Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th

• Location: South Fish Creek Recreational Centre

• RTP Fund raising target: $50,000

On December 31^st 2010 the temperature was -32C at 9.00am. This was the day of marathon #250 for the year and a small group of people stood huddled waiting for the start of the final run. What a difference a year makes. Early Saturday morning, on December 31^st 2011, I looked out the front door and read -5C on the thermometer, a much more civilised temperature. My friend David Houghton was visiting from Toronto and we headed down to the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre in Cochrane.

A couple of days earlier I had walked the loop with Brian, one of the centres maintenance personnel. I was a bit shocked to see the condition of the trail from the facility to the pathway. With the warm weather most of the snow had gone and large rocks were sticking out everywhere. Brian and I looked for another access and found one by the camp ground. That day I ran the route and found that it was 2 km rather than 2.5 km, no problem, it would just mean that we would have to do 21 laps instead of 17.

We arrived at the centre at 8.00am and were met by Ginelle, Steve and Kimberley from the University of Calgary Right To Play club. They have helped out at a number of my events in 2010 / 2011 and have done a terrific job. Slowly runners starting to arrive and by 8.50 we had 20 individuals ready to start the marathon. At 9.00am precisely I blew the bear whistle and off we went. We completed loop after loop and at 10km we took a break and enjoyed the hot chocolate and cookies provided by Guy's Bakery at the "Super Aid Station" set up in the entrance.

We finished the half marathon at 11.35am and relaxed for a few minutes. Jason from down under travel had set up a booth promoting the Cook Islands Quest 100. This we be a destination race / Right To Play fund raiser and we hope to take 40 people down with us to Rarotonga in September.

During the rest of the day runners joined us for the half marathon, 10km, 5km and 2.5km and at 3.00pm the marathon was complete. In total we had 107 participates and raised $2,827. This will allow 140 kids to have a Right To Play programme for one year. Everyone enjoyed the day and we're all looking forward to getting together for the 2^nd Annual Marathon Quest 250 run / walk on Monday December 31^st 2012.

Quote of the Day

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."

John Cage

Heidi Moores, age 6, leads the pack at the end of the 1st Annual Marathon Quest 250 run / walk. Nice one girl.

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th

• Location: South Fish Creek Recreational Centre

• RTP Fund raising target: $50,000

Having run over 260 marathons and completed a number of Iron man and ultra marathon events, I have often been asked "How do I run a marathon?" However, the question I think needs to be asked is "Why do I want to run a marathon?" There are many answers including, I have it on my bucket list, I want to lose weight, I want to run it with my husband /wife / son / daughter, I want to run it for my favourite charity. The reason I wanted to do a marathon was because I was challenged by my younger brother Peter. I was 47 at the time and was not a runner, but I never say no to a challenge from a sibling. It's important to establish why you've set this goal for yourself because, over the weeks and months when training gets harder you'll need to remind yourself why on earth you're doing it.

The key to completing a marathon is planning. Paul Brant, an American Football Coach, once said "It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference". The path to running a marathon must be broken down into a number of steps. It is important to set goals along the way. I use race distances as markers to gauge progress. The three distances I use as stepping stones are 5km, 10km and half marathon (21.1km).

When I look back at my running log I see that I started running in December 2002 and did my first 5km race, the Sudbury Sun Run, in April 2003. I then ran the Ottawa half marathon in May, the North Bay half in June and the Calgary marathon in July 2003. However, looking back at Sue's running log, she started running in 2005, completed two 5kms and a 10km in 2006; a 5km and 10km in 2007; a 5km, four 10kms and a half in 2008, two 10kms and two half's in 2009 and the Regina marathon in 2010.

The rate that these individual steps are completed will be dependant on the physical fitness of the individual, but I wouldn't recommend skipping any of them.

A good way to start on the path to running a marathon is to get support. There are a number of magazines and books that give good guidelines. Other options include joining a running club. When I was learning to run I joined the Sudbury Rocks Running club and got lots of help from the other members. Also, consider using a coach, sometimes you need someone to give a kick up the butt to that next training run.

It has to be said that the marathon is a very different race to the shorter distances. The main reason is that for races up to a half marathon the need for hydration and nutrition is necessary, but the amounts may not be as critical. You may be thirsty and hungry at the end but a trip to the aid station at the finish line will sort that out.

