Archived News: 2010

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Gunner Shaw XC 10km, December 4/10, Vancouver

Roger Teresa

This was a great day for the last race of the XC series: sunny with the frost thawing, no wind. The "puddle from hell" was frozen over and the road leading up to it a sheet of ice, so the organizers decided to play it safe and have us avoid that path altogether (like last year). Lots of mud on the course. The beach sand section was long again but this time the sand was much easier to run on down by the water's edge. Even the smelly stagnant creek didn't seem as deep as other years. We had 4 club members racing: Teresa, Roger, Helen and David. Prospective member Ken Grunenberg also raced. We had a great club showing with three age group wins: Teresa, Roger and Helen. Teresa also won this year's Gunner Shaw Female award for being first female over 35 (second time winning it, last time was 2007). As usual there was a great array of post-run food in the sailing club.

40:18  Teresa Nightingale  1st F45-49, 4th overall
41:43  Roger Handling      1st M55-59
49:09  Ken Grunenberg      5th? M60-64
57:07  Helen Sabourin      1st F65-69

Canadian Masters XC Championships 8km, November 27/10, Guelph, ON

In blizzard conditions, Teresa won the Masters Women's event at the National Cross Country Championships in Guelph Ontario, completing the 8km course in 31:33. (She qualified for the BC Team by winning the provincial championships in Aldergrove on October 30th.)

Just getting to Guelph was a challenge: the team was supposed to fly out Thursday morning from YVR but after sitting on the airplane for 2 hours in the gate, the flight was cancelled due to the snow and rescheduled for the next morning. Arriving in Guelph after 8pm the night before the race wasn't ideal, but everyone handled the change of plans well.

By the time the masters race started at 10:45 on Saturday, the snow was falling thick and fast, with high winds blowing it sideways — right into the faces of the runners at the start. "It was really painful and hard to see in some sections!" said Teresa. "I had to pull my hat very low over my eyes."

The field was large with 192 competitors all starting together — men and women — on the 4-loop, 2km course. Teresa got off to a fast start and held a fairly steady pace throughout, working harder and harder on each lap to maintain. Going into the final lap, teammate Darcie Montgomery was right behind. "It was great having Darcie chasing me," said Teresa. "She pushed me to run harder and I pulled her along as well. It was a team effort." The final approach to the finish was on a steep uphill. "I literally had to give 110% to get up that hill and keep pushing through right to the finish line, knowing that if I let up just a tiny bit I'd be passed."

Team BC missed out winning the Bluenose Trophy (awarded to top age-graded team) by 1 point to Ontario: 343 to 344. For the next 4 years, Nationals will be in Vancouver, so the BC Team is optimistic they'll win the trophy then.

31:33  Teresa Nightingale  1st Female 40+

Seattle Marathon, November 28/10, Seattle

Larry overcame adverse conditions at the Seattle Marathon on Sunday to claim top Masters (40+) spot. Temperature at the start was near freezing and the roads were slippery, making it difficult to run at full speed. Even though it warmed up during the event, the temperature dropped again in the later stages. "I had tossed my hat when it warmed up, then later wished I still had it" said Larry. "It was really tough to dress for conditions like that."

Nightingale suffered some calf tightness in the middle part of the race, as a result of an overzealous massage demo the day before at the expo, but got through the difficult patch and felt good in the last 6 miles. "I passed 3 people in the last 10k and no one passed me."

The winning times were relatively slow at 2:30 (men) and 3:04 (women) so Larry wasn't upset with his 2:53 clocking, slower than planned. "We would all have been about 10 minutes faster on a warmer day."

2:53:31  Larry Nightingale  1st Male 40+

Remembrance Day XC 8k, November 11/10, Stanley Park

Teresa

Conditions were cold and dry at the start with a light drizzle at the finish. The masters race was well-attended with 108 finishers; the open race, starting 10 minutes after the masters, also had a good turnout with 45 finishers. Larry moved up one position from BC's to finish fifth overall, only 9 seconds behind 4th place. Teresa led the women's field for the first 6.5k, but was overtaken by Darcie Montgomery who had been following closely; Teresa ended up 11 seconds behind her at the finish. Of note: the winner of the OPEN women's race (Rachel Ruus) was only 15 seconds faster (32:30).

MEN
5. 29:37  Larry Nightingale  2nd M45-49

WOMEN
2. 32:45  Teresa Nightingale 2nd F40-44

ING New York Marathon, November 7/10

4:35:16 Helen Sabourin  8th F65-69

James Cunningham Seawall Race 5.9mi, Vancouver, October 31/10

A large group of coasters ran this classic fall race on Halloween day. Of note, Shaun Stephens-Whale was 3rd finisher overall, and his equivalent 10k time was a speedy 32:43! Former club member Chuck Steemers ran 44:32 for 12th place in M55-59.

