Quite the weekend at the races, that Bluenose. It was the first time in seven years they'd had good weather for the event, and in a way after the wind and rain and hypothermia, they were due a good one. Perhaps a bit too good; our view of the full after the Bridge (that is ca. 27km in) was one of carnage with a string of walkers as far as the eye could see! We're not used to such heat so early in the season!
As we mentioned, the Bluenose has come in for it's fair share of criticism over the years, and none-so more than from me (in a personal capacity). We have to say, however, that this year seemed to go really well and that (again in a personal capacity) nothing seemed to go wrong. All events, and all RDs, go through a learning curve and when dealing with 7000 athletes rather than 70, well that's an order or two or magnitude of thing that can go wrong. So, chapeau to Gerry and his team, and thank-you.
The start-corrals seemed to us to be a bit ambitious, four starts in an hour, three in 30 minutes, but they went off smoothly. The half might have been five minutes late, but that's practically on-time as far as these things go and having blown the starters' horn on multiple occasions ourselves, we aren't going to quibble over five minutes (a level of accuracy we'd like to aspire to, but rarely do!).
The full was off first. All eyes were on Mark Campbell; doing his seventh Bluenose full in seven years, and with his finish, we think he's the all-time record holder (David MacLellan has seven starts but one DNF, in the atrocious 2005 event). This was after his 12hr/106km dreadmill run on the Saturday. He finished strong in 4:09 and was still smiling. He even had enough energy for a water-fight with us at the toll-booths on the bridge (at 27km). For those of you wedded to Power-this and Carb-that during your runs (like the TurnAround), it seems Mark's dietary weapon of choice is the humble popsicle!
Elsewhere in the full, Penny Hart finished her fourth BN full in 3:28 for 2nd lady and first in her age-group. Brenda Topliss in 4:28, similarly winning her age-group. Is the Ryan Kemp with a 3:40 the same guy who ran nearly all of TNS' races last year? Probably. We should mention Jonathon Howse, who ran a 3:56. We know him as a humble barista at Two If By Sea (them of the wonderful buttery croissants served at DIFS). However we learned that he was 9th in his age-group at Du Worlds in 2006. If he can knock off a sub-4hr marathon now, what hope for us when he gets into true racing shape? After bunnying the half to a 1:29 and change, we carried on up the wrong chute (sorry Kerry Copeland, who looked really confused and bemused when we did) to complete the full and got a little Boston redemption.
Really though, the action for the TA was in the half, where we were the 1:30 pace-bunny. It was a momentous first half for the TA and we like to think that we were, in our own small way, responsible (in part) for multiple PBs, second and third lady and putting one guy in hospital! It looks like the first triathlete was Laura Keefe, with a 1:27, which also netted her first lady as well as a wildly inaacurate but highly entertaining interview in the Chronic. Her video interview was wonderfully eloquent though, more-so considering most of us tend to either drool or collapse incoherently at the line. Second lady was Stacy Chesnutt, who ran PBs for both the 10K and the half in the same race. Next in was Mac Grant, a 35' 10K kinda guy, who still broke 1:30 in his first try at the distance and still getting a feel for what it feels like to be out there so long. Next in was Dan Thompson and then Kevin Conley. Between us and 1:45 pace-bunny Marie-Claude Grégoire were Caitlin Gillis, Lesley Wilson, Elizabeth Seiffert, Farley MacLeod, Darlene Chapman, Tracy Crowell, Ron MacDougall (race#11) and Rhonda Cooke. Marie-Claude's group included Steve Saunders from BTC. Just because a 1:44 half isn't hard enough, we understand that Steve rode home to Blockhouse (yes rode), later on that afternoon. Headwind all the way too! Just behind her was Ironman Jason Murphy. We know that Bev Richardson, proud owner of a new TNS hoodie came in at the 2:30 mark.
The bunny ears were great fun, in an embarrassing-getting-all-kinds-of-attention kinda way. Cries of "go bunny go" seemed to follow us around all weekend, whether at the Friendship Run on Friday, walking to the start on Sunday or in the race itself. When you're suffering through a bad patch (and there is always a bad-patch in a marathon), a little kid saying "look, a wabbit" really puts a smile on your face and helps you forget how bad you are feeling and how far is left to go. It's like getting that finishing-straight kick at random spots on the course. We understand that one of the bunnies even inspired an off-the-cuff, acapella rap; "Bunny hop hop, bunny hop".
