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.
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.
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.
thanks for the props... yeah, wish I was racing, but, no better way to spend a sunday morning than helping with a great cause! congrats to everyone!
ReplyDeletekurt