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F ALL 2009

B IGFOOT R UNNING Bigfoot Prints C LUB A DDRESS : B OX 131 C RANBROOK BC V1C 4H7

www.bigfootrunning.ca WelcomeBigfoot Members Our New to thePresident! Rescue! [email protected] Submitted by Sheila McDonald INSIDE THIS ISSUE: In the heat of August, our to get help. Leaving his dog plywood. Leaving a note two sons, Grant and Steve was an emotional and diffi- in the dust on the rear Enduro Run 2 along with their friend and cult moment for him. gate of the truck: “Took Ironman 2009 3 Bigfoot stalwart, Herb At the parking lot Don your plywood. Dog in- Weller, set out to hike from tried to phone for help, but jured. Thanks!”, they the Mause Creek trailhead, his cell was out of the ser- lugged the heavy ply- Book Review 4 Racer Highlights through to Cliff Lake. vice area. He hopped into wood back up the hill. My husband, Don, was to the truck and drove down (see photos) World International 5 drive the three hikers to the the hill until he could get When Don arrived back, Triathlon trailhead, return to Cran- through to me with instruc- Teke’s new friends had brook and then, at 4:00 pm, tions. Back at the trailhead, him strapped to the board Random News 6/7 pick them up at the foot of he raced up the hill to Teke. and were beginning the the Cliff Lake trail on Van He cannot adequately de- struggle of carrying him Creek. All would have scribe his feeling of grati- down the hill. With Don gone well, except … Don, tude when he arrived to find taking over one end of the avid hiker, could not Teke safe and sound in the the plywood, Barb and okay. Thanks.” resist starting up the trail care of two hikers: Bigfoot Nadja on the other end, Don later admitted that with “the boys”. His inten- member, Barb Fode, and and Teke calmly letting by the time he had ar- tion was to turn back after her friend, Nadja Baron. them do what they had to rived back to be with ½ hour as his companion, Barb and Nadja had found do, they managed to Teke, he was drained; he Teke (our 13 yr old Shep- Teke alone on the trail. As reach the parking lot. was beyond thinking. herd) has a hip weakness Barb put it, “…and your Upon replacing the ply- Although only a young and on hills that is his limit. dog just gave us the big ol’ wood, Barb added to her 80 years of age, the emo- Unfortunately, life felt so puppy eyes...we knew we original note in the dust. tion and extra exertion good up in dem dar hills had to help him” and, help “Returning wood. Dog continued on page 2... and Don and Teke were so they did. enjoying every minute of They could their hike that an hour had not budge passed before they turned Teke and so, as back. with Don, this Ten minutes into the re- meant a rush turn trip, Teke’s rear end trip down to began to give out. Don their vehicle to managed to coax him a find something little further but twenty with which to minutes from the truck, transport an Teke could go no further. injured dog. Don tried everything in- Nothing. How- cluding an attempt to carry ever, in the his ninety pound buddy. truck parked Finally, in desperation he next to them, left Teke on the trail and they spied a ran down to the parking lot large piece of

Nadja and Don resting before taking Teke across a bridge. P AGE 2 F ALL 2009

Enduro Run Submitted by Daryl Calder

Upon lining up for the Enduro start wasn't even mad at me in the end. Kimberley area. Thanks again to line photo, I'm sure some of us were Congrats to Chris and Tanis who JoEllen, Rocke and Dave for thor- chuckling at the sight of backlit must have 'endured' a breakneck ough course layout and muffins. cycle shorts being displayed by our pace. Also re-assuring to attract Bigfoot... tough to beat! intrepid photographer and web dil- some powerful runners from the ettante. Luckily for us, the good Dr. RR had unwittingly yet effec- tively scattered all bears and forest critters from the community forest on his pre-race ride to ensure Big- foot runner safety. Our tour guide, Dave, thoughtfully posi- tioned himself mid-pack, but there wasn't much to see. A lot of trees went flying by; panting runners could only concentrate on the nar- row, sinuous trail ahead. Ms. 'speedy' Sleik set a stubborn pace, climbing hills like a true 'Iron per- son'. I tried desperately to keep Joanna in sight for the final 3000m. Had to pull out all the stops and slip into 'now or never' top gear for the final downhill mogul field. Speedy

