a wrong road but a cop yelled at me that I was going the wrong way, and directed me to the right road.
 
I headed back down the street, hit the concrete path for a bit, and then turned onto the wide gravel path, only a kilometer or so to go now. You could see for a long way and I saw the next fellow way up ahead, and then he turned the corner for the last few hundred meters. I hit the corner myself less than a minute later, and sped up as best I could, finally hearing people cheering and a cowbell ringing. I came up to the corner by the rec centre and there was a large group of spectators standing there coaxing us in, and then I saw the finish line and heard the announcer call my name, and I sprinted over the line!
 
They had bottles of water waiting for us and pears but nothing else. They did have pancakes 2 for 2 bucks, with the money going to salmon habitat rehabilitation, so I got a couple of loonies out of my car and got a plate of those, and then went with my bell to cheer in the finishers. Quite a few had come in when all of a sudden my bell stopped ringing, because the ball inside had broken off from the small rod it was soldered to! I'd paid next to nothing for it, but that was beside the point, it was still disappointing! I've since fixed it with some fishing tackle and I'll have it out to the next race.
 
Just before it broke Niel Wakelin, who is the B.C. regional rep for the Running Room, came running in, he'd just been on a training run since he had to be here anyway. He asked me if I knew why the finish arch was lying deflated on the ground off to the side. I said I hadn't noticed it before, but I think it was already down when I'd come in. He speculated that the generator just didn't have enough power to run the sound system and keep the arch inflated at the same time, he'd seen it happen at another race.
 
 
 
They seemed to be falling farther and farther behind schedule, but results were finally available. I went and took a look and saw I'd finished 8th overall and won my 50+ age group. I went and asked the race director whether there were age group awards for the 10K. He said only for the top person in each category, and medals only went to the top 3 overall males and females in each race. In the 10K and half marathon the winner of each category got a certificate.
 
My friend Andre was ecstatic, as he'd won the 5K and he's never won a race before. His brother visiting from Alberta also ran the race, along with their wives, and their young children ran the kids races, so it was quite a day for them.
 
They got the half and one kilometer kids races going at 11:30, an hour late. Still, there were a lot of participants, some quite determined and running like little pros, and they all had a great time.
 
Finally they had the awards, but it was so late in the day now that there weren't a lot of people left. Andre went up and got his medal, they announced him as "the champion",  I got my certificate, it's actually quite nice, and Andre took my picture for me. We also received a certificate worth half off the entry fee for any 2012 or 2013 event organized by Trio Events.  
 
 


 
With that I said goodbye to Andre and his family, Arnold had left long ago, and headed for home.
  
Results are up, and Andre was 1st of 46 overall, with a time of 23:51, and Arnold was 7th (4th male), posting 27:55. I was 8 of 67 OA in my race and 1 of 5 in my AG, stopping the clock at 44:48.
 
 
 
My next race is the 5 Peaks Buntzen Lake 9.5K Sport Race in Anmore on September 29 at 9 AM.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

South Fraser 8K

On Saturday, September 22, I ran the South Fraser 8K at Bear Creek Park in Surrey, the 2nd race of the Lower Mainland Cross Country Series. At 10:30 AM they assembled us on the track, and told the women doing their 5K that they would do 2 big (2K) loops and 1 small (1K) loop, and us that we'd be doing 3 big loops and 2 small ones. Next was a surprise firing of the starting gun, and we were off!
 
After about 100 meters we exited the track through a fence and headed down a wide concrete path, and then into the woods. We went up a very short rise and over a small wooden bridge before turning right and onto a concrete path again. I saw Arnold Sikhakhane ahead of me, running at a good clip. I managed to catch up to him and ran behind him for a little while. We came out into the open before hitting a slight downhill in the path. I decided to go down it as fast as I could, and in doing so I passed Arnold and soon I couldn't hear him behind me anymore.
 
We hit a bit of woods again, and then came out onto a field and turned right. I heard someone coming up quick behind me, and first one woman passed me, and then a second one. I stayed behind them as we left the grass and ran down a concrete path along some chainlink fences. There were a lot of people here as we were nearing the area where we'd started, and there were large groups of runners who would be running races later in the day, some of them quite young with their coaches, plus parents and other spectators. It's a big complex and football practices were going on, plus people were out running and walking the trails, so it was a beehive of activity. As we came to the track again the lead woman went to turn in where it was, and we blindly started following her, but a friend of hers watching the race yelled "No Michelle, you're going the wrong way!". We did an abrupt turnaround and soon they were in front of me again. 
 
