May 2008 Newsletter

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Promoters of oddball endurance events and a healthy outdoor lifestyle
 
 
 

Dear Friends and Members of Club Fat Ass,

 

With spring in full swing and summer approaching fast, I hope your training is going well and you are enjoying the great outdoors.

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to our new Membership Committee: Amy Macarthur (chair) and Jess Bassil. Their goal this year is to grow CFA and keep you convinced that being a member of this Club is the best thing you've ever done for yourself! Please look for the new Member of the Month feature announced in the newsletter below, something that has been planned in the past, but needed Jess's initiative to get going.

Lastly, your Chief Executive FA will be out of country in June and July for a much needed and long overdue family visit. I will still be available online, but if you are thinking of getting another CFA shirt, best to order it now.

Happy Trails,

Sibylle Tinsel
Chief Executive Fat Ass


UPCOMING EVENTS

North Shore Enduro. 10 May - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. A fun run in Vancouver's rugged North Shore mountains, the Enduro is on a 7.6 km loop. Run one loop or two, or a full 6h. This event has something for everyone, whether it's a safe and challenging first trail run featuring some easy and some technical terrain, a great social event for the team runner (2-6 runners can form a team), or a tune-up for Western States and other summer 100-milers for the competitive solo runner. Our friends at Kintec Footlabs will be out with an informal aid station. More info and registration here.

Photo right: Chery, crew extraordinaire, on the trails during the 2006 Enduro

Photo left: Baldy happy at the Chuckanut finish line


TravellignColoursContest2008 - Baldwin finishing ChuckanutFlash - Baldy's Bonkfest. 24 May - Squamish, BC, Canada. This event is one of the training runs for the Stormy Trail Race. Details here.

Speaker Series - Kintec Foot Injuries. 28 May - Vancouver, BC, Canada. Join our sponsor for an informative evening about foot injury prevention. If you have been plagued by plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis and other foot problems or are trying to stay injury free, this is the one for you. Free for the general public, but pre-registration is required. Details here.

Vancouver 100. 7-8 June - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. The toughest 100 km in Canada... maybe the world! Due to the challenging nature of this event, participation for the full 100 km is by invitation only, but everyone can still participate by running part of the course with the 100 km participants, coming out to the aid station/picnic area at Cleveland Dam or crewing for a runner. More info and applications here.

Photo right: Tim Wiens fuelling up at Cleveland Dam during the Vancouver 100

Photo left: Elevation Profile of the XTX

Vancouver Skyline XTC. 14 June - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. This trail run with a twist explores some of the most scenic areas of Vancouver's famous North Shore mountains. Runners can choose to run 25K "Up," 25K "Down," 50K "Up and Down" or a "Roll Your Own" custom distance to suit their abilities. Runners will experience approximately 3,000 m (9,000 ft.) of elevation change over the 50 km course on moderate to challenging trails. Find out more and register here.

The Slack Ass 50. 21 June - Edmonton, BC Canada. Join Event Host Alli Conroy for 13 or 50 miles of Edmonton's extensive trail system along the beautiful river valley. A mix of forest trails and pavement, the trail will follow rolling, well-established trails through major parks for most of the route. There will be some steeper cross country style terrain to mix it up a bit so be prepared. Start/finish at the main pavilion at Hawrelak Park. Find out more and register here.

Photo right: Nathan after finishing the Slack Ass 50 in Edmonton last year

 
 

NEWS

Member Of The Month. Casting Call for CFA Member of the Month! New this year, one member each month will be put in the limelight to showcase their formidable selves! Nominate yourself or a fellow club member, don't be shy. All you have to do is fill out your online profile (when logged in to the website) that will soon include some fun questions (don't worry, this is very easy and nothing outlandishly revealing). A great opportunity to get to know your fellow club members. There are over 200 of us after all! Please forward nominations to Jess Bassil.

We are still fine-tuning the questions. Please check-out what we've come up with so far and add your comments by visiting the Member Of The Month announcement.

Sponsors. A special thank you to the folks at Kintec Footlabs. We've had a number of great speaker events at their Vancouver and North Vancouver store locations and the love and attention to detail put into organizing these has been very much appreciated (don't miss the upcoming seminar on foot injuries, 28 May). Kintec Footlabs also offers CFA members a 10% discount on any store purchases, is supporting our events with great prizes, and sponsors a pair of shoes each as prizes for the Point Series, the New Years Resolution Contest and the Travelling Colours Contest. To top it off, Kintec Footlab staff has been present as crew and/or participants in most of our spring events. Make sure to give them a try next time you are looking for running shoes or educated advice when you are broken.