Bigfoot to the Rescue continued...

had exhausted him. His admiration rence of this for Nadja and Barb – their complete experience, control of the situation, their physi- Don never cal fitness, their gung ho attitude takes his best and their total commitment to Teke friend beyond and the task at hand was above and where he can beyond admiration; it was truly quickly reach heartwarming and reminded us both him by car. that this is still a very beautiful, Oh, yes. One caring world. more thing… Barb’s modest response to our the three hik- thanking her and Nadja? “No wor- ers? Well, ries... It (the experience) added to they had a making our day a little adventur- great day! ous!” How is Teke today? Well, amaz- ingly, with a daily dose of glu- cosomine and a daily dose aspirin, Barb borrowing some plywood he has stretched his strength so that he can now hike further than ½ hour up a hill, but to avoid a reoccur- B IGFOOT P RINTS P AGE 3

IRONMAN 2009

This was a busy year for Bigfoot my knee warned me to be cautious. The including Olympic distance races in members to complete Ironman events. climb to Yellow Lake tops out at just Lethbridge and Wasa and a Half Iron- In June local athletes Tim Fix, Rob above 2500 ft at 155k before another man in Osoyoos. These races helped us Veg, AJ Brekke, John Nielsen and Jen fast and furious descent into Penticton hone our skills and also help test our Beswick completed Ironman Coeur at 180km. Whaddya mean I still have fitness levels each month. In June we d’Alene and in August Malcolm Sar- to run 42.2 km???? went to Penticton to ride the bike course gent, Paul Grayhurst, and Ryan and 5:27:25 This flat out and back run and really had a chance to feel what Joanna Sleik completed Ironman Can- course was made for speed, just not 180km with almost 2000m of elevation ada. Paul Grayhurst raised $3800 for from me on that night. The knee pain gain feels like. Needless to say it was a the Alberta Children’s Hospital Founda- plus very smoky evening air combined little unnerving. tion in memory of his Nephew Josh and to slow me way down. You know As the summer went on we had some Ryan and Joanna raised $2800 for the what…. I was also having too much fun great runs along Kootenay Lake and Canadian Cancer Society in memory of kibitzing with the volunteers and talking around the Cranbrook area as well as a Joanna’s mother. We all have our own to other runners to really push myself couple memorable training rides, in- reasons for completing the event and hard. There were just too many amus- cluding riding both sides of the Creston below are some snippets of some of our ing, interesting people to enjoy. I’d Salmo Pass in 35 degree heat! thoughts and experiences. have to ignore them to really concen- Race day came quickly and the excite- Paul Grayhurst trate on this run. Once I realized I was- ment and nerves hit us hard. All of our n’t going to come close to my earlier In the final days before the race there training was about to come to fruition goal of 14 hours I just focused on hav- and the hardest part was waiting to start. were times of such nervousness that I ing a good time. Besides a guy has to wondered why I was doing this. This save enough for that final sprint through We woke at 4:30am to calm waters nervousness would alternate with cocky the downtown crowds towards the and clear skies. The swim start was enthusiasm but would eventually swing finish. amazing as 2600 of us took the plunge. back to “scared.” However from the We even managed to run into each other moment that starter’s blast went off at on the return leg! The bike was an ar- 7:00 a.m., there was nowhere else I duous task but we paced ourselves well wanted to be and nothing else I wanted and ate and drank as much as we could to do. I was blessed to be “in the mo- tolerate along the way. This was where ment” for the next 14 hours and 42 min- I finally felt in my element and Joanna utes and three seconds just tried to keep on spinning! The run 1:30:05 That was how long it took me was where things got really interesting. to do the swim. Looking at those num- I made the turn around in Okanogan bers now it seems like a heck of a long Falls, Joanna and I spotted each other, time to be in the water. It didn’t seem neither of us expecting to see that Jo- so at the time. The water was warm and anna was catching up to me at a 14:42:03 Finished. My triumphant dauntingly fast pace. I stepped up my relatively calm except for the wake left grimace at the finish line soon dissolved by 2600 swimmers. I do remember speed and managed a negative split to into a goofy grin as I realized that Iron- finish only 4 minutes apart! Speedy and thinking as I swam the return leg that man Canada is in the bag! “the shore sure is taking a long time to tenacious Joanna managed to make up get to me”. almost 40 minutes on the run to finish with a 4:22 marathon. Not too shabby! 7:23:07 “I’ve really got to work Ryan & Joanna Sleik harder on this biking thing”. The scen- We were both happy to feel “good” at ery along the bike course is stunning. Ironman Canada was a goal and a the finish line and were thrilled with the Starting off with a fast 60 k through dream that we had been working to- support from family and friends who orchards south to Osoyoos the next 15k wards for the past 3 years. In writing came to cheer us on. this now it feels as though it was just a takes you up about 1000ft through arid Ironman was an amazing experience dream but on reflection the great memo- desert to the top of Richter Pass. A fast that we hope to be able to relive again ries and experiences we had along the descent down the other side carves off one day (just not in the near future). way bring it all back to reality. In our all that hard earned elevation as you The volunteers along the way helped to case the journey was as great as the then cycle towards Keremeos. Upon make each person feel like they are all destination. leaving Keromeos the course heads NE Olympians, regardless of how fast you back to Penticton and gets even more Being the “Type A” schedule-oriented were going or what place you were in. scenic as the desert gives way to high, people that we are we were excited in Place doesn’t seem to matter too much dry ranch country surrounded by rocky January to lay out the details of our when your goal is to finish standing! peaks. Unfortunately the smoke from training plan. The spring season was Thank you all for your support, encour- nearby forest fires began to obscure the filled with some great runs with the club agement, and donations. peaks and a chronic sharp pain behind and some fun shorter distance triathlons P AGE 4 F ALL 2009

