Newsletter The London Pacers Running Club · See them at monthly meetings or contact Sherry...

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Race Director needed for this race—see page 24 for more details!

Newsletter

September 2016

The London Pacers Running Club

www.londonpacers.on.ca

TURKEY TROT

2K & 6K CROSS COUNTRY RACES

Monday, October 10, 2016

2K at 10:00 6K at 10:30

Main Picnic Pavilion, Springbank Park

Please come out and run or volunteer

Race day registration starting at 8:30

For info or to volunteer contact

[email protected]

A Thanksgiving Day Tradition in London

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London Pacers September 2016 Newsletter

Executive

President Kevin Garlick [email protected]

Vice President OPEN

Treasurer Angie Smith [email protected] Events/Social OPEN Publicity OPEN

Membership Sherry Watts [email protected] Secretary Maureen Dow [email protected]

Newsletter Sherry Watts [email protected] Paula Muxlow [email protected]

Temporary Sherry Watts [email protected] Race Reporter

From your editors: Newsletter information:

The deadline for the next newsletter is September 25, 12 noon.

The Newsletter editors are Sherry Watts and Paula Muxlow. Contact either of us if you have a contribution or a suggestion. Email addresses and phone numbers are above.

We love contributions: articles, comments, photos etc. It is your newsletter.

To assist the editors and make our job easier, PLEASE send your contribution(s) as follows:

- Please proof-read your article prior to submitting it.

- Send articles as Word files (save as .doc, not .docx)

- send photos or illustrations as separate .jpg files (low resolution).

- do not send articles with photos embedded, or .pdf files. We cannot work with those.

Items from other sources require permission to republish.

Any items that do not meet these criteria may be returned to you, or may not be published.

Pacer members are welcome to promote their businesses or events they are involved with. Send us the infor-mation and we will be happy to include it in the newsletter.

Please send race results or rumours of races your friends have done to Sherry Watts, our temporary race re-porter.

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Pacer Clothing

We have Pacers singlets, short sleeved and long sleeved shirts. Singlets cost $25 to $30, short sleeved are $30 and long-sleeved shirts are $35 to $42.

See them at monthly meetings or contact Sherry [email protected]

If you want a Pacer jacket, here is the process. Buy yourself a jacket in mostly red. It can have some black, grey or white trim. Take it to Mister Tees Clothing Company (MTCC) at 70 Pacific Court, unit 20 (north of Dundas St

off Clarke Road). Their hours are limited – 9 to 5 Mon to Fri. They have the logos to put on. There are a few choices to make – size of logo and what material. The same logo can also be put on bags, some hats etc. The

process takes a few days.


Pacer Discounts

Members of the London Pacers are given a discount on purchases at

Runners’ Choice at 207 Dundas St

and

New Balance London,

663 Wonderland Rd N,

London, Ontario N6H 0H9 Canada

Warmest greetings to members with September birthdays.

Laurie Baines, Jim Burrows*, Rob Campbell, Richard Darling, Gwen McLean, Kirsten Slaven, Frances Whiston, Susan Young, Susan McNeilm Julie Tervrugt, Aiden Hagemeier, Pam Fradgley, Cathy Veentra

*entering a new age group

Welcome new members

Hayley Clarke, Ashley Grant, Kathleen Grant, Kevin Hancock, Cathy Menard, Rachel Reardon, Janice Chedore, Norma Gelinas

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Get social with the Pacers by joining our members-only Facebook page

https://m.facebook.com/londonpacersclub/

and following our Twitter account @LdnPacers

September Pacers Meeting

Monday September 12 7:00 PM

Grosvenor Lodge, 1017 Western Rd, London

Everyone welcome – bring a guest

Snacks and conversation follow the meeting

Guest Speaker: Theresa Carrier

Join us at Grosvenor Lodge, 1017 Western Rd., on Monday, Sept 12

th, when our guest speaker will be Theresa Carrier.

Theresa has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for breast cancer treatment and research by completing a grueling 100km run from Sarnia to London in a single day. She has completed this one day event several years now. Come on out to hear from this amazing athlete and her mission to support this worthwhile cause. These meetings are open to all so feel free to bring a guest.

Ontario Masters Cross Country Championships

Is there any interest in participating in any or all of these events!

Taylor Creek 5K Sunday Sept. 25th

Don Farquharson 4K Sun. Oct. 2nd

Sunnybrook 8K Sun. Oct.16th

Ont.Championships Sun. Nov.13th

Leading up to Kingston Nov.26th.

Good opportunity to hone our skills for Kingston and encourage teamwork within our group.

You can bet that all of the major clubs will be there seeking some advantage over the rest of the field.

Contact Chuck via [email protected]

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Workout

Are you tired of the same old same old with your exercise program?

Do you find that the fun is going out of your routine ?

You can't get motivated and your get up and go ... got up and left!

You may need a change up!

Introducing ...Neighbourhood Playground Equipment

But First, Remember to exercise caution when trying new things such as do it with a friend or in a group. Have fun with it and keep an open mind. Try to use your whole body to maximize your results. Back off if you need to.

This concept has always been available and only requires some imagination !

Use ladders, ropes, ramps and platforms to climb, swing, hang, slide and then do it backwards, upside down if you have a spotter. Most walkers and runners are weak in the arms so using the overhead ladder to move hand over hand will improve upper body strength. Try pulling yourself up once or twice along the way. Your warmup and cool down is the jog to and from home.

I recommend doing this after children and their parents have left the park and after dark for those who feel somewhat intimidated by the process.

You might want to send a comment about this article for our next newsletter and add your own thoughts of how playground equipment can improve your fitness.

