Midsummer Night's Run Aug 21 2010

Oh I know ... late again, but I didn't want to steal the thunder of the SS240 write ups. That was some amazing running there wasn't it? Holy Hannah! Well done to all the Barrie teams that signed up! And a hearty congratulations to all the Barrie teams that placed in the top three of their divisions. WOOT WOOT!!!

On the same day the Simcoe Shores relay race was held another race was being run that evening, A Midsummer Night's Run in support of the Dept of Rheumatology at Sick Kids Hospital. I had a heavy decision to make regarding the relay vs. MNR and after weighing all the pros and cons up - I chose to run the MNR. I had a lot of fun running it last year with my fairy wings and tutu, this year had no reason not to be the same.

After some discussion in the back of the Running Room with fellow runner Jen Remazki & Cindy Marcelli I decided to join Team Abby, named after Jen's 7 year old neice Abby who has been suffering from Juvenile Arthritis since she was 2. We put out the call to our running friends for donations and once again the runners in Barrie answered the call. Donations started coming in. Jen was incredible with her fundraising abilities.
Then one night on the way home it hit me like a solid gold brick. RAFFLES ... the idea was to put together two baskets of donated items to raffle off: a runners basket & a pamper yourself basket. So again I threw my net out and once again the response was tremendous, donations were happily given by one and all. Tickets were FLYING out the door & by the time race day dawned we had raised $2500 for Sick Kids! WE WERE THE # 1 FUND RAISING TEAM!!!

Then off to the race we went - with, what we thought, was plenty of time. Yeah .. erhm... not so much. Traffic was manical on the 400 getting to the 401 East - So I said to Cindy well it shouldn't take that long to get the the 404 DVP .
Oh, said Cindy, we're taking Dufferin.
Are you sure? I think the DVP would be quicker.
Nope the Garmin says we are 9 minutes away. It'll take longer to get on the DVP.
Are you sure?

So for an hour the Garmin told us we were 9 minutes away. Stupid Garmin. So we sent a calm call to Alan Hewson to see if he could grab out race kits as we were ever so delayed. What a hero!!!
Along the 401 we got separated from Jen & her Mum so we agreed to meet up at the race. They took the low road & we took the slow road. *groans* Ackkk. Oh well.

*sighs*

We got there with time to spare. Found Alan, the portopotties & a wonderful tech hoodie rather than long sleeve Tech shirt in our race kits. I had my 60K button as well... life was good. Now back to the race-mobile and get kitted out for the race. We donned on our blue boas, sparkly blue bear metallic gift wrap decorations, our blue & green ribbons for our hair & we were ready for the next 3 + hours.
Abby & her older sister Marly were there to help us get ready & cheer us on. We'd meet them at the last 200 metres and they would run in with us. Mark Trenton the race director even agreed to allowing them to recieve a medal. What a guy! They even provided us with a free entry into the 2011 MNR for our raffle basket. Amazing support from the race directors office!! A big shout out to them.

I had little idea what or how I would be able to run seeing as the longest I managed to run was 14 k the Sunday before. This was going to be interesting. Very interesting indeed. My foot no longer bothered me & my calf musle was behaving as well. Fingers crossed.
After some discussion along the way we agreed upon running 15 & 2's. As Jen's mantra was "15 & 2's will see you thru! "
And it really did.

They changed the beginning of the run - Runners went south on Cherry St - to Cherry Beach and then along the Martin Goodman Trail, turn around at Urwin Bridge back out to Cherry St N and along Commissioners Drive. Then out to Tommy Thompson Park - around the light house and then through Ashbridge Bay Park then back on Commissioners to Bouchette where the finish (and start) is located.

I didn't have my Garmin with me & Cindy's wasn't functioning it was up to Jen to be the time keeper & pacer for that matter. Though I would make comments about how fast we were going & where did they think the race was?
As we headed towards Tommy Thompson Park we were over taken by herds of 15K runners and amongst them was the Rock Star himself Rick Ball! We must have sounded like crazy folks screaming out his name & cheering him on. Then on the way back more Rick. I did challenge him to a race earlier that week on Facebook, but well, I didn't want to embarass him in front of all his really incredibly fast running buddies. It just wasn't the right time. There will be other races. *ahahah*

Man those 15 & 2's were wonderful. I was puffing abit by the 13 minute mark and couldn't wait for the last 120 seconds to pass, but I wasn't about to fall over from exhaustion. This was the way to go!
Cindy was having difficulty with her hip and would need to ease the pain out now and again. Jen was just a task master which was amazing!!! Otherwise I'd have shaved off a few extra seconds here and there on our runs.

