Holiday Hustle 5K

On Sunday, December 9 I ran the Holiday Hustle 5K in Sechelt. Normally the Stewart Mountain Challenge is my final race of the year, but Teresa and Larry Nightingale created a new event this year to raise funds to send the Chatelech Secondary School band to Hawaii Tour 2013, and food and goods for the local Elves Club for Christmas hampers. So naturally I had to do it.

We started off at 9:30 AM on a road near the Aquatic Centre, and the untimed 2K began 5 minutes later. Both races also had untimed walkers and dance walkers participating.

John Atkinson (B.C. Johnny http://bcjohnny.podbean.com/ ), who used to reside in the Lower Mainland until fairly recently, but now lives in Sechelt, blasted out ahead of everybody else and never looked back until he crossed the finish line in first place. We ran straight up the road for a few hundred meters and then it became weavy for another half kilometer or so. After this we turned off and ran along some twisting residential streets. There were 2 younger guys wearing identical gray t-shirts running in front of me. One of them looked to be in his early twenties and was built more like a large football linebacker than a runner, and I was impressed at how he was keeping up with our pace.

Soon he slowed down and dropped behind his friend, and then I went past him and kept following his slightly older but slimmer buddy. After a short while we turned off into a small park and onto a winding gravel path going around some ponds full of ducks. They quacked loudly as we ran through, and my pacer yelled "They're cheering for us!", and I laughed and said "Yep!" as we exited the park and hit the streets again.

I was going great guns staying right behind him, but then we turned and hit a fairly steep hill about 300 meters long, and I slowed up considerably while he surged ahead. I'm pretty sure that doing the Stewart Mountain race the previous day wasn't helping my cause here, and he was about 30 meters ahead of me by the time I crested the hill and turned right onto level terrain. Soon we hit the 3K point as we headed back to the Aquatic Centre, and I managed to close the gap between us slightly a few times, but each time I did he would surge again and be even farther ahead of me than he was before.

When I reached the road near the Aquatic Centre again John Atkinson came jogging toward me doing his post race cooldown, and yelled "Way to go Gord!", and gave me a high five. About 20 meters later I was directed by the volunteers to take a hard right into the centre's parking lot before dashing the final 30 meters to the finish line.

After myself and some other finishers congratulated each other we headed into the centre to get out of the light rain and warm up. The Hawaii bound school jazz band was getting ready to play, and there were huge tables of food waiting for us. They had bananas and oranges plus fruit, cheese, and veggie platters. The band members and their families plus some volunteers including Teresa had also baked up masses of delicious baked goods for us, including cookies, small pastries and various chocolate enhanced creations. The ones that stood out the most, for myself anyway, were Santa's hats made from strawberries on chocolate bases with white icing toppers. I periodically sampled all of these delights and enjoyed them immensely.

We were each given a draw ticket, and they gave out several prizes while results were tallied and then the band played a lively Christmas number for us. Next they did the awards and since it was mainly a charity fun event there were no age group presentations, just for the top three male and female 5K overall finishers, plus a special award for the fastest 2K runner, 5-year-old Joffre Storey.

The band was preparing to play another tune after which there'd be more draw prizes, but I decided I'd better head out because I wanted to make sure that I caught my ferry. I gave my draw ticket to one of my many fellow competitors still there enjoying the festivities, and reluctantly made my departure. Kudos to Teresa, Larry, all the other volunteers, plus the band members and their families for putting on such a well organized, fun, and worthwhile event. Almost $1300 was raised for the band, and $195 plus two and a half big boxes of food and toys went to the Elves.

The Coast Reporter did a nice story on the event:

http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20121214/SECHELT0201/312149967/-1/sechelt/fundraising-run-draws-a-crowd

The race website is here:

http://www.sunshinecoastathletics.org/hh5k/index.htm

Here's the race map for those (including me) who found my course description confusing:

http://www.runningahead.com/maps/0f43b89bd4bb4908a4613dcac149e68b?unit=km

I was 4 of 60 overall, with a time of 21:45.

http://www.sunshinecoastathletics.org/hh5k/results/results12.txt

My next race is the Resolution Run 8K trail race on New Years Day at 10 AM in Crescent Park.

Harriers Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Challenge

On Saturday, December 8, I competed in the Harriers Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Challenge at Thetis Lake Regional Park just outside Victoria.

 

We took off at noon from near Thetis Lake's beach and headed off into the forest where we ran along a weaving single track path for a bit, hitting some ups and downs while watching our footing on the abundant tree roots.

 

It had been raining steadily in the days preceding the race, and when we hit the first patch of ice cold water it was a couple of feet deep. After a few meters we were out,  but not before stopping and climbing over a huge log suspended about 3 feet high across our path. After running a few hundred meters through the mucky trail we were treated to 3 more water holes in succession, thankfully a little shallower than the first one.

 

Upon exiting the final one I yelled to the young guy in front of me "That's enough of that!", and he yelled back, "That's for sure!". About 100 meters later, however, just as I was getting some of the feeling back in my lower extremities, we were faced with one more water patch that froze us up again. I had been following Brian Connon for most of the race, never getting too far back of him and content to keep his pace. As we hit dry ground again and I'd come up right behind Brian once more I thought I should try going faster now, so I went by him.

 

Next we hit the uphill path to begin the ascent up Stewart Mountain, and most people kept running for the first 100 meters or so. Then it turned really steep, and most of us started walking, even though a couple of people continued running and gradually disappeared from view. At one point a fellow came up beside me who looked to be about my age. He was walking with his hands pressed down on his knees really hard for added support. I looked at him and said "My calves are screaming!", which they were, every step brought a massive burning sensation, and he said that his were too.

 

Every once in awhile we'd hit a less steep patch and start slowly running again. This was always short lived and soon we were back to the same old walking grind. Nearing the summit we started climbing over huge boulders and up short vertical paths, and there was a fairly large pack of us doing it together. We had to search for footholds and even handholds sometimes to make the ascent, and at one point an older fellow who was in front of a young woman asked her if she wanted to go past him, and she quipped "No thanks, that's alright!", and everybody laughed. 

