Mayhem at the Tour de France

Loop the Lakes

Another great race in the Sea to sky running series. This year, many of the great runner from Whistler came down to Squamish to race in the 8 km & 16km at the Loop the lakes. I decided to race the 8 km, after racing the Westside wheel up mountian bike race the day before. It's all about the month of pain.

The trail was super quick, and fast. As the race started, I decided not to go with my normal race plan, Go out has hard as I can and hold on ! As the pack made it to the 4 km mark, I knew this was the time to go it. Having a few too many the night before, everything in belly decided to exit. I guess I was lighting my load, on the way to the win.

Congrads to all the racers !

Thanks to Roger Shirt and all the Vollies for such a great race ! I look forward to next years race.

Reba, 24 hr World Champ !

Way to Go Reba ! A couple of years ago I was racing at the Red Bull Divide and Conquer, and had a few good laughs and beers with Rebecca Rusch who was the one of the race directors. Rebecca is one of the world's top female adventure racers and an all around great gal.

The weather was well into the high 30's. Nobody really wanted to race for 24hrs in that kind of weather.

I spoke with Reba about the race she said "it was hot and hilly and I think people just burned themselves out. lots of really good competitors ended up dropping out" Now she is going to kick back and a few cold ones and enjoy the feeling of being the World champ.

Read more about Reba's win click here

Big shout out to Tinker for winning the men's title, does he ever slow down. Oh and thanks for the shoes Tink' !

The month pain begins, 6 great races in one month

September is always a great month of racing. Whistler is always full of great races, and they seem to fall in Sep. Trail runs & mountain bike races, every weekend. All of these events are cheap and have wicked prizes and even better after party.

If you really want some pain, try racing all of them.

Sep, 8th - The West side wheel up. mtn bike race
Sep, 9th - Loop the lakes trail run
Sep, 16th - Terry fox Run
Sep 16th - Soo valley rumble Mtn Bike
Sep 22nd - Checkamus Challange Mtn Bike
Sep 23rd - Rubble Creek trail run 25 km

See you on the start line.

The world's greatest runner.

There are many great runners in the world. Some we know , some we don't, but to me no one comes close to Terry Fox. Three years after losing his leg at age 18, the young athlete decided to run from coast to coast in order to raise money for cancer research . In creating the Marathon of Hope, his goal was to raise $1 from each Canadian citizen. His plan was to run about 42 km a day, the distance of a typical Marathon. No one had ever done anything similar to the task Fox was undertaking.

Fox could not finish his run. The cancer had returned. Terry's right lung had a lump that was the size of a golf ball , and in his left lung another lump which was the size of a lemon. The lumps were not lung cancer rather, they were bone cancer that went into his lungs through his bloodstream He was forced to stop the run on Sep 1st after 143 days. He had run 5,373 km (3,339 miles, or around 23.3 miles per day)

Every year million of people take part in the Terry Fox run, Click here to find out where your local Terry Fox run.

Whistler Terry Fox run will take place at the Meadow Park sports center.

Sign in @ 9 am

Runs starts @ 10 am.

Adidas Hash Run

A big hash run was set for the Adidas hash run Last Tuesday night. Over 40 hashers came out to take on the very hill bushwacking sections. A few wrong turns and halfway "down -down" turned a few first time hashers into life long hashers. Thanks to Adidas eyewear for all the great prizes. The Cinnamon bear Bar & Grille and of course you.

Thank you !

Stay tuned for the next hash run in Sep ! Just to add more pain for the month of pain.

Adidas Eyewear HASH RUN !

Calling all you Turtles! This is the last hash run of the year.

Come on out to the Adidas Eyewear Hash run this Tuesday Night. Win a pair of gazelle Climacool pro sunglasses .

The course is secret as always, but the challenge is the same — running as a pack, following clues along the trail and locating the hare to finish the race.

All abilities are able to run together, with the fastest runners following false trails and calling out when they find the right path.
The event will be organized by Whistler Running Experience and is sponsored by Adidas Eyewear , the Escape Route and the Cinnamon Bear Bar and Grille in the Hilton Whistler Resort.
Time : Aug , 28th 2007. 5:30pm sign in, Hashing at 6 pm.

The cost :$5:00 It's the best deal in town.

The course : Follow the flour to the "BN"

Rubble creek Run

The Rubble Creek Classic is just around the corner. The Rubble creek is a long 25 km trail run , with great climbs and unbelievable scenery. Click here for more info.

