September 2009 Newsletter

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free events for active people

Dear Friends and Members of Club Fat Ass,

July and August have been active months, haven't they?

With 6 scheduled Club events, 13 Flash adventures, peak-bagging expeditions and fabulous weather, it's been a summer full of Club activity for all ages and abilities. And summer's not over yet! Check out the Club event schedule for September.

A talented trail runner, long-standing Club member and friend, I am excited to welcome Curb Ivanic and Core Running to our growing community of Business Members.  If you want to improve your running performance and lower the risk of injury, be sure to sign-up for Curb's clinic.  Starts soon...  Special offer for Club Fat Ass members below!

I'm also excited to welcome Jackie Montgomery as Event Host of the popular Sunshine in September run.  Jackie is proud to announce that she has replaced a road section with trails and can't wait to share it with you this coming Saturday.  Leave your car at Horseshoe Bay and enjoy a relaxing ferry ride to the start.

Happy Trails,

Sibylle Tinsel
Chief Executive Fat Ass


UPCOMING EVENTS


Sunshine in September: 5 September - Langdale, BC Canada. 20km or 26km on beautiful, mostly single track trails just off the ferry terminal in Langdale on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Run in forests of grand old trees and gigantic mushrooms. Easy logistics with carpooling, walk on the ferry, run off the ferry and a lovely post-run get together with super views on the ferry ride back. As close to a get a way in a day as you can get! Changes this year include a new Event Host, bag drop and no more running on the highway. More details here.

Fall Mountain Highway Madness: 13 September - North Vancouver, BC Canada. Check it out here.

Mutha's Nature Trail Run: 20 September - Vancouver, BC Canada. A new edition to our calendar. Join Event Host Ryan Conroy for 10km, 25km or 50km on relatively easy trails with moderate elevation gains. More here.

Bagger Challenge 2009 July 1 - October 22, BC, Canada. See how many North Shore peaks you can run up and bag in a summer. All but the island mountains qualify as munros (in excess of 3000 feet) under the Scottish peak-bagging system.  Only 7 weeks of baggage left!  Find out more here.

Ann's Get your FA Off the Couch: 17 October - North Vancouver, BC. A fun run on winding trails and backroads of lower Seymour Mountain. Two distance options, the "Old Chesterfield" 20 km or the "Cushy Couch" 10 km. Enjoy the fall atmosphere in a temperate rain forest. More info and registration here.

Seawall 100: 24 October - West Vancouver, BC.  An urban 100 miler, mostly on the Seawall path from the Dundarave Park in North Vancouver to UBC. Enjoy an Ultra marathon challenge with minimal concerns for naughty beasts, altitude or elevation gain. Could definitively be described as the easiest 100 miler in North America if there is such a thing as an easy 100 mile run. Custom distances of 25-50-75 miles. Find out what else run100widow and her hilarious husband have up their sleeve here.



NEWS

Fall Clinics

Core Running Performance Clinic

Join Curb Ivanic for his upcoming Core Running Performance Clinic in North Vancouver. 

This clinic is a scientifically-designed program created specifically for runners.  You have a 37% - 56% chance of getting injured if you run regularly.  Strengthen your core and running muscles as well as learn proper technique and biomechanics to improve your running performance and reduce your risk of injury. Core Running workouts are unique & include biomechanics drills, core & joint stabilization and plyometrics & mobility.

When: Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays mornings from Sept 21 – Oct 26 (10 or 15 clinics over 5 weeks) 7:00 – 8:00am

Where
: Pro Arte Dance Centre, #3 – 1225 Keith Road, North Vancouver, BC

How much
:  

  • 3 workouts per week $299; $269 CFA members
  • 2 workouts per week $199; $179 CFA members
  • Includes 2 workout DVD’s & course manual

How:  Contact Curb curb@ultrafitness.net directly.  Register early! Clinics are intentionally small and limited to 12 runners.

 

Building a Strong Foundation

Sophia Sauter with Active Life Physio is also gearing up for a new clinic:  Building a Strong Foundation (BSF.)  This clinic starts on September 14, 2009 at 7:45 PM at the John Braithwaite Community Centre in North Vancouver. Building a Strong Foundation™ is an 8-week functional and sport-specific, (one-hour) group training program designed specifically for performance enhancement of endurance athletes. For more information and to register please visit  http://www.humanmotion.ca/pages.php?pageid=36

CFA Steering Committee.  We need you!  Join the Club Steering Committee and help make the club grow. 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?) Please drop me a line if you can spare a couple of hours a month.

Social Media.  Check out these pointers on how to use Social Media to stay connected with what is new at CFA, what you're doing and thinking while on the trails and how to share Club events with your friends. 


TECH TIPS


Blog and Story Tags.  If you are an active blogger on the CFA website, you might have noticed that the categories for your stories have been changed.  There are now fewer, more logical categories for you to tag your stories with.  We hope this will make it easier for you to find stuff... especially once we implemented the planned navigation and design changes.
 
