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Dear Friends and Members of Club Fat Ass,
It's that time of the year when we do a bit of belly-button gazing and ask our members and newsletter subscribers what they think about the Club. A BIG thank you for taking the time to complete our annual member survey.
We are still in the process of analyzing the responses, but overall, we are grateful and impressed by the thoughtful, practical, and sometimes passionate comments you provided. You definitely gave us the information and advice we need to help us chart a course for the next year.
To read about some of the overall trends to emerge so far and find out who won the Nathan double water bottle holder, be sure to read the brief survey report further down in the newsletter.
It's still not too late yet to participate in the survey. If you missed it, but would like to make your voice heard, please use your email invitation to complete the survey before midnight tonight.
Stay healthy!
Sibylle Tinsel
Chief Executive Fat Ass
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UPCOMING EVENTS
 Speaker Night - Injury Prevention: Thursday 12 July 2007 - North Vancouver, BC Canada. Join Kintec and Club Fat Ass for a 45 minute fun run in the jungle followed by a 45 minute seminar on injury prevention for runners and how to keep healthy in training. There will be pizza, maybe a prize on the run, and lots of opportunity for questions and answers. This session is free for friends and members of Club Fat Ass. Pre-registration is required, as attendance is limited to 20 people. More info at Speaker Night - Injury Prevention for Runners.
Photo above: At the start of last year's North Idaho Kick Ass 50
 North Idaho Kick Ass 50/25 Run: 21 July 2007 - Eastport, Idaho, USA. 50 or 25 km on North Idaho trails. There are hills and animals . . . (the hills are of medium difficulty, the animals include moose, black bears, deers, etc.) . . . but neither will probably kill you. Find out more!
Photo right: Bill's Great Peak Ascent Event Host at WS100
Bill's Great Peak Ascent: 21 July 2007 - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. Join Bill on a trail run from the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve (LSCR) to the top of Grouse Mountain and back. You can choose to run 30 km, 15 km, or less, some of it technical, but most of it not. Approximately 2 km (6,700') of elevation change over roughly 30 km. Decent views, weather permitting. More info and registration here.
Mary Leliveld's Happy Trails Run: 2 August 2007 - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. This remembrance run is an opportunity for friends of Mary Leliveld to get together as well as a fundraiser for a bursary in Mary's name. Find out more about the bursary and donate here. The 10 km trail run is set in the beautiful Lynn Canyon Headwaters Park area of North Vancouver on terrain that ranges from flat and smooth to small hills with a few rocks. The emphasis is on camaraderie rather than competition. We would like to see this be a group run where we celebrate the life of a friend who can't join us anymore. This is an excellent event for beginning trail runners, followed by a potluck dinner and post-run party. Details here!
 Fluffy Bunny Trail Run: 4 August 2007 - Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada. Are you tough enough for the Fluffy Bunny? Find out here!
The Full Monty: 18 August 2007 - Victoria, BC, Canada. Can you do the Full Monty? Check it out here.
Photo left: Event Host Carlos at the Full Monty, August 2006
Capilano Canyon Night Run (A Midsummer Night's Dream): 18 August 2007, North Vancouver, BC Canada. A classic CFA run. Find out more here.
Photo right: Ludo at the top of the world on the Full Monty course.
 Flash - Stein Valley Run: Date TBD, BC, Canada. This is envisioned as a 52 km group run along Blowdown Pass Traverse in the Stein Valley wilderness sometime in late-summer. There could be 1 or 2 groups based on ability. Possible carpooling from Vancouver. Please check the website for more info and updates on the planning of this event.
Flash - R2R2R Road Trip: Date TBD, CO, USA. A road trip to run the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim. This run is currently in the planning stages and tentatively scheduled for early October. Express your interest and take part in the planning here.
NEWS
Annual Membership Survey. A BIG thank you to all who took the time to complete our survey. We are still in the process of analyzing the responses, but overall, we are grateful and impressed by thoughtful, practical, and sometimes passionate comments provided by our respondents. You definitely gave us the information and advice we need to help us chart a course for the next year. Some of the overall trends to emerge so far
- you like the newsletter, pretty much as is, but if we have to cut volunteer time, most would be okay with a shorter, but still regular, newsletter.
- you would rather pay a small event fee, or have us reduce services, than see any increase in membership fees
- some areas you want us to work on are more event locations (we need your help for this!), shorter events, sponsor discounts, and speaker events or clinics
- you gave us lots of great suggestions for sponsors that we might never have thought of ourselves
- there was a small but passionate contingent who felt maybe we want to do too much, and that rather than pursuing sponsors, we should just stick to the basics
- several of you answered our call for help in specific areas. Thank you so much -- we will contact you shortly and put your talents to work!
It's still not too late to participate in the survey. If you missed it, but would like to make your voice heard, please use your email invitation to complete the survey before midnight tonight. The actual survey results will be available on the website sometime this summer.
And finally, the lucky winner of the snazzy Nathan double water bottle carrier is member Derrick Johnstone from North Vancouver.