If you really want to double the pain, race the epic Checkamus Challange on the Sat. The World famous Chekamus challenge This 57.7 km (34.62 miles) point-to-point ride was designed to push racers to the limit. Starting in Sqaumish and finishing at Dusty’s in Whistler.

High gear Hash run July 24th

Calling all you Turkeys!

Come on out to the High Gear Hash run this Tuesday Night. Win a High Gear heart rate Monitor.

The course is secret as always, but the challenge is the same — running as a pack, following clues along the trail and locating the hare to finish the race. All abilities are able to run together, with the fastest runners following false trails and calling out when they find the right path.

The event will be organized by Whistler Running Experience and is sponsored by the Escape Route and the Cinnamon Bear Bar and Grille in the Hilton Whistler Resort.

Time : July 24th 2007. 5:30pm sign in, Hashing at 6 pm.
The cost :$5:00 It's the best deal in town.
The course : Follow the flower

Kneeknacker 2007

The Kneeknacker is by far one of the best races in the world! Not only for the route and the technical challenge, It's just plain fun ! The Knee Knacker is a challenging 50 km race from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove. It provides runners with magnificent city, mountain and ocean views, as we go up and over the mountains which grace the North Shore of the city of Vancouver, climbing 8,000 feet and descending another 8,300 feet in the process. Just look at the profile.

Training for this kind of race takes time and just lots of running downhill. I had the opportunity to train with Kevin Titus (over all winner & and record holder ) that was great for this race. He has really shown me , what training and toughness is all about.

The last week of my taper was really tough, I would never recommend a taper like this. Worst taper ever !!!

Monday : Teach Mountain bike clinic 25km / 10 hour house fire I was soooooo wiped out after this one. Here are some Photos from the fire.

Tuesday : Mountain Bike clinic 25 km / 1 Hour trail run Clinic

Wednesday : Mountain Bike Clinic 30 km / Massage

Thursday: Intervals with Val burke / Mtn Bike Clinic 25 km / Organize the Worca twoonie race.

Friday: Mtn bike clinic 25 km.

Saturday : race the Kneeknacker.

Read a full race report click here

A big thanks to Christine suter for support. You rock !

you know your famous when .......

Read the instructions, (click here ) you can even use ketchup. It does not even look like me.

Crazy ! I hope he can run.

Winner of the Adidas Eyewear giveaway !

Congratulations goes out to Lousie Melgard! Lousie won water bottles and a watch from Adidas Eyewear.

Check out Adidas Eyewear's great line up, by far they make the lightest eyewear on the market. My favorite are the Adidas Evil Eye Clima Cool Pro S and they work great for both running and biking. When you are adventure racing you don't want to worry about your eyewear. That's why I trust Adidas Eyewear to give the right tools to reach the elite level of racing.

Lousie has been working hard all year getting for her first half ironman on June 23rd . This year part of the Whistler Running Experience at the Escape route , with the help of some great sponsors like Adidas eyewear. We would like to recognize a few local, un-paid athletes. Lousie was one of our first runners, (over 5 years ago) now look at her go.

Good luck Lousie !

Next Hash Run: June 26Th,2007

Off to the races ! Comfortably Numb June 24th

Comfortably numb is just around the corner. June 24th , only 20 days left. Come run and mentally get ready for the The Comfortably numb race. Learn more about the trail, what to lookout for on this great race.

The training runs are for everyone, every speed. We all want to have a great race experience on this unique course.

Run leaders: Jen Seggar- gigg and Munro Duncan

Dates:

Saturday, June 9th - 2007 - time : 8:30 am, meet at Lost lake warming hut.

Route: Meet at the warming hut at Lost lake park. We will head a long Molly hogan's (warm up) then into Four Play trail ( last bit of comfortably numb)

Saturday , June 16th- 2007 -time : 8:30 am , meet at Wedgemont Lake turn-off (approximately 12 km north of whistler village) we will run the first 8 km of the race.

What to Bring?

• 1 water bottle minimum! Fanny packs or hand held bottles are the usual
• Food-energy bars, energy gels, bagels, etc.
• Optimistic attitude, trail fit bodies and a sense of direction

Please RSVP : whistlerrunners@gmail.com , just so we know who's coming !

Your facebook

Face book ? This should fix your Facebook habit.

http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/

2nd - Whistler Valley trail 10 km

Never in the world would I call myself a 10 km runner, but there I was. On rain filled sunday morning racing in the Whistler valley trail 10 km. 144 brave souls battled the rain with smiles and good spirits.