 

We reached the summit and one of the volunteers said "You're at the summit and the halfway point, and it's all downhill from here!", and I said "No it isn't!" and everyone laughed again, because most of them knew that plenty of hills still awaited us.

 

We started our descent down a steep narrow path covered with loose rocks, dirt, and tree roots. Occasionally we'd hit a more level patch and be able to pick up some speed, but it was never long before it would turn steep again. A guy wearing a Ceevacs club jersey went by me, followed by the fellow who'd been walking up the mountain beside me. Eventually we hit relatively level ground again as we completed the descent from the peak, and started running back through the muck and pools of ice cold water. After awhile I saw the 2 guys who'd passed me up ahead, and I sped up and closed in on them, until I was right behind them coming out of a pool. I darted around the pair and kept thinking they'd try and pass me again, but the next time I saw them they were crossing the finish line well behind me.

 

There were some fairly minor ups and downs along the way, but then we came to the first of the 3 final major hills. Last year they had signs out but this year there were none. The first had said "Gunner 1: little one. A fellow was running about 10 meters in front of me, and he made some struggling sounds but managed to keep running to the top, and I kept pace and crested it right afterward. A little further on was where a year ago the signs had said "Gunner 2: big one, followed by "Gunner 3: it's a big bugger!". Then I had to walk a good part of all of these hills, but this year I managed to keep up with my pacer and run almost the whole way. Finally we were on level yet rocky ground, and both of us started to get some energy back as our legs recovered. Soon we were running on a slight downhill, and you could hear the announcer calling out people's names as they crossed the finish line.

 

Both of us sped up as we hit the concrete path running alongside the lakeshore, and soon we turned the corner and the finish line was in sight! As we hit the beach we made a hard right and raced the final 60 meters through the sand to the finish. I managed to close in on him a bit but in the end he held me off handily. We bumped fists and told each other "Good race!". He said that those last hills so late in the race were brutal, and I certainly had to agree with that!

 

For refuelling they had tasty Power Bar protein chocolate fudge balls, chocolate chip cookies, Gatorade, water, coffee, hot chocolate, and chicken noodle soup. I had a few fudge balls and cookies, followed by a cup of soup, and ended up getting some hot chocolate later as we cheered in finishing competitors and waited for the awards to begin.

 

I went to my car and got my jacket, bell and camera, and then headed back to the beach to welcome the incoming finishers.

 

 

 

 The odd person braved the frigid lake waters to try and get some of the mud off themselves and their shoes, while having a post race "ice bath" to kill any inflammation, but most chose to change into or put on warmer clothes instead.

 

 

 

When most of the competitors were in, we had the draw prizes and race awards. Besides winner's cups and prizes for the top 3 male and female overall finishers, they had medals for the top 3 in each 10 year age group, and ribbons for 4th & 5th place.

 

Brian was 2nd in his age group, and I won a $20 coupon for lunch at Evedar's Bistro http://evedarsbistro.com/home.html  in Langford, and there's no expiry date on it so I can use it when I'm over there again sometime.

 

My first time running this race, in 2010, I finished 81 of 149 overall and 5 of 11 in my age group,  winning a surprise ribbon, with a time of 1:34:24. The next year I was 83 of 156 overall, and 11 of 18 in my AG, in spite improving my time to 1:30:45. This year I finished 7 of 24 in my age group, but moved way up to 58 of 170 overall, with a time of 1:26:58. So I won a ribbon the first year, which was pretty cool, but failed to the next 2 years while running faster each time. But that's quite all right, I'd much rather be improving than just getting a ribbon or medal because the competition was weaker. I've cut almost 7 and a half minutes off my time in 2 years, so I'm very pleased with my progress!

 

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=stewartmtn102012

 

Like in the other years, after the awards everyone cleared out pretty fast to get out of the cold and dry out somewhere warm.

 

My next race was the Holiday Hustle 5K in Sechelt the next day at 9:30 AM.

Gunner Shaw 10K

On Saturday, December 1st, myself and some of my clubmates ran the Gunner Shaw Memorial 10K  in Jericho Beach Park. It was a 2 lap race, and there was also a non-series scoring 1 lap 5K race. We started out at 11 AM near the front of the Jericho Sailing Centre, running across the grass and into the woods for about 100 meters or so before hitting a road. We didn't cross the road but instead turned right and ran through the grass along the sidewalk for a block, hung another right, and headed into the trees again.

 

Soon we were back in the open and running on a gravel path past the sailing centre in the opposite direction now. After about 150 meters the path went through some trees briefly before we were out in the open again, heading toward the beach. We were directed onto the sand and ran through it for about 400 meters. Because of the wet weather it was packed down better than last year and not too bad to run through, until about the last 60 meters where the sand was very loose.

 

Coming off the sand we leapt over a log and into the grass, where a fellow who looked to be a few years younger than myself ran past. It struck me as odd that he was running the race wearing a jacket and warmup pants. We reached a line of bushes with a break in them where we had to cross a ditch full of ice cold water. I was right behind the guy who'd just passed me, when all of a sudden he stopped and started walking, swinging his arms wildly out to the sides. I managed to get around him and ran through the water and up onto the grass. I heard him say to someone behind me "Oh sorry, oh I get it now, keep it going. Ho! Ho!" I have no idea why he did that, but thankfully that was the last I saw of him anyway.

 

We ran around a large field before heading off into the woods again, traveling along a mud path for awhile before heading down a short but steep and slippery hill. Next we were directed to our right and down a wide concrete path, where there appeared ahead of us a sign that said "PUDDLE FROM HELL" on it. Here the path was completely submerged in water about a foot deep, but the people in front of me were just running on the grass around it, so I thought "Hey, this isn't going to be so tough." After a few meters we turned a corner and there was suddenly no more grass to run on, so there was no choice but to run through the ice cold water for 100 meters or so.

