Congratulations to all of you on more great races.

Pat M, JJ Hill and myself (Colin Rice) joined a few other runners and did the Juan de Fuca trail run on Sunday. This flash event was an epic 47 km long trail run with a bit of everything included. It also at 10 ½ hours more than doubled my previous ever longest run. Here are two links to the photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/pat.malavi/JuanDeFuca2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCKSh9s–wdCTaw&feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.ca/william.schuurman/JuanDeFucaTrailRun#

Pat M, JJ and I ran with Kathy McKay and Willie Schuurman from China Beach to Port Renfrew on Sunday. We also met up with Bev from Nanaimo. We ran on forest trails, over roots and rocks, along numerous beaches, up steep hills, down treacherous slopes, over 54 creeks, along narrow logs, suspension bridges, boardwalks, ladders, climbing ropes, angry wasp nests, bear (1), a sea lion, naturalists, backpackers, etc. The stings, bruises, scrapes and mud were all part of the epic adventure. Pat’s parent and their longtime friends showed us amazing hospitality with a pre-event dinner, accommodations and the set up of an impressive aid station at Sombrio Beach. I was the slowest at 10 and ½ hours but I enjoyed every minute of it. Now if only my legs would stop hurting.

Congratulations to first time Ironman finisher  Barton Pietras and to Trudy Harris, Carmen Cameron, Jackie Davidson, Andrew Do and Rob Herron who each had a personal best in the race. Kudos to you all.

A couple of interesting stats, Trudy earned a spot on the podium  with a 4th in her age category and Jackie came 8th in her age category which earned her a coveted spot at the Ironman World Championships in Kona this October. Of the 2,605 finishers, 1809 were male and 796 were female. And, I know at least 10 SAA members have signed up for 2011 – training started today.

Also, I think it appropriate to thank all the club volunteers who went up to help out and/or support the athletes. Too many to mention by name, but, for 5 days they were supporting their loved ones, registering, body marking, course marshalls, strippers, catchers or cheering the athletes along… again, Thanks to each of you.

On Saturday, Walter Kwan was in Whistler doing the 5 Peaks, Whistler sport distance and once again did very well.

And today in Kelowna doing the Olympic distance of the Kelowna Apple Triathlon was Les Pereira who also had a great showing.

Congratulations to both of you and great job once again.

Down in Washington State, at the Lake Stevens 70.3 (half iron), the SAA was represented by Joel Waithman who had a great race. Congratulations, Joel.

Closer to home, in our backyard, was the Inaugural Steveston Sockeye Spin Criterium which had both Ira Sy and Jeremy Wilson competing in the Men’s Cat 3/4 group. It was a tough group but both Ira and Jeremy had a good showing.

It’s only appropriate to acknowledge Stephen Ptucha and Linda Hilts who were on the organizing committee. It turned out great with a total of 89 participants. We had a large contingency of volunteers out to help for the day. The SAA volunteers included Colin McKay, Barb Hinds, Fay and Marinus Waterberg, Michelle Fox, Phil Webb, Tracey Shelley, Joanne Fox, George Tiller, Brian Bury, Erin Lee and Ben Hsu. Without the volunteers supporting these events they would never be this successful.

Race pictures can be viewed at:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/DHFriederich/StevestonSockeyeSpin?feat=email#

Also, today was the Richmond Oval 10K (first time at this distance) race. Both Julian Forman and Roger Keatley competed in this race, both performing well.

Congratulations once again to all the SAA competitors and thank you to everyone who volunteered.

Over in Sooke, at the Subaru Sooke Triathlon, George Tiller had a great half iron race coming in second in his age category. Great job George.

And in the Delta flatlands, it was a bit of a tough race by most accounts, but, Stephen Ptucha, Ira Sy, Susan Gelinas and Tracy Marshall all did well. I think the air quality had something to do with it.

Congratulations to everyone.