Racing a 10 km aways hurts me, for it's a full drag race. RPM's high, good leg turn over and no matter what happens, it's only 10 km. Rounding the first couple of corners I was feeling great, until Kristina Rody( 10 km speed-guru) came for behind with lighting speed. I felt like I was standing still.

I felt great all race and never had any problems, only wish it was about 40 km longer. Finishing 2nd is still nice. It's great to live in Whistler because of the great racing talent here. Dave Higgings ( 1st men ) a great Tri guy, and boy can he really show his speed in a race like that ,man can he go !

Thanks to Christine Suter (Race dir.), she did a great job !

For full Story visit here

PQ is back in 2008 !

After missing last years PQ. (due to a 13 week shoulder injury) I will NOT miss this one.

Check here and learn will this is the world's toughest race.

The count down begins !

what the heck are Fartleks ?

FARTLEKS - FARTLEKS - FARTLEKS I just love saying the word FARTLEK! Fartleks are the key to speed and endurance during the race. We can all go out and run for an hour and cover 5 miles but how many of us can cover 9 miles in one hour? If you want to cover more ground in a shorter period of time during your next race then start the FARTLEKS!A Fartlek is a Scandinavian word that means "speed play". Simply playing with your speed during a training session not only breaks up the run and helps the time go by quickly but it will improve your speed and recovery during the race. I would suggest a Fartlek run at least once a week.A fartlek is simply a change in speed for a short period of time. So during your next run after you have warmed up for about 8 minutes at an easy jog turn up the tempo. Run the next minute at a level that makes it had to talk. After the minute of hard running, slow your pace back down to an easy jog for about 3 minutes. Repeat the one minute on and three minutes off for 4 times. Make sure you cool down for about 8 minutes after your last hard effort.Over time you should slowly increase the length of each interval. Maybe run hard for two minutes and jog for 2 minutes. We have some athletes that will run hard for 10-12 minutes with only a 1-2 minute recovery jog between. The goal is to slowly increase the length of time you can run hard and decrease the amount of time it takes you to recover.In no time you will be able to put the hammer down and leave the other teams in the dust!

see you on the trails!

4th at Momar.

Momar, Mo- Fun! What a great way to spend a Saturday in Squamish. First time for The Momar race to come to Sqaumish, and what a route ! Momar race route was decided by Jen Seggar -Gigg a world-class racer for Dart-Nuun. Jen gave me the heads up on a few trails that might be in the race. I would be racing solo beacuse Chris Clark torn his knee apart, about a month ago. When racing solo- adventure races it's you and you only. No one is there to back up your navigational choices. The race started with a good 10 km trek/run with some very tricky checkpoints. Going on to the first bike leg I really had no idea where I was in the race. A Kiwi in the crowd told me I was right up there. Yippee! Now for some fun hogging! The trail was in great shape, made it over to the famous POWERHOUSE PLUNGE. The steep technical switchbacks of the Plunge will have your eyeballs a popping. A few racers will have to check their shorts at the end of the ride. A quick rip over to the rappel line and then off to the finish line. Using this a "C" race (training race) was great and hitting the finish line in 4th was great. I am very happy, there were some big name racers from all over the states. So the competition was there. If you ever would like to try a MOMAR also for full results. Up next The KNEEKNACKER JULY 14TH, bring on the pain !

3rd place for Salomon /Giant / Bike Co

The north shore! I’ve been there…. I can run. Heck, I have even finished the Kneeknacker. I forgot how hard it is to run the “shore”. Chris Clark (Giant / Bike Co.) and myself teamed up for the Dirty duo. The dirty duo has 5 races in a one-day event. There is every kind of racing in this event. Chris and I signed up for the relay, I was running (25km trail run) & Chris (30 km bike ride). The rain and the mix bag of snow at high elevation were going to work us over. But we are only in it for fun. (yeah right)

All up hill, then downhill with lots of wet roots, mud and snow was everywhere. My legs felt great, until I fell at the top of Ned’s landing on my back on one of the log stunts. Ouch! The pain was there; I was feeling a little zapped of energy until I threw down a Clif Block. MMMMMMM. …Clif Blocks cola.

Running into to the transition area in 4th was setting Clark up for a great ride. Chris caught all of the riders in the first couple of kms. Feeling strong, looking strong on his Gaint Anthem. Until the flat at the top of Ned’s. After fixing the flat and charging to the finish line with a smile and mud on his face, we finished 3rd. Oh Well, that’s racing. We both had a great time and the event was one of the best-organized events on the shore. visit www.dirtyduo.com

Chris Clark and I will be racing again at the MOMAR in Squamish in may. www.mindovermountain.com Look for us there.