Navigation and Design Upgrade.  When not running, Ran Katzman - CFA member and volunteer code monkey, has been working hard planning a major upgrade to our "Online Clubhouse".  The goal is to make the website easier to use.  In particular, you asked for ways to make it easier for you to find what you want on the site, easier to share stuff you like with friends, and otherwise freshen-up the site.  Many thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.  Expect those changes to happen this fall.

CFA ON THE WEB

Club Fat Ass PhotosClub Fat Ass StoreClub Fat Ass RSS feedFacebook

PAST EVENT RESULTS AND REPORTS

5Peaks Buntzen Lake Warm Up: "It was a perfect day for a run in the mountains. The morning dawned clear and fresh and the temperatures soon reached the mid twenties.  This was the first Club Fat Ass hosted orientation run for a 5Peaks race.  Response was overwhelmingly positive from both run leaders and participants, especially for the short notice runners were given.  Thanks to everybody who made this a success. Quite a few runners switched their shoes to take advantage of the Salomon shoe demo before heading out on either the 11km Sports- or the 15.5km Enduro course.  Run leaders soon fell into a pace with their respective charges and enjoyed the vistas. With a leader/runner ratio of 1/3 everybody was well taken care off.  Read on here.

Photo left: Starters at the 5Peaks Buntzen Lake Warm Up.

Photo right: Craig making his way across the suspension bridge near Norvan Falls.

Go Home. Event Host - Des Mott. Well, the second running of the Hanes Valley went off without any problems. I had been a bit worried 3 days before the event as only 5 people had signed up, but my pleading for more eventually worked and 20 started with 2 no shows.

Photo left: Action Jackson and Neil Ambrose on Coliseum Mountain, part of the popular Bagger Challenge.

Photo right: Wendy Montgomery came out of retirement and has just bagged Crown Mountain, her 3rd peak!

Six runners opted for the 14 km out and back to Norvan Falls. Fourteen of us continued on our way in to the Hanes. As Rob, Dave and myself proceed to the creek crossing, we ran in to some hikers who told us they had heard what sounded like a large rock slide coming from the direction of Hanes Valley. I was a little concerned, because Wendy had set out earlier and should have been in the Hanes by this time. It turned out that the rock slide was closer to the third debris chute. Read on.

Flash - Loving Lynn. Event Host - David Crerar. The inaugural Loving Lynn 33K run was held on Sunday, August 23rd below a sunny sky and a canopy of trees. Originally misbilled as a 50K, it actually felt like a 50K, with grueling climbs, dexterous rock-hopping up Lynn Creek, and the spongy, rooty, and gravelly goodness of the trails that run the entire length of Lynn Creek. More here.

Photo left: taking a break during Loving Lynn

Photo right: Starters at the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail run

Flash - Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Event Host - Carlos Castillo. Once again a brave group of adventurers strapped up their hydration packs, took one, possibly, final look at their vehicles and punched the start of their chrono's and headed into the deep dark woods of the west coast rainforest.  The start was delayed by about 30 minutes as Jeff, our play leader, made arrangements as to who was doing what with which cars at which end! The weather was cool but clear, so we were looking forward to some breathtaking views and climbs ...continued here.

Flash - Duel at the Pool. Event Host - Ean Jackson.  Read all about the attacks of the Whale-, Mako- and Reef Shark here.

Photo left: shark antics

Photo right: Starters at the Capilano Night Run

Capilano Canyon Night Run - A Midsummer Night Dream.  Event Hosts - Sibylle Tinsel and Ean Jackson.  It's a lazy Sunday morning in August.  The 8th annual Capilano Night Run ended a few hours ago.  The co-host of the event tasked me with summarizing the evening before I can play, so here I sit in the hammock eating some delicious brownies left over from the party trying to think what to write... Since this event is intended to focus on the party, I'll start there... Full report, results and photos here.

CONTESTS

2009 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.

Photo left: Craig's recent submission, note the street sign...

2009 Point Series. Yours truly surpassed old, "Back in Action" Jackson, but he, Craig and Des follow closely on her heels.  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 dragging along 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 favorite cause while hosting a free CFA event.

North Shore Rescue. NSR is a volunteer Mountain Search and Rescue Team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The team consists of approximately 40 volunteers skilled in search and rescue operations in mountain, canyon and urban settings.  A few of our members are also NSR members. We'd like to continue our record of not using their services and rather help with their promotion of back country safety.  NSR depending on your donations... consider a few bucks donated as a life insurance policy for yourself or a loved one!

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.

CFA member, Glenn Pace, again ran the 24 hour relay (this time he completed 110 Miles) to raise funds for less fortunate children. Here the link to his fundraising page. Read about his 2008 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.