What happens at the Moose, stays at the Moose....

The TA has a history at this race; this marking our seventh appearance at the Moose run, the sixth with a number. As such we've run this race in snow and rain (in the same race), sun but screaming wind and cold, always cold. This year, the gloves were off, in a literal clothing sense.

Normally the pre-race chat is "what pace are you running" but on Sunday it was also "what are you wearing? Shorts? Really?". The warm-up settled it as all but one of us said 'no' to tights and 'yes' to shorts. One of our number decided "Shorts, definitely, these tights are way too warm. Oh my, I don't think I remembered to shave my legs"; thus highlighting one of the problems with early season races! You do need to remember to shave your legs the night before, just in case shorts end up being needed. How high is up to you as long as you remember which shorts you packed; the long baggy Premier League soccer shorts, running regular shorts or your trusty race-proven shorty-short tri-shorts. Nothing says "neo-Fred" like stubbly legs or a hairy line across your mid-thigh!

By our count triathletes only made up 8% of the field on Sunday. That's not to say that there were any fewer triathletes Moosing, rather than the good weather meant a record turnout of 150. Indeed, the race was slightly delayed as there was still a good queue to sign in with ten minutes to go. Rather than rely on our notoriously patchy memory, we came armed with a pad and pencil and came up with the following list (in no particular order); Kurt Stevenson, Ron MacDougall, Dan Thompson, Tina White, Steve Saunders, Laura Keefe, Ian Hayward, Brenda Topliss, Brigitte Sabourin, Lyn Vernon, Mike Kennedy and Steve Abbot. Furthermore Bev Richardson, Mike Pettipas and Shannon Read were there in support, backing up runners. Shannon and Mike were mobile on the course on their bikes, Shannon to cheer people on and Mike on official RNS business, topping his cycling togs off with a fetching fluorescent-green tabbard.

As predicted, Rami Bardessey won the overall, running within a minute or two of his course record. We mentioned in the preview that a ringer might turn up and put twenty minute into all of us, and we were nearly correct. A guy no-one had seen before, and whose name I can't remember despite being introduced several times (sorry!) signed on and ran a 1:30 for second place. He's aiming for a 2:35 at Ottawa this year and we wouldn't bet against it! The ladies also went as predicted, with Denise Robson winning with a two minute PB.

As the Duke of Wellington is reputed to have said "one may as well write the history of a ball as of a battle" and the same can be said of races, the perception of which can be quite different depending where, and when, you are. So what the TA saw of the race race might not be an accurate representation of the day. One thing common to us all was probably the perception of it being well supported. Not just by the race organisers though (which it was). In the preview we forgot to tell you about the relay; teams of three, each taking on ca. 8km. (after all, 25 km is a distance not to be taken on with alacrity) . The tag-zone was at the second/fourth water table at the corner of Cow Bay and Bissett Roads. This made for a little cheer-zone at what traditionally felt like the low-spot in the race and really made the event feel like a lot more fun.

One story we are familiar with is Laura Keefe's. She was locked in a battle for a good part of the race and came home second lady, or first regular person as we prefer to call it. She spent many of the 25 kms of it with Kurt Stevenson, who (for the record) ran a 2 minute PB. Remember how we said that the Moose wouldn't tell you if you were in shape for a spring marathon, but it would tell you if you weren't? Well, that huge result must have been good news for Kurt, who is preparing for his first marathon. Not that we think he's obsessing about it but he told us in days how long until the big day!

Knowing we had a date with a large plate of pork-based breakfast products we had to leave before the results were up, but when we find them, we'll post them. Big props by the way to the RD and RNS team who between them compiled a 150-strong results list armed with a stop-watch and clip-board.

We don't have any photographs yet either; the TA's overall visual impression of the race was something like this...


...but there were a goodly number of cameras pointed in the general direction of the race, so when we find any, we'll either post or link to them.

How did the TA do? Well, it wasn't our best Moose ever but it wasn't our worse either. As you might have guessed from the picture, was a hard day out. Of course, we probably shouldn't have gone out at our 5K pace (give or take a few seconds). We hung in there though, scoffed gels and played the mental game, concentrated on our form and tried to ignore that we weren't having "good sensations" in our legs (as a Euro-Pro cyclist would say). As a dress rehearsal for bigger, longer races in the depressingly near future it didn't bode too well, but Brenda Topliss has since convinced us that we made our mistakes in the dry-run and the main show will go fine!

A big chapeau to RD Tom Harmes, who as always puts on a great race and we were so happy that his event was finally blessed with great weather. Congrats to all for running great races; everyone was looking fit and seemed to be raring and ready for the season.

Our next date will be the Credit Union Atlantic Lung Run on Saturday April 10th; a pan-flat 5K around Pier 21 and possibly the fastest road-race in Nova Scotia. Then there's Stacy Juckett-Chestnutt's 5K and 4/28/4 duathlon double header on 8/9 May. Best go and sharpen up our fast-twitch muscles and lactic threshold then.


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Hoots mon....

Well folks, the Sunday morning lie-in is officially history for another eight months; race-season is here. The Hypothermic Half or the Back To Basics 8-miler will have marked the first time most of us would have had the opportunity to pin on a race number this year and we know many of you did. Coming up this Sunday is the Moose run, but before we get to that, this seems like a good idea to look at the "How Many Races Did You Do Last Year?" poll.