Chuck Edwards

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Supporting Young Athletes

The London Pacers mandate has always included supporting young athletes along their sports’ jour-neys. In years past we have given money to help athletes compete in the World Cross Country Championships, the World Youth Track and Field Championships and Canadian Track and Field Championships.

We have bought a school cross country spikes for its runners (with the valued assistance of Runners Choice) and this year bought a tent for a school to help its team feel unified and equal to the more prosperous schools. We have donated to some of our recent speakers to help with their training ex-penses. We have sent a carload of shoes to Kenya.

In my very favourite Pacer donation we gave a young runner a shopping spree. She was a teenager, daughter of a single immigrant father who had no resources to help his child follow her passion into running. Her coach drove she and her father to the New Balance store and Mark Faust made sure she got shoes and clothing so she could fit in with her teammates. Her father cried when he hugged Mark and thanked him for what we had done for his daughter.

This summer we were approached by the London Legion Club. They have an incredible young athlete who was very close to qualifying for the World Junior T&F Championships even though he is still in the youth division. He had to compete at the Canadian Championships in Edmonton to be eligible. His immigrant family had no money for his trip. His club could only pay part of his expenses so they asked if we could contribute. We provided for his accommodation, shared with a member of a rival club. He did reach the qualifying time but was ranked third in Canada – one place out of an opportunity to take on the world. Though the goal was not quite attained, a young man was given a chance and that is worth a few dollars.

Sherry

Chuck Edwards has generously donated six of his works for our cross country team fund-raiser. Look for them at meetings and bid in the silent auction. Own a work by one of the club’s talented artists.

About the Artist ,

Chuck Edwards joined the London Pacers in 1989 where he still enjoys the thrill of the chase .

His career was spent as a Graphic Artist and now he is finally doing art for himself .

Some of his recent sketches are repre-sented here to draw attention to the Cana-dian Cross Country Championships . All funds gained from this auction will help send a Pacer team to Kingston .

The bids are by silent auction and the win-ners will be announced at the Pacer Gen-eral Meeting on October 11th

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Mile Night Results

Mixed 4 x 800 relay M45 Andrew Jones, Jeff Orchard, Brian Hagemeier, Rich McClelland 9:49.49

Youth Liam Herbert, Kenny Thorne, Nathan Philippon, Sarah Philippon 12:37.48

W65 Linda Jones, Diane Marrow, Geordie Farrell, Linda Findley 13:47.79

W40 Janice Chedore, Wendy Fraser, Wilma Koopman, Sharon O'Grady 14:47.92

M75 Pete Cunningham, Nick D'Ascanio, Harold Burgin, Steffan Kampe 16:28.44

Mile Robbie Timmerman M23 4:51.64

Ethan Aarts M13 5:25.51

Owen Leatherdale M13 5:32.64

Owen Peters M12 5:34.95

Brian Hagemeier M45 5:37.45

Craig McAllister M46 5:38.53

Jerome Carriot M39 5:45.02

Julia Agonstinelli F14 5:49.32

Clarissa Sladek F14 5:49.61

Dylan Yzenbrandt M12 5:50.05

Bill Wheeler M62 5:52.85

Skyler Bonk F10 5:53.20

Lorelai Phinnemore F10 5:56.50

Riley McLean M11 5:58.37

Jim Burrows M54 5:58.61

Kaitlyn Koyanagi F10 6:03.61

Robert Campbell M56 6:07.48

Ken Huh M28 6:08.72

Em Gilhuly F12 6:12.54

Sarah Jaquith F8 6:13.69

Steve Baarda M48 6:13.85

Denise Darvill-Kaiser F15 6:21.83

Gina Beer F50 6:23.38

Mark Fenton M53 6:23.87

Daniel Versloot M30 6:36.50

Adam Blacklock M31 6:43.39

Naomi Kato F42 6:44.77

Carson Peters M11 6:46.97

Debbie O'Malley-Jaquith F47 6:51.09

Jayden Zister M9 6:52.22

Trent Rapski M12 6:52.44

Griffin King M13 6:54.05

Robert Heacock M55 7:06.60

Christine Dirks F64 7:14.78

Ed Whitlock M85 7:22.28 World record

McKenzie Peters F9 7:37.87

Sara Slee F58 7:45.58

Robert Fraser M62 7:47.19

Griffith Wick M8 8:06.44

Susan McNeil F52 8:10.09

Sara Middleton F42 8:10.62

Julie Tervrugt F43 8:15.91

Leo Carriot-Kato M7 8:18.07

Maya Jaquith F10 8:24.68

Kate Juusola F9 8:33.84

Karen Hernandez F50 8:36.37

Margie Denomme F50 8:49.39

Shauna Stewart F31 8:49.48

Neda Beaulac F37 8:55.75

Diane Marcaccio F59 10:14.64

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Our race experience in Thailand