Book Review: Born to Run Submitted by Rocke Robertson

Born to Run I would highly recommend this book No doubt many runners will have to any runner. My wife, who is a vora- By Christopher McDougall read about the appearance on the ultra cious and demanding reader but not a circuit of the Tarahumara Mexican abo- runner commented that there was too Alfred Knopf, 2009 much “running stuff” in here to keep riginals at Leadville, Colorado in 1994. her fully enthralled. What is good for This is another book written by a This book expands greatly on what the gander is not always good for the journalist/runner, with some similarities happened there, and chronicles the au- goose. I will be passing this book to others of the genre. The outstanding thor’s subsequent obsession with these around to my fellow bigfooters and features are great material and research, amazing people and their culture. With triathletes, and I good writing style, and obvious love of the dedication of a professional journal- suspect a few other the subject. The general area of sport ist, McDougall makes the connections copies may circu- described in the book is ultra running between the Tarahumara, western run- late as well. I (usually 50-100 k/miles). The thing ning traditions and athletes, and ulti- hope you enjoy it. which grabbed me and held me was that mately the common humanity between much of the material crosses over with the two. On the way he enlightens us the rest of us mere mortals who have (at least he did for me) about many little never exceeded the 42.2k of a marathon, known tidbits of experience, research, providing insight into our development and culture related to running and par- as human beings and ultimately the ticularly to ultra marathon events. answer to the perennial question: Why do we run?

