January 2010 Newsletter

UPCOMING EVENTS

Healthy Eating Workshop. 23 January - Vancouver, BC.  Check out this nutrition workshop by business member Curb Ivanic of Core Fitness. Special rate for Club Fat Ass members. Details here.

Squamish Scrambler. 6 February - Squamish, BC, Canada. This is an out-and-back snowshoe hike/run up to Elfin Lakes Cabin in Squamish (22km). Bring the family as far as Red Heather, a 10km return snowshoe hike, or continue on up towards Little Diamond Head, or out towards Mamquam Lake, depending on conditions and motivation. Savor spectacular views of The Tantalus Range, Howe Sound and Sky Pilot.  More info here.

Photo left:  Snowshoers on the return route from the Elfin Cabin.

Photo right: On the dark trails during last year's Capilano Canyon Night Run

Capilano Canyon Night Run. 13 March - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. A 90-minute run that starts in a suburban neighborhood, traverses the twilight zone, then stimulates your senses with a trail run in the mist and inky blackness of the Capilano Canyon. Choose between a guided group run at a gentle pace for the socially-inclined and first time night runner or a competitive run for those more motivated by the clock and the opportunity to rip their buddy's lungs out. Both runs followed by a potluck party and celebration of Fat Tuesday. Entry limited to first 50 entrants, so please register early!

Photo left: Breaking trail during last years Spring Mountain Highway Madness

Spring Mountain Highway Madness. 21 March - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. This mind-numbing interval session is officially held twice a year. Runners complete one or more 15 km laps (with approximately 1 km or 3,300' of elevation change per lap) on a wide dirt and gravel access road (no traffic). Check it out here!

2010 Club Garment.  The order is in and the wheels are now in motion for the production of your limited edition 2010 Club garment.  The colours are "sunshine yellow" for both the girls and the boys shirts. We haven't decided on screen colours yet... how about purple for the girls and orange for the boys? 

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

Sponsors.  A big, fat "Thank you!" to the business members of CFA who supported our Club this past year and those who signed up or renewed for 2010.  Please make sure you consider them when shopping or looking for professional services.  Please also remember that, apart from providing draw prizes, most of our Business members also offer Club Members a discount, so be sure to ask at the cash register.

(click on the Kintec coupon for your print version)

Member Posting Privileges.  Did you know that current Club Fat Ass members have special privileges at the "online clubhouse"?  Did you know that you can organize your training runs as Flash events?  Sure, it's a bit more trouble than sending out an email to the usual suspects, but by sharing your plans with others in the running community, you become an instant leader.  (Sandbaggers, beware: It's harder for run leaders to secret train!)   Routine or exceptional, you can share your running adventures and experiences with your friends and fellow Club members with a blog.  To do this, log in with your member username and look for your navigation block in the left hand column.  Click "create content" and then chose blog.  If you don't see this feature and are a 2010 member, please  drop me a line.  Current members can also share a bit about themselves and have their photo appear with their written contributions to the clubhouse.  Just complete your User Profile.

Web Account Information.  Save time.  Don't miss emails. The start of an event-full new year is the perfect time to confirm your web account information.   Registering for Club events is a snap if you take advantage of the autofill feature.  Your registration form is completed for you from the information in your web account profile.  Please make sure the information and email address is current as this is were the website sends notifications and password requests.  Note: currently, your web account information is separate from the information you submitted with your membership registration.

CONTESTS

Travelling Colours Contest.  As the year came to a close, there were some interesting battles going on between the top finishers in the 2009 Travelling Colors Competition.  Tactics included:  promoting t-shirt photos on Facebook and Flickr with the message to friends and family being, "Vote for me!"  All's fair in love and war! 

Congrats to Bill who won a refund on his 2010 dues for his colourful image taken during a Caribean holiday with fiance, Jess Bassil, and his son.  Runner up was Katie's post run photo at the Run To the Clouds and third place is awarded to Ean, proudly presenting the brass porker he purchased in a garage sale while running the Vancouver Skyline XTC last summer. A slideshow of all 2009 contributions is posted here.

Get a head start on this year's contest by taking lots of photos of yourself in your Club garment and sharing them by following the instructions here.

2009 Point Series. Ta da... the most active Club member of 2009 was Craig Moore of North Vancouver, Canada with 68 Club points.  His strategy? Craig participated in 20 CFA events in 2009.  He signed-up early, showed up, hosted two events, and collected trash at most of the events he participated in.  Craig won a certificate for a pair of running shoes from Kintec Footlabs.

Second and third place go to your's truly and Action Jackson, but we only play for fun not to win.  Fourth place place was claimed by Des Mott of North Vancouver.  Des collected 50 points through a healthy mix of hosting an event and cleaning trash from the trails.

Congrats to everyone in the Club for making this contest a lot of fun. Final 2009 Standings are posted here.

The 2010 Point Series is already in full swing. Read here about how to collect points and win a pair of spanking new trail shoes for accumulating more points than your fellow club members.  2010 standings are posted here.

Refer a Friend Contest. Congrats to Kristie Congram, who won the inaugural Refer a Friend Contest and a SOLE footcare package valued at over $200 provided from Kintec Footlab. Kristie might not have had an active running year as injuries and surgeries put her training on hold, but she certainly was active recruiting new members from as far away as Missouri. 

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 pair of trail runners from Kintec Footlabs!  Check out the simple Refer a Friend Contest rules and meet the competition here. 

New Year's Resolution Contest. And the winner is...Claudia!  She was able to accomplish 80% of the athletic resolutions she made for 2009.  Claudia also received a certificate for a pair of running shoes from our business member, Kintec Footlabs. Here are all the 2009 resolutions and self-evaluations. 

Want to share your 2010 resolutions with the world?  Here's how you can do it!  You can check out any musings related to the contest here. 

The member who comes closest to their resolutions will win a SOLE footcare package courtesy of our friends and sponsors at Kintec Footlabs.

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.