There are a few things going on locally in Calgary in the running world. The most urgent this week is the online registration for the Calgary Police Half starts on Friday Feb 1 at noon. It will probably be sold out (2500 entries) by Saturday morning and 1000 more people will be looking to buy entries closer to the actual event in April. Later in February the same thing will happen with Melissa's Road Race (half marathon) in Banff. There are a couple of events in the entire year where people would probably camp outside to buy tickets if they could. Instead they just try and remember the date to register online. There are Facebook pages for these events to remind you.
Speaking of, I started making Facebook event pages for all the upcoming events that don't have one. And then I invite all my friends. It's halfway useful. (Or really annoying.)
This weekend there are no local road or trail races that I know of, but there's an indoor track meet on campus on Saturday, the Jack Simpson Open. This is mostly sprinter's showcase, but there is a 1000m race that should be interesting. This weekend some of the Dinos are going to Winnipeg for the Cargill Games, but some will be hanging back and running 5 laps of the indoor track.
As I mentioned before, the Jack Simpson Gym is not designed with spectators in mind for track events. That doesn't mean there won't be 100 parents and friends scattered around the track yelling and freaking out. They just have no place to sit. And no real great vantage points. It's still worth going if you've never been. Admission is free. A race schedule will be posted online on Thursday along with a list of combatants.
The weekend of the 9th is another Dino track exodus, this time to Regina for the Queen City Indoor Games. This should be a big one as everyone is running out of chances to qualify for the Canada West Championships (Winnipeg, Feb 22-23) and the CIS Nationals (Montreal, March 6-8).
Which brings me to injuries. Last year Geoff Kerr was first in the 1500m and 3000m at both Canada West and CIS Nationals, but over the Christmas break he injured a leg and his first race back might be at CanWest. He's been doing the pool running and cross training to keep his fitness up, but it's hard to tell what will happen. Last summer Olympic 1500m hopeful Malindi Elmore was in a foot cast and this fall/winter she's been working to get herself back into competitive shape. After one uninspired race in September second year Dino Mark McConnell has yet to get back on track, spending most of the cross country and probably all of the indoor season in rehab. In the summer rookie Jessica O'Connell was injured and had to ease up in some of her races, but seems to be running fine now. Same with 4th year Heather Sim.
On Feb 9 there is the 7th of 10 winter trail races that the Calgary Roadrunners put on, this time at Nose Hill. Last year this 8k jaunt around the park had to contend with a foot of snow, which was beautiful. On Feb 23 the Roadrunners do it again at the Weaselhead. There is a 4k and 8k course, it starts at noon, and is followed by a potluck lunch.
The Hypothermic Half is the first half marathon in Calgary of 2008, and it sells out in 2007. A bunch of people head to Vancouver on Feb 10 to instead run the First Half Half, which is also sold out.
Feb 10 might also be a reason to head to Edmonton for the Alberta Indoor Provincials, which is mostly shorter distance events like the 400m, 800m and the middle distance 1500m.
There is a group of races in this province called the Alberta Ultra Series, referring to a bunch of races longer than marathon distance. The first of the series is the Frozen Ass 50 on Feb 18, which starts at the Canoe Club, heads south to the Glenmore Inn and follows a running path out to Chestermere and back. The cap for this race is 75, and they should reach that.
In recent events, the Calgary Marathon has a new race director: Cheryl Lowery. She's been organizing about 5 races a year, including the Kananaskis 100 Relay and the Last Chance Half Marathon. It should be in good hands.
Upcoming
Feb 2 - Jack Simpson Open, 60m, 4x200m, 1000m, 400m [300]
Feb 2 - Cargill, Winnipeg [300]
> Feb 8-9 - Wheat City, Regina [500]
Feb 9 - Nose Hill XC [100]
Feb 10 - Hypothermic Half - [500]
Feb 10 - First Half Half - Vancouver [2000]
> Feb 10 - Alberta Indoor Provincials, Edmonton
Feb 17 - Austin Marathon
Feb 18 - Frozen Ass 50 [75]
> Feb 22-23 - Canada West Championships, Winnipeg
Feb 23 - Weaselhead XC [100]
