Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K Run/Walk

The following was passed on to us from Achilles Canada. Looks like a worthwhile event.

Happy New Year's Friends of Achilles,

It is with much excitement that I share with you an opportunity to join other friends, corporations and charitable organizations in supporting the 9th Annual Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K Run/Walk, to be held back at The Roundhouse in Toronto on Sunday, March 16, 2008.

The annual Achilles St. Patrick's Day Run/Walk is organized by Achilles Canada, a non-profit organization that assists Canadians with disabilities to participate in the sport of running, which creates awareness and break down barriers between Achilles athletes and able-bodied participants.

Your support or donation of $300 will entitle you to either enter a team of 10 runners/walkers or allow 10 disabled athletes who otherwise could not afford the entry fee of $30 to participate in this fun 5K event celebrating St. Patrick's Day. You can also make a donation for as little as $30 to invite a disabled athlete and Achilles Canada will issue you a tax receipt.

As president of Achilles Canada and an accomplished Achilles athlete who is both legally blind and hearing impaired, I ask that you please consider supporting our biggest fundraiser of the year. Should you have any questions or would like me to mail you some entry forms, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you kindly,

Brian McLean, President
Achilles Canada
119 Snowdon Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M4N 2A8
Telephone: 416-485-6451
Website: www.achillescanada.ca

9th Annual Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K Run/Walk Sponsored By: Irish Spring, Scotiabank Group and Ricoh Canada will be on Sunday, March 16, 2008.

NEW but not so unfamiliar, we are moving back to our old home and sponsor - Steam Whistle Brewing at The Roundhouse, 255 Bremner Blvd.

Disney Weekend

Our hats go off to this coming weekends participants in the Disney World Races, we have quite a few people doing not only the Marathon or half Marathon, tthe Goofy Challenge (The half and full Marathon), and some are even doing the 5k prior to the Goofy. Good luck to all and send us pictures and reports when you get back.

Get Out There Magazine

This was sent to us from the Publisher of Get Out There Magazine:

It’s Marissa here – publisher of Get Out There Magazine. I have some information that I thought your members might be interested in.

Get Out There is launching a new electronic version of the magazine. I’ve attached the press release for your information. It is free to subscribe. Essentially, the electronic version is the same as the print magazine – with bonus features such as embedded videos and audio clips, live links to websites, etc.

You can view a sample issue of Get Out There to see how this technology will work: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/dawson/getoutthere-nxtd/

As we are just launching, we’re trying to get the word out to people that might be interested in subscribing. I wondered if you might be able to communicate this with your members? On a related note, we are actually drawing for a ski trip for four to Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont to anyone who signs up by January 31st. Again, it’s totally free – so would be a great benefit to offer to your members.

For your convenience I have attached a promo paragraph that we’ve been sending out. Feel free to use this if you like.

We’d be so appreciative of any support you could provide!

Thanks in advance for your consideration!

Marissa

Get Out There Magazine is giving away free subscriptions to its new electronic editions. For the first time you can receive Get Out There direct to your inbox – and never miss another issue! The electronic editions have all the same great information as the print magazine, but with bonus features such as video and audio clips, links to race registration pages and more! Get Out There is Canada’s most comprehensive guide to sports and outdoor recreation – right in your own backyard! Sign up before January 31st and be automatically entered into a contest to win a ski trip for four to Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont! And don’t forget the best part…it’s totally free! Sign up at http://www.getouttheremag.com/subscribeEEdition.php.


Get Out There Magazine is Canada’s most-widely distributed regional sports and outdoor publication. With print editions serving 160,000 readers each issue across Ontario and western Canada, Get Out There Magazine is Canada’s premier source for sports, outdoor recreation, adventure and play!

Get Out There Online is Canada’s online hub for amateur sports and outdoor recreation information. Featuring a national calendar of sports and outdoor events, weekly e-newsletters and electronic versions of the print editions of the magazine, Get Out There Online serves thousands of athletes across Canada each month.

Get Out There Magazine Launches Online Editions and Targets 20,000 New Subscribers in 2008
Toronto, Ontario (January 7, 2008) --- Get Out There Magazine is pleased to announce the launch of electronic versions of its two publications. Effective March 1, readers will be able to view the magazines in their entirety online with special features such as embedded video and audio clips, live links to advertisers’ websites and search functions. The publication is targeting 20,000 new request subscribers to the electronic editions by the end of 2008, increasing Get Out There’s total distribution to 100,000 each issue.

Once again Get Out There will be on the cutting edge, being among one of the only sport and outdoor publications in Canada utilizing this technology.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to offer our advertisers ‘request subscribers’ in addition to our very targeted circulation through retail outlets and at sporting events across the country,” says Get Out There publisher Marissa Schroder. “It allows us to maintain our unmatched grassroots distribution, while reaching a new group of highly qualified readers.”

“It allows us to ensure that our existing readers never have to miss an issue of Get Out There. For those who are outside of our distribution areas or who missed picking up the last edition at their favourite store, they’ll still be able to access all the great information they look forward to reading in each issue.”

In addition to increased circulation, the electronic editions will offer a variety of a-la-carte enhancements to ads. “Our advertisers will be able to utilize this technology to enhance their ads by embedding videos and live links directly into the online pages,” says Schroder. The technology also provides comprehensive reporting features that allow advertisers to get an excellent idea of who is viewing their ads, clicking through to their websites and how much time they are spending doing it. “It’s a great way for advertisers to see the impact their ads are having,” continues Schroder.

