May 2009 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.

We have an interesting variety of events scheduled for this month. For something a bit different, don't miss the GPS Scavenger Hunt, the Family Fun Run, training runs for Stormy and the usual selection of trail runs.  For details, check out the "Upcoming Events" section below.

Last call to pick-up your 2009 Club colours!  Did you order a t-shirt when you signed up for 2009?  If you did and you don't have it yet, chances are it's patiently waiting for you at your local Kintec Footlab store.  Please make some time this week to pick-up your shirt, as those not claimed by the end of May will go back into the Club inventory and made available to new members.

A big, fat "Thank you!" for voicing your opinion about proposed changes to our Point Series.  The verdict is in. Your feedback overwhelmingly supported  the proposed refinements and your creative suggestions made a few more.  Here are the amendments.

Happy Trails,

Sibylle Tinsel
Chief Executive FA


UPCOMING EVENTS


Club Fat Ass Events: Baldy's Bonkfest, Squamish, BC, Canada - trail runningFlash - Baldy's Bonkfest. 16 May - Squamish, BC, Canada. Part of the CFA - Stormy collaboration on training runs for the Stormy Trail Race. Details here.

Photo left: Gilles and Karl during last year's Bonkfest

Flash - Foolish Plunge 100 Mile. 23 May - Squamish, BC, Canada.  Part of the CFA - Stormy collaboration on training runs for the Stormy Trail Race. Details here.
 
Flash - Hotspring Hustle. Date TBD - Pitt Lake, BC, Canada. There are hot springs in the mountains on Pitt River.  They are hard to reach.  Word is that they are quite beautiful.  This is an adventure that aims to reward the adventure-seeker with not only an adventure, but with a relaxing dip in the springs!  Find more info here.

Cyclebetes Charity Event, diabetes researchGPS Scavenger Hunt. 24 May - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. A GPS guided scavenger hunt on the North Shore between Skyline Drive and Mountain Highway. More info and registration at here.

MACS Spin-a-thon for Diabetes. 23/24 May - North Vancouver, BC Canada.  A charity event to raise money for Diabetes research organized by Duncan Joseph with the Marketing Association of Capilano Students. Find out more here.

Flash - Lord of the Loop(s). 30 May - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. A family friendly event by Mudrunner's 7 year old son.  Check it out here.

Vancouver 100. 6-7 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 left: little Mudrunner, Max, checking out the Lord of the Loop trails

Photo right: Elevation Profile of the XTC


Vancouver Skyline XTC. 13 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. 20 June - Edmonton, AB 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 left: Nathan after finishing the Slack Ass 50 in Edmonton in 2007


NEWS

Changes to the Point Series. A big, fat "Thank you!" for voicing your opinion regarding the proposed changes to our point series.  The verdict is in. Your feedback overwhelmingly supported  the proposed refinements and your creative suggestions made a few more.  Here are the amendments.

2009 Shirts. By now you should have received your 2009 Club colours in the mail or at your local Kintec Footlab store.  If your shirt is still at Kintec, please pick it up within the next few days.  Make sure to take your Kintec coupon along and save of your hard-earned dollars on shoes and supplies.  Shirts not picked up by the end of May will go back into our inventory for new members.

Club Fat Ass, 2009 Poster Children Lauren and JasonPoster Children. Our 2009 Poster Children are St. Louis residents, Jason and Lauren Eads. We met both of them when they came up to Vancouver to participate in the North Shore Enduro last weekend and are happy to have them represent Club Fat Ass in Missouri. 

Social Media.  It seems all the world is atwitter... You can find Club Fat Ass's tweets here.  If you are a tweep, please follow us to get updates about events, contests and other member news.  Tweeting about your favorite Club, add this hashtag #ClubFatAss to your tweets.

Of course, if you are like most of us and are just getting the hang of Facebook, you can join the CFA Facebook group and become a fan of the CFA Facebook page.  I will be updating both regularly and you are welcome to post your updates, links, videos and relevant events.

CFA Steering Committee.  A small group of community minded people are selflessly working behind the scenes to build and manage your Club. We are always looking for help and fresh ideas.  If you can spare a couple of hours a month to work with one of our committees, please drop me a line. We are especially looking for an enthusiastic person to chair the membership committee, some help with media relations and marketing promotions (any tweeters out there?)

2009 Membership Registration. Registration and Renewal for Club Fat Ass for 2009 is ongoing!   Don't miss out on a whole year of free events.


TECH TIPS

Help!  Please let me know if you have any suggestions for help questions that need answering or thoughts on how we might improve our online help.

Private Messaging.  Did you know that our website offers private messaging.  To check if private messaging is enabled for your account (by default it is enabled for new accounts), please go to your user account, click on the "edit" tab, then scroll down the page and make sure the check box beside "Personal Contact Form" is checked.  If it is, other members can contact you via our website.  While your email address stays private and non-members cannot contact you, members are able to contact non-members who have enabled private messaging.