We came to a fork in the road with huge white arrows on the ground pointing down two different paths, a giant "L" on the lefthand fork meaning that was to the long loop we'd just been on, and a giant "S" indicated the small loop, so we headed down the left one. We stayed in our positions with the two women running in front of me for the entire second loop, and when we came to the fork the second time they headed off to the right and I turned left by myself for my last turn down the long loop.
 
After I ran over the wooden bridge and turned onto the path I saw a fellow from the Lions Gate running club who had passed me near the beginning of the race. I was surprised because he always beats me so I assumed that would be the last I'd see of him. I kept gaining on him, and when we hit the open grass again I made my move on him and raced past. He looked surprised and I could hear him speed up now trying to keep pace with me, but I kept running hard and after awhile he appeared to have dropped off as I didn't hear him anymore.
 
Before long I was at the fork again, this time going to the right and onto the short loop, heading down a wide concrete path, around into the woods again for just a short jaunt, and then over the grass and past the track. In the woods I passed Arnold and he yelled "Hey Gord, high five!", but I was already in front of him pulling away, so we had to make it a figurative high five as I babbled something back at him. As we came out onto the grass a fellow from the Kajaks club passed me and I stayed on his tail, but heard someone else coming up behind me. I looked and it was Murray from my club. I said "Hey Murray!", but he was breathing too hard to answer me, and now I was running behind both of them.
 
We hit the fork again and turned right for our last loop, one kilometer to go! We stayed in a row 1-2-3, and then when we came near the track the lead fellow went to turn down to the track where the woman had gone before, and just as Murray went to pass him a volunteer yelled out that we were going the wrong way. We were all swearing now, but especially Murray, as he was now at the back of us. We ran a couple of hundred meters and then turned onto the track, but again there was no indication which way we were supposed to go, and the guy in front was yelling "Which way?", and finally a woman volunteer pointed us in the right direction.
 
Murray was swearing as he came in, finishing behind myself and the other guy who crossed ahead of both of us. I told Murray that the Kajaks fellow wasn't in our age group, and the club was going to get the same points for the series no matter what order we came in. They weren't giving out awards for our race anyway, only for those under 20, so it wasn't costing anybody a podium appearance. Still, they didn't have marshals in the most important places that they should have them, at the finish, and many other people had made wrong turns, not just us. It was over now though, hopefully with minimal damage, and time to put it behind us and look forward to the next race.
 
Results are up but they have Paul Wood listed as a 64 year old woman and Murray isn't on there at all. I've emailed them about this and I'll wait to see how this all pans out. I did finish 2nd in my age group with a time of 35:11.47. They don't have anything listed for overalls and I'm going to wait for proper results before trying to figure that out.
 
With no awards we just cheered the rest of the runners in, with John Makepeace doing his trademark handstand after crossing the finish line. They had no food or drink for us either, but Rob Daniel told me today that he got a muffin and coffee from the Tim Horton's wagon, so they were there at least, just not too many people from our race found them as it wasn't announced.
 
We talked for awhile and cheered for the youngsters in a couple of their races, which were awesome to watch, and then it was time to head home.
 
My next race was the Trail River Run 10K in Port Coquitlam this morning at 8:45 AM, and I'll do the report on it as soon as I'm able.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Derby Reach Results & Pinetree Photos & Videos

Results are up for the Derby Reach 10K Trail Run. I was 6th overall out of 39, with a time of 43:57, and Murray (The Big Fish) Fisher was 8th, stopping the clock at 44:11.
 
Here's where you can see pictures by Teresa Nightingale from the Pinetree Classic and a whole bunch of other races:
 
Warren McCulloch has also posted a gallery of pics he took at the Pinetree Classic: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151067235778042.435859.735118041&type=1

Lastly, here's a highlight video from Pinetree, featuring my clubmate John Makepeace doing a unique celebration after crossing the line!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Derby Reach Regional Park 10K Trail Run

Last night I raced the Derby Reach Regional Park 10K Trail Run. We got going at a little after 6 PM, starting off on a wide gravel path alongside the Fraser River. After about 100 meters we turned off into the woods. One guy turned on the jets and that was the last we saw of him until the race was over, and myself, another guy, and a woman were running together well back of him in a small pack. We weaved along the trail for about a kilometer, and then I passed them, but after only a few hundred yards they came up behind me, and our pack was together again.