This was for any type of race, not just tris or dus; you could count running races, bike races, adventure races, wheatever you liked. As far as we were concerned if they gave you a dossard or they wrote on your arm; it counted.

The most popular answer was six-to-ten, with just over 40% of you doing this number of races, followed by ca. 35% with between one to five and then a few hardy souls with over ten, with at least one person at twenty (pers comm). Ron MacDougall clearly didn't vote; by our tally he added at least twenty-five dossards to his already impressive collection; that guy has his own personal sponsor for safety-pins (and possibly ibuprofen)! We understand Ron has heard of the notion of the "taper" but bears no truck with it, and to be honest, it seems to suit him well.

These data support the data we have in the office for TNS sanctioned events, with a majority of members doing less than five races in the series, although last year Ryan Kemp did a knee-shattering ten events (which considering we only sanction a dozen or so is a huge number). Chuck in a Bluenose, Cabot Trail and the Rum Runners and there's your six-to-ten!

So coming into this year, how many races do you anticipate doing? We know that you won't have mapped out in excruciating detail what you'll be doing in the 3rd weekend of October (PEI marathon? NSAC Homecoming 5K?) but you'll have a rough idea of how you think the year will pan out, what your goals are, your A-races and B-races, so let us know. Same caveat applies; if they're going to give you something to pin on or print on your arm and contralateral leg, it counts!

So, back to the Moose. Of course, we can never say "Moose" without thinking "Loose", "Aboot" and "Hoose"...



As any with confirmed survivor of the eighties, we had to have the Bad Manners version, but for you traditionalists out there, here's the original Lord Rockingham's XI version....



and if you think you can understand that, then try Donald Where's Your Troosers.



And that's the easy-to-understand version!

Anyway, back to the Moose. It's traditionally a Boston warm-up but many Bluenosers test their form here too. The Moose won't tell you if you're on form for that spring marathon, but it will tell you if you are not. It's a pretty low-key event; no chips, just some poor sod from RNS with a stop-watch and a clip-board, you'll get a dossard but it will likely be from the 2005 race-series or something. Mark Stein will probably be giving it the usual though, although the music may be off in deference to the neighbours (how are we supposed to race without a bit of "Gonna Fly Now"?).

The Hoose this Moose is Loose in is the Buffalo Lodge in Eastern Passage (here). The RNS website has it starting at 10:00. It's free to enter, but a donation is gratefully accepted.

It's an out and back, starting from the Lodge. There's a little detour around a subdivsion to get the distance in at the beginning. Hang a left on the Cow Bay Road, pass the eponymous Moose and carry on to nearly Rainbow Haven where you'll turn left onto Bissett Road. Carry on to the turn, which is at the lot where they film the Tailer Park Boys. Then come back the way you came. The terrain is gently rolling, apart from the bits which are quite viscously rolling. It's historically windy. The last four editions have been under sun, but it has been known to snow. Despite it's low-key status, there are four water stops, at roughly 8 km, 13 km and 17 km and 23 km, but bring your own magic potion, it's usually just water.


After running all those rollers, you can be a bit punch-drunk come the end of the race. The Moose is what you're looking for. In case you manage to miss a huge fibreglass moose, look for the windmill instead. Failing that there's a water table here too. All of these signs tell you that you are nearly home. It's not the Citgo sign, but it's nice to know what you're aiming for. It's about a kilometre from the moose/birdchopper/watertable to the intersection, where it's a left and another kilometer to the finish.


Be warned, there is a little uphill here just after the junction that can be a nasty little sting in the Moose's tail. Take a leaf out of the TA's book should you be in a battle here; don't take the lead too early, bide your time, just let buddy/buddyess do the work up the hill (about 500m) and as soom as the road starts to flatten out and turn to the left, punch it.

This is a race that triathletes have really made their own recently. Well over 20% of the field are triathletes, and to be honest, it is often the first time many of us see one another after a winter of long dark solo runs and hours in the basement on the trainer. Honestly, sometimes the craic is more a part of this event than the race itself sometimes.


Rami "The Rocket" Bardessy and Denise "Pocket Rocket" Robson have a tendancy to win with course records (last year, he made it look so easy, at least the bastard could have broken a sweat, or made a show of it feeling hard), but behind them the racing is in earnest. We understand that Rami is going to line up this year and that the trash-talking has already started in earnest.


Behind Rami, well Ray Morehead, Harry Neynens and Terry Molloy have all performed well here and are all candiates for the T-shirt. Or maybe a ringer has moved into the area over the winter and is going to put twenty minutes into us all. Perhaps Denise Robson will girl the whole field for her first overall win in Nova scotia. She's due an overall (no pressure Denise).

After Denise, the ladies' race was very interesting last year, with Stacy Juckett and Marie-Claude Gregoire taking it down to the wire with 2nd place overall (or first regular person) going to Stacy, but only after some late final mile action.

We also understand that TNS banquet guest speakers Dave Nevitt and Ray Williams are going to do a double Moose (a herd of Moose? A mega-Moose? A tera-Moose? Meeses? we can't decide). Any bets on if the Cookie Monster will do the same?

So, instead of doing yet another long run around the pennisuala, why don't we see you at the Moose this weekend? Sunday at ten......