And, this week, I wanted to add a special thanks to the SAA volunteers who got up early, wore their SAA uniforms (missed their training runs) and took responsibility for 3 of the water stations at the Delta Half Marathon. Thanks to Erin Lee (and Tim), Joanne Fox (and Torbin), Linda Hilts, Dan McLaren, Tracey Shelley and Bev Kong.  You were awesome.

Saturday, was the 5 Peaks Seymour trail race in which Joel Waithman, Susan Gelinas and Erin Lee all did the Enduro (about 12KM) and Walter Kwan did the Sport distance (just over 6KM) and all had great races in spite of a few slips, spills, mud and bugs in this technical and challenging course. Great job everyone.

Out at UBC for the Point Grey Duathlon/Triathlon, we had Mark Hoath who came in 2nd place in his age category and  Tracey Baisley, Joe Lavoie and Dan McLaren did well in the sprint distance.  Everyone did well in the race and in their categories.

And, down in chilly San Francisco, Tracy Marshall took on the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park and the hills of San Francisco to also have a great race.

So another busy weekend on the race circuit – congratulations to everyone.

On Saturday, a group from the club began the long journey from Seattle to Portland by bike. This 200-mile bicycle ride is the largest multi-day bicycle event in the Northwest, with up to 10,000 participants riding from Seattle to Portland in one or two days. The route takes you through the scenic valleys, forests, and farmlands of western Washington and Oregon. Included in the 10,000 riders the SAA had Stephen Ptucha, Susan Gelinas, Brian Flett on the one day ride and Mike and Michelle LaPorte taking the route on in two days.

I hear it was quite chilly both mornings for the start of the ride, but, the riders were proudly sporting their new Tyvek jackets.

Back in Vancouver, and a very warm 8 am starting time, Julian Forman had a very nice run around the seawall in the Summerfast 10 Km race. Hear the homemade snacks at the end were just as great as always.

On Sunday, in Penticton, we had a great showing for the Olympic distance, Peach Classic Triathlon. The weather was great and Michelle Horstmann came 2nd in her age category (oh, and 9th women to finish) at her first Olympic distance tri in spite of crashing on a downhill turn (both Michelle and her bike are fine). Jackie Davidson also made it to the podium coming in 3rd in her age category. Also in Penticton were Trudy and Doug Harris who both also did quite well.

And, down at Chelan Lake in Washington State on Saturday, Barb Hinds took on the Olympic distance and did quite well.  In fact, she took about 12 minutes off her 2009 time in the same race. This is a beautiful race that takes place in and around Chelan Lake.

And, one more, in Langley on Sunday for the Langley Half Marathon, Ira Sy had another great race finishing well up in the standings and in his age category (sorry, I had missed this on the original post). 

Congratulations to everyone on another great showing.

On Saturday, Benji Chu took on the 50K Knee Knacker from Horseshoe Bay to Deepcove and cut almost 8 minutes off his 2009 time for the race. It’s one of the 25 toughest races in North America.

On Sunday, Grand Yeh was in Squamish for the Squamish Triathlon (Olympic Distance) and had another great performance having just come off doing the Sprint in the Subaru Vancouver Tri last weekend. (note the photo is from 2009)

Also on Sunday, doing the Persona Desert Half Ironman in Osoyoos was Phil Webb. Phil has been unable to train over the past few months, so it’s great to see that he is back out.  And, he did very well – an amazing comeback.

Another great showing over the weekend for SAA members.  Congratulations to all.

 In White Rock, the Peace Arch News Do the Rock 10K saw Andy Palaniak win his age category and Ira Sy also had a great race (not sure of his final time but he did very well). The course has a huge hill that goes on forever (about 2K steadily climbing) and then ends with a downhill that goes for about 2K.  It’s a tough race.

In addition, there was a group of SAA cyclists out for the Steveston Salmon Festival Parade promoting the upcoming criterium in Steveston (August 15) – not competing, but their bigger challenge was how to go that slow.

Congratulations to all.