We ran out of the woods and across a road, through a parking lot, and then hit the trail again. We went up a short steep hill that slowed everyone down, but we soon had our legs going again and sped up. A young fast fellow suddenly appeared, passed all of us, and pulled away. I heard someone else behind me now as we hit the super steep hill that I remembered from the winter race here. They ran up it faster than I was able, and I thought the person behind me was going to catch up, but whoever it was had slowed to a walk. My legs felt like lead when I reached the top, and it took awhile to get them back, by which time the people ahead had disappeared out of sight. I heard my pursuer closing behind me but then my limbs recovered and I was able to put some distance between us.

We weaved along the trail with a few more ups and downs thrown in, and with about 3 Ks to go there was another fairly steep hill, and it was here that the person chasing me pulled up alongside. The race director before the race had told us there'd be only one hill on the course, which everyone had laughed at because we knew it wasn't true. As we ran up this one I said "There's only one hill, except all the other ones!", and the young fellow said "You got that right!" and raced ahead.

The rest of the way was mostly flat but with constant zigzags, and I could hear someone else behind me now. At one point we came out into the open and there was a fairly long straightaway and I could see the young guy about 100 meters in front of me, and then a couple of hundred meters in front of him the original man and women who were running with me early in the race. The couple disappeared from view as we hit the woods again for more twisting and turning. I was however, closing on the young guy, with the person behind doing the same to me. I sped up and passed him, and then we hit the marker that said "1 kilometer to go!" on it.


I concentrated on keeping up my pace as the sound of the pounding footsteps behind me was constant now. Finally we came out into the open again, but as we did it wasn't immediately apparent to me which way we were supposed to go, and I slowed up for a couple of seconds to look around. Then I saw the finish line and headed the right way, but the young guy tried to take advantage of my momentary indecision and started to run ahead of me. After holding him off for over a kilometer there was no way I was going to let him beat me now, so I blew past him and didn't let up until 200 meters later when I was over the finish line.

He crossed it behind me and we congratulated each other on a great race, and then the person who'd been pushing us came in, and it was Murray from my club! He's been working hard to get back into form, and it looks like he's almost there.

I grabbed some water and then went to my car and got my camera and a bell that I found in a thrift store a few days ago. It's like a small "Hear ye! Hear ye!" bell, and I thought it would work well to cheer in runners at races, and it certainly did! They had small bags of ketchup and plain chips, cheezies, and Doritos, plus both crunchy and chewy granola bars, fruit bars, juice boxes, and a big bag of assorted candies on the food table, plus Tim Horton's was there dispensing coffee and hot chocolate and small bags of Timbits. They encouraged us to eat as much as we could, so naturally I ate more than I probably should have, but what a deal for a $5 entry fee! We cheered in all the rest of the runners, many who told us they were running their first 10K, and finally the last 4 came in, a human couple and their 2 dogs.

I took a picture of the Fraser River beside the start/finish line, it really is a beautiful park, and one of the people in the finish area on the other side of the line, and then they did the awards.





The winner of the men's race was actually an owner of sponsor Peninsula Runners, so he didn't take his store's $50 gift certificate, and it became the first draw prize. Then the female winner was announced, the woman from our little pack, and having no conflict of interest she went up and got her certificate. Next were the draw prizes, and there were many, including a backpack, socks, a scarf, a flashlight and a beach blanket. They were down to 2 pedometers and a can of sockeye salmon in a fancy wooden box when Murray won, and he took the salmon. As each person won they picked the next winner from our race waiver forms that the race director had fanned out in his hand. I yelled out "Pick me, Murray, pick me!", and darned if he didn't! Amid the laughter I went up, collected my pedometer and picked the last winner. With that they thanked us all for coming to the race, the last for 2012 in the new 3 race Regional Park Trail Run Series, and encouraged us all to take some food and drink for the road.

It was already getting dark out so with that we said our goodbyes and were off. It took me over an hour and a half to get there in the rush hour traffic, but well worth the trip to take part in such a fun, well organized race, with a lot of great people!

No results yet but I'll post them when they're up.

My next race, besides the upcoming Friday Night Mile, is this Saturday, September 22 at 10:30 AM. It's the second race of the cross country series, the South Fraser 8K, at Bear Creek Park in Surrey.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Pinetree Classic Results & Some Updates

The Pinetree results have been posted, and I was 30 of 44 overall, 3 of 5 in my age group, with a time of 35:02. All the results for the whole meet are here:
 
Here's a report from my friend Barb Sousa about the race she ran with her 10 year old daughter Breanne (they spelled it Brianne in the results) in Winnipeg on August 30. Looks like she has a budding star on her hands!
 