 

Reaching the end of what Dee Makepeace later dubbed "The Jericho Canal", we ran to the path going back to the sailing centre, through the trees, and then onto the grass behind the tennis courts. It was here that I lost my footing and wiped out, but the ground was nice and soft, so I just bounced up and continued running across the field and past the finish line to begin the second lap.

 

Everything was going well, and I was running behind Ian Wall who I ran with in the Four Lakes 10K, when we hit the slippery hill again. As I was going down it my left foot sank into the mud and it felt like my shoe was coming off, but I managed to free it just quick enough and it stayed on.

 

We hit the puddle again and I had Ian running in front of me, and accomplished triathlete Stephanie Ossenbrink running beside me. Stephanie said "Well, at least we're getting our ice bath.", and I replied "You got that right."

 

 

All photos courtesy of Teresa Nightingale

 

After exiting the puddle we knew the end was near and we all sped up.

 

 

 As we ran behind the tennis court I was careful with my footing and didn't wipe out this time, and then we bolted the 150 meters to the finish line. Ian dashed ahead of us, and then a young guy flew by and just failed to nip Ian at the finish line. Stephanie just outsprinted me while I managed to stay ahead of a person coming up fast behind me.

 

After a few minutes some of my clubmates started coming in, Michael O'Grady and Dee and John Makepeace, and it was time to head upstairs into the sailing centre to warm up and get some food. Elsie and Marc Fontaine were already up there. Marc's still injured and this course was a little too dangerous for Elsie to run, but they came out in support nonetheless. To refuel us they had bananas and oranges, soup, bagels, jam and peanut butter, Timbits and coffee, and everyone's favourite: Fresh Slice Pizza!

 

We all milled about chatting and eating until the racers had all come in, and eventually the awards started. Michael was second in his age group, and Roger Roufosse and Donna Lowe from my club won theirs, but the rest of us didn't come near the podium with the fast field today, and with the festivities over it was time for us to head out.

 

I finished 83rd overall out of 188, and 8 of 14 in my age group, with a time of 44:05.78.

 

http://www.winningtime.ca/12/12gunner/oall10k.txt

 

Our club finished 2nd to the Kajaks in the series, but we'll be gunning to get our trophy back next year.

 

http://www.bcathletics.org/results/2012/lmxc12_club.pdf

 

I managed to finish 3rd in my age group for the third year in a row, which I hadn't expected.

 

http://www.bcathletics.org/results/2012/lmxc12.pdf

 

Here's a video of us running through "the puddle":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek60Z5D2fFs

 

Gunner Shaw photos by Teresa Nightingale:

 

http://teresanightingale.zoomphoto.ca/event/17710/

 

Here's also a video of the Canadian Cross Country Championships Masters Race:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi3u4iYMb4M&feature=youtu.be

 

And finally the photos of the same race, just click on the yellow Candian X-Country Champ 2012 to see them:

 

http://www.wcsportography.com/wcdesign/Events.cfm

 

My next race was the Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Cross Country Challenge, at Thetis Lake Provincial Park just outside Victoria, at noon on Saturday, December 8.

Vancouver Historic Half 5K

On Sunday morning, November 25, I ran the 5K race at the Vancouver Historic Half. There were 3 races, the half marathon, 10K & 5K, plus a 2 person half relay, and we all started out together at 9 AM from in front of the Stanley Park Pavilion. We ran straight ahead over the paths before hitting a bridge right away, going uphill and then downhill for a total of about 100 meters, and then we hit the seawall. I was thinking that after racing yesterday I probably wouldn't be running too fast today, I was just hoping to run a respectable time.

 

I actually didn't think I was going very fast. It's harder to tell when running with a bunch of people you don't know, and all running different distances, but at the 1K mark I looked at my GPS and discovered I'd run it in 3:45! I figured I was going way too fast, and ran the next kilometer in 4:03, a much better pace. Soon we were approaching the 5K turnaround, and one guy ran by us heading back to the finish. About 30 seconds later a woman went flying by us, and then I hit the turnaround and headed back as the second place male.

 

I heard someone behind me, and about half a kilometer later a fellow a few years older than myself pulled up and passed me. I ran behind him, and on one turn when I looked back all I saw was a lone woman runner, still quite far behind us, so it looked like we were both assured of a medal. The man turned out to be Jack MacDougall, who I remembered from a few other races.

 

I looked ahead and there was Elsie Fontaine, running with Dee and Tina, coming toward us going the other way. I knew Elsie was running her first 10K today, and I yelled "Go Elsie!", and they yelled "Go Gord!" as I went by. Jack opened up a lead on me of a few meters, and I thought I'd have lots of time to catch up, but before I knew it we reached the bridge again, and he sped up. So did I, but it was too late, the finish line was immediately ahead and he beat me handily.

 

 

 

We shook hands and I told Jack I'd given him too much of a lead, and he said that's what he'd been counting on. We waited for a few other people to come in, and then went into the pavilion where they had all kinds of goodies for us. There were 4 types of small Clif bars, bagels, fruit bars, bananas, and great tasting Sunrise chocolate fudge soya Super Squeezies. They also had water, soy milk, Cytomax energy drink, and Muscle Milk for rehydration. 

 

It was a beautiful sunny day, and I went out to eat my Clif bars and a Super Squeezie and watch more people come in. I talked to a few of the other runners and then ran to my car to get my jacket and camera. I ran back and then into the pavilion and asked Jack if he knew when they were having the awards. He was sitting with his daughter Erin, who also ran the 5K, and told me that they still hadn't said anything. They posted results from our race, and I had indeed finished 3rd male overall, with Jack coming in 2nd.

