Approximately 23,000 participants jammed the Ottawa area
this weekend to take part in the 30th Anniversary of their
Race Weekend. And local runners were there in great abundance.
Nearly 200 people from the Sudbury area to North Bay competed
in every event from the 2k to the marathon. I was proud to
see 31 Rocks!! and friends out there getting pay back for
their hard training efforts. All Rocks!! and friends are highlighted
in the RESULTS
SECTION HERE.
Special kudos go out to 2 of our more experienced runners
(senior). Bill Thompson came first in his age group in the
very competitive Nordion 10k and Ron Poirier followed that
up the next day with a second in his age group in the ING
1/2 Marathon. Both are running times that most would envy
at any age. Congratulations boys and just keep doing it!.
99 0:38:41.4 3:53 0:38:32.7
1609 Thompson, Bill Sudbury 80/2169 1/38
Men 60 - 64 19:14
19:28
86 1:28:16.2 4:11 1:28:08.8
8752 POIRIER, RONALD LIVELY 82/2451 2/129
Men 55 - 59
Further congratulations go out to ALL the runners but especially
to you newbies who were probably a little taken back by all
the competitors - and - people actually cheering you on as
well. It's an experience you will want to relive again and
again. Now I look forward to seeing more of your faces here
at local events.
Here are some weekend thoughts by fellow Rocks!!
Lise Perdue writes:
I thought I should give a little personal
excerpt of my run on Sunday. Yes, it took me over 5 hours,
but I am patting myself on the back for not listening to my
inner whinny self and quitting. I thoroughly enjoyed the run.
The route was great, the weather co-operated and the scenery
just awesome. The water stations, aid stations and power gel
stations were plenty and attended by helpful caring folks.
The spectators were incredible trying to cheer me on. Now
I know why Karen Beaulieu writes her name on herself. On Sunday,
I was known as number 1315 and who wants to be just a number.
Oh yes, at my pace you also get to see the half marathoners.
Everybody we know who went by me looked great and zoomed on
by with kind words. Thank you to our cheerleading friends
at the finish line. I did hear all of you call out my name
and it gave me that extra boost (well not extra, but a boost
nevertheless). Thank you, your support is appreciated. Lise
Jan Weeres writes:
Hi,Vince, well Sheila and I sure had
a great weekend in Ottawa! Saturday we met Steve Trembley
and cycled up to Gatineau Park in Quebec. What a beautiful
park! We were to do a training session with Steve which consisted
of a 5 hour, 100k bike ride in the park. The hills were awesome,
somewhat typical of the ones we will tackle in Lake Placid.
Steve's friend, Greg, also met us. Greg is a seasoned Ironman
and bike tech and he sure had a lot of information as far
as bike technique , gearing and how to fly down a 3k hill
with NO BRAKES!!!
Yep,it was pretty amazing, we were doing approximately 61kph!!
Cycled back to Ottawa and my brother's house. Ottawa is a
great cycling-friendly city, it was a nice change from our
roads. When Sheila and I woke up at 5:00 AM on Sunday we were
relieved our legs didn't feel too stiff from the day before.
We were to run the marathon as a training run and at heart
rate. All in all it went pretty good, Sheila was in some pain
and I was having some nausea, but we both worked thru it and
finished. It was great seeing you and Lise and all the other
Sudbury Rocks! Thanks. Jan
Jesse Winters writes:
Vince - Hi there! Congratulations on
both Lise's and your marathon
finishes. It certainly was a great day and was very well organized.
I want to thank you for all of your
help, not only in drawing up a
training schedule, but in all of your advice. Without being
prepared I
would not have finished, at
least not standing upright. As it was, I felt great, ie -
no pain
anywhere, until 32 km, at which time my quads started to tighten
up. By 37
km they were both
totally SEIZED - but I still had 5 km to go! As tough as it
was, I
said that I wasn' t going to walk and just kept one foot going
after the
other. At the end, I
wasn't breathing hard at all but, as you can guess, my legs
were not
moving very well. I feel much better today and managed to
run a very slow
4-miler at
lunch.
I am planning to run the Toronto marathon
in October ( Ron Henderson
is going also - he said that I inspired him to run another
marathon ).
Sudbury Rock!! and YTrier, Steve Matusch, has also written
an excellent article on his Ottawa 1/2 P.B. experience.
Read about it here in the Ytri News.
Click
Here for Race Photos
(They will be updated as more are made available)