Big hello Gord
Results are in for the twilight run. HERE
Breanne went to race and I went to run. Breanne took off like a bat out of hell, I tried to hold her back but I soon lost sight of her.
 
I thought for sure that she would lose steam and I would find her walking somewhere along the course. How wrong I was, her time was 30:17. There were only 2 kids besides Bre 1 girl age 12 and one boy around 8 or 9.
 
Gord  she has only been running for a little more than a month  With a little training she could be really really good. What more is that I think she's hooked, she loved the race. http://www.fortwhyte.org/twilightrun
 
Barb
 
Found a group photo of some of the runners at Walk In The Park. The bald guy beaming (pun intended) on the right of me is Ward Beemer, and in front of me crouching is ultrarunner extraordinaire Mel Bos. I stood behind her in the hope that by being so close to greatness some of it might rub off on me.
 
 

Photo of Ward & myself after we finished the 10K race at the 2010 Boundary Bay Marathon.


 
And finally here's some pics from the Coho Run:
 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Pinetree Classic 8K

Today's race was the Pinetree Classic 8K, the first race in this year's Lower Mainland Cross Country Series. It took place in Mundy Park in Coquitlam, and I almost didn't get there in time. I was already out in Coquitlam when I pulled over and parked my car to check my map to make sure I was going the right way, and then my car wouldn't start when I went to get going again. Luckily BCAA came right away, and it turned out that my car's el crappo Motomaster battery, that the guy said was put in just 2 years ago, was shot. He gave me a boost and got me going, so I didn't have to miss the race, and I'd take care of the battery later. I told him that being from Winnipeg I always had jumper cables with me, so if I needed a boost after the race it would be no problem.

I got there with about 20 minutes still to spare, and by the time I parked on a sidestreet because the lot was now full, got my number, warmed up and chatted a bit with some of the other runners it was time to line up for our race, which consisted of the males 20 years and older. The race director gave us quick instructions, and then we were off in a flash, surprising a few of the guys. We did one lap around the field on the grass, and then it was off into the woods. The path was dirt with some tree roots, turning to gravel in some parts, but fairly wide so it was easy for people to pass. The speedsters ran ahead and I stayed behind Mike Mooney, who I knew was way faster than me, but I'd heard him discussing what he was going to do with a friend when we were lining up. His strategy was to go out slower than usual and then speed up later in the race, so I thought it would be a good idea to pace off him until he did so. After about a kilometer he pulled away, and then we hit a steep hill. I managed to keep going up it without slowing down too much, and then sped up after the crest. I was running behind a fellow I'd seen in some other races now, and in front of him was a pack of about 6 other racers.

After a few minutes I gained a second wind and passed my pacer, and then picked off a fellow who had dropped off the pack. I came up on a young guy who I'd passed early in the Campbell Valley race a couple of weeks ago. He was walking and holding his side, but started running again just before I reached him. After a few minutes he stopped and was holding his side again, and I went past him. The pack was nowhere in sight in front of me now, and I couldn't hear anyone behind me as I ran along the trail, heavily shaded by the forest. With about a kilometer to go I passed a volunteer at a junction who clapped and cheered me on, and then I heard him doing the same thing again, so I knew there was now someone on my tail. I sped up and managed to keep a good pace going, and soon I came out where the field and finish line were. Many people were there cheering as it was a big meet, and I was directed around a corner and into the field. Brenda from my club was waiting for me and directed me to run around the cones and one more lap around to the finish. I sped up as I knew the finish line was near, and crossed with nobody right on my tail.

My erstwhile pacer came in next, and told me he tried to keep up to me but just couldn't do it. We introduced ourselves, his name is Andrew and he remembered me from a lot of races, as we're usually close together, at least at some point in most of them. I saw the young fellow come in and went to congratulate him. He said he wasn't happy, as he'd gotten a cramp in his side twice, and I told him I knew because I'd been behind him. I said that these things just happen sometimes and that's the way it goes, and told him it was great that he finished strongly in spite of his misfortune.