58:49 David Dick

Athens Classic Marathon, Greece, October 31/10

4:48:02 Elizabeth Boghean

BC Cross Country Championships, Masters 8k, Aldergrove, October 30/10

We sure lucked out with the weather on this one. Instead of the wind and chance of rain forecast, it was sunny and quite calm, and even fairly warm on Saturday morning in Aldergrove Lake Park. The course is a 2km loop with 2 major hills and 1 medium hill, and we had to do it 4 times! Larry had his best race in a long time and came 6th overall, ahead of quite a few guys he hasn't beaten in a long time. Teresa was first in the women's race, taking the lead right off the gun. She was selected for the BC Masters Team for National XC champs in Guelph on November 27 (will be in F45-49 age group by then). See story in Nov 12 Coast Reporter »

MEN:
6. 30:39 Larry Nightingale  1st M45-49

WOMEN:
1. 34:14 Teresa Nightingale 1st F40-44

Photos: Eleanor Freeman

Venice Marathon, Italy, October 24/10

Tammy

Tammy completed her very first marathon, finishing strongly despite some tummy troubles in the 3rd quarter. She had been on pace for sub-4:00 earlier, and had to slow down drastically, but rallied back to finish in 4:08. Way to go Tammy! Here's Tammy's own story:

Where to begin? It was a cold and windy morning, actually it was. It was a stress free walk out to meet the shuttle buses, about 30 minutes or so from my apartment. They met us on the edge of the historic Venice and drove us out to Stra. Mood was good etc. — my nerves were non-existent. I was more nervous for the Crescent Beach 8km XC! Organized chaos met us at Villa Pisani — and we were all in the starting corrals at 9am. As this was my first marathon, when I registered I put myself into the 4hr+ corral. When I was at the expo on Thursday, I visted the Suunto pace team booth and got a wrist band with the splits on for a 3hr 50 min run — and was determined that I would go out with the 4 hour pace bunny and when the time was good, I would move forward on my own — and use the 3 hr 50 min times as a guide from that point — keeping the 4 hr guy behind me.

Tammy

Race start.. I went out in this slow mass of people.. looked behind me and saw the 4hr 30 min pace bunny and in front of me — no pace bunny could be seen! Uh-oh... there goes my plan! So I used the splits on the wrist band as a guide — off I went.. picking up two male Italian runners who insisted that I was their 'marathon girlfriend' as they wanted the splits that were on my arm! Sort of annoying, as I am not used to that sort of grouping for my runs (must change that)... but we stayed together until 29 km and were 3-4 minutes ahead of the times on my wrist band at the 25 km mark. We had picked off the 4 hr 15 minute and the 4 hour pace bunny — they were somewhere behind us. I was feeling good, but not really in the groove of my natural stride. I was taking in water at all the water stations (yes, I learned something in training!).

Then... as we were leaving the downtown area of Mestre, the intestinal cramping that had started in minor amounts was getting worse... and about the 29km mark I told the guys to go ahead without me — they would not (awww, shucks) and so I slowly dropped back. And it hit! I stopped dead in my tracks! No porta potties in sight — no stores/restaurants etc. open. I walked for a bit... then looking at the bridge ahead of me to go into San Giuliano park... I started to run, up and over and then uh-oh — I got partway into the park and had to hit a bush (blackberries and trees) area! Got all cut up (such a bush girl) but it worked.

Back onto the trail I went, and of course, I wanted to make up time, so went too fast... started to have the cramping pain in my liver area again. So, for the next 10 km or so, I ran/walked... still taking in water at the water stops.

Tammy

When I got into the Port area, I thought there was no way I was finishing the race in Venice walking! So — I picked up my attitude, checked the pain and GI discomfort level, and started to run. Lo and behold, I met one of my 'marathon boyfriends' walking in the Port... tapped him on the back and told him to come on — we started together, so we were going to finish together! The course up until this part was mainly flat... the few up and downs within Mestre were a welcome change for me... and now leaving the Port I was faced with the 14 wooden ramp covered bridges. Oh, I should mention at this point — it is raining a bit, and those ramps are slippery! Anyhow... the ramps really saved my day. Seriously, I dragged myself over the flat cobblestone course at this point, and passed people going up and down the bridges... going over the Grand Canal temporary bridge was decadent... and due to Aqua Alta, they had to remove the part of the run that went into Piazza San Marco. I came down the last bridge and into the finish area to hear Andy yell "GO MOM"... and across I went.

medal

It was very well organized at the end: medal was given, blanket provided, photo taken, bag of food given and bag of clothes returned, all within 50m of the finish line. I found Andy and we started to walk home and after crossing two of the bridges that I had just run over — we decided to take the water bus! I rested for 3 hours and then off we went for dinner at my friend's house... legs actually felt okay at that point and I was able to climb the 4 flights of stairs to her place!

