Racing Roundup

Another quick round-up of TNS-related results from around the Maritimes.

Caryn Small-Legs Nagge ran a 3:39:54 and won her age-group at the Fredericton Marathon on May 9th, the day after volunteering at Stacy's Benny Bulldog 5K in Shubie.

Our summer-student last year, Shawn "you wanted the buoys for a triathlon? Really?" Miller, was 3rd in the Nautilus Harbour Front 10K in St Johns with a rather rapid 35:46, just missing a PB.

We'll bring you results from the Hustle for Hunger when we get them. We think Mark Campbell was involved (whether running or helping out we don't know). We just hope he was getting enough rest in, in advance of the great silliness.

And the Tartan Tally now stands at 10!

As always, as much as we try, there'll always be a race or two we overlook. Let us know if you've raced somewhere interesting and how you made out; comment on the blog or on Facebook or email us at triathlon@sportnovascotia.ca.

See you at Bluenose; pop down the booth at the Expo or catch up with us during the run; triathletes are bunnying the 1:30 and 1:45 halfs, look for the ears.....

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Du It For Shelter race report

The Du It For Shelter Duathlon (henceforth DIFS) event was held last Sunday, May 9th. the course was the same as the old Achy Joint Duathlon ( not Hammerman, as previously and erroneously reported, sorry) but under new management and for a different cause. Sunday's management was courtesy of Stacy Chestnutt and Tim Chestnutt, and the cause was the St Leonards Society that provides shelters and transition houses for the homeless. DIFS was run in conjunction with a 5k in Shubie Park the day before, and between them the two events raised over $4000 for St Leonards. the event was also in memorium for Stacy's beloved bulldog Benny, who passed early this year, hence the bulldog theme branded on everything, including the very chunky finishers medals and some decidedly smart race-trophies. We're not sure if this is coincidence or not, but we wonder if Stacy was hanging around truck-stops nicking hood-ornaments from Mack trucks?



Both the Weather Network and Environment Canada were calling for rain, but the 50 or so who turned up in Musquodobit Harbour on Sunday morning were treated to warm sunshine, albeit somewhat tempered by a blustery west wind, which blew across the bike-course, making for blustery conditions, certainly, we're glad we weren't the bloke who rode on a rear disk on Sunday; big kudos for keeping it upright and level!

There was one, unforeseen last-minute hold-up; after Stacy had herded the cats onto the start-line it was pointed out that Ron MacDougall had left his bike shoes not in TZ but on the roof of his car, so we were held on the line for two minutes while Ron jogged to the car-park, retrieved his shoes and jogged back to TZ to place them with his bike and helmet. Kurt Stevenson wryly pointed out that with the number of races Ron does, you'd think he would have figured out a system by now. Once Ron had rejoined the throng, we were off.


The Piggott lads took off at a great rate of knots. Several hardy (Ed - foolhardy more like) people tried to stay with them, but we were all shelled off the back within a few hundred metres. R1 was a straight 2km shot down the trail, dead-turned around a pylon and back the way we came. Brad and Matt ran easily together with a couple of hundred metres lead at the turn. Shawn Amirault pegged back some time on the way back to TZ. A little further back, newcomer Caitlin Gillis, who we understand is the sister of Erin Gillis, was causing fits and starts amongst the faster women by leading the ladies into T1.

The bike course was a rolling out-and-back on Meaghers Grant Road; the race-distance being shortened slightly due to inclement road conditions further up the road. The course was full of rolling hills and false-flats and was made more sporting by a blustery cross wind that at times was also a head- and a tail-wind both on the way to the turn and the way back. Brad and Matt didn't have the bike all their way, Shawn Amirault was able to peg back the minute he'd conceded on the run to catch and pass the lads at the turn. Shawn was the only rider to break 40 minutes for the 24km test. In the ladies race, Caitlin, riding a mountain bike, conceded time to ladies Provincial champ Heather Doucette, who wasn't, and who led the ladies into T2 after posting the fasts ladies bike-split.

