Another great interview of a BC athlete by Chris Kelsall

Should you be fortunate enough to walk onto the track and witness, up-close, a 27:18 10, 000m runner, put out 10 near-perfect and even 1km repeats off of 60” rest (not sure how fast 2:40?) you may want to pay attention. Sure he will make it look easy, as he runs just as smooth-like in the first repeat as he manages during the tenth, appearing to coast, that is until he grabs his knees after; yes the talented work hard too.

One day I was on the local track running a few mile repeats. Also on the track were a dozen or so 20 year olds who appeared to have as much business being on a track as Jon Brown does wearing skates on the ice.

Turns out these giants with all of their explosive, anaerobic drills were top NHL prospects. I had asked them to not block lane 1. I let them know that they want out of lane 1 because a serious runner is coming by to do a workout. If they had gloves on, I think they would have dropped them, then me. Thank goodness for gloveless, dry-land training. Actually they couldn’t have been friendlier.

When Jon arrived they all stopped and watched, probably as amazed as their own fans are at their skating, to his seemingly effortless glide; at a pace not one of these pro athletes could handle for more than 200m, once or twice.

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The following interview was originally published on the Flotrack website by interviewer extraordinarie Christopher Kelsall. Thank you again Chris for the wonderful interviews. If you like this please visit his website. You can view his other interviews with BC athletes here.

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There was a stretch of time (for a couple of years) where on occasion, while running around some local lakes, a runner would approach at an alarming speed. I could instantly deduce who she was even as a mere spot in the distance. Her form was so flawless that there was only one person it could be. The process of elimination was instant. This is saying something as the trails of greater Victoria are many and the runners of all levels are everywhere.

As the space between us would dwindle, a quick nod is all that would transpire as she moved so deftly. Breezing by, stirring the congregating midge, which swirl innocuously in a mid-air swarm.

The runner, Lucy Smith, happens to be a fixture on the Canadian race scene. Like those who during childhood participate in sport for the sheer joy of it she, so far, has enjoyed a very long and versatile career in endurance sport.

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Following is the latest interview by Chris Kelsall on BC athlete extraordinaire Lisa Harvey. This interview was originally posted on the Flotrack website .

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Lisa Harvey is a Canadian who loves to run and compete. She ran in high school, and later varsity for the University of Calgary Dinosaurs in Calgary, Alberta.

Lisa represented Canada in the 2000 Olympics in Barcelona and 1991 IAAF World Track and Field Championships, competing in the 10, 000m.

She has also run for Canada in the World Cross Country Championships, World Half Marathon Championships, Pan-American Games winning bronze. And competed in many other events over the past 19 years.

Although her personal best 10, 000m is reported to be 32:22 by the IAAF, she is sure it is 32:40; must be her humbleness coming out.

To say she has enjoyed a long and versatile career is a mild understatement. However, she is now moving on to the marathon. Although she has run a marathon already, she is planning to make a serious go of a fall 2008 event.

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Another great Flotrack article written by Christopher Kelsall

Zach Whitmarsh toils on the Jack Wallace Memorial, Oak Bay High School track. Marley, his dog canters back and forth from the infield to the start area and back, taking splits.

“What breed mix is Marley?”

Zach writes: ”Marley is a pound dog. As far as we can tell he is a Shepherd-Collie cross. There may also be a bit of Burmese in him, he’s a big-pawed dawg and he’d probably weigh another 20 pounds if he didn’t get in the 50 miles per-week he’s gotten used to.”

Meanwhile some local, longer distance ectomorphs gut out a low-key invitational race, looking smooth in their attempt at sub 30 for 10, 000m (others drop at halfway or at 3,000 - they are here just to check fitness), they appear fluent, until Zach starts his sprint workout.

Whitmarsh re-defines the everyday runner’s paradigm of what is fluid motion.

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Colin Jenkins, a Canadian ITU athlete training for the Beijing Olympics, has just written his third installment of his popular Road to Beijing Series:

Last week the weather here in Victoria, BC was all over the place. We had some sun, some cloud, some wind, some rain, some hail, and an unusual amount of snow. OK, it was only like half a foot and it only lasted for half the day but snow in Victoria is rare, snow in Victoria at the end of April is ridiculous! This is the time of the year that the rest of Canada is supposed to be jealous of us because of all the sun and warmth we get … well not this year. The rest of the country is laughing at us, we are the ones waiting for the weather to warm up and get more Victoria-like. In the past there have been times when we have gone open water swimming in April, but unfortunately not this year. It just means more meters spent swimming at the "House of BAMF" (Crystal Pool) as coach Joel likes to refer to our local watering pit.

