Hey Vince, Sorry for the delay in the race report but it is tough to stay on top of things when you do one race a year. Last weekend Dave and I ventured down to Guelph to move # 1 daughter from one house to another. We spent two days hauling her cherished remembrances and property ( in the real world C.R.A.P). Before heading home on Sunday we popped over to Kitchener to do the Downtown Mud Puppy Chase. There were the regular concerns, weather, clothing and post race snacks.
The weather promised to be sunny and warm. Regardless, I went up a layer from the average bear. For you Naughtonites that 2 up from the Russ Thom collection. I am embarrassed to say I had to toss my throw away gloves at the first corner. I did manage to run without a jacket and wondered how I could explain losing my lovely wind proof xmas shirt to my mother-in-law.
Dave of course looked quite normal on the 5 km course in shorts and a shirt. He hadn’t been running because of problems with his feet but needed a new race shirt for his wardrobe. If the race had been 2 days later he would have been on the podium. On race day he was in the smoking hot 45-49 mid life crisis age group. YIKES!
My 10 km race went very well. I had hoped to do 50 minutes but came in at 48:09 I had a bit of a surprise on the home stretch. Dave who used to live in Kitchener 30 years ago informed me that the last part would be down hill. Well either he got his geography messed up or Kitchener has had some major topographical work done. The last part was all up hill. I basically just shrugged it off like when we don’t stop for directions…
Anyway I got him a crossword book for his Birthday. Keep that mind active….
Post Race snacks were very tasting, wraps and mandarin salad. It’s a good thing they don’t promise wine post race or I wouldn’t be able to focus at all.
The race venue was quite the hopping place with a live band and lots of people. I got my picture taken with a parrot on my shoulder. (It’s the small things)
The race was a great success and raised $40,000 for children

Yours Leslie (race persona Katharine)

All Results

London Ontario became this year's Rocks!! group travel destination where nine of us competed in the distance events. Six took on the marathon and three the half .

Race morning turned out unusually cold and windy so singlets were few but about half the runners did brave shorts. I basically wore light winter gear and was comfortable - but I really like being warm. The nice thing about London's course is it does provide a reasonable amount of shelter so we didn't face the full 30k wind too often. And the course was a good one. Loads of variety with lots of time on their trail system and a tour through Springbank Park. There were some issues with inadequate pyloning but the support from water stations marshals and police was excellent.

Our group did very well.

In the marathon, Ken Stubbings placed 6th overall and Male Masters winner netting him $150. He's rather proud now as he just came off of an overall marathon win in Sudbury the week previous. The biggest surprise of the group was Maureen Marshal's improvement of close to 20 minutes from her previous marathon time. Her new best mark of 3:30:21 also placed her first in the age group. Diane Carriere and Sheila Yaw MacLean ran very well and on their expected times. In the older crowd, Paul Washchuk and myself helped each other to a 5:36/k output as we broke the tape together in 3:55..... The goal was 5:37/k so I guess we were actually smokin right along. Paul did get 1rst in his age group.

In the half marathon Trevor Shamas, Lisa Stafford and Lynn Stubbings represented the Rocks!! in style. Lisa even pulled out a 3rd in her age group.

All Results Here

from Ken Stubbings:

The London Marathon is a very scenic run. Other than a few funky marshalling issues, I recommend the run to others. Every run is better when we have a memorable moment happen. Mine occurred around the 25km mark. An 18 year old runner caught up to me. This was his first marathon. He wanted to get a Boston time of 3:10. I told him we were on a 3:05 pace. If he held on he would be fine. He was itching to go, go, go. I advised not until 37km. He finished just ahead of me at 3:04. I am pleased he qualified.

My finished went as expected. For the past couple of years I have been religiously 5 minutes slower in the second of two back to back marathons. Sudbury 3:00:24; London 3:04:55. (Actually Sheila made me have a glass of wine with her the night before and it cost me 4 minutes!!!) Hey according to the London web page I get $75 for second in the old guy division. Sweet! Hopefully they will mail it to me. (actually Ken is First Master)

Lynn ran a solid race finishing with 2:31:08. She had a problem with the "spity" and "Snorter"people running in front of her. Think "Swine flue contamination". (And you people know who you are.) Don't you guys know you are wasting fluid that you may need later in the race?

Thanks to all the Rocks for making the event an even more enjoyable time. Special thanks to Lise for cheering in the freezing cold weather.
And Trevor.... your Mom is a doll.

Winnipeg is next.

Ken Stubbings the Kenman (no Kenyans again this time????)

 

from Sheila Yaw-MacLean:

Marathon Goal......Finish Vertical and Smiling.....Mission Accomplished

Can one actually say that it was great to run a marathon? In my case it was. This was my first marathon in 1 1/2 years after running at least 1 sometimes 2 a year since I started running. Thanks to everyone who stayed at the finish line to cheer me in when a hot shower would have been nicer. I really appreciated the support. Also thanks to Ken and Lynn Stubbings for parting with some of Ken's 1st place winnings from the Sudbury Rocks Race last weekend to buy me pre-race pasta dinner. And thanks to Suzanne for opening her home to me once again. It was a great weekend.
It's good to be running with friends again.

Sheila

The Sudbury and area provided 3 runners in Mississauga's marathon, 7 in the half and 2 in the 5k. Congratulations to all. A special mention to Rocks!! members Steve Fessenden with a marathon P.B, Ania Derecka with a half P.B, Andrew Breckon and Mary Lou and Norm Trowell.

All Results