The following was posted in the lastest MOMAR newsletter…

The final race of the MEC Big Chop Summer Paddle Series will take place on Thursday, September 11th, 2008. You are invited to come down to Vanier Park in Vancouver for a paddle race followed by the Series Party at the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. We will be giving away over $8000 worth of prizing including a Think Surfski, a Seaward Infiniti Kayak, a $1000 prize package from MEC, a mega prize package from Helly Hansen, a Stolquist PFD, two Accent Wingblade Paddles, plus much more!

This is paddle racing at its best. The Big Chop appeals to all levels of paddlers and is open to kayaks, outriggers, surfskis, and canoes. The final race will feature a 7.5km course with a 3.5km ‘Little Chop’ option. Kayak rentals are available but are limited.

Cost is $8.00 for the race with party tickets available for $10 each. Click here for more info and to visit the Big Chop website.

By H. Manning and courtesy of NA Sports, August 24, 2008

Penticton, BC – It was a perfect morning as 2,200 athletes entered the waters of Lake Okanagan for the 26th running of Subaru Ironman Canada today in Penticton and the surrounding area. The event was won by Belinda Granger of Australia and Bryan Rhodes of New Zealand.

Rhodes, who has had three top five finishes previously at Subaru Ironman Canada, did not have his usual fast swim clearly reserving some energy for the bike and run portion of the course. He faced an early challenge on the run from Victoria’s Jasper Blake. Blake was not able to sustain the charge and fell back to third place. Second place was claimed by first-time Ironman competitor Bernhard Heibl of Austria.

Granger dominated the women’s race, taking the lead early in the bike and bettering the course record by some eleven minutes with a 4:52 bike time. She continued to lead throughout the marathon finishing in a time of 9:17:58 in front of fellow Australian Ali Fitch. The first Canadian woman was third place Heather Wurtele. Wurtele added the podium finish to her win at Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene earlier this year.

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Last week most of us watched the Olympic men’s triathlon from the edge of our seats and saw Simon Whitfield come from behind to win a silver medal. We saw him fall back repeatedly from the leaders, then somehow manage to come back, and when we thought he was done, he tossed his hat and made one last, ditch effort. Amazing! Check out this YouTube video if you need a reminder.

Afterwards we all wondered what was going through his head during the race. A recent online interview on www.slowtwitch.com with Whitfield reveals a little of what he was thinking …

published at canada.com

BEIJING - Want to meet one of Gordon Lightfoot’s Rainy Day People?
Look no further than Gary Reed. Most runners wouldn’t exactly cherish the thought of having to run their Olympic 800-metre track semifinal in a downpour. No problem said a drenched Reed, who qualified for the 2008 Summer Games final to be held Saturday at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

"It was just like being at home and running in the rain in Victoria," said Reed.
"I train and run in this stuff all year long."

Reed slipped through the rain drops to finish second in his race - one of three semifinals held Thursday - to qualify for the Olympic final by only 2/100ths of a second.

The top two from each of the semis, along with the runners with the two remaining fastest times, make up the eight-man final.

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VANCOUVER (CBC)

Canada’s Simon Whitfield captured the silver medal in the men’s triathlon Tuesday at the Beijing Olympics.
Whitfield, who lives in Victoria, mounted a furious rally to briefly take the lead late in the closing sprint before being overtaken over the final stretch by Germany’s Jan Frodeno.

"I kind of fought my way on there, and I thought there’s no time like the present," Whitfield said. "I tried to make it a battle of pure willpower. I gave it everything I had."

Whitfield finished five seconds back of the surprise winner, who completed the course in one hour, 48 minutes, 53 seconds.

New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty took the bronze, 12 seconds back of Frodeno.

Pre-race favourite Javier Gomez of Spain faded late to finish fourth.

Edmonton’s Paul Tichelaar finished 28th, while Colin Jenkins of Hamilton, Ont., was 50th.

Whitfield, who won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics before stumbling to 11th in 2004 in Athens, looked to be falling out of medal contention late in Tuesday’s race, which comprised a 1.5-kilometre swim followed by a 40-km cycling stage and a 10-km run.

But after Gomez, Frodeno and Docherty dropped him from the four-man lead pack heading into the bell lap of the final leg, Whitfield found another gear and moved into the lead on the closing straightaway.

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This just in from BC Bike Race organizer Andreas Hestler…

Register a new two-person team for the 2009 BC Bike Race (BCBR) between Aug 15 and Sept 15 and receive a bonus package valued at $600! This offer is limited to the first 30 new teams registered during the promotion. The bonus package includes, for each team member, a custom Suarez BCBR jersey, custom Sock Guy BCBR socks, and a limited BC Bike Race edition, custom Syncros Bar & Stem Combo.