Latest Blogs. Members have been very busy writing about their latest endeavours. You can read the latest rambling, rant, adventures and words of wisdom here.

Member Registration. If you haven't yet joined the Club, what are you waiting for? Sign-up now to participate in almost 50 free events and get a classic black technical Club t-shirt as well. Such a deal!

Events of Interest. STORMY Trail Race. CFA will be organizing and hosting the training runs for western Canada's most popular 100-miler /50-miler and relay this year. What does that mean? You can get up close and comfortable with the STORMY course on your own terms while helping fellow runners and Race Director Wendy Montgomery. Several Club members have already stepped up to the plate with both scheduled and Flash events. Find out more here.

 
 

ADMINISTRIVIA

CFA Website.
We are still looking for feedback on website usability. You don't need to be a web geek to voice your opinion about the ups and downs of navigating through your online clubhouse. Tell us what you think we could do better.

A new feature you might have noticed is the "Share This" link below every post or teaser. It allows you to share a post on a variety of social networking sites, including Facebook, and to forward it via email. Try it... your friends will like it!

In the next little while you may notice some other changes, including a different format to our event registration that will finally include a confirmation email and an autofill function for logged-in users. You asked for it. Thanks to Ran Katzman for researching these features.

A reminder that the website help page is posted here. Instructions on how to upload photos and use Flickr to get photos on the CFA website are found here.

 
 
 

CFA ON THE WEB

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PAST EVENT RESULTS AND REPORTS

Flash - Hyson's Hijinx. Flash Event Host - Chad Hyson.
 
Well the fog has begun to lift and I feel lucid enough put together a race report for Hyson's Hijinks. As I think back to the events that took place last week a couple of things really stand out, the first being that CFA'ers are some of the kindest, most supportive people who you will ever have the chance to meet or run with. The second being - what were we thinking? We are definitely a bunch of fools for thinking that 100 miles on the Baden Powell would make for a great fun run. Read Chad's epic here and view the photos here.

Photo left: The midnight start of Hyson's Hijinks

Photo right: Pete's super aid station at Run To The Clouds


Run to the Clouds. Event Host - Pete Stace-Smith.
 
WHAT A GREAT DAY. Blue sky and warm temperatures blessed us at the end of yet another week or two of rain. 31 runners showed up to tackle the tough course and pretty much every single one of them had a big smile on their face at the end too. It was hard not to enjoy a run in the woods when the day was just so great. Thanks to all the runners who came out to play in the woods yesterday. Great to see you there and frankly as an event host, seeing you all having a great time makes it all worth while. With 18 runners completing the full 25 km and another 13 doing one of the shorter options you all deserve great pats on the back, as this course is not an easy one. Well done! You can see the full event report, results and photos here.
 

CONTESTS

2008 Travelling Colours Contest. The winner of this popular event will receive a full refund of his or her 2009 Club membership dues. Kintec Footlabs is recognizing the second place photo with a pair of running shoes. Pictures of your 2008 adventures wearing your Club shirt (any colour) can be posted to Flickr following the instructions here. All submissions to date are posted here.

Photo left: Bill stomping through the snow during the Capitol Peak 55

2008 Point Series. Des is on track again to win the pair of shoes, Kintec Footlab is sponsoring for the winner of this contest. Des is trailed closely by Ran Katzmann, Ryne Melcher and Penny Jakobsen. (and no, "Out of Action" Jackson and I do not qualify to win, but we like to play anyway)

Up-to-date standings here. Read about how to collect points here.



CAUSES YOUR CLUB SUPPORTS

If you have any causes close to your heart and want to raise awareness and/or funds let us know. A number of CFA Event Hosts use their events as fund raisers. Be sure to consider the special section on the Club website that offers ideas on how to raise money for your favourite cause while hosting a free CFA event.

BC Lung Association. Event Host, Craig Moore, uses his events to raise awareness and funds for the BC Lung Association.

Mary Leliveld Tri BC Fund. Mary was a friend and member of CFA. The fund was established in her memory to help deserving athletes get to competitions they otherwise might not be able to race in.

PRPAWS (Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society
The boys who ran the Sunshine Coast Trail 180 in 2003 and 2004 vowed to help raise funds for PRPAWS, a society that aims to protect old growth forest in the Powell River area.


SPONSORS

CFA does not sell or otherwise distribute our member list.