The launch is another major step forward for the publication which has expanded exponentially since its launch in 2004. In early 2006 the then Toronto-based publication purchased Adventure West Magazine in Vancouver, re-branding it as Get Out There and extending the reach of both publications beyond their initial city focus. Today, each issue of Get Out There reaches 160,000 readers across the country through distribution at targeted retail locations and annually in over 150,000 race kits and event bags.

An aggressive, multi-faceted subscription campaign is already underway and will involve print and online advertising, promotion at races and events, and marketing through sports and recreation clubs across the country. The current issue of Get Out There features a draw for new subscribers to win a ski trip for four to Smugglers’ Notch in Vermont.

For more information or to view an online demonstration of the new editions, please contact:

Marissa Schroder
Publisher
Get Out There Magazine / Get Out There Online

John Stanton in Barrie

John Stanton, the founder of the Running Room will be in Barrie tonight (January 8th) at the Running Room, 7 - 9pm. As well as listening to great speaker talk about something we all love to do, we will be presenting John with a Barrie RoadRunners shirt. So if you are free tonight stop by.

Snowflake 10k - Jan 1st

Several runners from Barrie braved the wintery conditions to run the annual New Year's 10k race in Orillia, part of the Snowflake Series now organized by Velocity Bicyles. While many people are now making this an annual tradition, some may not remember when it was 15k for January 1st! There were also a lot of people wearing new running jackets "the morning after the night before." Congratulations to all.

Winter Running Blaws??? Read this.

The following article appeared on the Runners World Website

PLOW THROUGH THE SEASON
The best way to run strong in the spring is to keep running through the winter. Here's how:
By Ed Eyestone

PUBLISHED 11/28/2006


If you're looking for a way to keep your training consistent when the snow starts to fly, do what I did one record-setting bitter winter: Move to Mexico. If moving south of the border isn't an option, you still can maintain a high level of training throughout the winter months-without saying good-bye to speedwork, tempo runs, or long runs. You just need to be a little more flexible and creative with your running regimen.

Speedwork, for example, doesn't strictly mean a track workout. You can take some of your favorite track workouts on the road. In general, this means running for time instead of distance. Yes, this will only approximate the length of your repeats, but you'll still strengthen your aerobic and anaerobic systems, not to mention your legs.

Hard-core winter runners also have to become weather watchers and build flexibility into their training schedules. If a storm front looks to be rolling in on the weekend, get your long run done on Friday. An unexpected break in the weather might mean scheduling that hard workout today rather than the day after tomorrow. And any time you're running outdoors during these messy gray winter months, assume you're invisible to traffic. Dress like a Christmas tree, wearing as much reflective gear and as many light-producing products as possible. Always run against traffic, and constantly think about what you'll do if an oncoming car suddenly loses control and starts sliding toward you.

Once you've hit upon a good-weather day and strapped on your holiday light show, try any of the following winter variations on three classic workouts.

Mile Repeats: Take your mile repeats to a stretch of road where the traffic is light and the turns are infrequent. Start your watch and run the time it takes to normally complete a mile at your 5-K or 10-K pace. Run 4 or 5 of these repeats, taking 4 to 5 minutes recovery between them. Do this workout once a week, or alternate it with the mile breakdown every other week throughout the winter.

Mile Breakdown: A classic breakdown workout on the track might look like this: mile (1600), 1200, 1000, 800, 400, picking up the pace with each interval. For the off-track version, run hard for 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute, and gradually pick up the pace with each drop in time. Take a one-to-one recovery (jog easy for the same length of time as the speed segment) after each repetition, and make sure you're running close to top speed on the final 1-minute burst.

Long Run: Combine a moderately long outdoor run with a moderately long treadmill run. Start outdoors by running for 75 to 90 minutes on an out-and-back or loop course. When you finish the outdoor leg, rehydrate, dry off, change all of your running clothes (even your shoes if they're wet), and hop on the treadmill for another 60 to 75 minutes. I like to keep the treadmill at 0-percent grade on these long runs to avoid aggravating the Achilles tendons. If you're running early in the morning, you could do the treadmill segment first so that you get the indoor portion done during the darkness and then hit the road once the sun has risen. But it's hard to pull on layers of running clothes even after drying off from your indoor workout. And beware that the winter air may seem much colder to you when you first head out after your treadmill session.

Happy New Year

Well its a new year and hopefully everyone is looking forward to warmer weather and running in shorts sometime soon (hard to think of when it is -20C outside). Hopefully we will be keeping the website up to date with your events, results and pictures. Please send in any items you want to see posted or anything you feel is relevant.
Some of the high lights that we think some maybe interested in are:

For the adventurous among us (read crazy): The Jay Marathon in Jay Vermont, actually 33 miles and all trail up and down a mountain, through rivers, up creeks (without paddle), mud, sand, bush, you name it. A lot of fun. There is also a half (29k).

The usual "local" races, Around the Bay, The Chilly Half, Mississauga, Ottawa, Huronia Half in Midland, Ganaraska Trail runs, Peterborough and many more.

Feel like doing an Ultra, the are number of 25k or longer trail races as part of the Ontario Ultra Series, or maybe you would like to do the JFK 50 miler in Maryland in the Fall. We have a few members going to this one, any one is welcome, you don't have to be nuts, it just helps.

Stay tuned for more