A special hello to Jody who joined us on her Arthkickers journey. We shared a 10km trot last weekend and I learned alot in that hour. You WILL do it! Lausanne will be yours!
I would love to do a mountain trot this weekend but wonder who is out to train with us? If we stay in town will you show or would the below be of more interest? Your answers will be my guide. If noone shows interest in an 8 am trot at Eau Claire, will you then join Al and Barb Cooper and the Strides trail team in canmore? Here are there details. Remember, your votes will determine my fate!
Strides Next Trail Run - Saturday, August 4th |
| Dear Fellow Trail Runners! Well, it's time again for the next monthly Strides Trail Run. While the run this Saturday occurs on a long weekend, we're going to try and make it easier for everyone to have a little post-run fun ... we're heading to Canmore! After looking over multiple options for the run and taking into account reports of bears on certain trails, we've decided to take you on one of Canmore's more popular routes - if you've done it before, you'll know it's a good one, if you haven't, you're in for a treat! Here are the details for the run: DATE: Saturday, August 4th, starting at 9:00am LOCATION: Montane Traverse Trail, Canmore, AB (start at Cougar Creek parking area) DISTANCE: Any distance you'd like! This can be either an out & back run, or one of a number of well-marked loops DIRECTIONS TO PARKING: Take Hwy 1 (Trans-Canada) to Canmore. Exit on the 2nd turnoff (downtown Canmore exit), loop around to the right, then turn left up the hill (away from downtown) onto Benchlands Trail. We will park at the Cougar Creek Trailhead (located on Cougar Creek). Please visit the following website which shows a map indicating both the location of the Parking Lot, as well as the Montane Traverse Trail: Click Here CARPOOLING: We know it's a long way to Canmore, so we'd like to put forward a car-pooling option - If you're heading out on your own and would like to share a ride, meet at 8:00am (sharp!) at the McDonald's just off the TransCanada Hwy (16th Ave. NW), across from Canada Olympic Park. It will take 45-50min to get to the trailhead in Canmore from McDonald's. Finally, we're thrilled that Andrew from Mizuno will be at the run, with a full fleet of Wave Ascend 6 trail shoes that you can get dirty! If you don't have any firm plans for this weekend, please join us on Saturday morning in Canmore. After the run, we can head into town for a bite to eat and share some running stories! Yours in running, Jeremy and Jeanette Deere |
So what will it be???
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Quote from the Canadian Death Race Facebook Page:
Article in the Globe & Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/fitness/women-v-the-canadian-death-race/article4445622/
And - "how to solo the death race":
11 hours x 60 min = 660 minutes / 67 km = 9.8 min/km to leg 3/4, then i guess you could average slightly slower for the rest.
.... Doable??? ;)
A pre-congrats to Jen and Jamie who have decided that Grande Cache will be their destination this weekend for the annual Canadian Death Race! It has been TEN years since I last trotted those trails. Time flies when "I am a Death Racer!" exits your mouth. I guess you have to be there.
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some of the many support signs along the way |
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| and more. notice the 'relaxed' john at about 90 km! |
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| The top of Mt. Hamel, and notice the dirty legs sans socks at 75km! Good friend Laurel with the summit support crew. |
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| Yep, those buggers up in Grande Cache had a sick sense of humour! |
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| Ahh finished and a beer awaits! Notice my 'tan' from tubing the week prior and the 55 year old grandmother that kicked my arse! |
Good luck to all heading north this weekend.
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I look back on my training for the Canadian Death Race and realize the importance of the people that give support along the way. It is a 125km solo or relay race with three substantial mountain summits. The first year I did the race I had a terrific group of fellow athletes (as you saw above) that did the relay but also provided support for my efforts with the solo endeavour. I had done a 36 hour adventure race a month before, so I had the endurance but still had not trotted the distance.
This group of fellow dancers on dirt, along with some awesome volunteers along the way made this event quite enjoyable. Each word of encouragement, every clap of a hand, the screams of "I am a death racer!" made the event not only great but it kept us all thinking about the positive aspects of the race. Those volunteers that spend their many hours keeping us safe and on the path to success are so vitally important to any event. Some of the volunteers on this race are out there for over 24 hours making sure people have a good impression about the race, the town, and everything the area offers. At one point on my second solo race I missed my support crew (they were still having breakfast) and thus did not get any food for the second longest and hardest leg of the race. About half way through I started getting dizzy from lack of energy and a volunteer reached into their lunch and gave me a sandwich. This allowed me to finish the leg with my wits about me. What a great volunteer!
Over the 45 marathons I have done I have seen many volunteers sitting along the side of the road, cheering in the rain, smiling in the winds, clapping in the snow, and just generally caring about every person that crosses the path of their event. The volunteers that sometimes feel the wrath of our scorn (the extra mile in Lethbridge/running out of water at some events) are not there to take the event from us, but they are the ones that GIVE the event to us. They have our interests in their mind when they take care of us. They mean well all the time. We need to remember that.
The next event you do remember to not only acknowledge the cheer of the volunteer, but give it back. Say thanks, give a hug, high five, a thumbs up. We all need and want the volunteer to come back and support us once again.
Lastly I want to remind you all that you should volunteer a race or few so that you give back to those that give to you. In Calgary we have an event a weekend. Not that we need to volunteer every one but we need to keep the spirit alive or there may not be any events for us to do in the future.
A bit of a rant, a bit of a plea, but more so a thanks to all of those that we see every weekend out there because they genuinely care about our experience and our journey to the finish line.
Have a great day and a great long weekend.
'Do any of you remember Forrest Gump? Did you like the episodes of Monty Python with the bearded guy that would always say 'its...'? The story at the link below reminded me of both. I used to love Monty Python...
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