Back9 Ultra, Alberta Cross Country Championships, Bow River Run

Thanks to my calf injury I opted to volunteer for the races I was signed up to run. I haven't volunteered in a long time, and I forgot how much fun it is. Well, standing around for almost 2 hours (half of that in a snow storm) is more fun when you get to clap and yell at people, which is how I spent Saturday morning. And Sunday I handed out race bibs and checked off names and saw a lot of familiar faces.

The first time I went to a race was as a volunteer. I was curious to see what kind of people were running up and down the hills of Edworthy Park in the winter, and whether I was fit enough to join their ranks. So after watching all sorts of people run by I decided to run the next race in the series.

I did the same thing when I was thinking of running a half marathon. I marshaled a corner about halfway through a race and cheered and pointed. And where I thought I might be able to keep pace I looked closely at the people running by and decided I was probably being too ambitious. By my first half marathon the following spring I was ready.

So if you're injured, curious, or bored, there are always races looking for volunteers to help out.

If you're in running shape this coming weekend there are a few fine races coming up.

Saturday Oct 27, the Back9 Run and Ultra is an interesting concept: get out to Airdrie and run as many 10k loops as you can, up to 50k. The race is free (and now full), but donations to the Alberta Children's Hospital are appreciated. The 40 and 50k runners start at 6:30am, with the 5 and 10k starts at 10:30. According to the website you can still run the course, but there is no room in the hall for lunch afterwards.

Saturday Oct 27, the Stewart Cup is also the 2012 Alberta Athletics Cross Country Championships, which is a high school, college, and open cross country race, the last college race of the Alberta season, from noon-4pm with courses from 2k to 10k depending on age. Entry is $15 but you must be an Athletics Alberta member (some clubs are). And the last day to register is today. There are age group races from Pee Wee to Masters, so expect everyone to show up.

Saturday Oct 27, MEC Calgary Bow River Run 5/10k is only $15 to register for a course that tours Edworthy Park, starting at 10am.

and the next week

Saturday, November 3 The next Calgary Roadrunners Cross Country race is in Edworthy Park, the first race I marshalled for. Run the 8k and you do the hill twice. Bring something (optional) for the potluck lunch afterwards and bring your own bowl and spoon for the great soups brought by other racers.

Saturday, November 3 Another always-sold-out race is the Banff Winterstart, a 5 mile night race in Banff. You can probably find people dropping out at http://www.calgaryroadrunners.com/classifieds or www.runningroom.com/discussion/viewforum.php?f=6480&


Deadlines and early birds

Calgary Marathon early bird ends Oct 31
Santa Shuffle $25 until Nov 7
Hypothermic Half $65 until Dec 1


and some results

Robert Hamilton Memorial Road Race
10 mile fastest men
Don King 56:07
David Guss 56:48
Evan Bayer 57:45

10 mile fastest women
Melissa Kendrick 1:00:31
Sheila Nykwist 1:04:57
Kathryn Waslen 1:06:51

5 mile fastest men
Mark Dwyer 33:05
Paul Bourgeault 34:14
David Strand 35:10

5 mile fastest women
Jessica O'Connell 32:07
Faye Stenning 35:36
Jane Yetter 43:21


Ambulance Chasers 5k
10k fastest men:
Derek Campbell 36:16
Drew Hogan 38:31
Stuart Hay 39:30

10k fastest women:
Nancy Alinsangan 44:19
Stephanie Graham 44:50
Jenn Bhatla 48:05

5k fastest men
John Roth 16:44
Derek Yip 20:05
Gordon Laqua 20:38

5k fastest women
Beki Roth 19:36
Rhonda Jewett 19:39
Adrienne Watson 21:26

Victoria Marathon attendance: 1724 in the marathon
Marathon fastest men
Thomas Omwenga 2:20:41
Gilbert Kiptoo 2:27:01
Graeme Wilson 2:29:17

