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Dear Friends and Members of Club Fat Ass,
Spring has sprung and that means by now you should have received your 2009 Club colours in the mail or at your local Kintec Footlab store. Give it a workout. Let me know what you think of it and please take lots of action photos of you in it for the Travelling Colours Contest!
With the arrival of spring, there has been a buzz of activity and ideas at the Club Fat Ass headquarters. Thanks to those of you who already weighed in on updates around the point series and the help pages. To make your opinion known, make sure to take the poll.
Have you noticed the changes to our help pages? More opportunity to get help with writing stories, sharing photos, hosting events or other activities where you always get lost or messed up. Still frustrated? Tell me and I'll clarify in the help section.
Happy Trails,
Sibylle Tinsel
Chief Executive FA
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UPCOMING EVENTS
 Flash - Marathon Shuffle. 25 April - Powell River, BC, Canada. The Marathon Shuffle is a new CFA event with a long standing history. Since 1991, Eagle Walz has hosted the "Shuffle" as a fund-raiser for the Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society (PRPAWS). A CFA member is the only person to have run the whole SCT and CFA members hold the current course records for the Marathon Shuffle, a 30km run or walk through beautiful terrain and remaining stands of old growth rainforest. A Half Shuffle distance is also possible. In support of Eagle and his environmental and social goals, CFA has "adopted" the Marathon Shuffle as a Flash Event. (Free for members and non-members of Club Fat Ass). More info here.
Photo left: Angus and John toughing it out during a previous Marathon Shuffle
Photo right: Chad chomping down on his birthday muffin during last year's Hyson's Hijynx
 Flash - Hyson's Hiatus. 25 April - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. A 160 km aka 100 miler on the Baden Powell Trail between Deep Cove and St Andrews Rd (the road crossing before the hydro substation at Millstream/Craigmohr). Last year, Chad threw himself a 100 miler birthday party to celebrate his 37th and had a great time with lots of support from fellow FA’ers. This year the tradition will continue but will now be called Hyson's Hiatus. The reason...Chad is sidelined with an achilles injury that will likely keep me on the sidelines, so it is his turn to support The Fools who have unfinished business on the course and anyone else who joins in the festivities. Find out more 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.
North Shore Enduro. 9 May - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. A fun run in Vancouver's rugged North Shore mountains, the Enduro is on a 7.6 km loop course that lasts up to 6 hours. 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). A tune-up for Western States and other summer 100-milers for the competitive solo runner. More info and registration here.
 Photo left: ActionJackson soaking in a hotspring in an undisclosed location...
Photo right: North Shore Enduro
Flash - Baldy's Bonkfest. 16 May - Squamish, BC, Canada. Part of the CFA - Stormy collaboration on training runs for the Stormy Trail Race. Details here.
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 - 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.
 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.
Poster Children. Who will be the poster children modelling the new Club colours for our website? If you are interested, please email me for details.
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.
Photo left: Glenn and Rick sporting their 2009 Club colours near Santa Fe.
O f 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.
Changes to the Point Series. The steering committee is proposing a few changes to how you earn points toward the point series. Since this would mean changing the rules half way through the year, we thought we'd give you a chance to give us your opinion. Please take a brief survey here.
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.
CFA ON THE WEB
    
PAST EVENT RESULTS AND REPORTS
 Burnaby Mountain Run. Event Host - Tara Haddad. Thanks everybody for coming out to attack the killer hill on Burnaby Mountain. I believe this is the first time in the history of the event that the weather gods laughed upon us. It was certainly nice to take in the breathtaking panoramic views of Vancouver, Burrard Inlet, Indian Arm and the snow covered mountain ranges beyond. Still, there were a few isolated snow patches hiding beside the trail on the north side of Simon Fraser University and the trees were bare (opposed to last year, where the event took place at the beginning of March and some green was already sprouting.) Read on here.
Photo left: Starter Photo at the Burnaby Mountain Run
Photo right: Colin during the Cyclebetes fundraising event
 Spring Bunny Hop. Event Host - James Sinclair. James was the lone bunny hopping around the beautiful trails of Oak Ridges Moraine. He's eager to meet BC Fat Asses, Amy and Andrew, who are about to move to Ontario and hope to get some more events and participation going.
Cyclebetes Spin-a-Thon. Thanks to all supporters. The Club Fat Ass team Colin organised raised about $1,300 out of the $110,000 raised during the entire event. Check out the video here.
Run to the Clouds. Event Host - Pete Stace-Smith. Thanks goes to the 56 runners that came out in somewhat miserable conditions yesterday for a run in the woods. Great to see such a turn-out. This is the 4th year that Run to the Clouds has been on, and the numbers keep on growing. Once again I was asked yesterday if there will be a  2010 version, and I'd say if there is this type of interest, the run must go on. Special thanks to Diane Stace-Smith (my wife) and our friend Ruby Ferguson who came out and help set up the aid station at the North end of the lake - getting all those health food chips, cookies and gummy worms ready for runners wanting a short break. Also thanks to Peter vanGaalen (another CFA runner) who took a few hours off on Friday to come lug water and Gatoraid up the mountain to the high point turn-around so that runners would have a stash to draw on if needed up top. Full results here.
Photo left: Braving the cold waters of Buntzen Lake after a snowy Run to the Clouds
Photo right: Trail breaking during the Spring Mountain Highway Madness
 Spring Mountain Highway Madness. Event Host - Ean Jackson. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Or so it felt as we assembled under the Kintec tent at the start of the 8th annual Mountain Highway Madness. Global warming? What global warming? Yes, Mother Nature threw another late-season curve ball and gave us the most snow in the history of this event. In summary, the event was a disaster for those hoping to set a course speed record or get in multiple loops. For those who toed the line in the snow, however, our run turned out to be an unforgettably beautiful group run in the untracked powder. Read on here.
CONTESTS
 2009 Travelling Colours Contest. Pictures of your 2009 adventures wearing your Club shirt (any colour) can be posted to Flickr following the instructions here. Glenn and Rik were the first members to submit photos of their brand spanking new 2009 shirts to the contest. Check them out here 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.
2008 Point Series. Des is on track to win this again, so we thought we make him work a bit harder and propose to give points to Flash Event Hosts. 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.
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
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CFA does not sell or otherwise distribute our member list.
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