News and Happenings
DNF’ing the Tahoe Rim 100 miler – Reports from Two Racer’s Perspectives
Victoria ultrarunners Rob MacKay and Donald Peterson recently travelled south to race in the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile Endurance Race. The race is legendary and takes place on high elevation alpine and sub-alpine forest trails and dirt roads in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Unfortunately Rob and Donald both dropped at 80 miles but their respective reports are still very interesting. We highly recommend reading both… Read More
Victoria’s Ryder Hesjedal 7th at Tour de France
From the Victoria Times Colonist - In the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe came personal triumph on Sunday for Canadian Ryder Hesjedal. The 29-year-old cyclist placed seventh overall and delivered the best result by a Canadian in the Tour de France since Steve Bauer of Fenwick, Ont., finished fourth in 1988. Read More
A Race Report from Canada’s Largest Open Water Swim: Kelowna’s Across the Lake Swim
The following report is comes courtesy of Trainharder’s official interior reporter Dirk “IKE” Handke. Thanks again as aways Dirk! ========== What is the ACROSS THE LAKE SWIM all about ? 2010 was the 62nd year of this longest continuously running open water swim event in BC, which got started 1949 as part of the KELOWNA REGATTA. With 450 registered swimmers, it is also now the LARGEST OPEN WATER SWIM in CANADA ! Swimmers have to swim 2K from the west side of...
Victoria Track Series – Tarrant, Phillips take Canadian Records
VICTORIA, BC – Maurice Tarrant of Victoria and Herb Phillips from Vancouver competed in the 5th meet of the 2010 Q’s Victoria Track Series each racing the mile. Both broke the Canadian record. Tarrant ran a time of 7:14.7, bettering the 80 – 89 record of 7:16.9. Phillips ran 5:48.6 for the Canadian 70 – 79 age-group record. Read More
The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run – A Race Report from BC UltraRunner Gary Robbins
By Gary Robbins I wasn’t supposed to be on the starting line of Western States 2010, yet I knew months in advance that I’d somehow find myself there. I am a stern believer in fate, destiny, and serendipitous moments, almost to a flaw really. I could tell you stories of how I ended in in New Zealand for New Years Millennium based upon a case of strawberries, or how I traveled Central America for a year based upon a banana’s country of origin, or the confidence...
Test of Metal and Pendrel Give Back to the Kids
[From the Test of Metal website] SQUAMISH—Test of Metal Inc. and 2010 women’s champion, Catharine Pendrel, have teamed up to help some of Squamish’s up-and-coming mountain bikers in their efforts to get to the Mountain Bike National Championships in Canmore, Alberta on July 17-18. Read More
Greenwood smashes Knee Knacker Women’s Course Record and newcomer Campbell takes Men’s title
West Vancouver, British Columbia – Saturday, July 10th marked the twenty-second annual running of the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run (a.k.a. “Knee Knacker”). Good weather greeted the runners and volunteers on this occasion with clear skies in the morning and warm temperatures throughout the day. Course conditions were excellent, with minimal snow in the high country and limited patches of mud, however the 26C heat and high humidity were likely a factor. These...
GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon Registration Numbers up 24% as Early Bird Registration Deadline Approaches
Registration numbers for the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon are up by 24% compared to this time last year. To date over 5,500 registrations have been received for all four events – the Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K Road Race and the Thrifty Foods Kids Run & Marathon – 1,100 more than 2009. With the ‘early bird’ deadline just two days away – on July 15 – this number is expected to increase considerably. Read More
Cummins Shines at Victoria International Track Classic
© Copyright – 2010 – Christopher Kelsall Even though Diane Cummins’s 800m performance at the Victoria International Track Classic was electric, no one can blame her for being a little conflicted. Cummins won the 800m event, a race she chose to compete in despite her concentrating on the 1500m distance. Not only did she win but she also ran the fastest time in Canada this year, leading Alice Schmidt of the US with her 2:03.02 and new Victorian Lemlem Ogbasilassie,...