Marathon fastest women
Hailie Janssen 2:47:03
Nadyia Fry 2:47:36
Catrin Jones 2:49:02

and the Boston Qualifying Calgarians
Morgan Titus 2:45:32
Patrick Cote 2:52:28
Graham Diehl 2:56:18
Jordan Van Besouw 3:04:36
Geoffrey Dyment 3:06:00
Greg Medwid 3:06:48
Paddy Brogan 3:08:07
Dana Hansen 3:12:23
Joylin Nodwell 3:12:24
Steve Saunders 3:12:33
Waldemar Kalinowski 3:13:05
Ken Shea 3:13:45
Bob Dawson 3:23:53
Zita Mulligan 3:25:22
Karen Thomas 3:25:28
Amy Anderson 3:27:14
Kristie McMecgan 3:29:11
Adriana Wild 3:29:13
Sandi Seto 3:37:51
Laura Brescia 3:39:04
Simon Reeve 3:40:45
Reg Hoover 3:41:10
Janice Ritter 3:53:19
Linda Mah Ford 3:57:42
Evelyn Vandenhengel 4:08:02
via http://runvictoriamarathon.com/aftertherace/results.php

Okanagan Marathon attendance: 376 marathon
the three fastest men are all from Calgary!
James Curran 2:51:10
Adam Kahtava 2:53:28
Donovan Thorkelson 2:56:45

three fastest women
Rhonda Loo 3:00:40
Stacie Carrigan 3:13:56
Becky Abrahamse 3:15:45
this Victoria Marathon flickr slideshow includes video

CRR Confederation Park XC Relay: 90 teams of 3
Fastest teams:
38:15 League of Nations: Ricardo Estrada, Donovan Thorkelson, Mark Hogan
38:33 Bow River Goose Hurdlers: Bruce Dalton, Bob Banks, Kevin Lindland
39:07 Fungus Jr.: Trevor Williams, Mark Michalski, Frank Woolstencroft
CRR photo gallery

Robert Hamilton Memorial, Confederation Park XC, Halloween Howl

Last week I strained/pulled my calf muscle. Some deep muscle injury that almost toppled me down this very short ditch I was running in. I've had plantar fasciitis and shin splits and the occasional sciatica, but this is the first time I've felt like I might miss some runs. Usually I can just run it out, dial it back, cut the training in half and lower the speed. This feels remarkably different. Hobbling. Walking wounded.

Anyway, I was registered for a couple of races this weekend and I just dropped out of both of them.

Oct 20: The Robert Hamilton Memorial Road Race is a 5 Mile and 10 Mile course in the river valley, starting in Edworthy Park and out and back past the zoo on the Bow River Pathways. There should be about 100-150 people on the course starting at 10:00am. This is the 39th annual Robert Hamilton Memorial and winners are engraved on a giant cup and first male and female in the 10 Miler get $200.

Oct 21: The CRR Confederation Park XC is a 3 person relay race, each doing about 4km in the wild places of a nice urban park.

The Halloween Howl 5k/10k is also on Saturday Oct 20. This is a benefit for the Alberta Diabetes Foundation. This race starts at Eau Claire and also runs the pathways at 10:00am.


Recent results:

Banff Ekiden, Oct 13
flickr photos
The winning team was the Centaur Subaru Bow Valley Harriers, with an overall time 2:34:11
2nd team The ConocoPhillips Canada Eh Team 2:56:30
3rd Tunnel Mountain Vision in 2:58
4th Adrenaline Rush Beauties and Beasts 2:59:19
5th Adrenaline Rush Marathon Men 3:01:39

leg winners
Leg 1 male Bruce Dalton of Centaur Subaru in 24:02
    female Nicola Everton of Gord's Running Store Women 27:42
Leg 2 male Keith Bradford of Adrenaline Rush Beauties and Beasts in 51:56
    female Ashlee McGuire of Tunnel Mountain Vision in 56:41
Leg 3 male Nick Haddow of Centaur Subaru 15:49
    female Jennifer Sutherland of First Calgary Financial Team in 18:59
Leg 4 male Scott Jensen of Centaur Subaru in 20:36
    female Heather Irving of ConocoPhillips in 24:43
Leg 5 male Frank Woolstencroft of Centaur Subaru in 41:20
    female Stephanie Mills of Tunnel Mountain Vision in 49:16



Gorilla Run, Oct 14
Top 3 Male
1:03:16 Evan Bayer
1:05:52 Michael Wadhuber
1:09:24 Greg Medwid

Top 3 Female
1:17:07 Darcie Tymrick-Purvis
1:17:32 Susan Kinnear
1:17:46 Shannon Winslade