CFA ON THE WEB

Club Fat Ass PhotosClub Fat Ass StoreClub Fat Ass RSS feedFacebook

PAST EVENT RESULTS AND REPORTS

Club Fat Ass Events, Enduro Start, trailrunning, ultrarunning, North Vancouver, BC CanadaNorth Shore Enduro. Event Host - Andy Nicol. Many thanks to the forty-two participants, including Missouri runners, Jason and Lauren Eads, who took part in the 7th running of the Enduro 6-hour run on the Lynn Loop Trail in the Seymour Demonstation Forest. Conditions were ideal on the intense 7.8 km course, featuring exposed roots, boulders, loose gravel, and steep grades where runners have 6-hours to complete as many loops of the course that they can handle.

Garry Robbins managed 9 loops under 6-hours, setting a new course record in a time of 5:34. Aided by Ryan Melcher in the last few loops, it's doubtful this record will be broken any time soon. Three women completed six loops within the time frame -- Jackie Muir, Kirsten Ramage, and Lorie Alexander (After the event, Lorie went home to run a few more hours to complete a full 50 miles). Full report, photos and results here.

Club Fat Ass Events, Marathon Shuffle, trail running, Sunshine Coast Trail, Sunshine Coast, Powell River, BC CanadaMarathon Shuffle. Flash Event Host - Eagle Walz.  "A Powell River runner shattered the previous record for the Marathon Shuffle by over an hour.
Kevin Sigouin set a blistering pace on the 29-kilometre route which traverses the Sunshine Coast Trail from Malaspina Road to the Shingle Mill and set a new record of two hours, 57 minutes and 13 seconds. Eighty people participated in 16th annual Marathon Shuffle which took place on April 25.
Club Fat Ass Events: Marathon Shuffle, trail running, Sunshine Coast Trail, Powell River, BC CanadaSigouin and a few of his running mates from Avid Fitness were getting fed up with having the Tom Mills Marathon Shuffle trophy show up for a weekend in Powell River and then see it leave town again. Sigouin said he and others in the local running fraternity weren't happy about having a trophy for running the Sunshine Coast Trail claimed by out-of-towners every year. This year they decided to participate and train on the trail." Read the full report, see photos and results here.

Flash - Hyson's Hiatus. Event Host - Chad Hyson.  Read Karls report here.

Flash - Dam Foolish 33 1/3 Mile Trail Run.  Event Host - Karl Jensen. Only four people toed the starting line at 7AM on Monday, but it seems that the good weather energized Sibylle, Claudia and Baldwin who did custom runs. Lorie and Barry ran the Zumbro 100K in Minnesota on Saturday.  Barry's feet were still giving him some pain so he wisely decided to take a rest day.  Lorie couldn't think of an excuse, so she started with the other three. It was a nice surprise to meet Sibylle who ran from her home near Mosquito creek.  John completed his intended distance and left the group to run home shortly before we got to the Grouse Skyride.  Lorie had to leave for some family business, but came back later and completed the return to Deep Cove on her own. Read the full report here.

Flash - Oh Canada. Event Host - David Crerar. Read the report here.

CONTESTS

Club Fat Ass, Travelling Colours Contest2009 Travelling Colours ContestPictures of your 2009 adventures wearing your Club shirt (any colour) can be posted to Flickr following the instructions here.  Check out photos submitted so far here. This contest is ongoing and photos earn view counts, favorites and comments all year round.  The photo that is deemed most interesting by Flickr standards will win!  So, be creative and get your friends to comment on your photo or make it a favorite.  Contest details are here.

2009 Point Series. We recalculated the points to reflect the changes to how points are collected retroactively from the beginning of the year.   Des is still leading, but Craig, Kirsten and Karl are in hot pursuit.  Up-to-date standings here. Read here about how to collect points and win a pair of spanking new trail shoes.

Refer a Friend Contest. This contest is intended to recognize those hyper-active Club members who share their love of Club events by telling their friends.  Tell them on a run.  Tell them at work.  Tell them when they ask about your Club colors at the gym.  Tell them in person or tell them on Facebook.  However you tell them, be sure to tell them you told them... because you could win a SOLE footcare package valued at over $200  Check out the simple Refer a Friend Contest rules and meet the competition here.  Currently in the lead is Kristie Congram.

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.

Run for the Cure.
  The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is Canada's largest single day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, education, and awareness programs.  If you would like to support one of your fellow members, please click here.

Easter Seals 24 Relay. The Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay is an annual community based fundraising event that challenges groups of people to run or walk Relay-style for 24 hours. Teams of runners and/or walkers made up of Corporate and Recreational groups collect individual pledges or organize team fundraising events to raise funds towards their collective team totals.

In 2008 CFA member, Glenn Pace, set our to run 100 miles during the 24 hour relay and raise funds for less fortunate children. Here the link to his fundraising page. Read about his adventure here

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.  You can help, too, by participating in the Marathon Shuffle.


SPONSORS

 

CFA does not sell or otherwise distribute our member list.