Brad and Matt were both catching Shawn by T2. Brad, leading his brother by 30 seconds, passed Shawn in transition heading out to R2. They both posted sub-15 4ks, in fact Brad's 4K was 13:41, and he took the event in 1:08:57, 50 seconds ahead of Matt, with Shawn in 3rd with a 1:11:12. Heather maintained the lead she had built on the bike to take the ladies race in 1:19:47 with Marie-Claude Gregoire 1:57 back for 2nd and Brigitte Sabourin 4 minutes back in 3rd.

Among the volunteers, we really feel we must mention Kurt Stevenson. He was supposed to run the Fredericton marathon on Sunday and had been training all winter for it. However he dinged his ribs quite badly in a bike-crash four weeks ago and hadn't recovered sufficiently to take the marathon on; but seeing as his helmet was written off in the process, one can see how it could have been much worse. Anyway, instead of sitting on the couch being all grumpy at missing the marathon, he turned up to DIFS instead and worked TZ and mount/dismount. Although healthier than watching cartoons eating cookie-dough (Clif bar cookie dough?) ice-cream directly from the tub, it still can't have been easy to see all those people racing, knowing that he should have been racing too. Thanks Kurt.

Kurt Stevenson taking names (if not kicking ass this time) while Stacy tries to get a medal to a hard-finishing Ian Loughead.

Up for grabs this weekend was also the Shelter Challenge; an overall classement for the fastest aggregate time over the two events (Saturdays 5k and Sunday's du). In all, five individuals were eligible; Shawna Murdock-Moore, Brigitte Sabourin, Marie-Claude Gregoire, Ron McIntrepid MacDougall and your faithfull reporter. The overall classements went to Marie-Claude Gregoire and yours truly. Interestingly, the five Shelter Challenge Folks were all from the militant wing of TNS and can boast between them 65 marathons (not to mention the crazy training runs), 13 Ironman and countless 70.3-type events, long-distance bike events and the likes. Indeed Shawna is quietly approaching Mark Campbell's IM total of 18! This isn't to say the Shelter Challenge was tough and only hardcases need apply; it was less than 2hrs racing. Compared to doing, say, a track workout one day and a brick workout the next, it felt (to the TurnAround at least) easier than training. Like they say, train hard, race easy. Many triathletes seem to be Grand tour afficiandos ( viz the Tour de France) and this may be our only chance to participate in anything like a stage-race; hopefully next year we'll see more out for the Challenge. the overall prize, by the way, was a bottle of Bulldog Gin; martinis and G&Ts all round! Hic!

Thanks to Stacy and Tim for putting on a great event, well two events, and thanks to everyone who turned up, even if we didn't get to eat all the croissants and pain au chocolate.

Next up, May 30th, Navy Tridents at CFB Shearwater. All the runway you could possibly want For those of you who said about DIFS, too early, no swim, well you're out of excuses this time; it's right on schedule and there's a pool full of water just waiting to see you there.

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Rae photos courtesy of Ian Loughhead, thanks Ian.

In the news

Just a quick wrap up from the racing front.

The Piggotts cleaned up handsomely at the Greenwood 10K, with Brad and Matt posting a 33:40 and a 34:19 respectively to claim the top two spots. Considering the rest of the top ten was either varsity, trains with varsity, ex-varsity or very good Masters, this was an outstanding result.

Elsewhere, Mark Campbell and oppo Jason Murphy did he E2C 24hr orienteerting event and won. They donated their prize to Camp Brigadoon (the same people Mark runs CTR for) and soon everyone was at it. Chapeau, for both a job well done (racing) and for simultaneously raising awareness AND cash.

Finally, the Tartan Tally now stands at 8, with Ron McIntrepid clocking a half-marathon and an Xterra triathlon whilst ostensibly travelling for work. The tri was particularly hard work, with both a flat tyre and a broken chain. Ron will be clocking race#9, and possibly even race #10, for the season this weekend.