The first 18 km of the course were completely flat. Pretty running along the canal and through the small towns. The local support was incredible — and entertainment along the way was plentiful! They even had the flag throwers and drummers at about the 7 km mark, very cool to see! The 18-24 km were through an industrial area — oh yes, running behind the oil refineries! Into Mestre was nice, never really been into that area a lot — through the historical centre and our first elevation changes.. even running through a tunnel! 30km was into San Giuliano Park — and yeah, that is where it fell apart.

Andy says I have to do this again next year.. he is proud of me. I am accepting the result okay.

I went over the splits when they sent them to me last night. Between 30 and 40km, my pace slowed by a minute (and a bit) on each km. This is when I walk/ran it. Had I been able to continue at the pace I was going previously, I would have been in under 4 hours... UGH — I hope I never have a bad runner's gut again!!!!!!

4:08:03  Tammy Dean

Frank Reynolds Memorial XC, North Vancouver, October 16/10

Another perfect sunny cool day for racing, especially nice at Cates Park with its beachfront lawns and trails. Official results coming tonight apparently. Alex ran with the 14 and 15 yr old boys as it was by year of birth, and it was a small field for the 3k distance. He managed to stay with the pack for the first little bit then toughed it out on his own, not too far behind the boy ahead of him. In the open/masters race 6.3k, the men started 1 minute ahead of the women and it was quite a packed field. Larry was pleased to win the 45-49 division this time over friendly rival Mike Moon. Teresa had a challenging race with 2 others, a master and a 24 year old, to win the women's event in 24:18 which appears to be a course record. The age group prizes were socks.

Boys 14-15 3.0k
9. 14:39  Alex Nightingale

Men 45-49 6.3k
1. 22:14  Larry Nightingale

Women (overall) 6.3k
1. 24:18  Teresa Nightingale

Crescent Park XC, White Rock, October 2/10

Nice warm sunny day for running. Larry and Tammy ran the adult 8k race at 9am, while Alex and Andy competed in the 3.5k race for 13-15 year old boys, just before noon. Larry was 3rd in the 45-49 age group. Some pics of the boys race from Tammy's iPhone, below.

Men 40-49 8k
3. 30:25  Larry Nightingale

Women 40-49 8k
5. 41:58  Tammy Dean

Boys 13 3.5k
8. 15:33  Alex Nightingale
9. 15:48  Andrew Dean

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, September 26/10

From Teresa: Sorry for the long report, but hey, it was a marathon!
In the seven years I've been attending this event (as webmaster and participant), it just keeps getting better and better and this year was no exception. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for racing (cool, dry and sunny, no wind, low humidity) and it was ONLY for race day, the days before and after were either too warm, too wet, or too windy! The special Greek-themed events surrounding the 2500th anniversary of the marathon made it a very memorable race weekend — especially since I had bib #2500! Definitely a keeper to be framed along with the shiny gold, heavy finisher's medal. Nice race shirt too!

I hadn't run a full marathon in 15 years ("pre-kids"). My original goal was to run 3:10 (23 minutes slower than my personal best from 1995), but my interval times in the last few weeks of training indicated I should be able to run 3:05 or maybe faster. It would all depend on the day.

To avoid starting too fast, I stuck with the 3:10 "pace bunny" at first, but he started bit too slow for my liking and after about 5 or 6k I moved on ahead at my own pace. I clicked off steady 4:15 kms for a long time, going through the halfway mark in 1:30:32. That was a bit faster than I had planned but I felt okay so I didn't alter the pace, and continued to feel fine as we headed east towards the "Beaches" neighbourhood.

About 8k later I had a bit of a rough patch between 29 and 32km (legs tightened up) and could feel the pace slowing, but once we turned around at the eastern end of the course and headed back for home, I felt much better and got back on pace for a while. One more tough section around 36-37k, then... wow, only 5 km to go. This was the moment of truth: should I jog in comfortably, knowing I could easily stay under 3:10, or push harder and go for 3:05 or better? The answer came easily: go for it. I thought, I've worked so hard to get to this point — in the race AND the months of training, THIS is what it was all for — don't waste it! So off I went with a renewed purpose and energy. 4k left, then 3k, then 2k... along the way passing a couple of women whom I'd been following for about 10 miles.