Although many members have had some outstanding performances at a wide variety of events here are a few of the ones that were submitted for publi- cation: BC Senior Games • Bruce Williams collected a Silver medal for the 5000m run and a

Bronze in the 10k

• Fred Clark received a Bronze for the 200m, Silver for the 400m and 1500m, and a Gold in the 800m sprints, as well as a Gold in discus

Nathan Helvoigt Bruce in front of the new Olympic Oval in Richmond

• 3:34 at the Kelowna International Frank Ackerman Cherie Copper Marathon • Ran a stunning 2:38 at the Ottawa • Was first in her division and 20th • 3:35 at the Frankfurt Marathon in International Marathon overall at the Nike Women’s Germany Marathon in San Francisco with a • 2:44 at the New York Marathon time of 3:24. B IGFOOT P RINTS P AGE 5

World International Triathlon Championships Submitted by Megan Jones

Gold Coast ITU World Age Group Cham- someone commented on pionship 2009 the difficulties of finding General Information: a good cup of coffee. Australians drink instant Overall, there were 1614 finishers: 979 coffee. Enough said. males and 635 females. There were 84 Throughout the week females competing in my age group, and I before the race I ob- finished with a time of 2:30. My fast bike served athletes every- ride enabled me to move up several places, where around Surfer’s but my swim and run weren’t up to my Paradise. Easy to recog- usual standards that day. The fastest girl nize by the shape of their in my age group finished with a time of calves, the way they 2:07, faster than some of the elite women. closely studied items in The 40 – 44 age group category was the the grocery store, and of largest with 200 competitors total: 124 men course the Garmin’s and 76 women. The fastest male in that around the wrist. I en- category finished with a time of 1:54, and joyed being in a place the quickest female completed the race in where almost everyone loved the same doing the exact same thing. I read once that 2:12. If you are interested in viewing more activities that I do. There were more during a race, if you are struggling with the of the age group results, visit: cyclists than I have ever seen riding along elements or physical pain, to remember that http://www.worldtriathlongoldcoast.com/ , the Gold Coast Highway. It was very everyone else out there is feeling the same and click on “all results”. thrilling to share the road with people way as you. I smiled in the early morning Race Experience: from Great Britain, Mexico and every darkness, realizing that I wasn’t alone. country in between, all with the same There is always the uncertainty on race The water lapped gently at my toes. A goal of becoming familiar with the stretch morning as to how the race will go. This variety of languages drifted among the pink of road that would become our race particular morning, my race didn’t go as caps. Five minutes before the gun would course. For those of us from the north- well as I had hoped. However, my feelings go off, and my mind was sifting through all ern hemisphere, this also involved learn- of discouragement on the run changed when of the valuable learning experiences that ing to ride on the left side of the road, and I caught up with some of the para- had led me to the waters edge. to navigate the numerous roundabouts triathletes. Viewing the blind athletes, and The first morning we arrived in Surfer’s safely. other athletes running with prosthetics, I paradise, I did a training ride with some Near the race sight, there was a 100m realized that the heart of a triathlete is the members of Team Canada. Like typical swim enclosure where many of the ath- same all around the world, no matter the Canadians, we were all quite reserved and letes trained. The first time I got in, I saw nationality, physical ability, or individual didn’t communicate much with each other. the netting underwater. Triple layered experience on race day. We are all united The ice was quickly broken however, when braided rope that looked like it had in- by our love to swim, bike and run, and the credible strength. Panicking, I sprinted to joy and sense of accomplishment that comes shore and ran up on the beach, terrorized from crossing the finish line. by the thought of what the nets were keeping out! A newspaper article the day before about the bull sharks coming into the inlet due to unusual cur- rents, did nothing to abate my anxiety. My husband told me to swim closer to shore, and I gradually overcame my anxiety. On race morning, attempt- ing to force oatmeal into my knotted stomach, I heard the sounds from all the other athletes in the twenty story high-rise P AGE 6 F ALL 2009