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Changing gears

The results of then "what gear should I ride?" poll are in. We know it wasn't up for very long, but not only did we need to give ourselves enough time to change the gear, if that was to be the result, but we needed sufficient time for the penetrating oil and three-foot long spanner to work their magic should the lock-ring have seized on.

So, onto that result. A conclusive mandate from you all for 72" fixed (39 x 14) with all of you saying we should ride it, rather than 68" (39 x 15). Actually, there was one spoiled ballot, the person who said we should ride 48 x 15 (84"). We demurred, saying we didn't have a 48. And have completely overlooked the offer of a 48T 130 BDC chain-ring. Lord of the rings indeed.

Surely numbers that Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg would kill for!

In the interests of transparency and democracy, here is the gear being changed. Firstly, assembly of the tools for the job; a lock-ring spanner, Allen key, and the new sprocket to be installed. As this is an ENO hub, we didn't need the chain whip, but we put it in because it's a slightly scary looking and arcane piece of kit, which would look equally at home in the Spanish Inquisition as it would a workshop!

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. Ha! Amongst our diverse weaponary are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, a fanatical devotion to the Pope and nice red uniforms, oh sorry, I seemed to have wandered off. Where were we, oh yes. Here's the 15, ready to come off.

A surprisingly quick wrench with the locking spanner took the lock-ring off and then the sprocket just slid off the splines as easily as if it had been installed yesterday. I guess that's one thing the ENO technology has over a "regular" fixed wheel where pedalling actually screws the sprocket on tighter, and after many hundreds of miles they can be a bugger to shift. We'd still be wrestling with it with the penetrating oil and the three-foot long spanner.


It was a but mucky under there, so we cleaned it up, slipped on the new sprocket and put the lock-ring back on. The whole operation took about five minutes, and it wouldn't have taken this long if we hadn't tighten the lock-ring first, but what's a bike-fixing session without getting screwed up by a reverse- threaded component?

So here it is, greased, tightened and ready to go. Fourteen teeth, fourteen. Count 'em! It occurs to us, that perhaps we should have taken this photo with a copy of today's paper to prove this isn't a stock photo and the gear was changed today, but you'll have to trust us!

Of course, you are welcome to come and count teeth in TZ on Sunday morning. It's not as if the bike has to be taken out for a quick spin to get it in the right gear, seeing as there is only the one.

We can tell what you're thinking; aren't derailleurs a wonderful technology? Surely they'll revolutionise cycling! Besides, aren't we missing having 18+ gears at our fingertips just a precisely calibrated click away, changing gears on the fly without inconveniently threaded componentry and a huge spanner? No. And that's exactly what I'll tell you when you come steaming past me on Sunday morning with a 10 mph speed differential. Uphill.

See you on the course

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Bling and croissants

There are still only 28 people registered for the Du It For Shelter duathlon this Sunday. You know, now we think about it, this monster prize-table is only going to be split a handful of ways, so the TurnAround is surely going to win the "Best Red Bike" award, because it looks like she'll have run out of categories before she runs out of bling.

Not all of Sunday's bling will be wearable. Some will be very edible, courtesy of Two If By Sea over in Dartmouth.

They're on Ouchterlony, right by the start of the Natal Day 6 miler, and is the cafe that has made running the Mic Mac Mall/Shubie loop damn well impossible as running past this place with it's veritable cornucopia of pastries while you're feeling a bit bonky, well you get our drift. We understand they are catering croissants at Stacy's race. The croissants might look like this, but without the flower and coffee....

...but they'll still be to die for. On second thoughts, there'll be a load left for me. I'd better remember to bring a spare bag.

No seriously, bling and croissants aside, get over to Atlantic Chip and do what's right. You might as well sign up for Navy at the same time and save a little bit of money while you're at it.

See you Sunday (right......?)