 

Walking out of the pavilion I heard the announcer call out Amelia (Molly) Varsava's name, and there she was getting her timing tag cut off her shoe by a volunteer. She got her finisher's medal and walked over, saying she saw me running back like a madman as she was running out. Her friend who usually races with her ran the 10K here today, plus another friend raced her first 10K. Molly said she stayed with them for awhile but finally took off and ran ahead, as she wants to improve her times and wanted to run a PB today, which she did. Her friends came in and they all wanted to get something to eat and drink inside, so we said our adieus.

 

I ran out toward the bridge, and soon Elsie, Tina, and Dee came into view. I took a few pictures and a couple of them even turned out decent.

 

 

 

Elsie seemed a little woozy after crossing the line so Dee took her for a walk to get rid of that. Elsie explained later that this was the first race where she ran the whole thing, no walking, so it took a little more out of her, but she did it! Her husband Marc, who's a great runner but injured right now, and also a great photographer, was there to cheer his wife on and get some pics. Dee and Tina ran as guides, not entered in the race, and John Makepeace came out too for support! The race was sold out but Elsie phoned Mitchell to explain her situation, and he made sure she got entered. I ran into Dominic after he finished the half marathon. Results weren't up yet for his race, but he thought he'd finished 2nd in his age group, and it turned out later he'd actually won it!

 

Just after I talked to Dom they did the awards inside the pavilion for the 5 and 10Ks. Results were ready fairly quickly as they only did overalls for the 2 shorter races, no age groups. Besides our medals, we got a whole bunch of bling, a box from Muscle Milk (2 bottles of MM, a MM tech shirt, and some energy drink powder envelopes), and a gift basket from Sunrise Soya Foods (Sunrise hoodie, toque, product coupons, insulated lunch bag, recipe cards, button, key holder, lip balm, and a Vancouver Chefs Take On Tofu Recipe Book). John took a picture of me all loaded up, but it turned out a little dark, oh well!

 

 

 

With the awards over for now we decided it was time to head out, until we probably all see each other again at this Saturday's race, the Gunner Shaw 10K, 11 AM at Jericho Beach Park.

 

Here's the results from all the races. I ran a 20:44, which I was quite happy with considering everything.

 

http://www.tryevents.ca/images/results/1vanhh.pdf

 

 

 

They also have a lot of pics up on their facebook page:

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TRY-EVENTS/45416122127#!/media/set/?set=a.10151269113762128.492234.45416122127&type=1

 

Lastly, here's some more excellent footage from the Cross Country Championships:

 

Junior Women's 5K, what I called the first u-turn, they call the hairpin:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPVG0iYOuDc&feature=youtu.be

 

Canadian Mens XC Championships, Closeups of the Senior Mens 10K, Evolution of the Pack & Exciting Finish. 3 minutes, 37 seconds

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSRumtYJWs8&feature=youtu.be

Canadian Cross Country Championships

On Saturday, November 24, I ran the 8K Masters race at the Canadian Cross Country Championships at Jericho Beach Park. I drove down there and got my race bib and age group number for my back and put them on, and before I knew it the race was almost starting. I headed to the start line at the end of the field, we had a brief summary of the race course by the starting official (4 X 2 kilometers laps), and off we went at 10 AM.

We headed across the field, along some gravel paths and more grass, and then headed into the woods. Last year we weren't the first race of the day, and it was pouring rain all day, but this year there was no rain, so the course wasn't nearly as mucky this time around. We still had to run along the mud trail in the woods and get plenty dirty, but the footing was much better. By this time I was in a pack with a fellow with a 50 on his back, meaning he was in my age group, running in front of me. Leading the pack, with a 65 on his back, was Brian Connan, who I remembered from the provincial championships, followed by Vas, then a woman sporting a 40, followed by us two 50-54 year olds. I soon learned the names of the woman and the guy in my age group, Michelle and Bill, because it seemed wherever there were spectators people called out their names and cheered them on.

We ran through the mud and hit a patch of bark mulch for only about 10 meters, which was good because we sunk into it and it slowed us down quite a bit. Next was more mud before turning right and heading down a short but steep dip beneath some tree cover, and then we were out of the woods and heading toward a corresponding uphill on the grass. After we crested it we were going toward the starting area again, through some grass with nice puddles, then some wet muck, and back onto the grass to head about 150 meters down the field, before heading around a u-turn to go 150 meters the other way. After one more very wide u-turn we ran 300 meters further along the grass, passing the finish chute on our left, and began the second lap.

It wasn't until we were almost at the first u-turn again when I went by Vas, following Brian, Michelle and Bill. As I went by the finish area again, I heard Dee and John Makepeace from my club yell, "Go Gord!", and saw Mary and Jimmy Hinze who yelled the same thing. Jimmy added "And I'm not Twinkle Toes!", referring to a nickname I gave him in a caption under a photo of him and Mary running the Aldergrove Ramble, that I'd posted on the White Rock Runners Facebook page. As we reached the bark mulch part of the path in the woods I passed Bill, and not long into the third lap I passed Michelle, and there was only Brian in front of me now, as the others ahead of us had opened a big gap on our little group. I continued to hear people cheering for Bill and Michelle, so I knew they were still in pursuit, but I managed to stay ahead of them and behind Brian.

As we started the last lap I ran by the Hinzes and Makepeaces, who were all volunteering today, pumped my fists in the air and yelled "I didn't get lapped!" I'd heard the announcer saying that Steve Boyd was coming down the chute to win the race, so I sped up and made sure he didn't lap me as he did so. 

It wasn't until we were on the final home stretch that I passed Brian at about the same point I'd passed Vas two laps earlier. I was hoping I could hold my lead because I heard him right on my tail as I ran toward the final u-turn.

I rounded it and a race official was standing there telling us to go to the left now and down the finish chute. As it turned out I handily outkicked Brian, but since he's 66 and I'm 52, he finished 2nd in his age group, and I finished 10th in mine. It was an honour to finish ahead of Brian in spite of him being so much older than myself, and I was very fortunate to have someone with his experience to properly pace off the whole race, which helped me to run about 2 and a half minutes faster than last year.