In the final 600m up Bay Street, one more woman suddenly appeared ahead of me. As I came alongside, we smiled at each other and I said "let's get this done!" But she didn't come with me and I continued speeding up towards the finish, crossing the line 7 seconds ahead of her. Turns out that was the difference between 3rd and 4th place master female! The moral of the story is, pass as many people as you can, right to the very end, because you never know who's in your category. Third master earned me $200. The competition was tough this year: top female masters time was an amazing 2:38, by a 46-year-old from England.

So I'm now a marathoner again, after a very long hiatus. My mind and body didn't rebel. I will be going back next year for sure, aiming for sub-3:00.

It was a record breaking day all around, with the top 4 men and women all going under the previous record for 'fastest marathon run on Canadian soil'; 79 year old Ed Whitlock setting a new world age best in the half marathon (1:34); a new Guinness World Record for a marathon run in a mascot costume; and a record 22,000+ participants in the marathon, half and 5k. All exactly 2500 years to the day since, according to legend, a brave soldier-messenger named Pheidippides ran 40km from the battle at Marathon to Athens, to declare "We are victorious!" before dying from exhaustion. Things have changed a bit since that first marathon.

Check out video coverage, stories and photos at www.stwm.ca.

3:04:48 (3:04:12 chip) Teresa Nightingale 3rd Master F, 25th F, 113th ov'll

P.S. the 3:10 pace bunny finished right on target.

Loon Lake 13k/7k, Powell River, September 26/10

Larry headed up with the kids to run the 13k on this well groomed flat trail around the lake. Unlike last year he wasn't challenged and finished a good 5 minutes ahead of second place. Lisa was 3rd woman and Greg finished right behind her. Alston won the 7k.

13k:
  49:14  Larry Nightingale  1st Overall
1:01:47  Lisa Morrow        3rd Female
1:01:48  Greg Tait          5th Male

7k:
29:06  Alston Miller        1st Overall

Pinetree XC, Coquitlam, September 18/10

Teresa

The morning started off with pouring rain but by the time the races began, it was just about gone, and the weather just got better as the morning progressed, getting sunny for the kids races. We had team members from Roberts Creek, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay and Powell River taking part. Roger earned 3rd place in his age division, Greg and Larry were 4th in theirs, and Teresa surprised herself by winning the women's 4.6km race outright. Lisa was 2nd in the F40-44 category. Alex and Andy started at the very back of the pack in the 13-15 year old race but worked their way forward over the 3.5k loop and finished strongly.

Men 8k:
29:13  Larry Nightingale  4th M45-49
30:55  Greg Tait          4th M40-44
31:25  Roger Handling     3rd M55-59

Women 4.6k:
17:56  Teresa Nightingale 1st F40-44 and overall female
19:26  Lisa Morrow        2nd F40-44
22:02  Mattie Bakker      8th 1993-1994 Girls

13-15 yrs 3.5k
15:57  Alex Nightingale   8th 1996 Boys
16:37  Andrew Dean       10th 1997 Boys

Four Lakes 10k, Garden Bay, August 22/10

Nice racing weather compared to last weekend... cool, cloudy and calm, followed by sunshine as we were finishing up the awards. A total of 55 people participated, with 32 in the 10k and 23 in the inaugural 3k fun run/walk. SCA member Marisa Alps was first female and 5th place overall. Full results and photo gallery on the Four Lakes website. Thanks again to our volunteers!

Club results:
  48:56  Marisa Alps      1st F40-49
  56:39  Helen Sabourin   1st F60-69
1:02:41  Jenny Rasmussen  1st F50-59

Marisa Helen Jenny

Whistler Mountain 5 Peaks Trail Run, August 21/10

Roger Handling

Roger's report: Beautiful weather all day, a rarity where in past years we've had rain, sleet and snow. The course starts at the Roundhouse Lodge (6023 ft) and covers 10.5 km ascending to 7000 feet at the high point. This is always a tough race due to the thin air, one is breathless after 200m metres and doesn't really get back to normal respiration until after the finish. I ran 1:13:53, finished 25th overall, 2nd in age group, but had a long bad patch in the middle of the race that had me feeling really sluggish and heavy legged. The photo shows the finish by which time I was feeling much better.