And as we came out of Tommy Thompson Park and headed towards Ashbridge Bay Park the rain was seriously coming down, it has been spitting earlier but now finally made the decision to release constant drops of warm water on our heads. Our boa's would be ruined.. oh well. Many a compliments we wee receiving on our "costumes" . We had dressed in the same blue shirts, black compression tights & boa's. We had it going ON!

As we were turning into the Park Cindy's spirits were seriously lagging. Funny as it was to listen to, I felt for her. It had been a long 22k to that point & it was getting darker and darker with no water stations and not that many more lights on the course. Having watched one too many episodes of Criminal Minds - every corner had a potential Reaper behind it. Every noise from the woods was a cry for help. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Were those 15 & 2's getting longer? What the heck? You want us to go around where? How much further? WHAT? ack. Poor Cindy. She wasn't loving the Park. I was happy when we were heading towards the exit, or is that the entrance? hmm.

We hit the 27K mark and I seriously needed a walk & a walk I was granted. I think all of us needed that break, we walked almost to the 28K marker. The rain was very steady by this point but it was a relief from the heat.
We hit the 29 K mark and were still running well. Granted we weren't the fastest things on two legs, but it was all about finishing - I wasn't about posting a PB. I hadn't run any long distances since March really. I was pretty darn proud of myself.
We could hear the crowds & music of the finish line and knew it was only a matter of moments before we'd meet up with Abby & Marly and sure enough 200 metres before the finish there were the girls cheering for us. We all grabbed hands and headed towards the finish line arms in the air!! Alan came and joined us for the last km or so, which was fantastic - it perked us up as well.
Jen, Cindy & I crossed the finish line in 3:45 - I had given myself a finish time of 4 hrs so I was more than pleased with my time. In fact I was over the moon!

Abby & Marly got there medals, Sick Kids got our donation of $2500, we got the priviledge of running for a cause! It was a stellar run!

Thanks to everyone who helped us become the top fund raising team!
Alan, Jayme, Stephen, 5 Peaks, Chatherine, MNR, the Barrie Running Room, Sandra, Trish, Samantha, Jen, James.
Thanks EVERYONE that supported us by donations & raffle tickets!

And the best part of it all, little Abby thought everyone doing the Midsummer Night's Run was running for her on Team Abby! And in a way they all were!
Thanks Mark & team for putting such a great run together for such a worthy cause.

After we headed back to the race-mobile changed out of our wet running gear, threw on some dry clothes and our nifty new black hoodie from the run and headed over to the SS240 relay race to start our shift as race crew for the Barrie Backpackers! Now that's a story for another day.

Until til the next race, which is Steamtown, take care of yourselves.
See you around.

Montreal Marathon

A couple of RoadRunners took off to Montreal to run the Marathon there this weekend. The Macleaniacs (Rick & Tracy) and Jim Tuttle had a good day with Jim's time of 3:38 I believe is a PB, by at least 10 minutes (??). While Rick finished in 3:58 and Tracy 5:17. Great job guys!!

RoadRunners SS240k Relay Team Pictures

5 Peaks Trail Running Series - Terra Cotta

Okay so August 7th was another exciting installment of the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series & I was going to be Cindy Marcelli for the run! I was some excited! It was a 12.4 k trail race & the most I had done was the 10k at Muskoka rocks the Sunday before.

I had my daughter Chelsea volunteer at the race as well so we could go together and share the day. It was slightly over cast - but it was going to be a brilliant day. As I followed Terry from Barrie down the highway then over hill and dale, through a wrong turn we finally ended up at the race 10 minutes before it was due to start. We got our bibs & chips with 6 minutes to spare. ACK! Under pressure.
Again Barrie was representing! I can't get over the amount of Barrie runners that seem to go to every race in the area & then further a field as well.
Rickymac, Trixiemac, Cynthia Osbourne, Chris Batagglia, Terry from Barrie, Sandra, Kelly H, Greg, Stephen, Kellie M & myself. Plus a few familiar faces from races gone by.

The race goes off in waves. I let the first wave go, then the second wave and I decided to go on the 3rd wave - just cuz. And off I went. Around the field, through the stone path and down towards the wooded trails. Man they weren't kidding when they said it was tough. There were more exposed roots then on a bleached blonde! Rocks, roots, rough patches ... it was abound with challenges. I kept telling myself it wasn't a race, it was a run. Just a Saturday morning trail run for fun, no need to get my knickers in a knot about "finishing" in a certain spot, finishing was enough. Though I would feel horrible if I made Cindy come in last or worse yet not at all. I so didn't want to DNF.

