July 29, 2004

Track North Web Site

Rocks!! travel to Lake Placid for the Ironman Triathlon

The Dreaded 9k Keene Hill Descent

Three Rocks!! plus support staff and one friend from Garson traveled to Lake Placid this weekend to take part in the Ironman USA Triathlon. Sheila Yaw-MacLean and Jan Weeres were new to the distance while Leslie (Katherine) McLosky and Al Kuzenko had tackled Ironman Canada in Penticton B.C in 2002.

All were very nervous as the course is intimidating for flatlanders. And the weather was not cooperating in the days leading up to the event. The ladies even did a time trial down the 9k Keene hill in the rain to see how much speed they could carry if the day turned nasty. The rainy descent wasn't pretty but they learned from it and next day in dry weather they topped out almost touching 70k/ hour.

The crews lucked out on race day as the morning dawned cool and light overcast with relative low humidity and no waves on the Mirror Lake.

Their effort throughout the day was inspiring to watch as they kept up the pace in all events ALL DAY. From 7:00 am until shortly after 9:00 pm the foursome smiled and concentrated and dug deeeeeeeeeep when required and just motored along until the finish line was behind them. All finished within minutes of each other and about 1/2 hour better then the coaches predicted. Al, Sheila, Leslie and Jan we're very proud of you.

Congratulations from your Rocks!! buddies!!!

Click Here for the Results

(Pics will follow next week)

Sheila writes of her experience:

Wow what an experience, what a rush, what a a a a a.......... There are
truly no words to describe the feelings of completing your first ironman.
Tons and tons of thanks to Vince, Lise, Brent, Dave, Meghan, Gabes, Julie,
Phil (Jan's daughter and son-in-law), Dave's Parents, Coach Steve T. and
family and especially to Dan and my Mom for being there to support, take
care of every little need we had and for great big hugs and kisses as we
passed them 6 times on the courses. I really felt like a Queen for the 5
days we were in Lake Placid. Also a huge thanks to our coaches, Steve T.
and Vince. I definitely could not have done it without any of you guys.
You all went above and beyond your call of duty. We owe each and every one
of you big time.

Leslie's, Jan's and my entourage of "Support" (family and friends) all
stayed at the same lodge which was on both the bike and run course. Great
choice picked out by Leslie's family last year right after we had a brain
lapse and registered for this event. All courses were a double loop so we
passed them 2 times on the bike and 4 times on the run. Leslie and I
arrived Thursday afternoon (with "Support" in tow) and Jan and Brent arrived
Friday. The bike course was described as a fast loop course with a 9km hill
descent and a few small chain link climb hills thrown in for good measure.
That was an understatement. Leslie suggested that we practice the 9km
descent Thursday night, cause it was raining, just in case it rained on race
day. Good idea in theory, very scary in real life. Vince went flying down
on a mountain bike yelling "get your hands off the brakes" while I held on
for dear life, hands on the brakes, for most of the way down. It was a
discouraging trial ride but we went after it again the next morning and I
felt more comfortable. The next couple of days were taken up getting
registered, checking in the bikes and preparing our clothing and special
needs bags for each event. Race morning came and all were very nervous, I
think even "Support" were nervous for us. We arrived at transition got body
marked and headed down to the swim. We met up with "Support" for final hugs
and kisses, crossed the timing mat and strategically positioned ourselves in
the water. Naturally I placed myself way at the back of the pack. The horn
blew and off we went. What a rush. Close to 2000 swimmers in the water at
the same time. I think I floated through the whole course. Drafting off of
that many people made the swim feel very comfortable. I only got hit twice
in the head. Coming out of the swim the first person I saw was Coach Steve
with a huge smile on his face. I had survived the swim, my most worrisome
leg of the race. As we crossed the timing belt there were "wetsuit peelers"
that whip off your wet suit, throw it at you and make sure you're okay as
you continue on to transition to the bike. In transition there were people
around to help with whatever you needed. The Queen reigns on. I liked it so
much I stayed for 16 minutes. Note to self......"you need to work on faster
transitions". I jumped on the bike saw Dan and Mom again, headed out of
town, passed our lodge and spotted the rest of "Support". Actually I think
I heard them before I saw them. I guess being in transition for 16 minutes
gave them enough time to make it back to the lodge, probably have a coffee,
and be back out on the road as I passed them. All was good. About the 5
mile mark was that 9km descent. As I had practiced going down it 4 times I
was really ready for it and didn't hit the brakes at all. I felt like I was
flying. The rest of the bike was good. I followed Coach Steve's advice to
not go too hard, eat and drink lots and enjoy. I met Jan on the bike just
before heading into town on the second loop of the course. We went through
the bike to run transition together (she dragged me out faster this time)
and started out on the run. I thought, okay legs we only have the run to do
and we love to run so just hang on for another 5 or 6 hours and we'll be
done :) The run was great. We passed "Support" 4 times as the course was a
2 loop out and back and each time I think I gained more energy. Going into
the second loop Vince was there with a snickers bar in hand in case I needed
it. High fiving my two Tri Buddies, Leslie and Jan as we passed each other
provided more energy. Coach Steve was positioned in town with big hugs,
encouragement and advice on how to survive the second half of the run. All
was still good. I think at that point my cheeks hurt more than anything
else from the big smile I supported during the entire run. At the one mile
mark I was in tears. I had reached and surpassed my goals. My first goal
was to finish vertical and smiling the second was to hopefully finish around
the 15 hour mark. Coming around the oval into the finishing shoot was
amazing for lack of a better word. Everyone was yelling my name. I forgot
to mention that our names were printed on our bib numbers so throughout the
entire race people were yelling "Go Sheila" "you look good and strong,
Sheila" and I felt great. At the aid stations they yelled "what can we get
you Sheila". The Queen reigned on. "Support" was at the finish line with
big hugs and congratulations and once again to take care of us. What would
we do without them??? Having the people you love around you as you
accomplish a goal makes the goal much more rewarding. We gathered our stuff
and headed back to the lodge. People were still on the course so after we
showered we went out to support them. Afterwards we all met in my cabin to
talk about the race and yes have a rum and coke. Dave and Meghan sang a
song they composed while waiting for us to finish. The Queen Tri Buddies
with their very own song. What more can you ask for??? All I can still
say is what an experience. I still can't believe I've actually completed an
Ironman. Thanks for all the support and encouragement Sudbury Rocks!!!

