June 2010 Newsletter

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free events for active people

Dear Friends and Members of Club Fat Ass,

With so many choices between Scheduled or Flash events in the past few weeks, there are no excuses for Fat Asses and their friends to not stay active in the outdoors. 

 

If you think your options for outdoor adventures were aplenty last month, the upcoming month represents an even bigger buffet of choices! 

 

Choices aside, I'd like to take the opportunity to remind you to stay safe while running and exploring the back country. There are some great resources about playing safe and being prepared on the Club Fat Ass website and from North Shore Rescue.  Please take a minute to review the information before you head out on those long training runs or peak-bagging expeditions.

'Looks like the word has finally gotten out that we Fat Asses are not all crazy endurance junkies who enjoy pulling the lungs out of unfortunate newbies who dare come out for a Fat Ass run!  There have been a record number of new members joining the Club over the last few months.  Please join me in welcoming our new members by introducing yourself and lending a helping hand when you see an unfamiliar face at a Club event.

Of note to new members:  almost all Club events have a "custom" distance category for runners looking to ease their way into the longer distances.  Veteran Fat Asses enjoy your company during Club events as much as you appreciate theirs, so don't be shy... ask if you might buddy-up.  Be sure to share the love and let your friends know that just about anyone can be a Fat Ass!

Finally, CFA member and RD of the STORMY Trail Race, Wendy Montgomery, is looking for some help.  If you're not running and have some time for a great, non-profit event this August, please consider helping out.

Happy Trails,

Sibylle Tinsel
Chief Executive Fat Ass


UPCOMING EVENTS

Club Fat Ass Events 2010, Bagger Challenge, trail running, ultrarunning, Howesound IslandsBagger Challenge. 1 April - 10 October - North Shore Mountains, BC Canada.  See how many North Shore peaks you can run up and bag in a summer.  Start racking up points now by bagging the snowless Howe Sound Island peaks.   Find out more here.  We are also looking for GPS data of last years bagging extravaganza to share with all Baggers this year.

Photo left: Ken holds up a tree during the Tour De Howe Sound 

Photo right: Rick on a rather rickety bridge during a past XTC

Club Fat Ass Events, Vancouver Skyline XTC, trail running, ultrarunningVancouver Skyline XTC. 12 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.

Club Fat Ass Events, trail running, ultra running, slackass50, EdmontonThe Slack Ass 50. 13 June - Edmonton, AB, Canada. Join Event Host Alli Conroy for 13 or 50 miles of Edmonton's extensive trail system along a 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:  Event Host Alli taking a break during the Slack Ass in Edmonton

The Squamish Brick. 19/20 June - Squamish, BC Canada. Two back-to-back trail running days from Hell on the STORMY 50/100-mile course. Most 100-mile runners will agree that bricks (back-to-back long runs) build character and stamina. This little jog in the woods ought to do that. Run one day or run both. For anyone who is planning to run the STORMY 50-mile or 100-mile race in 2010 or otherwise. Great familiarization run and perfect timing at 7 weeks before the big event. More info here. Please note that to avoid any possible conflict with the Test of Metal bike race, the start on Saturday has been changed to 7:30am.

Club Fat Ass Events, Bagger Challenge, peaks, mountain running, fast packing, trail running

Photo above: Peaks to bag...

Flash - 5Peaks Mount Seymour Warm-Up. 11 July - North Vancouver, BC.  A fun and free group orientation run on the 6.3km and 9.8km courses on the 5Peaks course on Seymour Mountain. Combination of single track, technical hiking trails and alpine ski runs.   There will be faster and slower pace groups on each course, so there's something for everyone.  Get to know the trail you will race on so you can kick some butt on race day!  Of course, you are welcome to run with us Club Fat Ass Event, Full Monty, trail running, ultrarunning, Vancouver Islandeven if you are not registered for the 5Peaks race.  Details and free registration here. If you are able to lead a group, please contact me.

Photo left:  Event Host Carlos showing off the views and trail of the Full Monty 

The Full Monty: 17 July - Victoria, BC, Canada. Can you do the Full Monty? 25km or 50km on beautiful single track trails. Amazing views. Check it out here.

 

NEWS

Business Member.  Please help me to welcome Pushpa Chandra, who has joined us as a Business Member.  Be sure to check out Pushpa's naturopathic services in sports medicine.

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.  We'd especially like to hear from enthusiastic folks to help as Event Host Chair and with PR and marketing.  Please drop me a line. For a couple of hours a month, you can make a big difference (and we actually have a lot of fun!)