After I crossed the line John Makepeace slapped me on the back and said "Good job!" I talked to Carey Nelson and Rob from the Rubber Ducky, who trains with Carey, plus Teresa Nightingale and a bunch of the other runners, and Jimmy Hinze came up and shook my hand.

Maureen de St. Croix came up as I was talking to Teresa, wondering when the awards would start, and told us they were beginning right away at the Remax tent. First they did the overalls, and then the age groups..

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=xcnats2012mastersagegroups

Arjan Gelling was 40th overall and he and Brian Connon, both 66, won gold and silver in their age groups.

Lynette Baldock, also 66, won silver in her AG, and Teresa earned gold in hers.

It was quite a madhouse, as they had races going on constantly, and pretty exciting, but many other people were leaving so I decided to call it a day and head out.

Overall results are up, and I was 10 of 11 in my age group, and 60th overall out of 81. My time was 34:28, a lot faster than last year's time of 36:59, so I'm very happy with that!

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=xcnats2012masters

Athletics Illustrated has a video online of the men's senior race that gives you some idea of what running the course is like, and features the fastest men in the country with an exciting finish! 

http://athleticsillustrated.com/video/videp-senior-mens-race-canadian-cross-country-championships/

My next race was the 5K race at the Vancouver Historic Half Marathon, Sunday, November 25, at 9 AM.

Fraser Valley Cross Country Ramble

The second to last race of the Lower Mainland Cross Country Series, the Fraser Valley Cross Country Ramble, took place at Clearbrook Park in Abbotsford on Sunday, November 18. It was a 6.3K race, 150 meters out at the start, then three 2K laps, and 150 meters in to the finish. 

 

We started out in the field at 9:45 AM, turning left to start the first lap after the first 150 meter straightaway. Running alongside the flags marking the course in the grass, we soon got our feet nice and wet running through a couple of patches of water. A couple of hundred meters later we hit the same cracked asphalt and gravel trail that we'd run on in the B.C. Cross Country Championships 3 weeks earlier.

 

This also reminded me of the early part of the Seawall Race, because I noticed that I was running right behind Mikey Ross, which meant I was going too fast and it was time to slow down a little. Instead of going over the clearcut hill like we did in the B.C. Champs race, we turned left before reaching it, running a short distance before hanging another left and heading back the other way on a crushed gravel path.

 

In the B.C. Champs we ran about 200 meters and kept going straight, running over a dry grass path before going up and over another clearcut hill. Today we turned right and ran around the field until we went by where the starting point was, far off to our left, and into the woods. By this time my clubmate Murray had come up and passed me, and so had Vaclav (Vas), and I was now at the back of a strung out line of racers. Originally we'd been a chase pack behind the leaders, but now the leaders were far ahead, and we couldn't really be called a pack anymore.

 

After exiting the woods in the Champs we'd turned and ran across the top of "the bowl", and headed towards the start area to begin the second lap. Here we kept going for about 80 meters and then headed a few meters downhill into the bowl, which was about the size of a soccer field. We ran around the back of it and then all the way to the other end, uphill out of the bowl, and about 300 meters through the water and grass to the end of the lap.

 

Going down into the bowl I noticed that the blonde woman from last week, Miranda Alldritt, was now heading up the hill and out of it, with about a 150 meter lead on me. I figured she'd be getting her revenge on me today for beating her at the end of the Remembrance Day race. When running up the hill out of the bowl myself I noticed that there was still nobody in sight behind us yet, we'd opened up quite a gap on the rest of the field. 

 

As we ran past the start/finish chute entrance to begin the second lap, I was behind a guy in a blue shirt, with Vas running in front of him. We stayed in that order until we hit the woods again, when blue shirt sped up and passed Vas (no pun intended). Heading down into the bowl I noticed that Miranda was only about 50 meters ahead of me now, and by the time we started the last lap she was only a few meters in front of me. We lapped a few of the slower runners, some of who were my clubmates, and I heard one of them yell "Go, Gord, go!" after I ran past.

 

By the time we reached the woods Vas had slowed up and we both passed him. I sped up and when we were climbing out of the bowl for the last time I was right behind Miranda, but she found another gear as we ran around the field and towards the finish chute. I heard Vas somewhere behind me too, he hadn't given up yet.

 

Miranda turned down the finishers' chute and we sprinted in but I couldn't catch her this week, and told her that after we'd crossed the line. Vas came in and we talked to Murray and some of the other finishers. Dee arrived about a minute and a half later, and soon after she did I went to my car to put my jacket on and get my bell and camera.

 

I went back to the finish line to ring my bell to welcome incoming runners and take a few pictures. Jimmy and Mary Hinze came in, and then Rob Daniel, with Elsie, Tina, and Sarah coming in together to finish things off.

 

 

 

Draw prizes and awards were next, and a lot of people had left, so Mikey Ross said "Good, it gives us a better chance!" I won a pair of running shorts, and a few of my clubmates, including Elsie and Sarah, won draw prizes too. Race awards, which I believe were $50 Peninsula Runners gift certificates, were given out to the top 3 overall men and women finishers, plus the top men and women in the 10 year age groups. Mikey won our age group and his friend Ryan won his, plus Dee and Mary won theirs.

 

Results are up and I was 21st overall out of 46, 4 of 11 in my age group, with a time of 26:39. http://www.peninsularunners.com/events/2012/ramble2012.txt

 

In the series we gained quite a bit on the Kajaks, now only 40 points behind, which sets up a final showdown for the championship trophy at the Gunner Shaw 10K at Jericho Beach Park on December 1.

http://www.bcathletics.org/results/2012/lmxc12_club.pdf

Here's the individual series standings:

http://www.bcathletics.org/results/2012/lmxc12.pdf

 

My next race is the 8K Masters race at the Canadian Cross Country Championships, this Saturday, November 24, at 10 AM.