Shauna Versloot I don’t think I have ever planned a vacation without a race of some sort being in the itinerary. Although honey-moons are supposed to be romantic and relaxing, I couldn’t pass up experiencing a race in Thailand. Very fortu-nately for me, my husband is always up for any adventure I dream up. I searched through all of the major cities to see if I could find a race in the two weeks we were there. I found quite a few, however when I looked into them I didn’t see a timing clock or actual finish line photos from previous years’ photos. Finally, I found a race that seemed like a “big deal” and knew that we wanted to see their full race experi-ence. Registration was $14 Canadian for the 5K, $15 for the 11K or $18 half marathon, which included a dry-fit shirt, race entry and bib. I couldn’t get over how inexpensive their races were! The 11K and half-marathon were sold out so we signed up for the 5K. I think we were both a bit nervous about racing in the jungle heat and being warned not to wear bright colours as that attracts lions and other wild animals. When we arrived at the race it was set up just like our big races, finish chute, timing clock, race expo, t-shirt pick-up and thousands of runners getting ready to go. As we waited for the races to start we noticed that we were 2 of the 4 Caucasian participants that morning. On top of that we were proudly wearing our Canada shirts. The combination of everyone being excited to see Canadians and Dan being the tallest person there by about a foot or so, lead to hundreds of pictures and everyone greeting us. We felt like celebrities that morning. 6:30am came; the 11K was supposed to start. We watched the runners slowly make their way to the start line. Dan and I both noted that no one had a race watch on, no one was gunning for that start line, and most were wearing way too many layers to be running in the jungle. The 11K started about 15 minutes late and no one seemed to mind one bit. (Imagine if that happened in Canada?!!!) 6:45am the 5K was supposed to start. Dan and I made our way to the line. We were trying to let the “fast looking” runners (which was the major-ity of the crowd) go in front of us on the line but they were insistent that we start it off. After about 10 minutes of pictures, our race gun went off. Dan and I bolted because we figured it was going to be an extremely fast race. We caught up to the 11K runners, then flew down an extremely steep down hill through some of the half-marathoners. We were in 1

st and 2

nd place by a landslide and couldn’t understand how that was possible.

We went through our first water stop at the 2K mark while locals cheered us on. We followed the crowd through hills, gasped at the beautiful site of the moun-tains, saw some unique birds and were thrilled to be participat-ing in the race.

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We ran around a corner and saw a sign for “4K mark”. We knew that we had at least that distance to get back up to the finish line so we must have missed the 5K turn around point? There was a young boy who had kept up with us and told us that we should turn and go back. We followed and asked race marshals where we should go. They laughed and sent us back towards the monstrous hill. While I was running I slowed my pace right down and met 3 people that were in their 30’s that I had assumed were “racers”. They, just like the rest of the 5K group, just followed tall Dan on the course and also missed the turn around point. I asked them what races were like in Thailand and politely asked why the pace seemed to be slower than I thought I would be. They told me that their running groups and races main goals are to get out and enjoy nature, participate in the community and feel good about yourself. Although the male in that group of 3 could probably do really well in the race, he enjoyed running with his wife and noticing the nature as they ran. They told me that the hills, weather and courses are all so different from race to race that a 5K time in the jungle race could be minutes different than the 5K race on the beach. They told me that the joy for them and everyone in that race was to get up early on a Sunday, raise a little bit of money for a charity with the race fees, try a new 5K course and although they push themselves a little bit, they enjoy every minute of that race to-gether. I had similar conversations with many other people during and after the race. When we got to the top of the hill there was a lady handing out flow-ers. She gave us ours and told us we had to walk to the memorial. We were so confused. “Did we miss the finish line?” “Is this part of the race?” “Walk?!!” I asked another person what was going on. She told me that before you can finish the race you need to do the walk and give thanks to the people who fought for Thailand to be a free country. We followed the crowd and I was a bit overwhelmed with how emotional and thankful I felt. Seeing gratitude amongst so many people was heartwarming. Everyone walked at about the same pace, single file and then laid their flower on the memorial. After walking back to the lady who was giving out the flowers then you could run up the hundreds of stairs and came out at the finish chute. The music was going, the volunteers were there handing out finisher medals and then there was the post race food. There were bowls of “fish ball soup” and bowls of “chicken soup”. Each finisher was supposed to grab a bowl and then a lady added her homemade broth to it. To say their food standards aren’t the same as ours is an understatement… the meat was left out all morning, there were flies all over the uncovered bowls and who knew what was in that broth? I opted out and politely drank all of their other samples while Dan loved the post-race fish ball soup. To finish off our fun “race” morning, the race director asked us to please stay for the awards ceremony. They had tro-phies for the 1

st 3 men and women who came across the line in each

race. During the awards ceremony they asked Dan and I to come up on stage. They thanked us for participating in their race, asked us a few questions about Canada (we kept assuring people that it wasn’t “that cold!”), teased Dan for being so tall, wished us a happy and healthy marriage and gave us a trophy. Dan most likely would have won by a landslide if we ended up doing the actual 5K instead of 8, 9 or even 10k? We have no idea how far we actually ran. We did know that we thoroughly enjoyed it though. I highly recommend doing a race in Thailand. It rejuvenated my love for running, appreciating nature on my runs, and the joy of comfort-able runs with my golden retriever, husband or friends. Just remem-ber to maybe bring your own post-race snacks…although Dan didn’t get sick at all, I’m convinced he must have a stomach of steel. Huge congratulations on your marriage! Ed.

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President’s Message

Kevin Garlick

It has been a warm and humid summer thus far and the name of the game has been how to stay cool and hydrated.

At our November General Membership Meeting, nominations will be accepted for various Pacers Ex-ecutive positions, including President and Vice President.

The London Pacers Running Club is dedicated to promoting the sport of running in the local commu-nity. We are all about health and fitness and giving back to the community.

Executive Members are volunteers and appreciated by those who benefit from the tasks performed. The executive members themselves benefit through increased awareness of how the club functions, and have input on club activities and direction.

You would be surprised at how many current Pacers have served on the Executive in past years. There is a good chance that the person next to you at your next Pacers Pack Run, is a past Execu-tive Member. If you have served on the executive before perhaps you would be interested in joining the 2017 executive in a different capacity. If you have not been an Executive Member, come aboard and help guide club business.

The current Executive would like to extend an invitation to anyone who would like to view the pro-ceedings at the September and October Executive Meetings. Please contact me for any questions and for meeting details.