1:13:53  Roger Handling  2nd M50-59

Blackberry Mile, Powell River, August 20/10

A very successful inaugural event with 48 participants. It was a nice cool evening in Powell River with no wind. The course was dead straight with a downhill first 2/3 and uphill last 1/3 (flatter at the end but still slightly up!). Great post race treats. Full results are here (PDF).

5:04  Larry Nightingale ($100 - 1st overall)
5:11  Greg Tait
5:34  Alston Miller
5:39  Teresa Nightingale (2nd female)
6:05  Lisa Morrow
6:21  Mattie Bakker
7:01  Alex Nightingale
9:47  Maria Nightingale

Richmond Olympic Oval 10k, August 15/10

This was a tough one, despite being 100% flat. It was HOT and HUMID even at 8:30am, and there was only 1 water station, at 4k. Plus most of the course was on the dike (gravel surface) with only about 10% on faster paved surface. Photos by Rick Horne.

40:57  Teresa Nightingale  2nd F40-44
43:45  Alston Miller       7th M35-39
44:01  Lisa Morrow         4th F40-44
47:11  Lorne Morrow        8th M50-54

Teresa Alston Lisa Lorne

Squamish Days 10k, August 1/10

Alex Alston Teresa Larry

It seemed like it would be a cool day with cloud cover but high humidity made this tougher than expected for everyone, especially in the last few kilometres. We were all completely soaked at the finish line (sweat!). The Sunshine Coast was well represented in the age group awards, plus an overall win in the Flashback Mile by Alex, who only ran as fast as he had to for the win. Thirteen years old and already strategizing. 10k photos by Rick Horne; Mile photo from Pat Cheung.

10k, Club Results:
36:47  Larry Nightingale   3rd M45-49, 10th overall
40:21  Teresa Nightingale  1st F40-44, 3rd Female overall
43:09  Alston Miller       4th M35-39
43:48  Carl Green          1st M60-64

Flashback Mile
 7:06  Alex Nightingale    1st M12-13, 1st overall

Sea Cavalcade Mile, Gibsons, July 24/10

A perfect day with a slight tailwind for fast times. See Sea Cavalcade website for full results and photos (more coming soon). Club members Carl Green and Peter Corbett earned themselves a free SCA race entry by volunteering. You can do the same at the Four Lakes 10k on August 22!

Club results:
4:44  Larry Nightingale  1st M40-49, 2nd overall
6:09  Lorne Morrow       2nd M50-59, 7th overall
6:23  Alex Nightingale   1st M13-15, 9th overall
6:57  Tammy Dean         2nd F40-49
7:25  Litze Boghean      4th F40-49
7:31  Maria Nightingale  2nd F9&U

Halfmoon Bay Trophy Run 5.4k, July 18/10

A great morning for a run, sunny and not too hot. Larry was first and Teresa was second. Frank and Alex also ran. Results coming as soon as we can get them from Sally Benner.

Seek the Peak 16k, West Vancouver (Ambleside to Grouse Peak), July 4/10

Roger finishing Seek the Peak

Roger's report: The Seek the Peak (Ambleside Beach to Grouse Peak 16 km) Relay was fun with good running conditions and lots of participants. I entered as a solo participant. Despite including the Grouse Grind, this race is not anywhere near as grueling as the Summer Solstice 25km race from two weeks ago. I found that ascending Grouse and then running an additional 19 hilly kms takes more out of one than tackling the Grind at the end of a race. My time was 1:50:00 for 34th overall (278 participants) and third in my age group. Strangely enough my Seek the Peak Grind stage time was one second faster than when I ran the Grouse Grind race a couple of years ago (43:19), this after running 10 kms to get to the foot of the Grind. Goes to show how useful a good warm up is!

1:50:00  Roger Handling  3rd M50-59

Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon, UBC to Stanley Park, June 27/10

Teresa

A bunch of us (me, Crystal, Norma & Frank) headed over Saturday for a fun weekend of racing and socializing. After picking up race kits downtown, and a quick stop for some goodies at Capers, we checked into our rooms at the Pacific Spirit Hostel at UBC. Great deal at $33/night plus tax. We were planning to eat dinner at Some Kinda Pasta but found out they'd had a fire 2 months ago and were reopening this Wednesday... So we went to Milestones on 4th instead, met up with Litze and Dale there. Back at UBC we met up with Wendy who'd taken a later ferry. After a little time to digest the dinner, we all headed to bed early.

Helen

Woke up early Sunday to light rain. But it was a great temperature for racing. Much better than hot sun! From the hostel to the start line was about a 10 minute jog. Crystal and I arrived at 6:25 to find long line-ups for the porta-potties. We figured we'd get through the line in about 20 minutes so we didn't head off in search of an alternative on campus. Bad decision! I didn't get out of there until exactly 7:00 (Crystal's line moved faster and she was able to go check our gear at 6:55). The announcer was just saying the race would start shortly, but it had already started...