Banner Ads. Some of you might have noticed that our website now offers banner ads. I hope you agree that the ads are displayed tastefully and do not take away from the look and feel of our site, yet offer recognition to Club sponsors, whose support we greatly appreciate. If you are interested in displaying your logo in the revolving ads, please contact me. Those of you who expressed interest in banner ads via the survey will be contacted in the next few days.
Sponsors. A reminder that Trail Runner Magazine offers members of Club Fat Ass a special discounted subscription. Club members can go to www.trailrunnermag.com and enter this promotion code (CCFA0607) to get $5 off the regular subscription price of 6 issues for $14.95 plus shipping.
New Gear. Check out the new stuff in the Club Fat Ass online store. How about a funky hoodie to keep you warm after a run? Or a BBQ apron for your favourite grill-meister? We've also got cheeky boxers and thongs as well as mugs or stickers. Perfect gifts for that special person who has everything . . .
Free 2008 memberships. Just a reminder that all Event Hosts of scheduled events on record this year will automatically receive a complimentary 2008 membership in Club Fat Ass. A big thank you to all of you who are putting back into the community by hosting free events.
Promoting your Club. We would love your help in promoting the Club in person and online. One way to achieve that is, of course, to wear your Club t-shirt. Another is to provide a link on your blog or website. We also have a nice brochure we'd like to get into race packets, community centers and running stores. Please contact me if you would like some brochures to distribute.
ADMINISTRIVIA
Communicating with Members. Quite a few of you have requested a way to communicate with other members. We have recently added a Buddylist and Private Messages to the features on the website. You can click on any username (usually posted at the top of a comment, blog or story) and add that person to your buddylist and/or send them a private message. You can also search for a user via the search function in the top right of every page. To change your message, notification or other account settings please visit your account.
Photo Uploading. There were a lot of digital cameras at our last few events. We are happy to see our event photos pop up on Flickr. In order to show your Flickr images on our site you need to follow a few simple steps that I have outlined here.
CLUB FAT ASS ON THE WEB
   
PAST EVENT RESULTS AND REPORTS
 Vancouver Skyline XTC: Event Host - Ean Jackson
The weatherman lied. True, he promised some precipitation in the early afternoon. The first drops fell, however, as the shutter closed on the starter photo.
It's a well known fact that I am not crazy about running in the rain. The prospect of running for 6 hours in the rain, I admit, did not excite me. The weatherman has been wrong in the past, I thought. Maybe this will blow over and the sun will come out in an hour or so? Funny how none of the other runners seemed much to care. Read the full report here.
Photo left: Pat collecting garbage during the XTC.
Photo below right: Chuck and Nathan at the Slack Ass 50 in Edmonton.
 The Slack Ass 50: Event Host - Alli Conroy
It was a small crowd that assembled to run the inaugural Slack Ass 50 in Edmonton. Looks like they had fun anyway. Alli and Chuck outdid themselves crewing for Nathan and providing GPS data. Nathan was thrilled (good on him for toughing out 50 miles on his own) with his first Club Fat Ass event and is thinking of starting an event in Lethbridge. Way to go! Check out results here.
Beyond Nine Mile: Event Host - Wendy Montgomery
Thanks to everyone who came out and participated in the first running of “Beyond 9-Mile.” We were lucky as the rain held off for most of the run with the exception of a few sprinkles here and there. Congratulations to Tracy Garneau who not only ran 18 km of the CFA event, but headed up to Whistler and won the women’s division of Comfortably Numb on Sunday. Tim, Rick and Gilles showed how tough they truly are by completing the entire route, including the long pull up 9-mile hill. All three men and Tracy are signed up to compete in the STORMY 100 mile solo in August. Ryan Conroy, who was suffering from a bit of an injury, managed to finish more than 18 km of the course. I believe Ryan has signed up for the Canadian Death Race on August 4-7 in Alberta. I wish him luck and hope to see him at STORMY 2008. Read on here.
CONTESTS
 2007 Travelling Colours Contest. Capture and share the tender moments you experience with your Club t-shirt throughout the year, and you might just win some great stuff! To participate, just e-mail me your photos. Those of you who have discovered Flickr can upload your submissions to your Flickr page, add them to the Club Fat Ass group, and tag them with TravellingColoursContest2007. Submissions we've received to date are posted here.
Photo right: Glenn and Ean crewing at the Western States 100-mile Endurance run in California.
2007 Point Series. Ean, Craig, Ryan, Sibylle and Des are still in the top 5, but Baldwin, Bill, John and Peter are in hot pursuit. With most CFA events still to come, the game is wide open. Don't forget to pre-register, pick-up litter during the event and refer your running buddies to CFA to maximize your chance of winning. Up-to-date standings are posted 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 favorite 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 Club Fat Ass. 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
    
Please visit the Club Fat Ass store to find cool merchandise with the happy porker logo.
CFA does not sell or otherwise distribute our member list.
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