Phoenix Running Club - Stories too good to delete

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

The Diez Vista 2010

By Kathryn O’Grady

Saturday, April 10^th marked my 11^th ultra-marathon and my fourth running of the Diez Vista 50 kilometre race.  It seems like such a long distance until I hear so many of the other trail runners talk about using this run as training for their 50 and 100 mile races.

Ninety-one runners began the 14^th annual run:  56 men and 35 women.  16 runners registered and did not start, while 11 began and did not finish.  6000 feet of elevation gain and an equal distance of decline is totally unforgiving when it comes to any pre-existing aches or pains.  Torn and bleeding knees and elbows are not an uncommon sight.  I saw one runner with a nasty looking head wound midway through the run, but there he was at the finish line happily eating a burger with his head thickly wrapped in bandages!!  The trail running community is so small and friendly that that it can make it hard to constantly look up to acknowledge or offer encouragement when you are hell bent down a rocky, root laden hill.

The speediest runner finished the Diez Vista in 4 hours and 10 minutes (a new course record), while the last runner crossed the finish line in 9 hours and 5 minutes.  This means that the volunteers had to have as much endurance as the participants.  I’ve seen them standing for hours with mosquitoes swarming their heads, still making the day all about us.  One aid station three quarters of the way through the Kneeknacker run on the North Shore actually has one woman who comes back every year and offers the most amazing cold water sponge massages for failing leg muscles!  Incredible!!

The six aid stations along the Diez Vista run are stocked with so many choices that it’s hard to leave once you arrive!  Gummy bears, M & M’s, chips, pretzels, Fig Newtons, baked potatoes, strawberries, oranges, melon, bananas and of course water and electrolyte drink to fill your empty bottles.

I finished this year’s run in 6 hours and 38 minutes with elbows, knees and head intact... however, I probably won’t be able to keep my poor throbbing big-toe nails for more than a couple of weeks, without them turning black and falling off.  The barbequed hamburgers, homemade apple crisp with ice cream and sitting in a lawn chair in the sun commiserating with like-minded running fools after crossing the finish line more than make up for any temporary pain.

 Kathryn O’Grady

Some notes from Ruby


Emma Morgan Ran Boston!!

I have experienced the euphoria of running!  For me it was the 2010 Boston Marathon.

We arrived in Boston Friday night.  It was a long flight but just the start of a life changing experience.

For the first few days we took in the sites of the city and meet up with other running companions to celebrate our victories of just being among the few to even make it to one of the most historic and prestige’s races in America. 

The race took place on Monday April the 19^th which is Patriots day in the US.  I arose that morning at 5:00am to head to the busses at which would take about 26,000 runners to the start.  Once on the bus I meet a young girl from Idaho.  This was her first Boston Marathon as well.  We talked about our training methods and our lives back at home. 

Once we reached the athletes village we went our separate ways.  I managed to find a spot under one of the tents and sat down with a cup of coffee and a snack.  I had three hours to kill so I looked around and just took it all in.  I meet another lady who had run Boston over 7 times.  She was from the east coast and gave me some very good pointers about how to run the race. 

Once it was our time to go we dropped off our things at the busses and then headed to the corrals.  I was number 17,300.  I was in the second wave so I did not start until 10:30am.  Unfortunately she had a higher number so we split paths wishing each other the best of luck. 

Once I reached my spot you could feel the excitement in the air and all I could think about was that I was actually here and I was running the Boston Marathon. 

Once the gun went off I put on my head phones on and had the music streaming through which just got my blood pumping and I was ready to give it my all.

All I remember is how the streets were lined with people along the whole way.  I had taken the advice of a close friend of mine who had run it twice that the kids love the high fives. So I high fived as many kids as I could.  I was taking it all in.  Once we reached the girls college the cheering was so loud I could not even hear my music.  I ran up and high fived again as many as I could. That just empowered me to keep going.  I don’t really remember heart break hill as the course did have a few but nothing compared to what we have here.  The closer I ran into the city the crowds just got thicker and thicker and the cheers louder and louder.  As I came around the last bend emotion just took over and I could feel the tears in my eyes well up as I was about to do something that I have dreamed about for quite a few years. Something I thought might never happen was actually becoming a reality.  I just crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 3:30:39.  I couldn’t believe it not only did I run the perfect race I had just taken off 11 min from my last marathon time.  I was in pure euphoria!

Would I run Boston again maybe one day but for now I just want to hold that experiences as one of the best things that I have done and accomplished.  It was an experience like none other and for now I would just like to hold on to those memories.   So New York (2011) here I come!!!!!!

From

Emma Morgan

PS    Two weeks later I turned 40!  One check mark off my list!