So I over took gingerly, shouted out " on your left " and moved by several runners, down a nice hill, across a gravel path & then heading towards the pavillion where you turn back on yourself for about 200 metres and then into the woods again. I had spied Tracy and hoped I could catch up to her. I did around the 4 k mark. She was right in front of me about 50 metres so I passed a few more folks to siddle up right behind her, we chatted for a while, but Tracy was suffering from her boat race nights. So I toddled on ahead & up up up the big hill, popped out of the woods around to field and over to the start / finish line to the left of the inflatable and on to the next loop. I grabbed a cup of water from my daughter that was manning the water station, her cheering me on was awesome! I really needed that. Off again toward the woods & to finish the race, I mean technically I was over half way by that point.
I was still feeling okay. I was pushing it slightly when I could. I was following a couple of runners but as hard as I tried to catch up to them, I just didn't have the legs for it. I rounded the 8 k mark and felt a bit of fatigue starting to settle on me. So I slowed my pace down - there was no need to get tired on a trail run and then fall over, down or on something. I am at best, an accident waiting to happen, so I took extreme caution here.
By the 10 k mark I was talking myself into a good finish, there was the big uphill, I could do that. But instead of walking it like I should have done, I ran it. I believe that's were I tore my calf muscle slightly again. *sighs*
I couldn't believe how silly I was! It's not a bad one, but I can feel it now just the same. As the last kilometre was looming ahead I kept telling myself that I didn't want fall over the finish line. So I'd better smarten up and get my poop on a scoop! I crossed with a time of 1:34. All things considering, not too bad. I didn't let Cindy down & she wasn't the last one across the finish line.
Woohoo!

One of our runners Greg McKinnon got a podium place in the sport race - 6K. Well done Greg! Congrats on the excellent showing!

Then TfB, Sandra, Kelly H, Chelsea & I headed out of town after the awards and door prizes for a nibble to eat. We ended up at a lovely little eating establishment called Cheeks in Bolton. That was a tastey treat! Especially when my daughter bought it for me. WOOHOO!!

Then some how I managed to miss the turning towards King City and ended having to get on the 400 from Finch Ave. Don't ask. I have NO idea.

And lastly just a shout out to 5 Peaks for their contribution towards the Runners Gift Basket we sold raffle tickets for. They provided us with a 5 peaks running series hat & steel water bottle as well as a Powerade reuseable bag. Thanks!!! We really appreciate it.

Muskoka Rocks 10 K

Well fellow runners, I'm a tad bit behind in my blogging! I know ! I know! Who knew there were OTHER things in my life to take up my blogging time!

As you know, when we last left our heroine she was suffering from tendonitis which, according to all reports, would leave her sidelined for 6 weeks. No running for her! None. Zero, zip, zilch, nada, buttkiss! It was a dark time for our heroine: a dark time indeed, filled with doubt, pain, depression & anxiety. However salvation came in the form of her bicycle. And so our story begins again...

Having promised Tracymac that I would be a group leader for her 10k clinic it was a bit of a bummer to be side lined with this friggin tendonitis. ( I say that with all the respect in the world cuz it really HURT !!) Being very staunch about my commitments, I had to figure out a way to keep on helping. Then it dawned on me: I have a bicycle, I can ride my bike with my runners and work with them that way! WOW~~~ I loved that idea. Until the first night of hill training. I was determined not to ride in granny gear for the Wednesday night hill training & what a work out! And my bike is a mountain bike - about 27 pounds - huge tires. *sighs* so it was great for the quads & glutes. Yikes!

So my RMT said no running until August & I had agreed to that & I meant it. Muskoka Rocks which was out goal race was August 1st. That's August to me. Right? So I kept up my long bike rides & hill training and tempo rides with the group & all the while said a little uhmna to the universe to help me be ready.
I tried a small run the week before and got 560 meters under my belt. I had to turn around less than 300 meters into the run, I could feel my foot flaring up. This did not bode well for August 1st & Muskoka Rocks. But I kept a positive attitude as best as I could and kept saying my little uhmna.