It has been an exciting year thus far! Many suc-cessful events have already taken place with many more events planned for the second half of the year. I would ask each and every Pacer to try to make it out to as many of these as you can. This is the beauty of being part of a club like ours; join in on the group activities whether they be club races, Pacers Pack Runs, trail runs, social events, fall cross country training, biking, cross-training opportunities and volunteering.

Get out there and have some fun!

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The answers for the June trivia are:

Sign 1: Greenway Park Sign 2: Storybook Gardens Sign 3: Springbank Gardens/Rowing Club

September trivia:

These three buildings are located somewhere at or near Springbank Park. Do you know the names of each of these buildings and their exact location.

Bonus: What year were these buildings built? (no googling permitted).

Building 1

Building 2

Building 3

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PACER RESULTS Summer 2016 Pacers spent the summer competing all over Canada and the world. Between the results list and the articles you’ll see races in Thailand, Spain and just up the street. There were races from 400 meters to 50 miles. Pacers ran, cycled, swam, did all three together, walked and threw heavy objects. Few of you bother sending in your results. I wish you would. Besides giving us a way to celebrate our club members, it gives us a way to find out a bit more about each other. Did you know we had people competing in track and field meets? Did you know how very good Steve Beasley is at duathlons? Or how many of our members like to run in kilts? Or how often Jamie runs a marathon? If you have always been interested in the Cape Breton Relay, now you know who to ask. We can find out who in the club might run or walk our pace or who the ultra runners are.

You may recall that the last weekend of May was very hot. Some of these races were in danger of being stopped or shortened. Times reflect the difficult conditions.

5 Peaks Ontario – Heart Lake 7.5K Brampton, ON May 28, 2016

Overall Name Time Age Group AG place

75 Chuck Edwards 47:53 M 70+ 1

Ottawa Race Weekend 10K Ottawa, ON May 28, 2016

Overall Name Chip Time Age Group AG place

8650 Debbie Garlick 1:16:52 F50-54 380

Ottawa Race Weekend Ottawa, ON May 29, 2016

Half Marathon

Overall Name Chip Time Age Group AG place

945 Rob Campbell 1:41:29 M55-59 27

11208 Lisa Burrows 3:08:01 F50-54 570

Marathon

1601 Jim Burrows 3:52:55 M50-54 140

2615 Kevin Garlick 4:19:37 M50-54 234

Buffalo Marathon Buffalo, NY May 29, 2016

Overall Name Gun Time Chip Time Age Group AG place

377 Patrick Connor 3:58:37 3:57:47 M55-59 11

Run to Remember 5M Boston, MA May 29, 2016


810 Bill Spackman 53:05 47:44 M60-69 19

Chuckle Run 10K London, ON May 29, 2016


2 Andre Schwering 46:06 46:03 M50-59 1

Cabot Trail Relay Cape Breton Island, NS May 28, 29, 2016

Leg 8 12.36K

Susan McNeil 1:12:41

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South Coast Marathon Simcoe, ON June 4, 2016


197 Susan McNeil 2:21:11 F50-54 17

236 Anne Lamesse 2:30:26 F45-49 23

Pelee Island Half Marathon Pelee Island, ON June 4, 2016


30 Jamie Harris 5:48:26 5:48:32 M65-69 1

Rock the Road 5K Arva, ON June 5, 2016


6 Robbie Timmerman 17:37 17:35 M20-29 5

10 Albano Castanha 19:09 19:07 M40-49 3

21 Jim Burrows 20:47 20:44 M50-59 2

88 Donna Kraft 24:56 24:52 F50-59 5

97 John Ferguson 25:13 25:02 M50-59 12

Women’s Half Marathon Niagara Falls, ON June 5, 2016


938 Robin Farley 2:32:42 2:30:25 F50-54 102

1262 Cathy Veenstra 2:48:01 2:45:43 F55-59 61

World Duathlon Championships Aviles, Spain June 5, 2016

M60-64

Overall Name Time 10K Run 42K Bike 5K Run

1 Steve Beasley 2:14:54 37:40 1:10:04 22:00

Band on the Run Half Marathon Huntsville, ON June 11, 2016


59 Wendy Fraser 1:58:09 1:57:56 F60-69 1

102 Robert Fraser 2:08:10 2:07:58 M60-69 6

We hear that Bob arrived from a red-eye flight and jumped into the race nonetheless.

Trot to the Beach Half Marathon Blenheim, ON June 12, 2016

Run


30 Robert Slee 1:45:16 M60-69 1

Walk

1 Sara Slee 2:48:07 F55-64 1

Run to the BBQ 5K London, ON June 17, 2016



88 Susan McNeil 28:25 28:18 F50-59 5

215 Pam Fradgley 39:52 39:44 F50-59 16

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Hog Jog 10K Stratford, ON June 22, 2016


17 Robert Campbell 45:41 M50-59 3

5 Peaks Ontario – Rattlesnake Point 5.3K Milton, ON June 25, 2016


86 Chuck Edwards 35:37 M70+ 1

Perth Kilt Run Half Marathon Perth, ON June 25, 2016

Overall Name Gun Time Chip Time

6 Robert Campbell 1:41:45 1:41:04

Hundreds of people running in kilts to attempt a Guiness World Record

Embro Highland Games Embro, ON July 1, 2016

5K


33 Robert Fraser 25:40 M60-64 1

34 Wendy Fraser 25:51 F60-64 1

10K


17 Robert Campbell 45:04 M50-59 2

More people running in kilts.