The first name we came across in the 10K was Tom Soehl, with a rapid 38" to his name, and this includes going back and forth over the MacDonald Bridge remember. We see a Ryan MacDonald in there with a 42, we're not sure if this is Provincial Champion Ryan, could be. We see John McInnery in there too. Ian Loughead, more a du specialist, did a 50 and achieved his pre-race goal of staying ahead of the 55 bunny. He's looking forward to racing three duathlons in the next three weeks, and he can spend half of that time sitting down! We know there are more of you in there, but in our defence the list is over 2000 long!
Out of 1400 runners, Conor Friesen ran a short 16' 5K to place second in that event and it looks like Marie Soehl won her age-group with a 21. It looks like the 5K is the place to be for the U20s!
Not all of you were racing, we saw Erin Thibault in Shubie on her MTB, providing assistance to runners, and we can assure you there were many runners in need of assistance once we'd got around to Shubie, which came at the 20 mile mark. The TA may not have seen Tinkerbell, but many did. Kerry Copeland was heavily involved with the Youth Run as she has been in previous years. We also know several TNS members helped out at the water stop in the youth run, take a bow Dianne Chaisson and Linda McLeod.
Full results are at Sportstats. Well, that's all for now. Apologies if we didn't mention you, the TNS member tracking software is as bad as it was last year, but put a comment below and let us know how you did. Congratulations one and all for your races.
Next up, Navy....
AD
As we mentioned, the Bluenose has come in for it's fair share of criticism over the years, and none-so more than from me (in a personal capacity). We have to say, however, that this year seemed to go really well and that (again in a personal capacity) nothing seemed to go wrong. All events, and all RDs, go through a learning curve and when dealing with 7000 athletes rather than 70, well that's an order or two or magnitude of thing that can go wrong. So, chapeau to Gerry and his team, and thank-you.
The start-corrals seemed to us to be a bit ambitious, four starts in an hour, three in 30 minutes, but they went off smoothly. The half might have been five minutes late, but that's practically on-time as far as these things go and having blown the starters' horn on multiple occasions ourselves, we aren't going to quibble over five minutes (a level of accuracy we'd like to aspire to, but rarely do!).
The full was off first. All eyes were on Mark Campbell; doing his seventh Bluenose full in seven years, and with his finish, we think he's the all-time record holder (David MacLellan has seven starts but one DNF, in the atrocious 2005 event). This was after his 12hr/106km dreadmill run on the Saturday. He finished strong in 4:09 and was still smiling. He even had enough energy for a water-fight with us at the toll-booths on the bridge (at 27km). For those of you wedded to Power-this and Carb-that during your runs (like the TurnAround), it seems Mark's dietary weapon of choice is the humble popsicle!
Elsewhere in the full, Penny Hart finished her fourth BN full in 3:28 for 2nd lady and first in her age-group. Brenda Topliss in 4:28, similarly winning her age-group. Is the Ryan Kemp with a 3:40 the same guy who ran nearly all of TNS' races last year? Probably. We should mention Jonathon Howse, who ran a 3:56. We know him as a humble barista at Two If By Sea (them of the wonderful buttery croissants served at DIFS). However we learned that he was 9th in his age-group at Du Worlds in 2006. If he can knock off a sub-4hr marathon now, what hope for us when he gets into true racing shape? After bunnying the half to a 1:29 and change, we carried on up the wrong chute (sorry Kerry Copeland, who looked really confused and bemused when we did) to complete the full and got a little Boston redemption.