So the morning of arrived & off I went with my partner in many crimes of late, Cindy Marcelli. We packed in our racing bags & our golf bags, I mean if the weather's good why not get 9 in? Right?! So off we headed for Minett, Ontario, punched in the rough address to my Magellan & headed off in a northerly direction. With a little bit of difficulty I located the Peninsula Rec Centr, the start/finish line , then found parking and found Rickiemac & our race kits. Our tech shirts were marvellous - the back of it had written on it THE HARDEST 10K in CANADA - (or something like that... ) I just about fainted. Awesome!! Can't wait!

Found the rest of the 10K clinic folks & got some pre race pictures & got ready for the start. Found one Mr Jim Tuttle wandering about the grounds & beckoned him over. The facility we were at didn't allow the runners to use any of the amenities so off to the portopotties we went. I think there were 6 of them, so by the time everyone had arrived the line up was stretched down the road. Race Directors: how about a few extra next year?

So the race plan was to stick with Cindy who was coaching first timer Britney through the race. Nice and slow. No heroics! No running hell bent for leather. Just a slow and steady plod after all it was going to be hilly. So I was going to walk what hills I had to as to not aggravate my calf issue either. It was going to be a SMART run.

After some shuffling of the runners we were all ready to begin the race - PART WAY UP A FRIGGING HILL!! Really? Seriously? Fine, fine, fine. It can't get much worse that that. Can it. Well they were right, it was a hilly run. I started the race with Cindy & Britney - we were at a very comfy 7:22 pace. I was confident in the fact I would manage just jimdandy with that pace. As we headed for the first water station, which was advertised to be at the 2k mark, but really closer to 2.75 k (but who's taking note of things such as that) I felt a bit of a hop to my step & headed off to test my "wings" so to speak. There were some incredibly large hills. The one at 3k that was going down was nice, but the fact you know you are running up it at the 6k mark made it a bit daunting.
The rest were rolling hills and I could talk my way through them. I walked when I felt I had to. I kept to my 10 & 1's. Steady. Steady. Steady. I got to the BIG HILL and although I had passed one runner only, I had another one in my sights. He wasn't that far ahead of me & I dislike him with all my might, but the hill was bigger. I had to walk it, there was no way I was willing to throw 6 weeks of recovery down the drain for 300 meters. I would gain on him then he'd take off running. Ohhh... that was soooooooo annoying! ACK!! Then I passed another runner who was struggling as well, but it wasn't THE fellow. It wasn't the same feeling. By this point I was running 300 meters and walking about 100 meters. I was TOAST! So much for the cardio fitness on the bike rides. BLECH.
I came up the final hill and started passing the 5k walkers that were still out on the course. By now all of the other 10 k clinic members had finished. I passed them on the way to the turn around. Heckled Aiden McGee as he came speeding by me on his return leg and by the way he came in 1st in his age group. I like to think my positive remarks to him helped spur him on to his amazing finish. AHAH.

I tried to finish strong. I still have Kevin O's voice in my head from time to time. " finish strong" aackk.. ALRIGHT!! ALRIGHT!!. And I picked it up. I was looking at the finishing time and saw 59:xx on the digital timer & I went faster & faster. I couldn't believe the time! Could it be true? could I be under one hour for a 10k? Yeah, not so much! I was looking at the 5k clock. My time was 1:10. Not bad for a first run back on the most difficult course in Canada!
I'd take that for sure.

Afterwards we stayed to watch Aiden be presented with his award, he's a terrific runner for all of his 14 years. Darren Collins was there as well & placed 6th over all and 2nd in his age group. Well done gentlemen! Well done.

I would definitely go back again! It's a great course, definitely tough, but definitely worth the drive to Minett.

CHOCOLATE RACE Volunteers Needed!!!

Hi Everyone,

We could still use some volunteers at the upcoming Chocolate Race in Port Dalhousie (near St. Catharine's) on August 29th. Those of you that are running the race may know of someone - perhaps a family member or friend - that would like to come and cheer you on from the best seat in the house..right on the course! If you are injured and are not running anyway c'mon down and be a part of a great event! Also a great opportunity for students to get their volunteer time for school so bring them out! They'll have a great time and get some hours signed off too!

Please reply by email as soon as possible to let me know if you can help out or if you know of someone that could (spouse, friend, family, teen aged kids). The race is actually THIS SUNDAY so I need my numbers firmed up ASAP.
Time Commitment - Sunday August 29th 8:30am to 12:30pm (only 4 hours!!)

Where - Port Dalhousie ON (next to St. Catharine's ON...it is GORGEOUS there!)

Why - to be a part of one of the BEST races on the circuit. RD is Diane of Dirty Girls fame..if you ran her race this month then you know she puts on a great one!