Remembrance Day 8K

Sunday, November 11th was the day of the Remembrance Day 8K cross country race in Stanley Park. At 11 AM one of the racers played the Last Post on his bugle, we stood for a moment of silence, and then we heard the 21 gun salute go off at Victory Square.

 

Jerry Tighe, the race director, surprised everyone with a quick 3-2-1 count, and we were off! We ran all the way around the field beside Brockton Oval, and then headed off into the woods. I had a bad cold, so my breathing was laboured and even louder than usual as we ran along the wide gravel trail. I came up behind a fellow and he said "I hear you!" and moved over to let me pass, but it took me awhile as he wasn't running that much slower than I was.

 

As soon as I got past him we hit a short but steep hill, and after we crested it my legs took a little while to shake the lead out. By about the 2K point I was running in a strung out pack, behind a woman with a blonde crew cut. I'd seen her in other races and knew she was fast, so I just stayed behind her as we hit a nice downhill. More small hills and flats followed this, until about the 4K mark where we ran into a stiff wind. Suddenly I heard a guy running close behind, drafting off me. First I sped up, but so did he, so I zigzagged back and forth across the path, and he stayed right behind me. I sped up again and he dropped back for a bit, but then caught up after a short hill. He pulled up alongside me and it was Murray from my club.

 

I said "It was you drafting off me! I was weaving all over the place trying to get rid of you!" and he nodded and laughed. We'd just passed the 5K point and he said "Here it is, the big one!", and with that we started up Adrian's Hill together. After about 300 meters it leveled out somewhat, and Murray took the lead. 100 meters later we were travelling on flat ground again and I caught up to him. It continued this way, with Murray opening up a lead on me on the hills, and I'd close the gap after the path leveled off.

 

Not long after the 6K point a fellow in an orange shirt came up from behind and passed us both. Murray ran behind him, with myself tailing Murray, for close to a kilometer, until he tried a breakaway when we hit an open patch of grass. I went with him, passing Murray before crossing a road, veering left for a few meters, and heading into the woods again.

 

I passed orange shirt and then sprinted down a fairly steep decline, but he stayed with me. As we crossed another road he went by me, and now we hit the field where we'd started. We ran past the finish line for our final lap around the field, and orange shirt had opened up about a 10 meter gap on me, with about 350 meters to go. I sped up but so did he, and first he passed one fellow and so did I. We were pushing each other and passed a couple more guys, and then there was one last hill. The woman with the blonde crew cut was going up it, and he went by her. About 10 meters after I crested it, I did too, but not without a fight. She was giving it everything she had, but finally I passed her and sprinted in, but ran out of real estate before I could catch orange shirt.

 

Murray and the blonde woman came in right after me, and we bumped fists with each other and some of the other finishers before clearing the finish area. Murray and myself had both noticed the guy in the orange shirt was a little heavy set, and we'd both expected him to run out of steam, but he never did. I told Murray he'd also gazed back as he was passing me for the final time and took a good look, seeming to be judging if I was in his age group or not. I think he determined that I probably was, and that's what spurred him on to beat me. Dee Makepeace and Tom Hastie came in not long afterward, and then John Makepeace, who only did a somersault over the finish line instead of his trademark handstand, due to too much traffic coming in with him.

 

We'd managed to avoid the rain so far, but it was still only a few degrees above zero, so I went and got my jacket, plus my bell and camera, out of my car. I went back out to the field by the pavilion, about 100 meters from the finish line, and started ringing my bell for the incoming runners. Tina Hansen-Baker from my club came over the hill and said "Run with me to the finish Gord!", so I ran alongside her off course until she was across the line. Maureen de St. Croix and Maurice Wilson were at the line recording people's times and placings, and Maureen said "You know Gord, you just disqualified your runner by pacing her in." and I said "Aah, I never liked her anyway.", and they both laughed. Just kidding Tina, we all love you!

 

I went back by the pavilion and continued cheering in finishers. After awhile I made my way over to where the runners entered the field for the final lap, and who would appear but Elsie Fontaine and Sarah Makepeace. They made their way around the field, and as they went past the pavilion Tina ran alongside them as I'd done with her, and I got a few (kinda blurry) pics of them completing Elsie's first cross country race.

 

 

 

Now it was time to go up into the pavilion's bar and get warmed up and refueled. They were just bringing the pizza up as I arrived. Outside of that they had prepackaged bowls of Cheerios for "appetizers", plus juice and coffee to drink, and the bar was open too, for those wanting a "wee drop of courage", etc. We milled around eating the various varieties of Fresh Slice pizza and chatting with the other runners. After awhile Brenda came and told me our club had a table, and I went to sit down with my mates.

 

They had computer problems, plus troubles with online registrants not having a space to enter their age, etc., so it took longer than usual to get race results. Finally Jerry came up with them and left them momentarily on the awards table. A few of us went to look, and I discovered that orange shirt, aka Lea Brownlic, was indeed in my age group, and had beaten me out for a medal by 2.6 seconds!

 

Jerry came up just then, grabbed the sheets, and started the awards. Dee won her age group and Brenda was third in hers, even though they didn't call her up, they still didn't have her age down. The highlight of the day was Elsie finishing her first cross country race, so it was a very good day indeed as we all headed home.

 

Here's the results so far: http://www.hersheyharriers.com/remembranceday12.txt

 

My next race, and the next in the cross country series, is on November 18, the 6.3K Fraser Valley Cross Country Ramble at Clearbrook Park in Abbotsford, at 9:30 AM.

Boundary Bay Marathon 10K

Yesterday I ran the 10K race at the Boundary Bay Marathon. Myself and Dave Burroughs, who was running the half marathon and requested a ride out to the event on the TRY EVENTS facebook page, arrived at Boundary Bay Park almost an hour early for the race. Centennial Beach had all new washrooms and other facilities now, so much nicer than last year, and we had a new starting line, but not far from the previous one.