Really though, the action for the TA was in the half, where we were the 1:30 pace-bunny. It was a momentous first half for the TA and we like to think that we were, in our own small way, responsible (in part) for multiple PBs, second and third lady and putting one guy in hospital! It looks like the first triathlete was Laura Keefe, with a 1:27, which also netted her first lady as well as a wildly inaacurate but highly entertaining interview in the Chronic. Her video interview was wonderfully eloquent though, more-so considering most of us tend to either drool or collapse incoherently at the line. Second lady was Stacy Chesnutt, who ran PBs for both the 10K and the half in the same race. Next in was Mac Grant, a 35' 10K kinda guy, who still broke 1:30 in his first try at the distance and still getting a feel for what it feels like to be out there so long. Next in was Dan Thompson and then Kevin Conley. Between us and 1:45 pace-bunny Marie-Claude Grégoire were Caitlin Gillis, Lesley Wilson, Elizabeth Seiffert, Farley MacLeod, Darlene Chapman, Tracy Crowell, Ron MacDougall (race#11) and Rhonda Cooke. Marie-Claude's group included Steve Saunders from BTC. Just because a 1:44 half isn't hard enough, we understand that Steve rode home to Blockhouse (yes rode), later on that afternoon. Headwind all the way too! Just behind her was Ironman Jason Murphy. We know that Bev Richardson, proud owner of a new TNS hoodie came in at the 2:30 mark.
The bunny ears were great fun, in an embarrassing-getting-all-kinds-of-attention kinda way. Cries of "go bunny go" seemed to follow us around all weekend, whether at the Friendship Run on Friday, walking to the start on Sunday or in the race itself. When you're suffering through a bad patch (and there is always a bad-patch in a marathon), a little kid saying "look, a wabbit" really puts a smile on your face and helps you forget how bad you are feeling and how far is left to go. It's like getting that finishing-straight kick at random spots on the course. We understand that one of the bunnies even inspired an off-the-cuff, acapella rap; "Bunny hop hop, bunny hop".
The first name we came across in the 10K was Tom Soehl, with a rapid 38" to his name, and this includes going back and forth over the MacDonald Bridge remember. We see a Ryan MacDonald in there with a 42, we're not sure if this is Provincial Champion Ryan, could be. We see John McInnery in there too. Ian Loughead, more a du specialist, did a 50 and achieved his pre-race goal of staying ahead of the 55 bunny. He's looking forward to racing three duathlons in the next three weeks, and he can spend half of that time sitting down! We know there are more of you in there, but in our defence the list is over 2000 long!
Out of 1400 runners, Conor Friesen ran a short 16' 5K to place second in that event and it looks like Marie Soehl won her age-group with a 21. It looks like the 5K is the place to be for the U20s!
Not all of you were racing, we saw Erin Thibault in Shubie on her MTB, providing assistance to runners, and we can assure you there were many runners in need of assistance once we'd got around to Shubie, which came at the 20 mile mark. The TA may not have seen Tinkerbell, but many did. Kerry Copeland was heavily involved with the Youth Run as she has been in previous years. We also know several TNS members helped out at the water stop in the youth run, take a bow Dianne Chaisson and Linda McLeod.
Full results are at Sportstats. Well, that's all for now. Apologies if we didn't mention you, the TNS member tracking software is as bad as it was last year, but put a comment below and let us know how you did. Congratulations one and all for your races.
Next up, Navy....
AD
Dear Turnaround,
ReplyDeleteI don't understand "bunnying" I'm guessing that you wore bunny ears and were there for runners to keep pace with you for different finishing times. Is bunnying something organized through the race or did you do is specifically for a friend?
Steven
There were multiple pace-bunnies for the 10k, half and full. Times ranged from a 1:30 half to a "to complete" half, a 3:45 and 4hr marathon as well as a 55 min 10k.
ReplyDeleteA pace-bunny, as you surmised, runs the distance in the time given, so I ran a 1:30 half. I volunteered for this through the Running Room, so I was a official pace bunny ( hence the ears and the t-shirt, I'll put a picture up later). We are a sort of resource on the road, so if you want to run a marathon or a half in that time, if you run with the bunny, you will get that time. You don't have to pay to run with the pace bunny; certainly we aren't paid to do it.
Obviously there is nothing to stop you from running with a friend in such a capacity, many do. I understand Jason Murphy did so last Sunday.
I hope that answers your question.
Excellent recap. And good to chat with you ever so briefly over the weekend at CTRR (I don't recall which leg I saw you at, but you claimed at the time you had slept for about thirty minutes).
ReplyDeleteIn Ian Loughead's defence, we ran together adn were each trying to stop the other from getting hurt, him as he recouped from injury, and I as I prepared for a measly CTRR Leg 2 the following weekend. I figure he could have PB'd if I had let him take off sooner!
Best,
Mike