2010 Knee Knacker Press Release
For Immediate Release West Vancouver, British Columbia – The second Saturday of July is coming up, and that can only mean one thing for a growing number of enthusiastic long-distance trail runners – time for the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run (the “Knee Knacker”). The race traverses the trails of West and North Vancouver, and the twenty-second edition takes place on Saturday, July 10, 2010. Read More
Bust a Gut at Mt. Douglas this Weekend
The Gutbuster Trail Running Series returns to Victoria this Sunday morning with both 6km and 11km courses laid out at Mt Douglas Park. Both races begin at 10am with registration open on site until half an hour before the race start. If you are registered already for the event or are still considering doing so we recommend you visit the Running, Rocks and Rock blog for a comprehensive photographic journey of the long course. There you’ll find over 200 photos showing exactly...
New Mark’s Daily Apple iPhone App
Mark’s Daily Apple, the popular forum and blog dedicated to exploring the Primal Blueprint, now has its own iPhone application. The app contains Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts, YouTube videos, Twitter tweets and a geo-tagged “ChatWall” feature which allows users to communicate with other users in their area. Read More
A Collection of Race Reports from the Past Few Weeks
Following is a listing of recent race reports from a number of different events around BC: Read More
5 Peaks/CFA Run Leader Opportunity
From Club Fat Ass – On July 11, 5 Peaks and Club Fat Ass will continue their tradition to offer 5 Peaks course orientation runs for the 5 Peaks Seymour race held later in July. We need 1 or 2 more leaders for next weekend and I’m writing to ask if you are interested. The perks, for each orientation run led, include a free entry to both a) one 5 Peaks race of your choice and b) one Club Fat Ass event of your choice (transferable to non-members) – what a deal! Read More
2010 Scorched Sole Ultra Race Report, Results & Lots of Photos!
Written by Dirk “IKE” Handke special to Trainharder.com - What is the SCORCHED SOLE 50M 50K 25K Ultra / Trail Run? 2010 was the 5th year of this event, being held every year at the MYRA-BELLEVUE Provincial Park, just above the Mission area of Kelowna, BC. Like every year, the event was organized by Shirlee Ross, Dan Crockett, Tammy Craig and a bunch of dedicated volunteers. Proceeds of this year’s race will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research...
Harry Jerome Track Classic July 5th in Vancouver
From the Vancouver Province - You look at the list of meet record holders for Monday night’s Harry Jerome International track classic and it reads like a Who’s Who in the sport. Read More
Happy Canada Day!
The trainharder team is taking a few days off and will be back at July 5th. Until then enjoy the weekend! Read More
It’s just wrong to be on a Mountain bike for 174 km! A TransPortugal 2010 Photo Essay
The Trans-Portugal is an epic 9 day, 1150 kilometer mountain bike stage race through the countryside of Portugal. It is a unique event in that riders are on their own: no aid stations or course markings, the only aid comes from a handlebar-mounted GPS device which guides racers along a pre-determined course each day. Stages range is distance between 95-162 kilometers with a total elevation gain of 24,500 meters. This year a group of rider from BC participated in the event. Among this...
Man Breaks Record, Climbs Grind 14 Times in 1 Day
From the Georgia Straight – written by Charlie Smith ============== Vancouver real-estate agent Sebastian Albrecht has accomplished something never done by another human being. He climbed the legendary Grouse Grind a record 14 times in a single day on June 28, raising several thousand dollars for local women’s shelters. Read More
Victoria Track Series Meet Number 4 Report
Weather is one of the most talked about subjects in this city, wind, rain, heat and wind again. Saturday June 26th was another windy night at the Jack Wallace Memorial Track at Oak Bay High School. Despite the coolness, there was a decent-sized crowd gathered on the infield as well many people on or around the bleachers, add to that athletes and volunteers and we have atmosphere. Read More