Arnold came in and he said he was happy with his race, and he's getting faster all the time. He said he's going to join our running club too, and I told him that sounds great, and we'd be very happy to have him. Arnold wondered how Drew did, so we went to ask him, and found out he finished second overall. Then we went to the food table, where they had 3 types of yummy cookies, and delicious muffins, plus bananas and oranges, and myself and Arnold had a few cookies and a couple of muffins to refuel ourselves. They got the awards going very quickly, right after sending the plus 20 women off on their 5K race. They presented 5 year age group ribbons, none for overalls, and in lieu of a podium they had 3 small signs with numbers on them for 1st, 2nd & 3rd. Winners went up and stood behind their number for the presentation and photo op, which the presenter, a very humourous fellow, insisted they do. Drew won his age group, and then they came to mine, and to my surprise I finished 3rd! Paul Wood and Rob Daniel also won 3rd place ribbons, and in the women's race Dee Makepeace from my club got 2nd, plus Brenda finished 3rd in their age group! Next the 8 to 10 year old boys ran 2.5K with ribbons to 6th place, and young Fraser from the Friday Night Mile got his 4th place ribbon, and left to go to his soccer game and show it off to his teammates. With that it was time to head out, in my case in search of a new car battery. No results on the net yet but I'll post them when they're up.


My next race is the Derby Reach Regional Park Trail Run 10K, at 6 PM on Tuesday, September 18.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Coho Run 14K

Today I ran the Coho Run 14K, starting out at Kitsilano Beach at 9 AM. Drew Nicholson and Dave Polermo shot ahead of everyone else right from the get go, and Stacey Berisavac was in front of me but I managed to pass her and stay ahead. She used to always beat me in past races so I took this as a good sign. We did a loop around the pool and then headed back alongside the beach, past the Maritime Museum, and then ran along the seawall before veering right for a few hundred yards. Then we went up some steps and hit the Burrard Street Bridge. This slowed us down quite a bit on the 650 meter uphill, but we made up a little time on the 300 meter downhill before reaching the end of the bridge and running down to the seawall on the other side of False Creek inlet.

At about the 5K mark I was running by myself about 20 meters behind a small pack of 6 racers, when a fellow who looked to be in my age group came up alongside me. We ran side by side for about a minute before he passed me, but I stayed right behind him. We came up on a couple of runners who'd dropped off the pack ahead and passed them, and then I sped up and passed him too! For about a kilometer more I kept up a (for me) torrid pace, and thought I'd lost my pursuer, but suddenly he appeared again, just past the halfway point of the race. He said "You're keeping up a great pace, I couldn't keep up to you for awhile." and I replied that he'd managed to catch up to me now, so good on him!

We came up to where we turned into the woods while I was saying this, and I almost kept going straight but luckily the volunteers yelled at me to turn. He got a little lead on me because of my mistake, but no matter, as we now headed up the dreaded Merilees Trail Hill, and he went up it relatively fast while I struggled. A young man and a woman came up beside me and the guy asked "How long is this hill?", and I said "Too long.", and he nodded and went past me. We all stayed in a little pack for the duration of our climb, which was a few hundred meters, and then came out onto flatter ground where we managed to get our legs back and speed up a bit.

I could still see the guy who'd passed me before, ahead on the trail, but then we hit another smaller hill. It was steep enough to knock my legs for a loop again, and when I crested it and turned a corner he was nowhere to be seen. We came out of the woods and hit the Lion's Gate Bridge, which is about a mile long. The young couple had a pretty good lead on me by this time, and I plowed up the 800 meters to the bridge crest as quick as I could go. I sped up on the 800 meter downslope and didn't gain anything on them, but thought that I had a good lead on anyone chasing me, with only about 2 Ks to go now.

We ran over another short bridge and then through some parkway, and hit the last seawall leading into Ambleside Park and the finish line! With about 500 meters to go as I heard cheering ahead and knew the end was near, another guy pulled up beside me and tried to pass. I matched him stride for stride, and glancing at him he looked like he might be in my age group, so I was taking no chances. I went ahead of him and put the pedal to the metal as we hit the home stretch. The finisher's arch came into view and we heard the announcer calling out the racers' names as they finished, plus loud cheering. I heard him desperately trying to catch me but I broke into a sprint. We got a really good ovation as we raced in, and I held him off, finally crossing the mat!

We shook hands and thanked each other for pushing ourselves to go as fast as we could go, and then a volunteer handed us each a bottle of water and we went off to find the food. They had water and coffee to drink, plus cut up bananas, apples, and oranges, and like always, a pancake breakfast!