Great Lakes T&F League Meet #1 London, ON July 6, 2016

400m Open Men

Overall Name Time

12 Steve Baarda 1:09.79 PB!

Shot Put Women 3K

Overall Name Distance

11 Joanne Miklos den Iseger 6.22m

Womens Only Kincardine, ON July 9, 2016

Sprint Duathlon 3K Run, 12K Bike, 3K Run


93 Joanne Miklos den Iseger 1:21:13 F60+ 3

Meaford Harbour 5K Meaford, ON July 9, 2016


133 Julia McDonald 28:11 F60+ 7

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Limberlost Challenge Huntsville, ON July 9, 2016

28K


51 Ashley Grant 3:47:36 3:47:29 F2-29 1

56K

4 Brian Grant 6:54:21 6:54:16 M40-49 1

North Face Challenge 50M Collingwood, ON July 16, 2016


106 Adam Blacklock 13:54:05 M30-34 10

Friendly Massey Marathon Massey, ON July 17, 2016


38 Jamie Harris 5:55:35 M60-69 7

Summer Night 5K London, ON July 15, 2016


4 Robbie Timmerman 16:15 16:15 M20-24 3

19 Albano Castanha 18:58 18:58 M45-49 4

24 Aiden Hagemeier 19:44 19:42 M16-19 2

39 Jim Burrows 20:36 20:33 M50-54 5

103 Morrison Reid 23:50 23:41 M65-69 2

114 John Ferguson 24:29 24:23 M55-59 7

116 Lauren Burdick 24:35 24:35 F30-34 4

146 Bill Tofflemire 26:18 26:06 M70+ 2

164 Bill Spackman 27:36 27:25 M65-69 4

I Run for Ice Cream 10K London, ON July 17, 2016



Blue Water Triathlon Brights Grove, ON July 23, 2016

Sprint Duathlon 1K Run, 18K Bike, 4K Run


37 Patricia Boost 1:29:04 F60-69 2

39 Dale Boost 1:48:23 M60-69 1

Olympic Distance Triathlon 1.5K Swim, 40K Bike, 10K Run

39 Scott Slaven 2:39:35 M50-59 5

43 Armin Kruspel 2:42:53 M60-69 1

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Great Lakes T&F League Meet #4 St Thomas, ON July 27, 2016

400m Open Men

Overall Name Time

12 Steve Baarda 1:08.85 PB!

Shot Put Senior Women


1 Joanne Miklos den Iseger 6.44m

Iron Girl Women’s Triathlon Grimsby, ON August 7, 2016

Sprint Triathlon 500m swim, 20K bike, 5K run


315 Susan McNeil 1:36:59 F50-54 43

Reach the Beach 5K Port Stanley, ON August 11, 2016


7 Brian Hagemieir 20:04 20:04 M45-49 1

11 Robert Campbell 21:35 21:34 M55-59 3

16 Aiden Hagemeier 22:59 22:55 M16-19 3

21 David Gale 23:13 23:11 M55-59 4

37 Morrison Reid 25:24 25:19 M65-69 1

41 Donna Kraft 26:19 26:17 F55-59 1

108 Sara Slee 34:58 34:45 F60-64 7

Canadian Masters T&F Championships North York, ON August 13, 2016

Shot Put W70


1 Joanne Miklos den Iseger 6.67m PB!

Joanne competed in Pan Am Stadium in this prep meet for her World Masters competition coming in October.

5 Peaks Ontario – Dundas Valley 6.7K Dundas, ON August 20, 2016


77 Chuck Edwards 43:07 M70+ 1

Goderich Triathlon Goderich, ON August 21, 2016

Sprint Duathlon 5K Run, 28K Bike, 2.5K Run


2 Steve Beasley 1:19:16 M60+ 1

5 Jim Burrows 1:24:24 M50-59 1

Crim Festival of Races Flint, MI August 27, 2016


3614 Bill Spackman 1:52:45 1:48:10 M65-69 64

Send your results to [email protected]

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Pacers Website

In 2014 your Exec started to look at what it would take to revamp the Pacers’ Website. You see the old one did not meet the Club’s purpose of promoting the participation in the sport of running in the community and of providing information regarding all aspects of running to Club members. Today, people like to get their information from the Internet and the Club’s site was no longer attractive and was very difficult to keep current.

We knew that we did not have the skills on the board to do it ourselves so we set out to find someone who could meet our needs.

Our first step was to get together and determine what was important to consider in selecting a web developer. We came up with the following criteria:

Must-haves: Links to Twitter & Facebook Password protected members area – allow more than gmail Calendar object Responsive

Size itself to screen size & resolution Works on all browsers, various versions

Drop-down menus Generic executive contacts Maximum cost $2,000

Wants – by order of importance: Attractive / Aesthetically pleasing – wow factor Easy to maintain / update Low # of clicks to access content Local resource Low cost

Next, we did some research to find out what local resources were available to consider. Armed with a list of potential candidates and their contact information, we sent each the above list of requirements (minus the maximum cost) and invited their proposals. Based on those responses, we narrowed the list down to four candidates that we felt were worth interviewing.

The next step was to meet with each and further explore what they could do for us, how they would approach such a project, and to evaluate their fit. Of those that we felt confident could meet our needs, their price was significantly higher than what we had set as our maximum. At this point, we decided to put the project on hold for the time being to reconsider our options. Nevertheless, we still felt strongly that the Pacers needed a new website.

Then, in May, Mike Cygalski, one of the web developers who met our requirements, let us know that he would reduce his original proposal by 20%, bringing his price close to our target. With the approval of the majority of Pacer members, your Exec decided to go ahead with the project over the summer.

We have been working diligently with Mike and are now ready to unveil the new and improved Pacers website at the September members meeting. I know that you will feel proud of the way the London Pacers Running Club will be portrayed. People will be attracted to our pages and will discover more about the running community as a result.