Jan Weeres will provide her thoughts next week.

Locals test themselves at the Bala Falls Triathlon

from Mike Coughlin

What an exciting day yesterday was! Words cannot express how proud I am of
Sheila, Jan and Leslie for their finishes at Ironman USA Lake Placid. And I
wasn't even there! It must have been great to cheer them on in person.

My day started in sunny Bala where I took part in my 4th straight Bala falls
triathlon. Standing on the beach I had 2 thoughts. The first was that it
is always a great feeling standing on the beach where the whole triathlon
thing started for me. The second was that there were only a few hundred
athletes around me - the ladies had TWO THOUSAND around them on the shores
of Mirror Lake that morning. As the internet confirmed later that day,
Sheila Jan and Leslie all managed to exit their 2 loop 3.86km swim before I
dipped my big toe in Moon river for my 750m.

At the word "go" I dove in and started swimming hard. After being dropped
by the lead swimmers, I was stuck swimming completely alone in a race for
the first time in my life. With no feet to follow, I had to do my own
navigation. In a cruel twist of fate, a tiny bit of water got in my right
goggle and took out my contact lens. I had to do my own navigation, and
with only one eye! Oh yeah, and the sun was in that eye for the return trip
to shore.

Managing to reach shore, I raced through T1 and onto the bike course. I
left my contact in my goggles, trusting my good eye to get me through the
rest of the race. Again, nobody to follow. Was I in the lead? Well, no,
but it looked like I was in second place, and I stayed there until T2 where
I enjoyed some big cheers from my 2 sisters who were doing the swim and run
for a relay team.

Of course, I knew better. With lots of fast people in the later waves, I
wasn't really in second place. But with the crowd cheering, I had to run
like I was. That lasted for about 2k until I got on the lonely road and
started to suffer. I kept running, but it really hurt. I couldn't really
complain though, because I kept reminding myself that my race would be over
in less than 20 minutes, whereas the trio of super tri-chicks from Lively
had more than 12 hours to go!

Running as hard as I could, I saw Dave Bialkowski and Alicia Kaye behind me
among others, knowing full well that they were really ahead of me. Somehow,
it is not as easy to chase somebody when you don't see their backs in front
of you. Crossing the line, I was happy to see my solo swim bike run efforts
rewarded with a personal best time of 1:26:56. I was also happy to see the
nice cool grass. At that point, Sheila, Jan and Leslie were approximately
1/5 through their 180km bike ride.

After some food and a nice dip back in the water, my name was called to
receive my prize for coming in second in my age category. For those who
have read my previous race reports, you know I always seem to finish just
out of the prizes - getting something for the first time was pretty cool!

