Phoenix Running Club - Stories

CLUB    HIKE          AUGUST  22^ND

Belcarra  Park  was  the  chosen  location  for  our  club  hike.  The  weather  co-operated  and  was  perfect  for  the  short  if  a  little  daunting  hike  over  the  hills  to  a  beautiful  and  isolated  beach  on  the  “far  side”  where  we  all  settled  down  to  a  well  earned  lunch.

There  were  (17)  hiking  enthusiasts  +  one  dog -  with  an  additional  three  members  who  managed  to  end  up  at  the  wrong  start  location - (names  withheld  by  request).

These  are  great  occasions  to  mix  with  anyone  and  everyone  on  the  trail  and  have  the opportunity  to  exchange  ideas  and  thoughts  -  something  that  tearing  around  something  like the  Cloverleaf  does  not  easily  afford.

I  realise  that  weekend  time  can  be  awkward  for  a  number  of  our  members  but  with  the  success  of  this  recent  trip  we  are  planning  to  organise  a  second  hike  -  this  time  around  Buntzen  Lake.  It  is  easy  to  set  up  as  you  are  just  required  to  bring  a  lunch  and  (preferably)  arrive  at  the  designated  location.

A  possible  date  is  SEPTEMBER  26^TH.  There  are  a  couple  of  events  on  Saturday  25^th  which  may  attract  some  members  but  surely  a  hike  the  following  date  would  be  only  to  the  good.

It  seems  apparent  that  we  will  have  to  be  a  bit  more  specific  as  to  who  is  hoping  to  join  in  this  particular  function  so  I  will  be  asking  around  to  try  and  have  as  many  members  come  together  in  a  pleasant  social  atmosphere.

Jim  T.

Kathryn sets new PB in gruelling Knee Knackering trail race!

July 10, 2010

From Nancy Tinari

I got “the inside scoop” about Kathryn O’Grady’s excellent race when I went for a walk in Mundy Park early Sunday morning. I accidentally “walked into” former Phoenix members Dave Whitworth and Kathy Hachey. They weren’t running, which is unusual for them, and I noticed Dave was walking quite slowly and stiffly.

The reason soon dawned on me. “Did you do the Knee Knacker yesterday?” I asked.

“Yes,” he admitted, shaking his head. He clearly didn’t want to discuss his own race, but hurried to tell me that Kathryn had beaten him by over an hour to run a personal best time of 7:35:21 on this 30-mile course of legendary toughness. It boasts huge elevation changes, as the course goes over three mountains between the start at Horseshoe Bay and the finish at Deep Cove.

Kathryn finished in the top half of the 200-person field, and was 3^rd in the W50-50 division. Dave placed 4^th in the M60+ division with his time of 8:46:53. Congratulations!

For an excellent video of the race, click on this link posted on Facebook by ultrarunner Mike Palichuk.

 2010 Kneeknacker from the Best Seat in the House! [HQ]     You must have a  Facebook  account to view this video.  You can sign up at this link.

Starting at 4:30AM with the pre-sweep crew to make sure the course was properly marked for the first half of the course was a blast. After hitting Cleveland Dam, I continued on and got to see the top 15 runners pass by before I hit the finish line of the 50km trail ultr...a. Beautiful day and North Vancouver's Baden Powell Trail never looked so nice. A tour from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove.

Length:16:43

Ambleside Masters Mile

Report from Nancy Tinari

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Warren McCulloch and Kevin O’Connor in Photo Finish but Woz Loses Winning Streak

Crowds lining the sidewalks on Marine Drive in West Vancouver were treated to a photo finish as Warren McCulloch and Kevin O’Connor came to the line together under a clock reading 4:28. McCulloch had led most of the way, with third-place finisher Roy Millen running with the other two until the final few metres. O’Connor surged to pull away from McCulloch slightly near the end of the race, but a sprint by McCulloch in the last seconds made the final outcome of the race difficult to call. It wasn`t until the awards ceremony that McCulloch learned he had failed to repeat as champion for the fourth year in a row.

A total of seven Phoenix members competed in this fun downhill mile, though by glancing at the official results at www.raceheadquarters.com you will only see five familiar names. Doug Alward was running under nom-de-course Terrance Fox, and captured 10^th place (2^nd in the 50-54 age division) with an excellent 4:56 to satisfy his goal of breaking 5 minutes. Kit Slade ran a respectable race to beat many participants, but was not listed in the results! (He provided his own time.)

A summary of Phoenix results is listed below. Please note that competitors were running against a headwind on an unseasonably cool day (but the downhill was still down!).

Competitor	Time
Warren McCulloch	4:29 (unfair, since he was tied by time with 1st place Kevin O`Connor)
Doug Alward	4:56
Chris Tomkinson	5:11
Peggy Brown	6:27
John Woodcock	6:39
Vic Suddaby	7:06
Kit Slade	7:49

 

Notable age-graded results were Warren McCulloch with 88% (4^th overall) and Doug Alward with 86% (6^th overall).

For an excellent video of the race by George Gluppe (with some bumbling photography help from N. T.), see the following link: http://vimeo.com/12327954

Past stories - stories to good to delete - click here.