I initiated this project but it was your current board that carried it through to completion with a lot of work by Kevin and Sherry to make it a success. A heartfelt thanks and congratulations to both.

Richard

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ALTHEO PHIDIPEDES MARATHON AWARD 2015/2016

Its time to start thinking about nominating a deserving marathoner for the Altheo Pheidipedes Award. This award goes to a Pacer who ran or walked a special marathon in the past year. The criteria are loose and flexible so do not let the specifics stop you from sending in a nomination. Past winners have finished their races in well under 3 hours and well over 6. They have finished just one and over 100 marathons. Though marathoning can be a lonely pastime, one year it was a group of runners who shared the adventure and took home the award. Last year Jackie McAllister and Frances Whiston shared the trophy recognizing their first marathon. Please nominate candidates based on the following criteria: The award should be presented each year to a member of the Pacers who either as a runner or as a walker has completed a marathon of special significance during the year of the award, from November 2015 to October 2016. The award is most specifically to honour a Pacer who has dedicated him/her self to the training needed to complete a marathon. The award could be presented, for example, for the following: a Pacer who has completed their first marathon a Pacer who has completed a personal best in the marathon a Pacer who has placed in the top 5 of their age category a Pacer who has completed an outstanding number of marathons Please submit nominations to the Executive Committee by October 30, 2016. Send these to Kevin Garlick at [email protected]

Please provide the following information: name of nominee, your name, as nominator, and a short de-scription of what the nominee has accomplished to qualify for the award. You can see more on past recipients on the Pacers website.

Pacers at the Do it for Dad run in June, 2016

Rob Campbell and Paula Muxlow

Bill Spackman

Rita Melville

Lorne Duquette

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MUMMIE DEAREST: OLD FARTS MARATHON . . . . . . . Jamie Harris

Lowell, Michigan is a pristine town on the northeastern verge of Grand Rapids that boasts extensive woodlands AND a Tim Horton’s.

Developed on the site of an ancient Ot-tawa Village, it is historically tied to the fur trade, flour mills and some famous Fords (Henry the auto-maker and Gerald the President). It houses the North Country Trail Association Na-tional Headquarters. Parts of the namesake trail were featured in the Old Fart’s Festival of Races … Saturday August 6th, 2016 (5K, 22.1K and 42.2K).

For all of us who recall the running days before on-line entries and starting lines marked by corrals of entrants that extend for blocks-and-blocks, THE OLD FARTS MARATHON harnesses considerable nostalgia as it presents a totally unique experience within today’s running scene.

I had seen it advertized at the Martian Marathon year-after-year and thought it seemed very bizarre at best. Nevertheless, my quest for a nearby marathon for August led me to research it in more depth. The website is full of dire warnings that would make saner individuals stay well clear: “the toughest marathon in all of Michigan and this side of the Mississippi” embracing “2,690 feet of elevation gain”. “Our average marathon finishing time is 6:14 … Pikes Peak is 7:13.” “26.2 Miles of Sheer Terror in Two Loops of Fun.” “This is about as close to Jurassic Park as you can get!”

And some reviews from past participants: “Tough, tough, tough “The hills are so bad it gets comical.” Very appealing!

What’s more in the tradition of most of us old farts, there is no chip timing of course, none of those wicked pace bunnies but also no on-line entry. I gulped hard, stuffed 80 US dollars into an envelope and mailed ‘er off to make it the OLD FART’S INTERNA-TIONAL MARATHON, eh? “They’ll have to have on-line entry for the European entrants they attract in 2017!” (There actually was a gal from Dublin, Ireland this year though to cinch the deal.) Most of the competitors were Michigan residents but at least 10 other states had finishers.

Fallasburg Park which physically hosts the race is nestled in a bend of the Flat River (a tributary of the Grand). Apparently the word, pronounced Falls-Berg is ancient phrase meaning “Beautiful Challenge”. I had scouted it out the day before. Then I had sought refuge in a Super 8 in Ionia which amazing had a double mini-fridge in the room with a full freezer com-partment: I put a couple of liters of Gatorade into the bladder of my camel-back stuffed the whole contraption in and by the morning the contents were frozen solid. (We were warned that we needed to carry fluids.) The only other specific prep I had done was to buy a pair of Merrell “Tough Mudder” shoes which I had tried out for a mere 4 miles on a gravel road in Northern Ontario the weekend before.

On race day, I arrived at the Park shortly after 7 AM and picked up my number. I was keeping a eye on the other competitors to see what equipment they were taking on the course. Almost all of the

ones with marathon bibs did have fuel belts with water bottles or camel-backs so I obligingly put mine on and left the start-

ing line at 8 feeling more like a pack mule than usual. The first section

swept down the newly paved Fallasburg Drive before it turned into the woods for a considerable distance on what was

fairly easy trail – the odd root and rock – but basically flat.


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I saw a young native lad running in the opposite direction at top speed (he had missed the start!). We came out of the trees again onto Covered Bridge Road on we passed through said bridge then up a paved road past some vintage architecture and a prize-winning red barn before turning left into wilderness once more: the trail became just a little more challenging. A walker passed me but he was just in the “Who cut the Cheese” 5K and couldn’t tell me if the rest of the course was “this easy”.

Another clearing, through a grassy field and across a pedestrian span beneath a highway bridge: the 5Kers then went left and the marathoners and halfers headed right up the western bank of the Flat River. The river may have been flat but the course started to get considerably more “interesting” with a stream immediately followed by steep, dilapidated cement stairway.