I spent the afternoon at my sister's boyfriend's cottage in Bala lying on
the dock before driving home. Sheila, Jan and Leslie spent those same hours
going up and down enormous hills on their bikes, made no easier by their
cute nicknames such as mama bear, papa bear and baby bear.

As I drove home I recalled some unfinished business. While my race allowed
me to get out of the long run and swim I had on my training schedule, my
coach insisted I still do a 90 minute run at Ironman pace. The whole way
home I dreaded that run (I was really, really tired), but I kept thinking
"man, the ladies are STILL out there running - the least I can do is get up
off my ass and do the same thing"

So arriving back in Sudbury, I donned my fuel belt in their honour and
started to run. As the sun set and my miles ticked by, I imagined how they
must be feeling as their miles ticked by, edging them ever closer to the
magic of the ironman finish line. What I did not realize, was that they
were covering the marathon course much quicker than I expected them to, and
a close inspection of their results revealed that they finished their run
before I did!

Congratulations to all 3 of you, especially Sheila and Jan who were tackling
the distance for the first time. You guys are inspiring!

Mike

Click Here for Bala Results

Bob Jeffery writes about his experience:

Hi Vince and all my swimming, biking and running buddies.

I completed my first Triathlon in Bala this past weekend and had a great
time doing it. I want to acknowledge support/help the Masters Swim crowd,
the Sudbury Rocks group, Mike and the YTri crowd, The Running Room's 10k
class and my most recent mentors at Sudbury Cycle Club. Everyone has been
very willing to provide tips, advice and sometimes needed direction.

It paid off, as I had a very respectable showing with 23/75 in my age group
and 65/348 overall completing the Bala Triathalon in 1:42:07.

So my race story

Well, on the way down on Saturday I convinced Tammy to give me some time at
Bialkowski Trysport in Parry Sound. After 10 minutes in the store I started
to get scared looking at all this great gear: What am I doing? I have a 25
year old bike that I bailed out of a guys garage for $100 after 7 years of
incarceration, I planned to wear a 20 year old single colour burgundy biking
jersey a friend donated to the cause, I have no biking shorts, I don't shave
my legs, I have a bell helmet I bought over 10 years ago (no bell helmets in
sight at the Trysport)...am I crazy!! These kinds of thoughts started to go
through my mind.

I bolted from the store. After a few minutes of wandering in a garden
center I relaxed and the panic disappeared from my eyes. I decided to
celebrate getting this far with a banana split. It worked and I was ready to
get my race package.

We arrived in Bala 5:30 to learn we had missed the chance to pick my race
package. Adjusting quickly and still not panicking we planned to get a good
night sleep and arrive at 7 am Sunday morning to get registered.

Up 6:15 am, packed up and off to the race. Lots of room to park at 7 am
given the 8:30 am start. Got the bike racked, set out my stuff in the 2nd
row close to the entrance from the swim. Did a bit of running, had to choose
between a bike warm up and standing in line at the port-a-potty line...took
the line, right decision. By this time my fright had shifted to excitement
and almost eagerness to get it underway. Met up with Mike, Len, and Paul.

Sun was warm, bright and the mood was cheerful. Lots of first timers. The
bellowing voice of the race marshal gave us last tips and 8:30 sent off the
first wave "the baby blues" under 29yrs. Then the red caps 40-49, my age
group. I took Mike's advice and went up front and to the left for the start.
Three minutes after the baby blues, the red caps were off. The thrashing
and climbing over each other was reasonable and by 2/3s the way out I was
catching some baby blue caps. I felt good and kept a steady line on the
markers landing at the beach 9/75 in my age group and apparently one of the
first red caps out of the water without a wet suit.

Transition was smooth, bell helmet buckled, gum in mouth, burgundy jersey on
and off I went. For 2/3s of the bike part, three of us kept pushing and
pacing each other. A couple of times I was thinking Jan and Sheila are
biking their Ironman in Lake Placid right now, hoped it was going well for
them and sounds like it did.

Unfortunately there was a significant collision of a dog and a bike and then
bikers, which resulted in some serious injuries. It was unnerving to pass
the accident and see people obviously injured, then making room for the
ambulance. I kept spinning which helped me get ahead of my two younger race
buddies in the last 2 km and I came in at 59:40 and 28/75.

The transition to the run was a bit slower, fumbling with laces but I
quickly got my pace, which is not as fast relative to my swim or bike pace
but I kept thinking, this is shorter than the Saturday morning runs with
Sudbury Rocks, keep the legs moving. I came in feeling pushed but not
exhausted and dropped to 38/75.

I had a great first race and look forward to more biking, swimming and
running and to my next triathlon.