A creative joining of art and function, the Syncros all-mountain Bar & Stem Combo - BC Bike Race edition - is a unique addition to any mountain bike. Celebrate your training plan for the 2009 BC Bike Race with a redesigned control center that subtly highlights your goal every time you ride!

The BC Bike Race - “The Ultimate Singletrack Experience” is an epic seven day mountain bike race that runs approximately 550 kilometers from Victoria to Whistler and showcases some of BC’s finest singletrack - made by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. This scenic journey through lush rain forests and majestic old growth regions boasts spectacular views, picturesque sailings with the BC Ferries and more sweet singletrack than should be allowed in just one week.

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On Saturday August 23rd at least a dozen BC athletes will be running the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail in one day with their times ranging from approximately 6.5 hours to 10 hours.  If you’re interested in joining them you can find all the details here:

3rd Annual Juan de Fuca Epic Summer Trail Run

The Associated Press - CTV News

BEIJING — Things were going so well for Lauren Groves in the women’s triathlon Monday that she was thinking about the possibility of a top-10 finish.

Then, while on her bike in the second stage of the gruelling event, a crash ahead of her crushed those hopes in an instant.

And rather than a trip to the finish line, the Vancouver native found herself en route to hospital, where an initial diagnosis of a fractured radial head bone in her left elbow was confirmed.

The injury will need six weeks to heal.

"I was in shock at first," Groves said afterwards. "I don’t remember much but the girl in front of me crashing and then looking and seeing bikes everywhere. I stood up and immediately started to cry — I couldn’t move my elbow."

A Canadian woman has crashed on the bike in every Olympics since triathlon was introduced to the Summer Games in 2000 and Groves couldn’t avoid the jinx.

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As of Friday Aug 15 the hours for the Grouse Grind are:

OPENING TIME: 6:15 am
CLOSING TIME: 7:00 pm

As the daylight hours are shortening quickly now, expect 30min earlier closing times every 2 weeks out from today.

Cleve Dheensaw, Canwest News Service

BEIJING - Is the cavalry on the way, bearing oars and goggles instead of rifles and swords? Increasingly antsy Canadian sports fans certainly hope so.

With the rowing finals set for Saturday and Sunday, and with triathlete Simon Whitfield arriving in Beijing on Thursday, there is a glimmer of hope these 2008 Summer Olympics will take a turn for the better for Canada.

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From SportMedBC: The Beijing Blog gives daily behind the scenes commentary on sport medicine, sport science and sport training issues through August and September.

Over the coming weeks of the Olympic and Paralympic Games —August 6th through September 20th—the Beijing Blog will serve as our connection to the practitioners who are in China working as Core members of the Canadian medical team, or as dedicated practitioners travelling with specific athletes/teams. They will bring some unique insights into what it is like to work at a major Games and how they support the athletes as they compete on the world stage.

The Beijing Blog is interactive and your comments are welcome. Additionally, you will also find daily news stories from CBC.ca.

The Beijing Blog includes:

• Commentary from the SportMed Network in China and from home
• The opportunity to post your comments
• Up-to-minute online news coverage from CBC.ca

Login to the Sportmed Community and read the Beijing Blog.

Victoria athlete packs pill that’s said to ease stress and boost endurance

Paul Luke, The Province

Olympic athletes groaning under the weight of overstuffed suitcases may envy Victoria’s Lauren Groves when she arrives in Beijing this week for the triathlon.

Groves will be lighter on her feet than rival triathletes who have crammed dozens of bottles of vitamins and minerals in their bags to see them through their gruelling event.

Groves, 26, avoided supplement angst by finding pretty much everything she wants in a new product called 7systems.

Aspire Sports Supplements, the company behind 7systems, has promoted the endurance sports supplement as a way to blunt the impact of Beijing smog by goosing athletes’ immune systems.

But 7systems’ long-term mainstream appeal may lie less in any smog-easing properties and more in its stress-busting simplicity.

"When we started, we targeted the endurance sports market but it’s really for anybody whose life involves excess amounts of stress," says Aspire co-founder Jasper Blake, also of Victoria.

"It’s a potent multi-vitamin, multi-mineral, multi-nutrient product designed to cover all your bases."

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What happens when the average Jo tries to compete with the Olympic athlete? Two average but quite fit men try five separate Olympic events: 100m freestyle swim, 100 yard dash, 110 yard hurdles, long jump and rings. Watch the hilarious video and see how they stack up .

Cleve Dheensaw, Canwest News Service

He sprinted to gold in the first Olympic men’s triathlon.

Refocused and rejuvenated, he heads to Beijing ready to swim, bike and run for the podium

Simon Whitfield
Born: May 16, 1975, Kingston, Ont.
Home town: Kingston, Ont.
Residence: Victoria
Height: Five foot nine
Weight: 154 pounds
On team since: 1994

Career Highlights:
- 2000 Olympic champion, becoming the first male triathlete to win a gold medal in triathlon at the Olympic Games.
- 2002 Commonwealth Games champion and 1999 Pan Am Games silver medallist.
- Finished in 11th place at the 2004 Summer Games.