Further along large trees fallen across the path became commonplace and eventually there came a long climb up a rough arrangement of large rocks before emerging on another stretch of paved road. After I had restored my cardiopulmonary equilibrium this was eminently runnable for the better part of a mile before it turned left.

We passed the first (of two) water-stops then across the road span of the same bridge we had passed beneath a short while ago.

By this time, I was leap-frogging with a couple of women who were running only the half because they “weren’t THAT crazy. Back into the red pines and maples, we ducked down a trail on the East Bank and things started to get much more “interesting”. I cannot perhaps remember the exact order of the “major” challenges but just hopping or crawling over or under the downed trees was “fun enough”. First though there was “The Dorothy” (“You’re not in Kansas anymore”) and the trees had signs identifying where you were and also warnings that “Things are go-ing to get very bad” and “The Mummy is waiting for you.” As the three of us dawdled along, the young Indian boy came shooting up from behind us scampering like a squirrel and disappeared again in an instant only to reappear on the far side of “The Larry” which was the only non-hill obstacle. It was a deep sink-hole of mud, and it had sucked the lad’s shoe off and he had to wade back in to retrieve it.

Then came “The Ed” which left us breathless, “The Fred” which was about twice as high, “The Pyramid of Pain” and finally “The Mummy” itself which had a large paper Mummy statue at the bottom and one at the top which was bowing to acknowl-edge your accomplishment. After that there was “The Chuckie” (Norris) with posters of Chuck and Clint Eastwood on various trees to “encourage” your further efforts.

Interspersed somewhere amongst the amazingly vertical climbs were a series of steep down-hills (“GERONIMO’s”) only the third of which (just past the Mummy) had ropes. These were as terrifying as the climbs were exhausting.

There was ample opportunity and frequent need for both crawling and sliding on your backside! I took advantage of many of them.

Finally there I emerged up a hill to a clearing with the second aid station (Mile 8’ish) manned the first time by enthusi-astic youngsters (and the second time by, you guessed it, old farts!). “You’ve made it through the tough parts!” were the encouraging words the first time. (The second time the old farts just recorded my number and grunted). I had become totally alone again having left my female halfer-companions behind in a clearing to “eat something”.

The woods became more open and the trails became less torturous and more even, turning eventually into double-tracks, eventually a residential road before emerging onto pavement for about a quarter of a mile, then back into the bush.

“Aren’t we there yet?” “Longest five miles in history!!!” The trail meandered widely through a forest of taller trees and the whole place was like an echo-chamber and you

could hear other runners talking as if they were right behind you or just ahead. The only things that were flying were Giant Swallowtails butterflies (much bigger than even our Tiger Swallowtails and just as black as our smaller Black Swallowtails). They lazily drifted about along the forest floor seemingly oblivious to the filthy, sweaty human masochists briefly invading their sanctuary. There were a couple of grassy clearings to run across and in the last one the leader finally overtook me(on his second lap), told me I was doing well before insolently disappearing into the trees ahead. Finally I reemerged onto pavement, back across the road bridge, turned left and was back to the start-finish or in marathoners’ cases the half-way point.

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Lo and behold, on the road section before the first aid station I saw another runner ahead. He wasn’t doing well but said he’d finish. In the gap between “The Dorothy” and “The Larry”, or was it between “The Ed” and “The Fred” (My blazing speed had me confused!), I also passed a young woman who was obviously slowing down. Although I was filthy and sweaty for the crawling and the climbing and she was ostensibly in mint condition. She was “glad to see a friendly face”. Her main fear was being last. I reassured her that there was at least one man behind and he was catching nobody. The rest of the hills and Geronimo’s were for me to deal with alone and somehow I did, although I missed grabbing a root on “The Mummy” itself and almost slid back to the bottom.

Just before the trail turned again into a residential street, I spied not one but a trio of runners ambling ahead. I had drained my camel-back but I was loping along pretty steadily and soon passed them as well and felt pretty well-placed until we got back into a bit of the echo-chamber forest again where I could hear them behind me in the loops. I was getting paranoid that they had regrouped themselves and were going to pass me back. But, no, the pavement and the finish line came with nary a challenge from behind.

Turns out that Ben VanHoose, the Matt Carpenter of Greenville Michigan, had won the Marathon for the SEVENTH TIME! His time had been in 4:05:47. Remarkably enough the first female was a teenager (15) from Grand Rapids at 5:10:20. I squeaked in 8:42:32 (58th of 66 finishers) and second grand master (of 3), a mere 1:20:04 behind a Gregory Maxwell and a whole minute and 17 seconds ahead of John Stevens. (I’m sure my stats would have been better if they did have chip timing!)

My erstwhile companions who had stopped to eat, Melissa Elischer and Shannon Baker had finished their half in 4:39:30 The winner there, Jamie Phelps, had an amazing (I think) 1:45:05. The 5K was won in 20:56 by a Will Rebmoiz. Festival Competition ended when Bob Cowles crossed the line in 10:20:30.

BOTTOM LINE: if next August rolls around and you find yourself having coureur de bois moments with a particular penchant for hills, I strongly recommend that you check out OLD FARTS. One thing for sure you will get your money’s worth (even with the exchange rate): you receive such an amazing race setup, plus a shirt, plus a jacket from the get-go. At the finish you get a medal, a large “OLD FARTS RUNNING CLUB: THE MUMMY” printed back-on-red bath towel and a selection from a gift table (everything from sweat pants to customized railroad nails).

I was also gratified to receive a beautiful little crystal trophy with a dinosaur inside for my group award. Two weeks after the race they mail you a finishing certificate! Take it from me, old farts really know what they are doing! And, it’s apparently a certified distance so you could use it as a Boston qualifier. All that to tempt you….plus a good chance to break a major bone thanks to MUMMIE DEAREST.