I crossed the start line nearly 3 minutes after the gun went off and had to dodge and weave through the masses. I spent much of the first 3k up on the grass or sidewalk, trying not to waste too much energy going around people. My 4k split was back on target, then I just kept passing people the whole way right to the finish, with a steady effort throughout and faster final 2k, to get my goal of a 1:28:something finish time (net time!).

Litze

Helen ran slightly slower than last year but still won her age group by a huge margin. Crystal ran without a chip and timed herself at about 1:36. Litze teamed up with Wendy doing 10-1 run/walk and finished together, a PB for both! Frank's chip didn't register at the finish but he wasn't far behind Litze. The post-run live band was excellent and the chocolate chip cookies were yummy. After busing back to UBC, showering and checking out, stopping again for food, we just made the 1:20 ferry (was like racing again, only in the van!). All in all a great weekend!

Chip times shown here. Awards were determined by gun time.

1:28:40  Teresa Nightingale - 8th F40-44
1:55:34  Helen Sabourin - 1st F65-69
2:11:57  Litze Boghean
2:12:??  Frank McKenna
2:36:45  Michelle Kwasney

Litze and Wendy Frank McKenna Michelle

Summer Solstice Trail Marathon & Half, North Vancouver, June 20/10

Roger

This is the reason Roger didn't do the full Recon Run on Saturday. Roger reports: "Here is a photo from Sunday's event. I can't get any action photos yet. This one is while I'm warming down afterwards, probably describing one of the steep bits! I finished 9th overall in 2:55:24, a 15 minute PR over last year (3rd in M50-59). The course starts in Cleveland Park, just 1 km below Grouse base station, traverses across the foot of Grouse Mtn on the Baden Powell trail and then ascends Grouse via the Cut. It then heads across the mountain and descends in the direction of Mt Seymour before cutting back to Cleveland Park."

2:55:24  Roger Handling  3rd M50-59, 9th Overall
43 finishers

Sunshine in September 'Recon Run' (Club Fat Ass), Langdale, June 19/10

group photo, Langdale

(click photo to enlarge) An awesome day for running, sunny and just the right temperature. There were eleven of us this time, 8 from the Coast and 3 from Vancouver. The Vancouver folks including organizer Jackie Montgomery took over 4 hours and covered about 17k, stopping often along the way to make notes to fine tune the directions for the September event. The rest of us did various times/distances according to our personal goals (with some wrong turns along the way adding extra distance, at least in my group). Some significant uphills on the way out, and a quick mostly downhill return trip. Beautiful scenery: a mix of leafy forest, open forest and open views, one of the highlights being a deep ravine crossing with a bridge over a fast-flowing creek at the bottom. The Sprockids trails were great as always, with smooth dirt surface and some relatively flat areas where you can really stretch out.

Escape to Egmont FLASH event (Club Fat Ass), Egmont, June 6/10

Too bad more local runners didn't come out for this one. It was a beautiful morning on a scenic and peaceful course. Nine of us ran 12k, 16k or 21k, starting at Earl's Cove ferry terminal and heading to Klein Lake and beyond. Cloudy at the start with the sun peeking through later, perfect temperature. The hills were tough but well worth it for the scenery, and of course to run back DOWN later! (it was an out and back). On the long route we hit some of the brand new SunCoaster trail and it's unlike any other trails we have here on the Coast: wide and smooth and well groomed, a real pleasure to run on. The goodies at the finish were yummy too! Hope to see more locals out at the next FLASH event on June 19 in Langdale.
Click photos to enlarge.

before the run after the run

Running Room Shaughnessy 8k, Vancouver, May 30/10

Teresa

Turned out to be a nice partly sunny morning despite a 'cloudy with showers' forecast. Crystal and Teresa travelled over together and joined Lorne, Lisa and Mattie from the Powell River contingent to represent the Sunshine Coast. Teresa ran faster than expected on the hilly course to claim the top master female spot and place 1st (corrected June 3) in the age-graded female rankings. Lisa and Crystal both made the top-3 in their categories as well. Michelle Morton from Sechelt was also running. Photos by Rick Horne. More photos here

31:51  Teresa Nightingale  1st F40-44, 6th Female overall
34:44  Lisa Morrow         2nd F40-44
35:47  Crystal Spence      3rd F20-24
35:54  Lorne Morrow        8th M50-54
42:18  Mattie Bakker       4th F19&U

Lisa Morrow Crystal Spence Lorne Morrow

Iron Knee 25k Trail Race, North Vancouver, May 30/10

Roger

Roger's report: I also ran faster than expected, only 1 minute and 10 seconds slower than last year despite much worse conditions with lots of running water and mud to traverse, not to mention tangles of twisted, slippery roots and rocks. Always a beautiful course and ultimately a nice day as the rain held off until we were finished the awards presentations. Running temperatures were perfect.