Accommodations - if you don't want to drive down from Barrie on Sunday morning we have FREE accommodations at my friends place 15 mins from the start. There is enough sleeping room for close to 20 inside and tons of acreage to pitch a tent if you prefer.

What's in it for YOU? - Free entrance to the chocolate after party (free chocolate !! ) and a Free beverage at a local establishment (think beer, wine or chocolate martini, chocolate milk for those under 19 :) ) These items are only being offered to Barrie volunteers to say a HUGE thanks for coming down to help out.

What's in it for ME? - having the confidence that the volunteers I have on course are doing an awesome job and knowing that we have a great and supportive running community!

Many have said they will assist, NOW is the time to commit...pretty please! This involves directing the runners on the course, cheering (we do it best in Barrie) and supporting those that you know participating in the event.

I am in need of a minimum of 16 bodies for the course marshaling. If I get more than I need (how awesome would THAT be), we can look at pairing people together...

If you can respond by email today it would be sooo appreciated! Hoping to count on your support. It is going to be a GREAT day!

Thanks so much!
Catherine

cath.harding@gmail.com

Simcoe Shores, an Old Guys Perspective

Well what a weekend. While it is a little early to know all the results and lack of sleep makes, at least myself a little sleepy. It seems that the Barrie RoadRunners were very successful at the first annual Simcoe Shores 240k relay. With I believe 8 teams out of the total of 41 teams that showed up we were well represented. BKB, Barrie Dashers, Faster than a 93 Civic, RoadRunners 2, The Heat waves, Barrie Packers, the Sole Sisters and us the RoadRunners Oldguys.
The festivities or race start began at 7:30 am on Saturday morning with the first wave heading out from the waterfront in downtown Barrie, the second wave including the Oldguys started at 9 am. The fast third wave started at 10:30. Our team included Darren Collins, Bill Lovett, Oliver Owens, Brendan Kavanagh, Theo Bosch, Roger Ison and Keith Lascelles. Our first runner was the speedy Darren Collins who started tucked in behind the leader for the first 6 or 7k before passing him on the rail trail at the 5th/6th side road. Darren came in comfortably in first place for wave 2, in our first leg, handing off to Theo. Theo had been battling a few injuries and other than a short run on the previous wednesday hadn't run for a couple of weeks, so this would be interesting. Theo ran strong and steady on his leg to the fifth line of Oro and up towards Bass lake Road at the Hand off Theo was in second place and let Brendan take over. Despite telling him to take it nice and easy, Brendan tore up what was a very difficult hilly leg and left a large gap between himself and second. Bill took over next and kept a strong a steady pace on rollign hills passing first wave runners who had started 90 minutes ahead of us. Bill passed on to Keith who immediatley had a couple of huge climbs to tackle, which would be a test for his injuries that had turned the year of running into a challenge. Keith tackled the hills and forced himself to do 10 and 1's to lessen the impact on the sore achilles and hamstrings issues. As Keith finished his left achilles twinged a bit and after finishing thought that, that might be it for the weekend, with only one leg done. Oliver took over from here to the end of the first stage and brought us in tied for first in our wave. 4 hours and 41 minutes. It turns out that only 3 teams from the final wave beat our time too, so we were fourth overall at this point. A 2 hour break took place in Orillia at this point.
The second stage from Orillia to Midland would round out the daylight hours and Started with Roger, who found the humidity tough on a very hilly leg. Darren took over next and chased a very fast runner from the Velocity team from Orillia, keeping us with in 5 minutes. One of the performances of the weekend for our team was next to come with Brendan taking over 5 minutes behind the front runners in our wave, on a very scenic and flat trail leg he caught the lead team with in 5k and built a sizable lead as he came into Coldwater and passed off to Bill again. Bill contiued at a steady pace as he passed many first wave teams, but try as he might he couldn't catch James Rooney at the leg end. James showed some true grit to fend him off at the finish, good job James! Theo had, like Keith decided to miss a leg to see how the injuries were fairing and Oliver had stepped up to run to Victoria Harbour. The humidity at this point was very thick and dusk was approaching. Another good run from Oliver borught into the exchange and Roger ran to finish our 2nd stage in Midland in the twilight hours. We were the third team in overall. but still had changed positions overall or in our age category. At this time both Theo and Keith withdrew due to injury. Another break ensued for about an hour and a half, before the next waves got started at 9:30, 10:00 and 10:30pm. We started at 10 and Brendan ran hard against another tough runner in the dark. This would be a test for a lot of runners as most had never run trails in the dark, lights were a must and some found out cheaper lights just don't cut it. The trails were pitch black and very hard to see the footing, regardless Brendan ran well and passed over to Darren who quickly took over first place again running into Wyevale. Another leg by Oliver followed which would take us into Wasaga Beach into the early hours of Sunday morning. While supporting Oliver along the route on Floss Rd 11 just coming into the Beach we noticed a electric moped being driven eratically in Olivers direction so we tunred round to warn Oliver and another support vehicle down the road. The moped then tried to run oliver off the road turned around and came back, we then confronted and stopped the moped. Some very "stoned" individual with no helmet either. A text from Theo revealed that they ahd talked to the OPP at another turn who had actually stopped the moped earlier and let him go on home???? Olivers run continued rather uneventfully, althought the humidity seemed to be talking its toll. Roger followed on to due battle with drunks downtown in Wasaga as the bars were letting out. No problems but somewhat entertaining. Meanwhile the rest of the team headed to the next stage end to set up up a tent and try and get some sleep (not very successfully). More to come...

