Sudbury 5km Walk
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009
Location: Delki Dozzi Memorial Park

About 200 people circled Delki Dozzi Memorial Park track on Saturday to raise money for ALS research and services to support those living with ALS and their families. The walk occurs all across the country in over 60 communities. T-shirts were provided to all comers, there was lots of food and drink plus a silent auction. I attended as part of Minna Mettinen's team, Minna's Spartans. Because of her deteriorating condition Minna was unable to attend although she dearly wanted to be there.

As most of you know, Minna is Sudbury Rocks!! wheel chair athlete. She has been a member of the club since about 2004. From that time Minna has done wonders with her own accomplishments in wheelchair racing and skydiving. She was also the force behind the development of adaptive rowing and adaptive dragon boating in Sudbury. She's probably done a few things I'm not aware of either. Unfortunately Minna has had ALS for a few years now and the disease is relentlessly progressing. She had planned on participating in a number of ALS events this month but that was not to be. Please take a read below of Minna's original goal and then her latest message to us.

ALS Sudbury Walk Website

Most of you know me through various adaptive sports (and still do in some capacity), accessible facilities and organizations, or clubs we have shared membership in over the years.This is the connection we share, and the reason you received the invitation to share in my efforts to raise funds for the ALS Society of Ontario. They have helped me immensely with various equipment for which there is no funding available. Without their help my life would be a great disaster! I want to show my support to the ALS Society of Ontario, by participating in several WALK FOR ALS events through the month of June 2009. I will be at the Sudbury WALK FOR ALS June 13th 2009, and together with "Minna's Spartans"-a team of skydivers and friends who will walk with me in the Newmarket WALK FOR ALS on June 7th 2009. I appreciate every penny donated for either location-Sudbury or Newmarket (the funds raised in each location stays local in the community where the event takes place), and every participant joining in "Minna's Spartans" team effort in Newmarket.

Hello, (June 12, 2009) edited

I was supposed to be in Sudbury for the ALS Walk but can't. I'm not in Sudbury anymore.Too ill to stay @ home. I wanted to do more-but how does one know when it's enough? Who knows... Maybe it was enough, do you think so? I'm now fighting this till the last breath. I'm in my own "hospice" @ Parachute school of Toronto. They have a house for me to stay in & the sky divers take turns caring for me. Angus flies me attached to him when he can. I guess the ROCKS race was my last "public" appearance in Sudbury. Sometimes these days I wonder if I really did anything-only time (which I may not have) will tell if it all will flourish. I know the adaptive rowing will but mostly because Thomas is making it so. I wonder if the adaptive dragon boat team is out this summer racing. I fear it will dwindle out. There doesn't seem to be anyone ready to take it on- if only I had more time & energy.... I would have liked to see the road racing move forward also or at least be able to race longer to help develop such a program for long term..

I must have been Hitler in my previous life for this all to end like this-for what did I DO to deserve this?. Yet here, Angus (my tandem master & former skydiving coach) will perform my ash dive in a "missing man formation" (a circle with one spot left open for the one who is gone) & here I am cared for by a community of skydivers who never met me till 2007! It's a blessing because I'm not alone like I would be in Sudbury.

In the future I would request the YMCA staff and Rocks!! would go to ALS walks to raise $ as this freak'n illness costs SO much! Financially, psychologically & emotionally-even more so when there are kids involved. ARGH!!

I hate this illness! I hate everything it does now. That strong determined minna is a mere shell now. I couldn't do my presentation at the Guts and Glory event as I was in the hospital- Thomas had to put my presentation up. But I did make it to the ROCKS marathon. I hope memory goes on into eternity, for if so those are the moments I want to remember.As I think back I see how important the physical activity was-without it surely I would of been gone by now. From my acceptance and run in my inaugural Rocks!!5k through all those adaptive programs. Maybe YMCA will do something for an adaptive exercise program - like my 1st 12 wk training session and then from there we adjusted and adjusted till we got it right for me.It's slow to build but it's worth considering. Start them young in a disabled youth program. Right now disabled youths have little else to do but eat and watch tv. Would the 'Y' consider it? Developing something will take time but all good things take time.

Thank you to all who made a difference in my life. You know who you are. And if I touched anyone, perhaps they will go annually to the ALS Walk and raise funds. And to someone special, I promise to come whisper in your ear during the toughest parts of your races- reminding you who you are inside- a warrior - able to conquer mountains so high helicopters are unstable to fly!

Lots of love to you ALL,

Minna

2009/06/15 Ontario Junior/CE/Relay Championships

June 15, 2009 (from www.athleticsontario.ca)

The 2009 Ontario Junior Championships & Combined Events & Selected Relay Championships & National Junior & Senior Qualifier Meet, held this past weekend (Saturday June 13 and Sunday June 14, 2009) at the TD Waterhouse Stadium at the University of Western Ontario in London, had numerous excellent performances. The meet was co-hosted by London-Western Track and Field Club and St. Thomas Legion TFC and involved almost 853 of the provinces' best athletes competing for Ontario Championship medals in the sport of Athletics. A total of 70 clubs participated in events over the weekend, including individual events, combined events and relays.

Local Results

Track North Athletes:

Junior Women Long Jump
Caroline Ehrhardt - Gold!! - 6.09m!!! PB!! But unfortunately an illegal wind of +2.6m/s - if the wind was legal (2.0 or less) this peformance would have qualified Caroline for the World Youth Championships (she's already qualified for TJ!)