2:03:11  Roger Handling    3rd M50-59 (29th overall)

Scotiabank Calgary Marathon, May 30/10

4:16:52  Marisa Alps      18th F35-39

May Day Family Fun Run 4k, Pender Harbour, May 22/10

As always, a fun local event early on a Saturday morning. The runners had the best of the day's weather, as it clouded over later for the festivities. With Larry recovering from injury, Teresa had to work hard to maintain the Nightingale tradition of winning this event, as Ian Wall pushed the pace the entire way, resulting in a better finish time than either had planned. Thanks to Paola Stewart for organizing this event.

Pender Harbour May Day 4k
Photo: William Jans / wrjphoto.com

Full results shown here as they are not posted online anywhere else. Club members in blue. Actual distance probably 3.9k? Results corrected May 26.

 1. Teresa Nightingale    15:02  1st F26-45
 2. Ian Wall              15:06  1st M46+
 3. Ean Jackson           15:23  2nd M46+
 4. Chris Wright          15:42  1st M26-45
 5. William Jans          16:44  2nd M26-45
 6. KC Emerson            17:07  1st F46+
 7. Geoff Bevan           17:17  3rd M46+
 8. Chuck Steemers        17:39  4th M46+
 9. Eric Derbez           17:48  3rd M26-45
10. Dustin Amaral         17:49  4th M26-45
11. Heather Straight      18:21  2nd F46+
12. Cassandra Whelan      19:06  1st F19-25
13. Solveig Van Wersch    19:45  1st F13-18
14. Ryleigh Milligan      20:09  2nd F13-18
15. Kerry Milligan        20:09  2nd F26-45
16. Liz Dilasser          20:53  3rd F46+
17. Eric Jackson          21:14  1st M12-
18. Alex Nightingale      21:33  1st M13-18
19. Frank McKenna         22:23  5th M46+
20. Mackenzie Stewart     22:54  3rd F13-18
21. Paola Stewart         22:58  3rd F26-45
22. Sibylle Tinsel        23:29  4th F46+
23. Katie Forward         23:42  4th F26-45
24. Barb Watt             24:04  5th F46+
25. Sharlyne Niemela      24:48  6th F46+
26. Linda Willesen        25:04  7th F46+
27. Laura Smail           25:39  8th F46+
28. Peter Corbett         25:40  6th M46+
29. Mario Lowther         25:47  7th M46+
30. Ekaterina Sytcheva    25:55  9th F46+
31. Heather Pietersman    25:55  5th F26-45
32. Nancy Mackay          27:22 10th F46+
33. Maria Nightingale     34:05  1st F12-
34. Larry Nightingale     34:05  8th M46+
35. Marlene MacIsaac      40:00  6th F26-45
36. Terry MacIsaac        40:00  9th M46+
37. Norma Clark           Walker - early start

Vancouver Sun Run, May 9/10

It was a perfect sunny day for the Sun Run. Over 50,000 people participated, with 160 coming from the Lower Sunshine Coast and another 48 from Powell River. Club member results are as follows: (net chip times shown here)

  40:07  Teresa Nightingale    4th F40-44, 50th Female overall
  57:05  Dave Bromley        200th M55-59
1:12:40  Peter Corbett       341st M60-64
1:12:40  Laura Smail         539th F50-54
1:29:53  Litze Boghean      1309th F45-49

April Fool's Run, April 11/10

All results are at www.foolsrun.com. Great job, everyone who ran it this year! Club member results below:

1:27:00  Greg Tait         6th M40-44
1:33:18  Roger Handling    1st M55-59
1:35:20  Alston Miller     9th M35-39
1:36:40  Andrew Hansen     4th M50-54
1:36:54  Lisa Morrow       4th F40-44
1:42:39  Carl Green        2nd M60-64
1:43:37  Lorne Morrow      9th M50-54
1:48:21  Marisa Alps       3rd F35-39
1:59:42  Helen Sabourin    1st F65-69
2:08:46  Jenny Rasmussen  12th F50-54
2:16:09  Litze Boghean    20th F45-49
2:51:09  Frank McKenna     4th M70+

Tour de Trail, Powell River, February 14/10

Report by Lorne Morrow, Photos by Teresa Nightingale

finishers

Sun & blue sky greeted nearly 120 runners as they tackled the trails and hills of Powell River in the 14th Annual Tour de Trail on Valentine's Day. The beneficiary of the event was the Powell River Food Bank as it will receive all of the $1145 of entry fees.

