There were no excuses for spotty times this year as the weather on race day in Burlington cleared up from the previous day's blustery winds to a sunny calm morning at -3deg C. The roads were clear and the footing good. And all participants cashed in on the excellent conditions by posting satisfying times or at the least a satisfying experience.

We had nine locals running including 5 Sudbury Rocks!! members. All performances were very good but one of our runners shone a little brighter than the rest.

Sixty-five year old Paul Washchuk went into the run hoping for a sub 1:45 half marathon. His time of 1:47 last year was as good as it had got for awhile and it earned him a high ranking in his 60-64 age group. But this time out he had moved up to the next age bracket and Paul was hungry.

If Paul has any chinks in his armor it would be going out a little too enthusiastically. Not this time! His younger training partner's forte is running even splits and usually slightly faster in the last half. Paul wisely kept this guy in sight matching stride for stride for 21km. Paul adds: "It is my best half marathon run in the past 3-5 years. Conditions were great. You were anywhere from 20 to 200 feet ahead of me during the whole race. My son joined me at the 3 km mark and we tried to stay as close as we could to you and his friend Chris Hawke. You both were running the same speed. I have to 'thank you' for keeping a consistent pace. It sure helped me reach the time I obtained."

And what a time he attained. With a gun time of 1:44:02 and a net time of 1:43:48 Paul ran his fastest 1/2 marathon in years - at the age of 65. He was also the only one in our troupe to come first in his age group. Some of us younger folk may have run faster but we certainly did not run as well as Paul Washchuk on this day.

Congratulations old man. You deserve it.

Your training partner,

Vince Perdue

Results Here

Hi Vince and fellow ROCKS;

Just a note from your Florida correspondents. Carol and I ran the third annual Sarasota Grouper Run on Sunday. We ran the half marathon and placed well for our age group. Of course we wore SUDBURY ROCKS shirts and credit the hills of Sudbury for the excellent “bridge time” What a bridge—(400ft straight up or something) and you get to run it twice! You have to see the flat land runners handle this. HA! There were three thousand runners and it (as always) was a blast.

Best wishes to all the rocks!

Mike and Carol Carriere

Director’s Meetings – every two weeks
Venue Committee Meetings – every other two weeks
Staying on budget – worth the paper it’s written on
Feeling the excitement of participants on event day – PRICELESS!!

YMCA Sudbury sees its fair share of individuals cross through the doors on a regular basis, in January 4800 people have shown up in one day, thankfully not all at once but the Y does see traffic. So what is so special about the SudburyRocks!! event being held at our own community YMCA? Exactly that! Every YMCA reflects its community in its own identity and to see that Sudbury, unhealthy, overweight, smoking, drinking Sudbury, embraces an event like the Sudbury Rocks!! Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes and hosts it at the community YMCA shows that we don’t all warrant the description from magazines and surveys. We are not at all satisfied with being negatively categorized. We want to see changes in Sudburians’ lifestyles and we are willing to donate our time and energy toward creating an ideal opportunity for every person in Sudbury, regardless of their current activity level, to participate in an event that promotes a healthy lifestyle and supports a worthy cause.

As Directors of Promotion, Venue, Race Course, Registration, Race Course Support and Volunteers we get together with the ‘head honcho’ Race Director and discuss our wish lists and needs along with our expectations of what will be required on event day. We all have our own headaches and puzzles to solve prior to event day in order to make the SudburyRocks!! Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes the success that it is. We do what we do because we love the challenge? We don’t have full lives? We don’t really need sleep? Nah, we do it for the excitement and energy that only a crowd of ready and nervous runners/walkers provides. The rush just before their start, the hugs at the finish and the kissing of medals well deserved.

We love to see over a thousand people with a common goal, make it over the finish line, come together through physical activity, cheer for each other and encourage those around them (maybe not those in front of them but there is definitely a kind word for those that are passed). It’s awesome to watch those that were not sure they could do the distance as well as those that did the distance so unbelievably fast. There is satisfaction in knowing that in our own way we provide the opportunity for someone else to feel success, to challenge themselves and prove they could do it, to take one step toward improving their lives.

The YMCA has always been about opportunity for all and has a vision to provide our community with the support it requires to live healthily in mind, body and spirit.
The Sudbury community needs positive encouragement to choose a healthier lifestyle and the YMCA Sudbury is proud to be the host venue for this awesome event, supporting our community in a positive active direction.

Come join us on Sunday May 4, 2008, for the SudburyRocks!!! Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes. It’s PRICELESS!!

Meagan on the summit of Mount Everest

On May 3rd, 2008, Meagan McGrath will be addressing approximately 300 runners and other interested participants at a Pasta Dinner at the Radisson Hotel at 6 p.m. Come be inspired by her photos and journey from marathons to mountain climber.

Register today for the SUDBURYROCKS!!! Race, Run, or Walk for Diabetes on May 4, 2008 at www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com, and join us at the Pasta Dinner on May 3rd. Tickets are limited and are available for $20 per person. Proceeds of the SUDBURYROCKS!!! Race, Run, or Walk for Diabetes support the Canadian Diabetes Association.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact Jennifer Blouin at the Canadian Diabetes Association at 670-1993 x7.

• Start by running several 5k races for PR purposes. Get up near the starting line and go out hard. The shorter distance will offer a quick chance to find out what pace is too fast. Once you feel yourself going deep into oxygen debt, you'll have to back off and find a slightly slower pace that allows you to maintain this new pace. Since recovery from 5Ks is very quick, you can run lots of them in a short period until you finish your experiment.
• Next try pacing control in 10Ks by using the 20 sec/mile slowdown rule of thumb. Take your 5K race pace, add 20 seconds per mile and you'll be able to go twice as far at this slower pace. Be patient until you get your split at the mile and then adjust your pace. Run a couple of 10Ks to be sure that you have a good PR.
• Once you know your 10K pace, again add 20 seconds per mile to determine your goal pace for your next half marathon.
• Just remember though that you're much better off going out too slowly in distances like 13.1 and 26.2. A real wall banger may be painful enough to convince you to take up golf.
  Good luck, - Coach Benson, Running Times