Read the rest at Slowtwitch.com . Part 1 and Part 2 are also available.

Recently Victoria resident and runner Chris Kelsall interviewed Eric Kiauka, a Victoria resident who recently won the Victoria Times Colonist 10k. This interview was originally posted on the Flotrack website. Enjoy!

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Eric Kiauka races the Esquimalt 8k in (Esquimalt) Victoria, BC, just another local road race where a few hundred runners, joggers and walkers join in on the somewhat hilly, summer offering. He comfortably sits in with the small, lead pack made up of David Jackson and Steve Osaduik, two guys capable on any given Sunday of completely disheartening their comrades-in-sweat. When Eric rounds the final corner with them, he drops a little high octane petro into the thrusters and extricates himself neatly into the chute, no longer the comrade-in-the-pack, he becomes the formidable foe with the killing kick.

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The Slowtwitch website recently published an interview with Victoria Triathlete Kirsten Sweetland, who is currently in Tongyeong, Korea getting ready to complete in the 4th World Cup of the season. Below is a brief excerpt from the interview, to read all of it please visit the Slowtwitch website.

“ST: What is your favorite and least favorite food?

Kirsten: Favorite would have to be Licorice Allsorts and Espresso Chocolate chip muffins from a local coffee shop… I am a chocoholic! Least favorite would have to be anything spicy… I am a wimp that way!”

The latest interview by Chris Kelsall, this time with tri-phenom Kirsten Sweetland, a Triathlon Canada team member and medal hopeful for this summer’s Olympic games.

— Kirsten Sweetland, aka ‘Sweets’, who was raised on Vancouver Island, primarily in Nanaimo and Victoria, is about to take on the world. Well, she has already taken on the world and has come out on top, with some bumps and scrapes along the way. Now however, she is about to embark on her 2008 triathlon season with an eye on the big prize of Beijing.

Kirsten is of the generation of triathletes mentored through the Kids of Steel (KOS) program. Rather than being a swimmer or cyclist or runner who turned to triathlon, she is a triathlon purist. She started with KOS at the age of 6; however, she enjoyed playing many sports as well as dance and spent plenty of time on the beaches of Parksville, BC therefore she had an active upbringing.

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Here’s an excerpt from an interview between Chris Kelsall and Nelson’s Steve Archdekin. Steve is founder of the Triathlon for Kids charity, dedicated towards raising funds and awareness for various children’s charities around the world. Read on and be moved…

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Every single part of Steve Archdekin’s afflicted body hurts like hell. From his head to his toes, his knees, elbows, hips, ankles, shoulders, neck, his entire skeleton aches all time. His face, skull, toes and nose are in a constant state of pain. Well except for his nose.

“The only place on my body that doesn’t hurt is my nose; I have long since forgotten what it is like to simply not hurt.”

Steve’s face hurts when he smiles, but he smiles all the time, especially in the middle of a triathlon.

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This guy’s just pumping them out! Another good interview by Chris Kelsall with Victoria resident and Ironman Canada champion Jasper Blake. Also be sure to check out Jasper’s blog - www.jasperblake.blogspot.com.

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I first met Jasper Blake when it was suggested I get him out to speak at a learn-to-run clinic. My contact said, “he is funny, speaks well and the chix dig him.”

Even though getting a hold of Jasper was tougher than swatting a fruit fly in a gale, with a straw. I did manage to get him out to speak and the chix did dig him for sure. I think a guy or two dug him as well, which really cramped the whole ‘let’s focus on our form today,’ speech I delivered.

Since then Jasper has only been visible gracing the cover of magazines or race brochures. I can attribute my success in finding the elusive athlete to guessing on several of his email addresses.

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An interview by Christopher Kelsall on Victoria running coach Paul O’Callaghan…

Irishman Paul O’Callaghan competed in six World Cross Country Championships, qualified for the Olympics and wore the green from 1982 to 2003 on the road, track and in cross country. As his website indicates, in 2006 he continued to run well, smashing the Irish Master’s 10, 000m record with a time of 30:38. That year, Paul emigrated to the west coast of Canada to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. Since then he has focused on coaching others and is starting to see signs of success.

The coach

Recently I have had the opportunity to observe Paul coach his athletes. I attended a few track sessions, hill workouts and his staple, The Thursday 10 miler.

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Written by Victoria’s Christopher Kelsall for Flotrack and published Wednesday, March 19, 2008. Author’s note: an article on Cheryl Murphy was published April 16th in the Victoria Times Colonist - Murphy hopes to build on impressive marathon run.