2010 Membership Registration. Registration and Renewal for Club Fat Ass for 2010 is ongoing!   Don't miss out on a whole summer and fall of free events.

TECH TIPS

Staying In Touch. Your Options.  Lots of choice when it comes to staying in touch with Club Fat Ass. From the website to the newsletter, RSS feeds to Twitter and Facebook, there is no reason to miss what's new or an upcoming event.  You can find more about your options and tell me what you prefer here

CFA ON THE WEB

Club Fat Ass PhotosFacebookClub Fat Ass Store


PAST EVENT RESULTS AND REPORTS

Mike Wardas during the Vancouver 100km run - exhaustionVancouver 100. Event Host - Craig Moore.  The skies cleared for what might be the toughest 100km run out there, helping to accomplish a high finisher rate.  We had 10 runners attempting the full enchilada, with a total of 51 athletes participating in one way or another.  You can check out photos, comments and results here.

Photo right: Mike battling exhaustion during the Vancouver 100

Photo left:  Chad and Kirsten getting off course during the Vancouver 100

Escape to Egmont. Event Host - Jackie Montgomery. With a brief break that allowed us some nice weather, we ran the first Escape to Egmont yesterday. With nine starters, we had fair representation of the communities of the sunshine coast. Powell River, Sechelt and Earls Cove runners made the trip to the Earls Cove ferry terminal for the 8:30am start. After starting off with a fairly long uphill along the highway, we made our way along Egmont road (past the brand new firehall!) and onto the forest service road that took us up to Klein Lake. For a full report and results, click here.

 

Chilly Willy 2 into the Heat. Event Host - Lorie Alexander. Well!  Chilly Willy 2 into the "heat" was Chilly Willy into the "rain". Karl did you do a rain dance! Full results here

trail running, Bellingham, ClubFatAssEvents, Chuckanut Calf CramperChuckanut Calf Cramper. Event Host - Genissa Sygitowicz. Fun was had by all at the inaugural Chuckanut Calf Cramper! We had beautiful, sunny weather, cool and perfect for running. After 5 hours on the trails, we were anxious for a cold homebrew and some BBQ. The course proved to be challenging even for the RD, who decided to turn herself around early and hightail it for the keg! Next year's event will be held on Saturday, May 28th (4th Saturday in May) and feature shorter run options in addition to a longer (30k ish) route.  Results, photos and videos here.

Photo left: Genissa Sygitowicz and her hound on the trails during the Chuckanut Calf Cramper.

Photos right: starters at the Burnaby Mountain Warm Up run

Club Fat Ass Events, 2010,  Burnaby Mountain Warm Up run, trail running, 5Peaks, Vancouver5Peaks CFA Burnaby Mountain Warm Up. Event Host - Craig Moore. We had a nice cool day for a group run on top of Burnaby Mountain. In fact it was only about 8C with a breeze that lacked the warmth of the previous few days when temperatures where up to double that. I for one kept my sweatshirt on until we started to run.  Starting in parking lot C was the right place to be for access to the race day course, but, as many of us hadn't been there before it was a little fun to find. Slowly everyone trickled in after driving in circles a bit and making phone calls to help locate the lot. Then we had the challenge of buying a parking ticket to steer clear of the campus security forces that I saw driving around. Actually, that was a nice way for some of us to get a little warm up run because the ticket meter was quite a distance from the area where we parked.  Read on here

Club Fat Ass Events, Tour De Howe Sound, DolphinsFlash - Foolishly Yours 50km. Event Host - Karl Jensen.  Results are posted here.

Flash - Tour De Howe Sound. Event Hosts - old time FA's, newbies and future FA's. Photos and videos of the weekend are posted here.

Photo left: Schools of dolphins delight the crew of the Tour De Howe Sound yachts

CONTESTS

Club Fat Ass, traveling colours contest, yellow, technical running shirtRefer A Friend Contest. Same contest, same rules, new year. Up-to-date standings here. Check out how to participate in the Refer a Friend Contest.
 
2010 Traveling Colours Contest.  Same contest, same rules, new year. Pictures of your 2010 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:  Christina in Switzerland wishes for more Fat Asses in her neighborhood.

2010 Point Series. Same contest, same rules, new year and new contenders.  Reagan is stealthily working on his New Years Resolutions and temporarily surpassed Action Jackson and yours truly.   Currently, we have a tie for 2nd between Des, Jess and Ean, but there's still time for you to win bragging rights and a pair of new runners!  Read about how to collect points. Up-to-date standings 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 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

 

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