I had fashioned on getting in under 8 hours but the 4:15 split time suggested “not so much” and having experienced the challenges of the first lap, with the temperature rising into the 80’s, seeing no one in front of me at all, my optimism was turning to despair. My only comfort was the printed promise on the web site: “Remember there are NO TIME LIMITS for any of the races. If you can finish, we will let you.”

I made the wide arc and headed back out. I was sucking from my camel continually. I could not have survived without it and my e-lyte caps. I just had to keep going!

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Galloping Goose Mile Night

Limberlost Challenge

Brian Grant

The Trail of mud!

Perth Kilt Run

Rob Campbell

Crim Festival of Races

Paula Muxlow

And

Bill Spackman

Jeff , Andrew< Brian and Rich—

men’s relay team

Pete Cunningham

Mile night photos courtesy of John Kirkland

Ashley Grant

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . .And now a message from one of your editors.

This Club Needs Help!!

This is your club. This is our club. This club needs help.

I’m not sure most members know just how much work is being done by very few members. The seven-person executive is down to just four members. Four people doing the work of seven and doing many of the non-executive tasks as well.

I don’t know how Kevin has time to do anything outside the club because he is constantly doing important tasks for us. Every time no one steps up to take on a job, Kevin takes it on. He is writing for the newsletter, hosting meetings and attending others, representing our club to the outside world, arranging for speakers, helping to manage our Facebook and website, answering all the questions that come in from prospective members, preparing display items for our table. He is making sure new members have someone to run with. He is bringing snacks, arranging social events, seeking new clothing suppliers, looking for places to promote the club. At meet-ings he and Debbie end up setting the room up for our purposes and restoring it afterwards. Surely of our 190 members, someone else could commit to doing some of these jobs.

Much appreciation to Jeff who has agreed to come back on board to organize the club luncheon. Thanks as well to past-president Richard who helped see our new website come to fruition. We need a few more like them who have seen a need and come forward.

Our members are generous with volunteering on event-day. Come Turkey Trot day lots of members will be there for a few hours doing their tasks extraordinarily well. The race could not happen without them.

But you will see in these pages that we have no race director for Turkey Trot or our Club Classic. (Thanks to Eric and the Galloping Goose committee for keeping that race going). Our elections are com-ing up but we still have 1/3 of the year to go short three executive members. We have gone too long now with no one helping with race results for the newsletter.

We need people to take on big jobs and small ones. People who will organize our social events and who will commit to being at pack runs every now and then. People who will make coffee or bring snacks or greet new members who come out to the Rowing Club. We need race directors. We need people to maintain a local race list and a club calendar, to help put our luncheon together and to make sure the Charity Bear Run happens again.

I’ve been in this club a long time and I’ve seen it go through ups and downs but I have never felt so pessi-mistic about its future. It is our club. It needs help.

Sherry Watts

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Pacers Spring Clinic

The running clinic held in late spring and early summer raised funds for the Pacers cross country team trip to Kingston. A dozen people signed up for the eight-week session. It was a bit different from other clinics in that it mainly introduced various aspects of running. We went to different locations around the city. Over and over the comments were “I’ve never been here before” or “I did not know this place existed.”

We did grassy hills, road running, had a video running form analysis, tried on an ice vest, covered drills and agility, race strategy and even practised drinking on the run. Kevin, Eric and Chuck lead the group on a trail run. Andrew and Jeff took them on a run on one of their favourite cross country courses. We finished off with an evening on a track to see the opportunities for changing up training there.

Thanks to all those who took part and to everyone who came out to lead the group. Maybe we can do it again some time.

Race Directors Needed (Turkey Trot and Club Championship)

Turkey Trot – This Cross Country event is hosted by the London Pacers each year, Thanksgiving Day, in Spring-bank Park. Last year, over 400 participants took part. This is a fun, but challenging event with a 6k course combining grass, asphalt and single track trail. There is also a 2k race for the kids which precedes the 6k race.

Bill Wheeler has been the Race Director for the past two years. We tried to bring him back for a three-peat in 2016 with promises of 2L coke and chips, but were unsuccessful with our bid. Bill is stepping down as Race Director. In addition to being an amazing athlete, Bill is tireless in his volunteer roles and can be found leading fitness groups fre-quently.

The Turkey Trot has an amazing volunteer base who show up year after year to help with various roles from marshal-ing to race rabbit and everything in between. The new Race Director can rest assured that they will have plenty of help to pull off another successful and exciting event.

If you are interested or just would like to ask a question or two about the race or the position, you can contact Bill Wheeler at [email protected] or Kevin Garlick at [email protected].

Club Championship – (aka Pacers Classic) will be held Sunday, November 20

th this year (the same day as the Pacers

Luncheon). The races are held at Springbank and Race Headquarters is the historic stone cottage (Flint Cottage). Different distances and formats are offered. 5k, 3–looper (approximately 13k) and a 3–looper relay. This race is a perfect one for someone who would like to try the role of a Race Director but has not done so in the past. All the as-pects of organization are there but in a much smaller format. Organization of the race includes:

Arranging volunteers into various responsibilities (course marshals, water station, registration, photography, set-

up/tear-down).

The race is a timed event so clock and equipment setup (including cones for finishing chute) are required.

If you are interested in this role or have any questions about anything to do with this race, see me (Kevin) or e-mail me at [email protected]

If you are not part of the organizing group for these races, be sure to check your calendars to see if the race fits your schedule and don’t forget to invite family and friends to participate since these races are open to all.

mailto:[email protected]



Newsletter The London Pacers Running Club · See them at monthly meetings or contact Sherry...

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