With the marathon, it is essential to stay hydrated and ingest your source of nutrition, liquid or solid, on a regular basis throughout the race. There has been many a runner that was unable to complete a marathon, not because of poor training but because of lack of adequate hydration and / or nutrition.

Quote of the Day

"You can run but you can't hide"

Joe Louis

Sprinting to the finish of the 2010 Boston Marathon. Very cool!

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th

• Location: South Fish Creek Recreational Centre

• RTP Fund raising target: $50,000

The first Calgary marathon was held on August 10, 1963 when nineteen men lined up at Glenmore Stadium. This was also the first marathon ever to be run in Western Canada. Only twelve men finished the race that day, which took them on an out-and-back course, through the traffic, along Macleod Trail. Thirty-year-old Doug Kyle was the victor in a time of 2:45:54. The rest of the pack ranged in age from 17 years to a spry 38 year old.

The marathon was Doug's brainchild. At that time he was one of Canada's fastest runners, having competed for Canada at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter distances. He was nearing the end of his competitive career and looking for new challenges. At the 1960 Pan American Games, after competing in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter events, he decided to enter and run his first marathon. He placed seventh! Upon returning home, he somehow convinced his friend Bill Wyllie to join him in his efforts to hold a marathon in Calgary; after all, how difficult could it be? In Bill Wyllie's words, "the two of us 'beat the bushes' to come up with our 19 entrants."

In 2003, Calgary hosted its 39^th marathon and my first. I had been challenged by my brothers Pete and Andrew to race and on July 23^rd, we lined up at the start. The gun went off and I flew from the start line. After two kilometres, I was well ahead of them but, as I looked back to see where they were, I stepped into a pothole and crashed to the ground. I managed to get up and finished the race, not a great start to my marathon career. I returned to the marathon in 2004, 2009 and 2010, this time staying on my feet.

On January 11^th this year, I went to the unveiling of the new Scotiabank Calgary Marathon course. It was held at Eau Claire market and the keynote speaker was John Stanton. John is the founder of the Running Room and hasn't always been a running machine. As a former two-pack-a-day smoker, John was overweight and out of shape. But in 1981, after struggling through a 3-km fun run with his sons and seeing the look of concern in their eyes, John was inspired to make a complete lifestyle change. Today, John has over 60 marathons under his belt and spends a larger amount of his time visiting his 111 stores in Canada and the USA.

Nowadays, around 10,000 runners compete in the annual Calgary marathon events. These include the Centaur Subaru Half marathon, Jugo Juice 10km and AstraZeneca 5km. There's even a Scotiabank Kids marathon where children walk or run one km at a time and complete the last 1.2km on May 27^th, race day. Now that's sounds  a great way of completing a marathon!

I look forward to running the race again this year and experiencing the new course.

Maybe I'll see you there.

Quote of the Day

"Identify the ideal and work with reality"

Anon

Hanging out with Kip Kangogo at the 2010 Calgary Marathon Expo.

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th

• Location: South Fish Creek Recreational Centre

• RTP Fund raising target: $50,000

It doesn't seem like a year ago that I played in the 3^rd Annual Kimmett Cup pond hockey tournament. It was January 22^nd 2011 and I had finished Marathon Quest 250 only three weeks prior. I had a great day with the Rotary Raucous Relics and promised myself that I would train and be better prepared for the 2012 event. Well, on Friday January 20^th, 12 months latter, I opened the hockey bag for the first time. This was not good. It is important to wash all the gear, immediately after the game.

Last Saturday, as I drove down to Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre I thought about why I was participating in the 4^th Annual Kimmett Cup. Sadly, in February 2008 Lindsay Leigh Kimmett was killed in a car crash. Her parents, Kelly and Dianne have set up a foundation in her memory. One of Lindsay's loves was hockey and so the first memorial hockey tournament was held in 2009.  In 2010 the foundation donated $5,000 to Right To Play in support of Marathon Quest 250.