In 2000, Simon Whitfield sprinted to the finish line in the shadow of the Sydney Opera House. It seems he has been trying to run out of it ever since.

The moment that has come to define him is both boon and curse. Ever since winning the inaugural gold medal in the men’s triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Simon Whitfield has had to live up to being Simon Whitfield.

It hasn’t always been easy.

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A few volunteers are needed to help with package pickup for Stormy this Wednesday at the Running Room in North Vancouver from 3PM to 8PM. Please contact Wendy at wendy@stormytrailrace.ca if you are able to help.

This interview was originally published in Pedal Magazine and was conducted and written by Amy Smolens. The full article can be read on the Pedal Magazine website .

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July 30, 2008 (Girona, Spain) – 2008 just keeps getting better and better for Victoria, BC’s Ryder Hesjedal. In May he finished his first Giro d’Italia, one of the most difficult Grand Tours in recent memory. This past Sunday he rode onto the Champs-Elysées in Paris, accompanying Garmin-Chipotle teammate Christian Vande Velde, whom he had helped to an outstanding 5th place overall. Hesjedal was the first Canadian to finish the Tour de France since Steve Bauer did so in 1995, his GC placing was the best for a Canuck since Bauer’s 27th in 1990, back when Ryder was 9 years old… and in case you are wondering who the last Canadian to do the Giro-Tour double was… read on to find out.

So what’s next after the Grand Tour double? The Olympics in Beijing, of course. Hesjedal’s Olympic experience four years ago in Athens in 2004 ended in disappointment. A medal hopeful in the MTB race, he abandoned after an early puncture, ruining that dream. His second chance at the Olympic experience, the men’s road race, takes place on Saturday, August 9 and the time trial follows on Wednesday, the 13th. We were lucky enough to get some phone time with Hesjedal as he packed up his belongings at his European base in Girona, Spain.

To continue reading please click here .

Tom McMillan, Times Colonist

Race officials hope the program, which invites residents to recruit pledges for five local charities, will raise $75,000. However, others are aiming higher.

"Forget the 70, let’s go for 100," said Rob Reid, marathon organizer and owner of Frontrunners Footwear. "We’ve got to reach for the sky."

The Royal Victoria Marathon is one of the Canada’s best-known outdoor running events, with more than 9,000 runners participating in the 42.2-kilometre full-marathon, half marathon, 8K and children’s races.

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By Sandra Mcculloch and published in the Victoria Times Colonist

Combine technology with a treasure hunt, set the venue in a B.C. provincial park and you have a new venture announced yesterday by the province, the B.C. 150 Secretariat and the B.C. Geocaching Association.

Geocaching is a recreational activity that’s growing in popularity, with hundreds — perhaps thousands — of geocachers on the Island. The sport involves the use of a handheld global positioning system receiver to locate hidden caches, typically small objects stored in watertight containers.

Clues are posted on a website so others can go out and hunt for items. Anyone finding a cache is supposed to log the find in a notebook, exchange a new item for the found one, and report the find on a website.

To celebrate B.C.’s 150th anniversary, members of the BCGA have placed limited-edition commemorative coins in 100 provincial parks.

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From the Vancouver Sun - An experienced adventure racer from Saskatchewan died while taking part in a back-country race in B.C.’s Rockies over the weekend.

Marty Lund, 46, of White City, Sask., was taking part in the Race the Rockies Adventure Race near Golden on Saturday.

Within the first quarter of the race — in a backcountry hiking section roughly 10 kilometres east of Golden — Lund was found unconscious by another team.

Continue reading …

The following is a press release from Run the North Shore :

On July 19th, the trails of Mount Seymour will be packed with eager runners from all over North America. A first for Vancouver The Canadian Mountain Running Association has chosen to use "The Peak Challenge" as the National Championship Trail Running Event; meaning the top 3 male and female runners past the finish line, will be chosen to represent Canada at The World Mountain Running championships in Switzerland.

Partnering with La Sportiva Mountain Cup, North Shore Athletics has designed a challenging 12km accent that will take runners up the face of famed Mt Seymour. This trail boasts both technical and grueling up hill sections promising fun competition and breath-taking views.

For those of us who might not be ready to run a world-class event, there is still a way to be a part of this history-making day. North Shore Athletics is also offering a relay component. Splitting the distance in half, runners that are intimidated by the 12kms distance can still participate in this event, by sharing the fun and excitement with a running partner.

With something for everyone, this is an event not to be missed; so come out and be part of Canadian Mountain Running History!

Get off the pavement, and onto the North Shore

For more information check out www.runthenorthshore.com or email Stephanie@runthenorthshore.com