Part Two
While some of the team were making an attempt to sleep, Roger, finished his leg into the Sportspark with support from Theo and Brendan. A couple of hours laying around or walking around chatting to some of the other teams. A four o'clock wake up call and we were shuffling around getting ready and packing back up for Stage 4. Darren started the first leg off and to the west end of Wasaga Beach, up against a couple of formidable runners. Darren ran comfortably hard and finished the leg in 2nd place right behind the first place runner still in the dark. Oliver would take over for the 2nd leg and he blew out of the exchange zone with a sense of purpose. "Oliver, slow down, you've got a long way to go", Oliver was chasing a much faster runner and soon could only see a red flashing light in the distance. But Oliver is a strong and steady runner and maintained his steady pace. About halfway throught the leg, he was starting to get a little disillusioned and even offered to drop for the good of the team, but we would here nothing of it. We are a team and unless he was injured he was going to finish as a team. At one point Oliver asked if there was anyone behind him that we ccould see, we lied and said there was no one in sight. Actually we could see a light in the distance. We told him afterwards! Daylight was starting to show throught the clouds at this point and after a much longer leg than he thought, rounding a corner he saw the exchange zone and almost wet himself with delight. He was almost done for the race.
Bill would take over for what would be advertised as the toughest leg of the whole race up the mountain, or the escarpment. After he took off we followed, but had to make a pit stop for Brendan when we came upon an portable toilet about 1k from the exchange zone, WTF. After a long time waiting we took off after Bill, but couldn't follow to support as the road was closed to vehicles. At least it was supposed to be as some went through anyway. We found the alternate route and met up with Theo and Roger at the next exchange zone. At the top of a large hill we waited and thought we would be a long while. Some of the fast wave runners came through as we waited, but then we saw Dawn Hamel from the Velocity Team powering up the hill in first place for our wave. 55 years old and she was running up the hill like it was flat, amazing run. But shortly after Dawn came in, we saw Bill. He finished making up 5 minutes on the leaders in only 9k. Another amazing performance. Before Bill arrived we had a team discussion about Roger doing the next leg as apparently it was tougher than the level 5 leg that Bill was doing. But the following legs would be all downhill and Roger doesn't like downhill running, so off he went. And wow, Roger stormed up the hills, one after the next and passed the lead runner. The hills kept coming and Roger kept attakcing them, with a few walks thrown in. The rain had settled in and Roger was in heaven, loving the wet conditions. It also got very foggy as we finally pulled in to the second last exchange. Brendan was itching to go and off he went and the leg was definitly downhill and Brendan was loving it (he would pay for it on Monday). The Irish Flash was flying down the hills, but with about 2k to go he started to feel it and you could see his form break down a bit. He ran on galantly and came into the exchnage zone he looked relieved to pass on to Darren to run the last 5.2k. We soon realized that with only 5.2k, to run and Darren running it, we better get moving to the finish or Darren would be there before us. Darren finished the 5.2k in only 19 minutes. At about 9:30 Sunday morning we finshed, third place overall and second in our age group. We knew we were doing well, but we didn't think we could oull that off. After brekkie, we met up with some of the other Barrie teams finishing. A good day/night was had by all and Barrie teams did extremely well most placing in the various awards. Congrats to all. Thanks to all the volunteers, and support crews out there. hopefully we'll get some pictures up soon. And I'm sure we'll all be back next year, some of us may even be healthy enough to actually run.