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Du It For Shelter Duathlon

After a few "false" starts, racing for most of us will start this weekend (Sunday May 9th) with the first TNS sanctioned event of the year; the Du It for Shelter (but the Tartan Tally currently stands at 7 already!). For those of us with long memories, this race is a resurrection of the old Hammerman Duathlon out at Musquodobit.

The big change in this current incarnation is the addition of a new race director; Stacy Juckett Chestnutt. Stacy is an endurance-athlete extrodinaire and is a role-model to many aspiring triathletes. Don't worry (or perhaps continue worrying) if you think you have seen the last of your finsh-line tussles with Stace, this foray into race-directoring doesn't mean she has forsaken the dossard, and normal service (that is Stacy kicking our collective arses) will be restored soon.

In keeping with a current trend, Stacy is running this event in support of charity; in this instance St Leonards, a charity that supports local homeless shelters. She is also hosting a 5km race in Shubie the day before, so you can channel your inner Ron MacDougall or Mark Campbell (depending on your persuasion) by doing both. Why not? Remember, hosting one event a year is a challenge, hosting two doubly so, hosting two on consecutive days is a feat of endurance unknown here at TNS, but wholly within Stacy's reputation for toughness. Did Mark Campbell just get girlled?

Here at the Turnaround, we missed the old Hammerman and have yet to clap eyes on the course. Gossip around the office tells us the two 4km runs are on multi-use trails and they book-end a smooth, flat 28 km bike. As far as introductions to the race-season go, this race seems pretty beign: no Moose this, just 20 miles of smooth, well prepared roads and trails to play on, without a pot-hole, much less a hill to disrupt your rhythm. Sweet!

We understand the prize-lists will be deep and extensive. Not to mention varied. "Awesome" was a word we heard to describe it.

So after a winter of getting up earlier on Sundays than we do for work, getting rugged up to run even 5km outside without losing an ear, all those endless miles on the trainer ( which feel 1.6 times more boring than kilometers on a trainer), all those intervals on treadmills (Intervals for goodness sake! Dreadmills! Together! Arghhhh) it's time to put it all into practice. Time to find out who's been economical with the truth and who's been getting in the stealth miles. Not to mention welcoming Stacy as an RD and helping her to raise money for a good cause at the same time.

Head over to Atlantic Chip for more information, including registration and map to the start.

See you there

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Legs

OK, now I feel about 16 again. Anyway, the purpose for this bit of 80's nostalgia was to introduce the "Do you shave your legs" poll. It looked like this;

So that's 70% (9/13) yes and 30% (4/13) no and that's where the facts are going to stop! We know many of you want to know the gender breakdown. Now we didn't ask that specifically but we think we can ball-park it.

Let's assume (and yes, we know that assume makes an "ass out of you and me") that the poll was answered equally by males and females. The split in TNS is about 60:40 men:women. Furthermore we will assume every woman shaves her legs. Yes, this likely does further patricarchial stereotypes but this is a for-fun poll/blog so hopefully you'll let us have this one.

So of the 13 votes, we'll say seven from men and six from women. If all those women shave their legs then that's six of the nine "yes" votes, meaning three men shave their legs, and (from the "no" votes) four men don't.

In other words, with our unwarrented penchant for speculation, just under half the men in TNS shave their legs. We think even the most cursory glance around TZ will show this to be true.

It gets more interesting when we tell you that 70% of TNSers self-identify as runners (or ex-runners) and most of the rest identify as cyclists or swimmers first. So, some 20% to 30% of TNSers are/were swimmers or cyclists; and both are sports with strong depilatory traditions. But of the seven male votes in the poll, we would only expect two or three cyclists/swimmers and maybe five runners. So if the two/three cyclists/swimmers are still shaving down then we have also induced at least one runner to do the same (perhaps two, depending on where you stand on rounding up oer down). Peer-pressure perhaps.

Anyway, just thought you'd like to know. We're off to shave our legs now, so we can wear shorts tomorrow if it's sunny again!

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