Don’t forget this Sunday is the SAA Pancake & Bacon Breakfast after the morning run. Come for a run then a nice social breakfast with your club mates. If you can’t make the run, then just show up for the breakfast.

Wear or bring your SAA Uniform as Erin Lee will be organizing Club photos.

Date:                   Sunday August 22, 2010
Time:                  After the morning run around 9:30am
Location:          Common room at 12333 English Ave
On the Menu:   Pancakes, bacon, baked goods, fruit, tea and coffee

A big THANK YOU to all the SAA members who volunteered at the Steveston Sockeye Spin this past Sunday. The inaugural race went very well and feedback from the racers, Cycling BC, spectators and organizers has been very positive. Of special note were the volunteers who did an amazing job in all areas; pedestrian marshaling, registration, course setup, lap counting, pace car driving, etc. Here’s one racer’s comments which shows the little things really matter:

“You know- the support group of 8 people that comes for Russ Hays and Pro City Riders felt that out of every event this year, this was by far the best. They went to every BC cup race too! They were also at the other races on the Calendar this year. Many people felt it was the very best race in terms of atmosphere, location, volunteers, organization and event service. Somebody came up to me while I was warming down on my trainer after the race to say ‘thank you’ for coming. The volunteers were so helpful and paying attention to safety”

From an organizer’s standpoint, my job was made that much easier knowing I had my SAA volunteer crew out there, you guys and gals are truley the best!
Sincerely,

Stephen Ptucha
Chief of Course, Steveston Sockeye Spin
President, Steveston Athletic Association

Another very hot weekend. No rain in sight and it got pretty hot out there. 

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.

The triathlon season is winding down or everyone is getting ready for Ironman Canada which is now less than 3 weeks away.

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.

The SAA is looking for SAA members who want to help lead our Running Training Sessions. The club will have an overall running program written and some of the sessions may have prewritten workouts to follow (written by our Head Running Coach, Calvin Gehlen). The session coach will be responsible for picking the route and distance and ensuring the attendees understand the focus of the session based on the prewritten schedule / workout. The hope is for many people to step forward and share the daily coaching duties to spread out the load. If you’re interested in helping to lead this club please send your president a note (president@thesaa.ca).

There is a requirement for all of our coaches to be certified. This means they must have at least the “Community Coaching” level. If you don’t already have this, not to worry as TriBC is holding a Community Coaching clinic this November 6/7 in Delta, but they will fill up fast so sign up now. See TriBC’s website for details and registration info http://www.tribc.org/coaching-development. NOTE: SAA will partially subsidize your coaching clinic fee. Contact your president for more info

The SAA Club Gear website page has been updated to show what items are in stock and available for purchase. Check out the sale items! http://www.thesaa.ca/club-gear/

For those that ordered Champion uniforms, still waiting for an ETA from Champion although they should be here soon.

SAA is helping to organize the Steveston Sockeye Spin criterium bike race on Sunday August 15th right in the village of Steveston. Volunteers are need to help with course setup and take down, with pedestrian marshalling during the race (which gives you a front row view of the action), or some other areas. If you’re interested please send me a note (president@thesaa.ca). If you’re not able to volunteer, make sure you come and watch all the action and cheer the riders on …. with your new SAA cowbell, or look for the Sockeye Spin Cow Bell on sale this weekend at the Steveston Farmer’s market and on race day and start building your cow bell collection.

Race details can be found at:
http://www.stevestoncommunitysociety.com/SockeyeSpin.html

Tired of clapping for hours on end and losing all feelings in your hands or losing your voice from cheering at events, well now you don’t need to with the SAA Cow Bell. With a simple flick of the wrist you can create hours of beautiful cow bell sounds. Perfect for cheering on your spouse or favorite athlete at races or at home. Give them as a gift to your significant other so they can cheer you on. SAA cow bells are available in two colors; Pink with Purple logo and Orange with Blue logo, each for a low price of just $5. Get them at most SAA training sessions (just send president@thesaa.ca a note so I know how many to bring to the sessions). Get them while supplies last!

Well, another great weekend and another busy weekend of races. And, this week, we had everything from trail races to road races to a duathlon to a triathlon.

To start off the weekend (and take quite a bit of it up), Benji Chu and Pat Malaviarachchi took on the grueling Fat Dog 100 which starts near Keremeos and finishes in Manning Park – that’s about 100 miles (or possibly closer to 120). A very tough race where 60% of the starters dropped out.   It started at 4am on Friday morning – imagine running until 6pm on Saturday (YIKES).. This photo was taken at the finish… Pat, you look refreshed.

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.

Summer SAA Pancake Breakfast

Our second annual SAA pancake breakfast will take place on Sunday August 22nd after the morning run.

Date:                   Sunday August 22, 2010
Time:                   After the morning run around 9:30am
Location:               Common room at 12333 English Ave
On the Menu:    Pancakes, bacon, baked goods, fruit, tea and coffee

If anyone is interested in helping cook, please let Erin know at secretary@thesaa.ca