We were among the first there, so no lineup, and I got a couple of pancakes right off the grill, went and poured some syrup on them, grabbed a seat on the curb, and ate them plus a couple of banana pieces. Feeling refueled I went to the finish chute and cheered in the finishers for awhile. Soon race results were posted and it showed me 2nd in my age group, but a fellow standing in front of me told his wife that they'd got his age group wrong. He was in our 50's group instead of the 40's one that they had him listed in, so I knew I was probably getting bumped to 3rd, as he'd finished 6th overall. Drew won the race, so he was pretty pumped, and Dave Polermo, in spite of coming off an injury, managed to push Drew and finish 2nd overall. Bill Chang was listed as 3rd in our AG, but to our disappointment the fellow was right and Bill was bumped to 4th and off the podium. I told Bill he'd had a good year anyway, finishing 3rd in our AG in the road race series, and maybe we'd both be up there on stage together at this race next year!

They got the awards going and the girl who won the under 19 female age group, Breanna Bentley, appeared to be about 9 years old, and ran the race in 1:09:25! Drew and Dave went up on stage and got their gold and silver medals, I went up and got my bronze, and they had the entire age groups pose together for pictures as we went onstage. When all the awards, draw prizes, and thank you's were done, it was time to close out the event, and we headed off to catch the shuttle bus back to Kits Beach.


Results are up already http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=cohorun2012 and I was 27th overall out of 468, 3 of 33 in my age group, with a personal best time for this race (my 3rd go at it) of 1:01:18. Drew's winning time was 47:48, with Dave close behind at 47:59. Bill was 35th overall with a time of 1:02:24, with Stacey not far back, at 37th and 1:02:33.

My next race, on September 15th at 10 AM, is the Pinetree Classic 8K in Coquitlam, the opening event of the 8 race Lower Mainland Cross Country Series.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

More Press for Walk In The Park

 You don't have to be a big race in Kamloops to get a lot of press! It's a great sports town.


http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20120904/KAMLOOPS0201/120909999/-1/kamloops0201/kelowna-athlete-shows-54km-run-just-who-is-bos

Kelowna athlete shows 54km run just who is Bos

Keith Anderson

Mel Bos of Kelowna shows the form that helped her win the Walk in the Park 54-kilometre event in record-setting time Sunday at Kenna Cartwright Park.

Mel Bos set a new female course record in winning the 54-kilometre division of the Walk in the Park ultramarathon in Kenna Cartwright Park on Sunday.

The Walk in the Park, which was first run in 1992 and has been held in Kenna Cartwright since 2001, featured an 18km course — runners had the opportunity to do one, two or three laps of the track.
Bos, from Kelowna, was one of 18 people who started the 54km race, but two of the starters made “honourable exits” during the race. Bos blazed to first place overall, winning in five hours four minutes, a course record for female athletes.

In second was Edmonton’s Logan Beaulieu, who was almost an hour behind Bos in 6:01:18. Phil Hiom was the fastest Kamloops finisher in the 54km race, as he came home in 6:43:49 for sixth.

Other Kamloops finishers in the 54km race were Norman Blain (7:19:31); Craig McIntyre (7:40:03); Marty Gaylie (7:54:32); and Sandra Pasmen (9:26:59).

As per tradition, the last finisher of the 54km race — in this case, it was Pasmen — won a lawn chair in which to relax after the race.

There was only one competitor in the 36km race — Kamloops’ Geoff Blunden finished in 5:06:04.

Kamloops’ Ian Robertson won the 18km race, which 11 racers finished. Robertson’s time was 1:43:03, only 1:44 ahead of Vancouver’s Gordon Flett. Kamloops’ Kristian Helmer was third in 1:45:18, with Jennifer Elfenbein of Kamloops fourth overall and first among women in 1:45:43.

Other Kamloops finishers were Dean Olstad (1:46:04); Tom Waldichuk (1:47:08); David Coneybeare (2:03:51); Al Quinn (2:16:03); Wes Kibble (2:38:14); and Evan Fitzer (3:25:54).


Here's some pics courtesy of Christina Nilsen:
 
Plus a direct link to Chris's appearance on the local TV station.
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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Walk In The Park Results & News

Thanks to Greg McPherson at work for finding this, we made the Kamloops This Week newspaper:
 
Results are posted for the Walk In The Park, and I was 2nd of 11 in the 18K, with a time of 1:44:47.
http://members.shaw.ca/witp/2012%20Results-Website.pdf  Top North American ultra marathon racer Mel Bos was the winner of the 54K race, she's from Kelowna, and the men's winner, Logan Beaulieu, is from Edmonton. Her time was 5:04:00, and his was 6:01:18. Wow she's fast! She smashed the women's course record by 49 minutes too!
 