Otter Attacks Swimmer by Stewart Cross

There are always some athletes who thing. I started to feel kinda un- treatment for rabies. The attack are forced to withdraw from the Iron- comfortable out in the water, so I occurred in a lake in the East man competition due to injury, but made my way towards shore, at Kootenays near Invermere. Sanford Schmid has a story to top the same time the otter any of them. Schimd, who lives in kept attacking me. A cou- Invermere, has been forced to with- ple of times he actually draw from this year's race due to an popped his head out of the otter attack suffered while he was water and kinda stared training for the swim portion. “I did right at me,” says one lap already, I was going out for a Schmid. He says at first, second swim, I had gone out about he thought he had kicked 200 metres when it felt like some- a log with his foot. thing had hit my foot. Then I got hit Schmid says his foot is again from underneath, so I flipped now swollen with bites over onto my back, I didn't see any- and he is undergoing

Running the Sahara Presented by Wildsight

On Friday, November 20th , the One Planet Film Series will be showing the first film of this series - Running the Sahara . It is a powerful and inspirational chronicle of three ultra marathoners attempting to run across the entire length of Africa's Sahara Desert, tackling not only the elements, but also unimaginable physical and emotional obsta- cles. Narrated and produced by Academy Award winner Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll. This film project was done in support the H2O Africa Foundation, an organization dedicated to increasing pub- lic awareness of the water crisis in Africa and to gathering support for clean water programs. When: Friday, November 20th, 7:30 PM Where: Centre 64 - Kimberley

Registration is NOW open

GERICK'S Wasa Lake Triathlon

June 12, 2010: TriKids Triathlon June 13, 2010: Olympic, Sprint and Relay Team Triathlon

Max caps Sign-up early to secure your spot - races sold out in 2009 Olympic triathlon : 550 racers Sprint triathlon : 250 racers Relay Teams : 30 teams TriKids Triathlon : 300 racers

To sign-up & get more info, go to: www.rmevents.com P AGE 7 F ALL 2009 Kamloops 2010 Masters Athletics Indoor Championships Submitted by Udo Grady

Canada will not so soon host another World Championship.

Every Master Athlete is eligible to participate without qualification, but the registration has to be made over the CMAA and the Athlete has to be a member of the CMAA. Membership for only this competition is available for a fee of $10.00. Full membership for one year is still $25.00. Registration deadline is the 5th of January 2010.

More Information about the World Masters Championship, phone Udo Grady 250 489 3643 or go to the Internet: Kamloops 2010 Masters Athletics Indoor Championships www.kamloops2010masters.com

So don’t be a chicken, Participate!!!!

Help the Salvation Army!

The Salvation Army has asked if any of our members would like to volunteer some time with the yearly Kettle Drive. If you are interested, please call Richard at 426-3612.

CLUB RUNS

Saturday club Runs continue from the College Parking Lot @ 8:00am (Watch for time change once it gets dark out)

Check out the East Kootenay Triathlon Club on Facebook Club Events start November 16th! Weekly runs planned to leave from Core Fitness at 5:30pm on Tuesdays

BIGFOOT RUNNING CLUB

MEMBERSHIPMEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONAPPLICATION oror RENEWALRENEWAL

CLUB MISSION STATEMENT: To promote health and fitness, particularly through the sport of running. We encourage people of all ages and abilities to participate, have fun and enjoy the sport!

Start 2009 off on a good foot with the BIGFOOT Running Club. Receive BIGFOOT PRINTS newsletters with running news, tips, stories, entry forms for upcoming runs and other features. Participate in fun runs, competitive races, the “Grand Prix” or help with race organization. A good time is had by all at the BIGFOOT Banquet held in the Fall/Winter.

Membership is only $15 per individual or family no matter how large the family. Renew your mem- bership now and be a member in good standing until December 31, 2009. To join the BIGFOOT or to renew your expired membership, please complete the form below.

Everyone in the family is automatically a Bigfoot Member and they are entered into the Grand Prix the first time

they enter a race that is used in the points calculation.

For more information, contact us at [email protected] 2009 Membership Application Bigfoot Running Club

Name/Age/ Sex:

Address/ City/ Prov/ Postal Code:

Telephone number: E-mail

Please mail this form and a cheque or money order in the amount of $15 made payable to the Bigfoot Running Club, Box 131, Cranbrook, BC V1C 4H7