At the arena, I picked up the "Rotary Raucous Relics" sweaters and headed to the dressing room. I noticed that all the shirts had the number 25 on them and I asked one of my team mates what it signified.  He told me that, in 2002, when Lindsay first switched from ringette to hockey, she discussed with her brother Reid which number she should have on her new jersey. He asked her what her favourite numbers were and she said 20 and 5, so Reid said her number should be 25. Throughout her years with the Rangers, Prowlers, Sirens, Jets, and Macaques she always wore the number 25. To honour Lindsay the Southern Alberta Women's Hockey League have sewn "25" patches onto their jerseys.

The "Relics" had a slow start, losing to the "Pro H2O's". However, when we played our next game, at Mitford pond, we came on like gang busters and won against the "Baby Incredibles". The third game was critical to making it to the play-off. Unfortunately, we were pipped at the post by the "Misfits". The weather was amazing, after a week of  bone-crunching cold. The sun was out and CTV, Global and CBC caught all the action. Make sure you tune into "Hockey Day in Canada" on February 11^th.

The wrap-up party was held at AC's restaurant, in Cochrane. This year, the proceeds will go to the "LINDSAY Virtual Human Project", a 3-D, interactive computer model of anatomy and physiology, being developed by the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine and Department of Computer Science. It will be used to educate medical students.

Towards the end of the evening, the winning recreational and competitive division winners received their prizes. Players were invited reunite in 2013 for the 5^th Annual Kimmett Cup. Finally, I joined Reid in announcing that, as part of next years event, a Guinness World Record will be attempted, for the most hockey players to play in an exhibition game of hockey.

Stay tuned.

Quote of the Day

"Only when we learn to be humble about outselves, can we begin to respect others"

Lindsay Leigh Kimmett

Great action at the 4th Annual Kimmett Cup pond hockey tournament

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th

• Location: South Fish Creek Recreational Centre

• RTP Fund raising target: $50,000

On Saturday afternoon, I went to the new Taylor family Digital Library, at the University of Calgary. The building is all glass and steel and very impressive.

I was there for the Alberta Write Stuff Workshop. It was billed as a "coming together of Calgary / Southern Alberta television, film and digital platform with writers and publishers." My friend, Lyn Cadence, had informed me of the workshop and I had been accepted to make a pitch for "Marathon Quest" which will be published in September 2012. In total, four pitches had been selected and we each had 3 minutes to "put our best foot forward". The pitch section was at the end of the workshop so I would have two hours to sweat it out.

The first hour was fascinating. Film maker / author Joel Bakan talked about the development of his book entitled "The Corporation" and the film of the same name, which was one of the successful documentaries of all time. He was joined by Gary Burns who's most recent film is "Radiant City". Gary and Joel are working on a film adaptation of Joel's latest book "Children under Siege". Gary talked about the writer / producer collaboration and some of the challenges inherent in the process.

The second hour of the workshop dealt with "Following the Money". The panellists were Jeff Brinton, Alberta Film; John Galway, Harold Greenberg Fund and Val Creighton, Canada Media Fund. The group talked about accessing funds provided by the Government of Alberta. They stressed that it takes some persistence but there is money available to get your film made.

Finally it was time for us to make our pitch in front of a panel of film producers. They were Randy Bradshaw, Certain Films; Shirley Vercruysse, Harrow Films; Michael Jorgensen, Myth Merchant Films and Joe Novak, Bow River Productions.

The first person to make their pitch had a book published in late 2011 called "500 Dead Ducks", a novel about lust and revolution in the oilsands. Next was a University of Calgary student who talked about a TV series that soundsed like a cross between "The Office" and "Ground Hog Day". The third contestant pitched a science fiction story that was a mix of "Caprica" and "Solaris". The time flew by as the producers gave their constructive criticism.

I had made some mental notes from the comments the producers had given and they definitely helped me in my 3 minute presentation. A key one was to sell the idea in 30 seconds and build a relationship with the panel in 3 minutes. I did my best and fortunately it went down well. I had some very positive feedback and plan to follow up with the producers.

Stay tuned.

Quote of the Day

""We travel on the road to adventure on a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun. Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone, ee're only at home when we're on the run, on the run."

Neil Peart, the legendary drummer and lyricist for RUSH

The Four Producers giving feedback at the Alberta Write Stuff Workshop

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