The races consisted of a marathon, marathon relay, half marathon, 10K and 5K, and we all started off together at 8:30 AM. Dave and some others bolted out ahead, and I tried to keep pace somewhat, but then dropped off as I adjusted to what I thought my speed should be. A few fellows went by me, but I caught one of them before long and repassed him. We'd been running along the wide gravel trail by the ocean, but at the 2K point we were directed to turn right onto a residential street.

We ran along the street and past the 5K turnaround, and a younger fellow pulled up alongside me. I noticed by his blue bib colour that he was running the half marathon, but going at a faster pace than myself. Still, I decided to pick it up and ran alongside him for a couple of hundred meters before easing off just a bit so he pulled ahead of me. By this time we'd reached the 3K marker, where we were directed to turn right, down a short asphalt path before turning left and hitting the gravel trail alongside the ocean again.

Although it was fairly warm for November at about 10 degrees and the rain had held off, crosswinds from off the ocean were slowing us up now, and I focused on trying to keep a decent pace going. After we'd passed the 4K marker I kept looking ahead for runners coming back after hitting the 10K turnaround. I was about 250 meters from it when the first guy went by me going the other way. He said "Way to go Gordon.", and I said "You too.", but though I'd seen him before I didn't know his name. Soon after another fellow went past, one more when I was 30 meters away, and then one last guy a few seconds later.

I knew I wouldn't be repeating as winner of the race, but I was still hoping to at least grab third. As we headed back throngs of runners were coming towards us still heading out on their respective distances, and I heard one guy say to his 2 mates "That guy won the race last year." I focused on the blue shirt of the 4th place runner, and at times I was reeling him in, but then he'd speed up and increase the gap again.

After the 6K mark when we'd taken a right turn and were being buffetted by winds pushing us back, he began to slow up, and I gained on him as he apeeared to be down to a jog approaching the street again and the 7K marker. When we hit the pavement and the winds were calmed he got back up to speed, and we pretty well just ran it in at the same pace from that point on. I reached the trail again and turned left onto it, and we were now constantly passing walking and slow jogging 5 Kers.

With a few hundred meters to go you could hear the announcer, and there were some spectators lining the route. I heard a cowbell ringing and people cheering and soon I saw the building and tents and turned the corner to run down the chute and across the line!

 

I received my finisher's medal, and noticed they were doing the 5K awards so I went and watched them. They were only giving medals, plus a box of Muscle Milk, for overall top 3 male and female finishers in each race today, so it didn't take very long. The announcer was encouraging people to go into the food tents, so I did this next. They had bananas, oranges, brownies, bagels, small Clif bars and Protein Builder bars, and Vega performance drink samples, plus Muscle Milk, water, and coffee. I had a few brownies and grabbed a bagel and 4 of the Clif bars plus a coffee, and then went to my car to get my jacket, camera, and bell. I went to the finish line where a woman was ringing a kettle bell, the one I'd heard when I was coming in, and I went to join her ringing my bell. It turned out she was clubmate Judi Cumming, who'd just returned from hiking the 790 kilometer El Camino pilgrimage in Spain http://www.runninginthezone.ca/blog/2012/11/01/a-tale-of-the-seasoned-pilgrim/ . 

Husband Dan was running the 10K and she was welcoming the other racers back with her cowbell while waiting for him to finish. Ingo, who'd obtained a no-show bib number to the sold out event this morning, came in, followed by Lynette a couple of minutes later. Dan came in and Judi went to join him for a bit before resuming her cheering duties, and then Rick Varsava's daughter Molly finished. I'd missed her at the Rubber Ducky when I went to my car around the same time she was finishing, so I got her bib number from Kristina at package pickup so I'd know who she was when she finished this time. Her formal name is Amelia but she goes by Molly, and I haven't seen her since she was a little kid so I wasn't sure what she looked like.

I said "Way to go Molly!" as she ran into the finisher's chute, and she smiled and waved and then I went and introduced myself. She's only been running for 6 months and she and her friend are running races together. I told her that she's doing very well, and we talked some more, they are both very pleasant young women. Soon they said they were taking off, and we said we'd see each other at future races.

Preliminary results were posted for the 5 & 10 Ks, and it said I'd finished 6th, even though I don't know where the extra guy came from. I talked to Lynette and then Ingo for a little bit and then went out to beside the mouth of the finisher's chute to ring my bell and cheer for the finishers coming in. There were quite a few people gathered there doing the same thing, sans any type of bell, and the first half marathoner came in just after 1 hour and 20 minutes. I watched for Dave, hoping he'd medal, but he ended up in 5th place, after having a race much like my own, and we both said we'd try again next year.

I talked to Dan Cumming for a short while, and Dave chatted with the guys in his race and some other runners, and then we watched the 10K awards. Dave went back to mingling, and I went back to the finish line and joined Judi who was out there again with her cowbell. After about 15 minutes she and Dan left and I stayed for another 15 until there was a break in the action. Dave came up and we decided to head out, our work here was done. We said goodbye to Mitchell and said we'd see him at the Historic Half in a couple of weeks, and off we went!

Results are up, and I'm now 4th instead of 6th out of 147 (not sure what happened, but it works for me). My time was 42:52.6, and Ingo was 19th at 51:57.3, Lynette was 30th (and 9th female) at 54:16.8, Dan was 64th at 1:01:07.1, Molly was 83rd at 1:05:01.4, and Dave was 5th of 239 in the half, with a time of 1:26:41.2.

http://www.tryevents.ca/images/results/bbm2012.pdf

My next race is the Remembrance Day 8K cross country series race, in Stanley Park on November 11 at 11:01 AM.