 

Monday, September 3, 2012

Walk In The Park 18K

Yesterday I ran the Walk In The Park 18K trail race in Kenna Cartwright Park in Kamloops. The ultra marathon 54K race started at 7 AM, with the 36K race going off at 9 AM. Our one loop 18K race began at 11 AM, and I bolted out into the lead. We went uphill right from the start of the race, hit a small downhill after a couple of hundred meters, and then began a long ascent for the next kilometer, first running up a narrow single track trail through the woods, and then hitting a steep hill where I had to slow to a walk to get up it.
 
After another short descent we hit a steep hill again, and at the 2.3K mark we came out onto a flat spot where there was a self serve aid station. I stopped to open up a baggie that had Clif Bar pieces in it, and a fellow in a red shirt ran by me. I grabbed 4 pieces and took off after him, but he ran up the hill faster than I could and opened a lead of about 20 meters on me. I managed to stay behind him as we hit a very steep downhill, but on the next hill he again went up it faster than I did, and then on the ensuing very steep downhill he opened up an even bigger lead. The ground was very crumbly and I didn't want to wipe out so I slowed myself down, and by the time we hit the next uphill I couldn't see him anymore.
 
Now I was running along a narrow trail on a grassy peak, and the view of the mountains and the valley was spectacular, but it was dangerous to let it distract you too much. You had to keep your eyes on the trail or risk a bad wipeout. At about the 6K point I came out into a clearing with a wide path, and saw the staffed aid station 400 meters ahead.
 
Our race leader was there refueling, and I dashed towards it as quick as I could, but he took off when I was about 100 meters away. They asked if I wanted any food and drink, and I said "Yes!" getting a piece of dark chocolate, a salt & vinegar chip, a couple of pieces of candied ginger, and a cup of water. I looked and saw a bunch of runners approaching and only about 100 meters away, and took off myself before they reached me. I headed out into the woods and along the narrow trails again, and soon heard voices. I ran up on a cyclist following another runner and they were conversing, and as I came up on them on the narrow single track the cyclist said he would be heading onward and went around the runner and took off. I went around him too, as he saw me and moved over on the narrow trail. He asked me what race I was in and I told him I was doing the 18K, and he said there was one person ahead of me. He told me he was running the 54K, and I asked if he was on his final lap and he replied that he was. He said "You're doing great! Go get him buddy!", and I thanked him and told him he was doing great too, and headed off. Only later did I find out that he was actually the eventual winner of the men's race, and he was telling me how great I was doing!
 
There were some more ups and downs, and at one point I was running along a narrow path where I really had to make sure and keep my balance, because there was an abrupt dropoff, and a slip would have meant about a 10 foot fall and some type of injury. Soon I was hitting the steep inclines again, and my legs would feel like lead most of the time, before recovering for a bit until the next hill.
 
At the 10.5K mark there was another staffed aid station. Like at the other one, they had water, Gatorade, Coke, Carboom gels, bananas, oranges, watermelon, candied ginger, salted baked potatoes, mountain mix, S & V chips, jujubes, gummy bears, Clif Bar pieces, Sunrype fruit leather & bars, pretzels, and dark chocolate. At the self serve stations they had water, Carboom gels, fruit leather & bars, jujubes, and Clif Bar pieces. I grabbed a couple of jujubes and candied ginger pieces and some water, and asked them what the split was. They just looked at me so I said "The guy in front of me, how far is he ahead?" Finally someone said "About 2 minutes.", and I said "Okay, I'll give it a whirl!", and took off down the trail.
 
I knew catching him was a longshot because 2 minutes is quite a lead, and he seemed to have found another gear, but I was going to try anyway. There were more hills and then a steep downhill where I did some skidding but managed to stay upright, and then I hit a level spot with a wide path, and lo and behold, I saw a red shirt about 300 yards ahead. We were on a slight downhill and I sped up and ran down it pretty fast, and I could see that I was closing on him. Then I turned a corner and there was a hill that went almost vertically straight up. It was only about 10 meters high, and my adversary was just reaching the top as I started to climb up it. The distance wasn't far between us, but timewise he had a big gap on me, because by the time I struggled to the top of this cliff, he was gone. There were more hills now, and just when I got my legs moving faster again after cresting one of them, I'd hit another one. At the 14K mark I came upon the last aid station, an unstaffed one, and blew by it.
 