Junior Women's Triple Jump
Caroline Ehrhardt - Gold!! - 12.54m

Junior Women's 800m
Emma Tallman - 16th - 2:17.13 - PB! and qualifies for National Juniors via Top 3!!

Junior Women's 1500m
Emma Tallman - 5:00.33 - 21st

Junior Men's 800m
Sebastian Diebel - 26th - 2:00.24 PB!!! (Seb is still Youth age)
Chantry Cargill - - 38th - 2:03.95 PB!!

Junior Men's 5000m
Chantry Cargill - BRONZE!!! - 15:53.88 PB!!!

Men 200 Meter Senior
13 Pelland, André 89 Track North A.C. 22.31

Men 400 Meter Senior
4 Pelland, André 89 Track North A.C. 48.78

Celine Loyer Places 2nd in "B" Final!! Celine Loyer keeps pushing the speed limits with her 2009 summer season. The Sudbury sprinter and College Boreal Student blazed to a 2nd place finish in the womens B final at the Ontario Junior Championships/ Senior Qualifier meet in London Ontario on Saturday. Loyer ran a season best time of 12.28 . " I looked at the video and my coach pointed out to me that I leaned approximately 7 meters before the finish line which was way too early, therefore I lost about at least a tenth of a second...considering I led the race until the last meter..but i'm very very happy with my season and sub 12 is just around the corner" Loyer lost the race by just .03 of a second! Note: In reviewing the 100m finals, please note two100m events times are shown together. (A & B finals). Celine placed 2nd to Simone Holder in the "B"( #1 - 12:25 and #2 - 12:28). The link below is a video of the Qualifier Senior Women 100m "B" Final. Celine is 2nd from the right in lane #3. http://www.flotrack.org/videos/play/187467

All Results Here

Muskoka Sprint Triathlon and Long Course Triathlon

June 13 and 14, Huntsville ON

Over 20 locals took part in Subaru's annual Muskoka Du and Tri weekend in Hunstville On. Of special note, Buddy Green of Lively came 2nd overall and first in his age group in the Sprint Distance. Sudbury native, Wolfgang Guembel placed a strong 2nd overall in the Pro Division of the Long Course Triathlon and Masters runner Mike Hay came first in his age group in the same event. Both Morgan and Lynsey Bialkowski, daughters of Dave and Marianne, from Parry Sound came first in their respective age groups.

All Results Here

Rocks!! members Karen Beaulieu and Monique Fournier took on the 2nd of 5 events in the 5 Peak Trail Series when they took on the 12.3k Enduro in the Durham Forest. The ladies ran a hard but recreational run none the less and finished strong as always.The first event was held in Aprilt Chicopee in Kitchener. The third outing will be at Rattlesnake Point in Milton in July.

Results

If all goes according to plan, and with a little luck, construction could start in three months on a three-kilometre, three-to-four- metre-wide walking/bike path along Ramsey Lake Road that would link Science North and Laurentian University.

The proposed path, which would cost an estimated $1.6 million, has about $500,000 in the bank with applications in for funding help from federal Recreational Infrastructure Funding and the National Trails Coalition, the Greater Sudbury Development Board heard at its June meeting Wednesday.

A decision on the Rainbow Routes' funding application regarding the first funding pool should be known later this month.

If it's successful, said Deb McIntosh, Rainbow Routes' executive director, work on the project could start as early as September.

Once completed, the three kilometre path would join with the Jim Gordon Boardwalk that connects Science North to Bell Park, Elizabeth Street and the Nelson Street pedestrian bridge to provide a premier walking route that would connect Laurentian University, Science North and the downtown core.

From Science North to the downtown core using the boardwalk, Elizabeth Street and Nelson Street bridge is about two kilometres.

"There's a lot of students (at Laurentian) who never come down here," said McIntosh. "It's important that these people who are at Laurentian University be able to get into downtown Sudbury. You (also) have thousands of people walking on the boardwalk, thousands of people with money in their pockets and they could be brought right over to the coffee shops (in the downtown). You can use this route to keep people moving further and further."

Last month, the GSDC board gave Rainbow Routes $50,000 from its project development fund toward the proposed walking/bike path. McIntosh appeared at Wednesday's meeting to update the board about the project which has also received $246,000 in TransCanada Trail funding.

McIntosh said the walking path would be separated from Ramsey Lake Road by some kind of barrier in order to protect users.

"You can't mix walkers and cyclists with cars," she explained.

McIntosh said the new walkway will help the city in its push to become one of the top four tourist destinations in Ontario.
"I have been to Stanley Park in British Columbia," she said. "Ramsey Lake is our Stanley Park."

One year ago, Rainbow Routes envisioned an overhead walkway to allow walkers to get across Ramsey Lake Road near Science North as part of the Ramsey Lake Road walking/bike path.

That is no longer part of the plan, but it is in the city's Official Plan.

Rainbow Routes is a not-for- profit volunteer organization dedicated to the development and promotion of non-motorized trails generally and the TransCanada Trail in particular, for the City of Greater Sudbury. There are more than 30 trails in place across the city.

Rainbow Routes volunteers are completing work on the new Copper Cliff trail along Lorne Street/Highway 17.

NOTE: Both Dick Moss (Track North) and myself (Sudbury Rocks!!) have written Deb McIntosh ( Rainbow Routes) to show our support of the program and to lobby a bit for a crusher dust path along side the paved portion. The Rocks!! letter is here