Bob Jeffery

p.s. I bought a new biking shirt as a reward.

Blueberry Relay Results

By Cal Orok

The Blueberry Relays event, the first annual walk and
run for the Blueberry Festival, was held in perfect
July weather on the morning of July 24. The new event
attracted a minute but enthusiastic number of
participants, who competed for baskets of fresh
blueberries.

In spite of numerous plugs on the radio as well as the
newspapers promoting the event during the Blueberry
Festival, we just didn't get a big turnout. (As Dave
said, we can't blame the weather.) Let's face it,
we're new to this, and there is always next year.
And one good thing about small events is that you get
a chance to meet people and they tend to run very
smoothly. It's good practice.

There were seven walkers, if you count Digger the dog.
(Eight, if you count the Sud-Berry Bear.) Entry in
the walk allowed participants chances to win draw
prizes, including blueberry cookbooks, and one basket
of blueberries. Katherine Knight won the berries, and
these were well deserved, as she was the first
volunteer to join the event, and she participated as a
relay runner. Katherine even attempted to get soccer
parents at Delki Dozzi to join the walk event. But,
it was not our day. Even the Sud-berry Bear couldn't
get them off of the sidelines.

The 2K Relay Results

Each team of two runners ran around the paved Delki
Dozzi cycle track - each person running 1 km each.

The Green Knights 7:59
Max Orok (age 8) 4:38 and Dave Hogenbirk (19) 3:21

The Bush League 8:05
Cal Orok (43) 3:41 and Katherine Knight (19) 4:24

The Blueberry Blues 9:30
Ryan Moreau (12) 4:30 and Breanne McTiernan (9) 5:00

In a contest for children's costumes after the race,
Breanne McTiernan placed first and won a basket of
blueberries! Val Caron Rules!

Baskets of blueberries were also won by the following
teams in pre-arranged categories.

Oldest team - The Bush League 62 years (Sorry
Katherine, your team won the geezer prize even though
you're only 19 years of age)

Youngest team - The Blueberry Blues (combined age 21)

Widest age range - The Green Knights

Blueberry Muffins were made especially for this event
by the Black Cat Cafe.

Batons were supplied by Linda at Nu-Look Paints.

Sudbury Physio sponsored this event, and provided
ribbons, photocopying, numbers, and prizes.

Marie Brown decorated the prize ribbons.

Thanks also to the City of Sudbury, and to Vince
Perdue and to our volunteers from the Sudbury Rocks
running group - Katherine Knight, and Dave Hogenbirk.

See you all next year when we will add a 5 k event to
attract road runners and walkers.

Cal Orok
Kinesiologist
Sudbury

Niagara Triathlon Finishers

by Mike Coughlin

I noticed a couple of locals took part in the Niagara triathlon on Sunday.
William Leonard keeps getting better and took 17th overall and 6th in his
age group, which would be 1 place away from getting a snazzy plaque (been
there, Bill). Greg Broadworth (a Laurentian student from Bracebridage who
is up here for this summer this year) also competed, placing 60th overall
and 11th in his age group.

Steve Fessenden from Levack who has started to train with us also did Niagra
and placed 161st overall and 11th in his age group.

Good job guys!

http://sportstats.ca/res2004/niagtri.htm

New Run - Haweater 5k Classic Run - July 31

Saturday, July 31 @ 9:00 am

Starts and Finishes at Low Island

Entry Fee: $5:00

Registration : 8:00 am - 8:45 am at Low Island

INFO: Contact Greg 705-368-3531or Kristen 705-368-0694

This August, a team of Canadian Relay Runners and adjunct University of Toronto professor Kirsty Duncan will run for a star down the Dream Trail-- from Sudbury to Toronto over six days (August 7th-12th) in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation ® of Toronto.

NOTE: I will be asking Sudbury Rocks!! Runners to assist as marshals in the event -AND- I am also looking for Rocks!! runners to assist Kirsty Duncan in her run. Our group will pace her in 11 mile sections for 2 days until she gets to Parry Sound. (44 miles a day).

We welcome all runners to send off our long-distance athletes with a 5 km fun run in Sudbury (the ‘Kick-Off to The Dream Trail Run’, August 7th, 2004).

Contribute to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and help fulfill the special wishes of children who have life-threatening illnesses.

5 km Fun Run

Saturday, August 7th, 2004 (10:00 a.m.)

 

Try the Espanola TRi

SWIM 750m - BIKE 20 km - RUN 5 km

AUGUST 7th 2004

Race starts at 8:00am at Clear Lake Beach.

Click Here for more Info