I heard a noise, and saw a guy in a white shirt coming down an incline behind me. He was only about 100 meters back so I sped up to try and put some distance between us. A couple of kilometers later I came to a road, and there were no markers showing where to go, so I turned and ran down to another road, but there were no markers there either. l turned around and ran back, and saw my pursuer coming toward the road. I yelled "Which way do we go?" at him, and he didn't know at first but then spied a flag in the field ahead of him, and said to go that way, through an opening in a fence. What had happened was that someone had removed the flags, or they'd been blown off the fenceposts, as the race director had put flags there but they were now gone.
 
I was now in 3rd place but not for long. I went by the young white shirted guy, and he looked exhausted and was breathing very heavily. There were only a couple of kilometers to go, so I redoubled my efforts and sped up running along the narrow path, which was relatively flat now. I came to a gravel road and there were some volunteers there and they told me I was almost done. I saw the finish line down below and ran down the road on a good downhill, turned the corner, and ran across the finish line to a lot of cheers and applause. Chris the race director came up and shook my hand, and I shook hands with the winner, and went and got some water. Soon Christian, the third place guy, came in, followed by the women's race winner and a couple of other guys.
 
We all congratulated each other, and went to the finisher's table where they had all the stuff they had at the full aid stations. The woman there told us they also had salads and smokies at the next tent, and so we headed there next. I grabbed some potato salad and a three bean one, and there was a guy who had the barbeque going, and I prepared a bun and got a cheese smokie. We went and sat down and ate and shot the breeze while cheering in finishers. I went back and got a veggie burger and a woman was getting one too and asked me what race I'd run. She wasn't wearing running clothes so I assumed she was a spectator or volunteer, and told her I'd come in second in the 18K, and she said "Congratulations, that's great!"
 
It wasn't until they gave out the awards for the top male and female finishers in the 54K that I found out that she'd won the race overall and smashed the course record by something like 40 minutes. The reason she wasn't wearing racing clothes when I talked to her is because she'd already had time to go across to the nearby truck stop and shower and change, as she'd finished so fast, about 45 minutes ahead of the top male. She's one of the top ultra runners in North America, and was congratulating me on finishing 2nd in the 18K, while saying nothing about what she'd accomplished!
 
They only gave out those prizes, 2 cool wire statuettes for the ultra winners, but Chris got us all together for several pictures, and we still have the bragging rights for our podium finishes, even without the podium or medals. It only cost $17 to enter the race, and in food alone you got your money's worth, never mind anything else. There were also draw prizes, and I won a tote bag with some fruit bars in it. Almost everyone seemed to win something. Ward Beemer, who I'd beat in the Boundary Bay 10K in 2010 to take 3rd place overall when his shoelace came undone, came in, he'd run the ultra. David who I'd seen at other interior races, finished the 18K, and then Wes Kibble, the race director of the Barriere Fun Run finished our race also. David asked if we should all do the 36K next year, and Wes suggested we do the 18K again, as they'll be doing it in the opposite direction then (they alternate it for even and odd numbered years), and we agreed to do that, and then go from there.
 
Wes told us about his dad, who's had 2 bouts of brain cancer, and he'd been using a walker, but now he's been clear of cancer for 2 years and is walking unaided again. He's always been an avid cyclist but never a runner, but told Wes he wants to run a race with him. Wes has a 5K picked out for next year, and they'll be doing it together.
 
We stayed and talked with the other runners and cheered in all the remaining 54Kers, and people continued to eat and have a good time. One woman decided to ask the winner of the woman's ultra race how she runs up those steep hills so fast, as her husband wanted to know, and she told us when she trains she runs up steep hills for at least 20 minutes a time. It's not enough to just keep doing repeats on a short hill, you have to do a really long one repeatedly. Finally she had to leave, I think she came here from Alberta, and I said it was nice to meet her. I stayed about half an hour longer before saying my goodbyes and heading back to Vancouver.
 
Results aren't up yet but I'll post them when they are. One thing I forgot to mention was the great weather we had. It's been hot up there but it stayed cool for our race, and the notorious Kamloops winds stayed away too. Chris's wife Tara got a shirt made up for the race with him on it, and down below on the left of this page http://www.facebook.com/#!/WITP.Ultra  is a video of Chris on the local Kamloops TV news show being interviewed about the race, and the explanation about the shirt.
 
 
 
My next race is the Coho Run 14K, on September 9th at 9 AM, starting at Kits Beach and ending in Ambleside Park in North Vancouver.