60+ male winner Ian Lewis in 1:23:37
60+ female winner Bonnie Skov in 1:30:05

Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Oct 14
flickr photos
overall winner Betona Wargo ETH 2:10:35
overall female winner Mary Davies NZL 2:28:56


and some fast Calgarians:
> Emily Kroshus 2:46:40
> Don Bambury 2:48:02
> Dong Jeong 2:56:35
> Kari Elliott 3:00:16
> Erich Ossowski 3:00:49
> David McHattie 3:11:23
> Dawn Ladds-Bond 3:11:52

For a list of upcoming races, mostly in Alberta: http://www.calgaryroadrunners.com/races

Running for a Cause

Running for a Cause

You race for a variety of personal, social and competitive reasons, and one of them probably includes a race tied to a charity you're connected to in some way. You might be one of those people with tears in your eyes crossing the finish line at the Run for a Cure with a big heart on your back and "I"m running for ... my mom!" written in black pen. You might be showing up for the Rock the House Run because a friend of a friend of a friend's kid got sick and they stayed at the Ronald McDonald House once. Maybe running charity races is your way of donating to charity: everyone wins.

On the eve of the biggest race in Calgary (I wrote this May 29th) I thought I would mention a few other races you might want to sign up for while you're swept up in the moment.

June 13th is the date for the 5k/8k Betty's Run for ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease. There is no known cure or effective treatment.

Support the Kipnes Centre for Veterans by racing the Run for the Brave, 5k and 10k, in Edmonton, August 14.

On August 29th the Calgary Women's Run 5k and 10k race will donate the proceeds from their race to the YMCA Calgary School Support Program.

Help the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton by running the 5k Run Wild for Wildlife Fun Run on October 23rd in Hawrelak Park in Edmonton.

Doctors Without Borders provides emergency health and medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 70 countries. On November 6 the Run Without Borders offers and 5k and 10k race.

Sign up for Sight Night, an 8k run with proceeds to support the Alberta Sports and Recreation Association for the Blind. November 20.

And this is just a small local sample. Feel free to link to your favourite charity race below. (Other links will be deleted.)

Calgary Police Half, Stewart Cup, November Races

Calgary Police Half - April 25, 2010
Registration starts January 2, 2010 for walk-in registrations at either Tech Shop, and online registration starts Jan 30, 2010. The half marathon is capped at 2500 entries and the entry fee is $60.

Team Elite Speed Theory
Local triathlon store Speed Theory is looking for some age group competitive triathletes to sponsor for 2010. You should have a couple years of tri racing experience and be "energetic, personable, knowledgeable and successful." What you'll get is some free product, support and discounts. Contact Darcy Bell at Speed Theory before November 13. Provide a 300 word cover letter and your athletic resume.

The Stewart Cup, Oct 31
On Saturday dozens of Calgarians head to Edmonton's Hawrelak Park for a few loops around the duck pond. You can pre-register online or pay $20 on race day. The race starts at noon. This is an open cross country race for all ages and abilities.

November Races
There are 6 races in all of Calgary in November. The Last Chance Half Marathon is sold out, Nov 15. The Calgary Roadrunners Club is hosting the Edworthy Park Cross Country 4k/8k on Saturday Nov 7 and the Okotoks Cross Country 4k/8k on November 21. Both races start at noon with a potluck lunch in a nearby hall afterwards. The Run Without Borders is an untimed 5k/10k on November 7 at 9am, and the 5k/10k Miles for Moms is Saturday November 14th at 10am. The Jingle Bell Walk & Run for Arthritis is Sunday November 15 at 9am at Heritage Park.

December Races
It's a quiet month for local racing, so take advantage of the few races we have in November. The Santa Shuffle is a 5k on December 5th. The Resolution Run is a 5k at 6pm on December 31. The Calgary Roadrunners host the Silver Springs Cross Country 4k/8k on December 12 at noon.

The Calgary Roadrunners Race Calendar has a decent selection of 2010 multisport and ultramarathon dates listed. Suggestions are always welcomed via their online contact form.

Races filling fast: Last Chance Half, Resolution Run

I'm guessing there's less than 100 places left for these Calgary races.

Last Chance Half. November 15, $50 gets you a shirt and great post-race meal
5k Resolution Run. December 31, $45 gets you a running jacket