James Cunningham Seawall Race

On Sunday, October 28 I ran the 9.5K James Cunningham Seawall Race. The race started at 10 AM on the road by Ceperley Field, and unlike yesterday it was relatively warm at about 10 degrees, and cloudy but with no rain whatsoever. Valerie who I hadn't seen since last year came up and said hi while we stood at the start line waiting to get going. She said that she hadn't had much sleep the last few days and so didn't think she'd run that well today, but it was nice to see me again, and then she said that since they'd be starting the race soon she was going to move farther back, and she'd see me later. Just then a guy walked up and stood beside me and pushed a weird mask down over his face. He was looking straight ahead and I said "I know that's you Mikey.", and he pulled down his mask and said "Oh hi!". It was Mikey Ross who'd just run the BC Cross Country Championships with me the day before. He was wearing a tight muscle shirt, white with black polka dot arm warmers, and a speedo, quite the sight! This is always a halloween themed race and Mikey'd created what you could call a unique costume. Dominic was a couple of people over dressed as an Egyptian Pharaoh, and he smiled and waved, and so did Bill Chang standing by him. I waved back and then the race director told us to get ready, called for a five second countdown, fired the gun, and we were off!

 

After a few hundred meters of running in the dense pack it started to string out a bit, and I noticed I was running only a few meters behind Mikey, who's way faster than me, so I slowed down a bit, but not too much. We hit the main seawall and I was following a couple of vampires, and I pulled out and passed them, managing to avoid being hit in the face by their flowing capes. I heard Bill Chang behind me for about a kilometer, he has a distinctive breathing method that sounds like he's doing a series of barks every once in a while. It kept me going fast knowing he was staying on my tail, and then I didn't hear him anymore so I figured he'd dropped off.

 

Up to the 6K point I'd passed quite a few people, with a few people passing myself. Many people had got caught up in the excitement and ran the first part of the race too fast, and as they fell back I raced by them. Then for a stretch I stayed where I was position-wise. One guy came up from behind and ran alongside me, but I sped up and he stayed with me. After about 50 meters, he seemed unable to keep up the pace, so instead of passing me he dropped back, and soon I didn't hear him behind me anymore.

 

With a couple of kilometers to go I told myself I was all warmed up now, so it was time to pick up the pace and finish off the race. For the rest of the race I continued to pass people, and with less than a kilometer to go you could hear race announcer Steve King calling out people's names as they came in. There were only about 400 meters left when someone came up from behind going really fast, and as he blew past me I saw that it was a young guy sprinting in, who'd apparently saved too much energy during the race. We rounded the corner coming into the park where the Energizer race had also finished, and turned down the finish chute, with about 50 meters to go!

 

I ran by one woman and spectators were yelling "Go Kristyn!" as I heard someone coming up fast behind me. I was gaining on the fellow in front of me, sped up, and nipped him right at the line while fending off Kristyn. We gave each other quick fist bumps before the volunteers directed us to keep moving. There was water waiting for us and then volunteers thrust handfuls of Power Bars at each of us. My guy gave me 4, and I tucked them into my shorts under my shirt, and went towards the area with the stage plus the food and sponsor tents.

 

 

 

I ran into Mikey and asked him how he did, and he said this guy in the green shirt probably beat him out to win his age group. I told him that they were 5 year groups, not 10, so he said he thought I had a shot at medaling, as he figured that the green shirt guy looked older than 55, which is Mikey's group. Next we went to get some food, and our first stop was the soup table for some delicious pumpkin soup. We went into the main tent to eat it, and perused the tables to see what we'd be sampling next. They had bananas, apples, bagels with cream cheese and peanut butter to smear on them, and small cups of Greek yogurt. I ended up eating a few half bagels with both peanut butter and cream cheese and 4 yogurts all told.

 

After a couple of initial bagels I went off to my car to get my jacket and camera. I was meaning to get my bell to cheer the runners coming in but forgot it, and instead of going all the way back to my car just clapped my hands and yelled encouragement as they came in.

 

I was where they were coming around towards the finishers' chute, chatting to a volunteer as we applauded incoming racers, many in great costumes, when Dee and John Makepeace walked up. They were there to see Elsie Fontaine run and now finish the race. Elsie's a member of our club who is blind, and last weekend she ran the anchor 7K leg of the Whistler 50K relay on an 8 person club team, her first race ever! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th4pHWrcHz4

 

She followed that up by running the Seawall race today, with her friend Vania and the Makepeace daughters Jessamine and Sarah running the race with her in support. I missed their finish as I went back to the food tent and just got talking to too many people, but Dee got some great pics of our club's new star runner and her entourage!

 

 

 

I ran into Rob Daniel, and then Valerie came up, but she told us she had to go home as due to lack of sleep the last 3 days she wasn't feeling that well.

 

 

 

 I talked to some more runners as the woman on the stage continued calling out draw prize numbers, and then they posted the first results, and I'd finished 4th in my age group, 12 seconds from a medal, as the guy Mikey thought won in his age group turned out to be the winner of mine. My time was 39:45, over a minute faster than last year, so the plan is to be so fast next year a medal won't be a problem. I was 59th overall out of 861, and 4 of 41 in my age group. http://www.winningtime.ca/12/12seawall/overall.txt

 

The Vancouver Courier ran a small story and published some pics:

http://www.vancourier.com/news/Photo+gallery+Hundreds+42nd+James+Cunningham+Seawall+Race/7466260/story.html

 

They started doing the costume contests and I got a couple of shots of Mikey up there, displaying why some people stayed well away from him in the race.

 

 

 

Some photos are up, and you can see some of the great costumes people were running in.

http://www.facebook.com/JCSWR?ref=stream

 

With that it was time to avoid the rush and head home, very pleased with my effort and the good time we had.

 

Shonna from my club has posted a few photos from the Cross Country Championships: 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10151065301046330.424251.539356329&type=1

 

My next race at 8:30 AM on Sunday, November 4th, the 10K in the Boundary Bay Marathon.