Cheryl Murphy has no time for small talk and less time for interviews, she’s a busy woman. To engage her in rambling soliloquies’ of yesteryear is akin to a Martin Scorsese, jacked full of dark Americano, writing his Masters Thesis on the migratory patterns of Giant Aldabran tortoises.

Suffice to say, I sped-emailed her in machine-gun, rapid-fire succession, only to wait three days for each bare bones response. So it was with her next-to-final message (probably a reluctant one) that I didn’t even read, but clicked ‘reply’ and typed, “while you are on the PC at this very moment, can I get you to answer….

I received her reply the next night at 10 pm…10 pm may not seem that late, but I know she conducts her training between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. most mornings.

Cheryl Murphy is a physiotherapist who runs her own practice. She is also a mother of two young boys. The one time I successfully reached her by phone, she was on the floor playing Lego or building a jigsaw.

She also happens to be a serious ironman athlete.

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Christopher Kelsall’s interview of trainharder.com’s very own Running Diva

Marilyn Arsenault (Mar) is a transplanted easterner by way of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec (collective gasp) who now lives in and loves the west coast, specifically Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island.

Mar is a Soprano who studied at McGill University and l’Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec and is now looking forward to completing her Masters degree at the University of Victoria.

For now though she is full-time in the political science department at UVic, undertaking serious running training, and committed to vocal studies with renowned teacher, Selena James. Twice recently, I have been blessed to steel away a few minutes of her time.

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By Christopher Kelsall
Posted on Flotrack Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008

Six year old Eric is playing basketball in his backyard, he takes a few wobbly shots, some actually hit the backboard, while most graze the net and make it whiff as if the wind caught it. None go in, but Eric keeps trying, because Simon said it was a good idea.

One shot deflects off the edge of the backboard and caroms into the cedars, it wedges firmly between branches; I help him retrieve the ball.

Suddenly in a spasm of joy, he remembers what happened at school earlier in the day. He looks up at me as I hand him the ball, eyes ablaze and the size of garbage can lids, “YOU KNOW WHAT, CHRIS?”

“Sure I know what, W-H-A-T”.

“Noooo, we had an assem bow lee in the gym and Simon Whitfield was there and he put his gold medal on me and I got to run around the gym in front of everyone with it on, THAT’S WHAT!”

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By Christopher Kelsall
Posted on Flotrack Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008

Here you can find out what Steve is up to and his training for a marathon this spring, as he attempts to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

And what’s with all those Chihuahuas?

I meet up with Steve, on my lunch, for a 60 minute run on the oceanfront. We agree on meeting in Beacon Hill Park, which provides an open view of the snow-capped peaks of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

21km of the Juan de Fuca Straight separates Canada from the US in a chasm of green-but mostly blue, gently rippling ocean; the wind is calm today.

I started off our second run of the week, resurrecting a conversation we failed to finish nearly a year ago.

I ask him point blank, “have you got around to watching The Royal Tenenbaums”?

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By Christopher Kelsall
Posted on Flotrack Thursday, Jan 24, 2008

I first met Diane Cummins at the track, what are the odds?

My son (then 9) and I were enjoying the Victoria International Track Classic at the University of Victoria, Centennial stadium, May 25th 2001. It was a cool, breezy evening and Diane had just handily run away from her competition in an 800m race, easing to a 2:04.

One of the best parts of Vic International is heading onto the track and meeting world class athletes immediatley after the competition ends.

When we got down onto the track, we caught up with Diane first. We found her to be, accommodating, engaging; effervescent. My son got her autograph, which he still has, on the two page program - within moments she was surrounded.

Running into Ms. Cummins around town a couple times a year since; she always remembers my son’s name, which him and I find highly amazing.

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Written for Flotrackr by Christopher Kelsall

Vancouver Island, a paradigm of rolling waves of coniferous, temperate rain forest, envelopes hundreds of miles of trails, sheltering runners beneath a canopy of thick moss and evergreen, perfect for running year round.

Catching up with Vancouver Island’s own Steve Osaduik, locally known as ‘Oz’ and more importantly as Canada’s second fastest marathon runner, regarding this Sunday’s (January 13th) race, the Pioneer 8km in rural Victoria BC. The Pioneer 8k is the first race in the Vancouver Island Race Series, directed by the local Prairie Inn Harriers Running Club www.pih.bc.ca. Oz has run as fast as 23:39 on the course, two years ago. He says he is aware of local expectations and looks forward to hitting a marathon qualification standard this spring.

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