This is the first year of the event's new format in which runners or walkers could choose between a 5 kilometre or 10 kilometre option all leaving from the same starting point at Avid Fitness Center. Previous routes have been longer and involved shuttling runners for the shorter of the 2 runs.

Larry Nightingale, from Halfmoon Bay, was overall & male winner of the 10K and his wife, Teresa was the first female. In the 5K, local teacher Graham Cocksedge was first (even after running some extra distance at each of his 3 wrong turns) and Mattie Bakker was first female.

Susan Blair

Competition, however, was not the focus of the event. Many of the runners were first-time participants in a running event who have enlisted in local learn-to-run clinics led by Gerrimae Sepkowski or the "Running For Rookies" clinics led by Una McLeod.

As soon as the runners cross the line, they were served a free & filling hot breakfast. Mel Waldron graciously volunteers every year to whip up pancakes & sausages on the outdoor grill, this year with the help of Ed Bartfai. Both Starbucks and Mitchell Bros. contributed coffee and food to the post-run brunch.

This year also saw a 4-runner contingent from Texada make the trek over to run here and they have extended an open invitation to Powell River runners to join them for a Sunday run on The Rock.

Lisa Morrow

As she has done for many years, Teedie Kagume from the Powell River Museum headed up registration and record-keeping for the Tour. Spencer Burns finished second in the 5K run then promptly jumped on his mountain bike to ride the 10K course to ensure that no one got lost. He was joined by local track speedster, Tyler Bartfai who was “sweeping” the course. His training program called for an easy long run that day so he did that while assisting organizers.

Other critical volunteers were 6 students from Brooks Secondary — Blair Martin (runner & golfer, currently on the injured list), Ashya DePape, Jake Lehtimoki, Jae Hagen, Anna Wilson and Angus Charlie — assisting with time-keeping, food preparation and directing runners along parts of the trail.

Finally, two of the standout runners in the event give back a lot to the local running community — volunteering to help out at local runs, mapping & marking courses and encouraging other runners to participate. Alston Miller and Greg Tait are excellent runners and ambassadors of the sport.

Resolution Run, Sechelt, January 1/10

Resolution Run 2010

We had 20 participants in this year's Resolution Run. The weather gods smiled on us and gave us a little bit of sunshine at the start, though it had been raining earlier in the morning. The rain started in again after about 30 minutes but no one really minded by then — and it was relatively warm at about 8-9°C. (click photo to enlarge)

Everyone was allowed to choose how many 2km laps to run or walk, and the display clock was set up so we could check our times each lap. Below are the distances and times reported by participants. Unfortunately a power outage at Starbuck's cancelled the hot chocolate and coffee donation we were expecting, but we brought some assorted cookies (and water).

Thanks to Pam and Larry Knowles for helping with course set up and watching the equipment while we ran, and to Dave Bromley for helping with course take-down.

Alphabetical by last name:
Susan Blair        Sechelt       6km   34:02
Neil Booth         Langdale      4km   30:00
Sue Booth          Langdale      6km   45:00
David Bromley      Roberts Creek 6km   41:56
Loretta Burke      Gibsons       6km   41:08
Peter Corbett      Gibsons       6km   41:55
David Dick         Gibsons       4km   26:17
Brian Fournier     Sechelt      10km   51:02
Cory Kelly         Gibsons       6km   50:51
Victoria Maxwell   HMB           8km   51:05
Camille Neilson    Gibsons       4km   45:00
Alex Nightingale   HMB           2km   16:00
Larry Nightingale  HMB          10km   51:02
Maria Nightingale  HMB           2km   16:00
Teresa Nightingale HMB           6km   30:30 (+ 2km with Alex & Maria)
Brenda Simpson     Gibsons       6km   41:08
Madi Simpson       Gibsons       4km   45:00
Laura Smail        Gibsons       6km   47:01
Chuck Steemers     Sechelt      10km   52:29
Edith Troup        Sechelt       8km   64:00

Following the run, some club members headed over to Norma and Peter Bond's house for a hot tub and some great food provided by our hosts — thanks again Norma and Peter! This is becoming an annual SCA New Year's Day tradition.

all of us Norma Peter C. and Larry N.

Susan Pam Larry K. and Peter C.

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