· 3 page 3 london pacers march 2016 newsletter pacer clothing we have pacers singlets, short...

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Newsletter

March 2016

The London Pacers Running Club

www.londonpacers.on.ca

Pacers are everywhere and do just about anything!

Who is this Pacer and where is he??

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London Pacers March 2016 Newsletter

Executive

President Kevin Garlick [email protected]

Vice President OPEN

Treasurer Angie Smith [email protected] Events/Social Jackie McAllister [email protected] Publicity Laurie Baines [email protected]

Membership Sherry Watts [email protected] Secretary Maureen Dow [email protected]

Newsletter Sherry Watts [email protected] Paula Muxlow [email protected]

Temporary Sherry Watts [email protected] Race Reporter

From your editors: Newsletter information:

The deadline for the next newsletter is March 30, 12 noon.

The Newsletter editors are Sherry Watts and Paula Muxlow. Contact either of us if you have a contribution or a suggestion. Email addresses and phone numbers are above.

We love contributions: articles, comments, photos etc. It is your newsletter.

To assist the editors and make our job easier, PLEASE send your contribution(s) as follows:

- Please proof-read your article prior to submitting it.

- Send articles as Word files (save as .doc, not .docx)

- send photos or illustrations as separate .jpg files (low resolution).

- do not send articles with photos embedded, or .pdf files. We cannot work with those.

Items from other sources require permission to republish.

Any items that do not meet these criteria may be returned to you, or may not be published.

Pacer members are welcome to promote their businesses or events they are involved with. Send us the infor-mation and we will be happy to include it in the newsletter.

Please send race results or rumours of races your friends have done to Sherry Watts, our temporary race re-porter.

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Pacer Clothing

We have Pacers singlets, short sleeved and long sleeved shirts. Singlets cost $25 to $30, short sleeved are $30 and long-sleeved shirts are $35 to $42.

If you want a Pacer jacket, here is the process. Buy yourself a jacket in mostly red. It can have some black, grey or white trim. Take it to Mister Tees Clothing Company (MTCC) at 70 Pacific Court, unit 20 (north of Dundas St off Clarke Road). Their hours are limited – 9 to 5 Mon to Fri. They have the logos to put on. There are a few choices to make – size of logo and what material. The same logo can also be put on bags, some hats etc. The process takes a few days.

Pacer Discounts

Members of the London Pacers are given a discount on purchases at

Runners’ Choice at 207 Dundas St

and

New Balance London,

663 Wonderland Rd N,

London, Ontario N6H 0H9 Canada

Greetings to these members with March birthdays

Steve Beasley*, Rosemary Craen. Michelle Braeker, Jackie McAllister, Brenna Velker*, Johanna Dobransky*, Laura Slee, Cathy Burke, Adam Blacklock, John Ferguson, Tammy Whitehead

*entering a new age group

Welcome new members

Julie Tervrugt, Jerome Cariot, Naomy Kato, Jennifer Archibald, Grietje Schwering, Esra Erol, Gokhan Erol, Sara Middleton, Robbie Timmerman, Brian Hagemeier, Aiden Hagemeier, Ethan Hagemeier, Susan McNeil

Welcome back

Tammy Whitehead, John Ferguson

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PACER RESULTS February 2016

Hot Cocoa 10 Miler Port Huron, ON January 31, 2016

Overall Name Time AG Place

178 Bill Spackman 1:39:28 M65+ 2

Iron Horse 50 Miler Florahome, FL February 6, 2016

Overall Name Time

1 Dave Carver 6:50:12

The Oracle Trail Race 25K Uxbridge, ON February 13, 2016

Overall Name Time Age Group Place

28 Adam Blacklock 2:59:27 M30-39 2

1st

Half Marathon Vancouver, BC February 14, 2016

Overall Name Gun Time Chip Time Age Group Place

95 Sean Peicheff 1:24:54 1:24:52 M45-49 11

Grimsby Half Marathon Grimsby, ON February 15, 2016

Overall Name Time Age Group Place

47 Morrison Reid 1:50:32 M65-69 1

Ontario Masters Track & Field Chmps North York, ON Feb 28, 2016

Shot Put

W60

Overall Name Distance

2 Sherry Watts 5.54m

W65

1 Joanne Miklos den Iseger 6.71m PB!

Mardi Gras Marathon New Orleans, LA February 28, 2016 Overall Name Gun Time Chip Time Age Group AG place

443 Armin Kruspel 3:52:05 3:47:07 M60-64 6 BQ!

851 Steve Hillman 4:12:25 4:07:53 M45-49 79

Half Marathon

1137 Paula Rogers 1:57:17 1:52:36 W45-49 28

1501 Tracy Hillman 2:00:50 1:56:08 F45-49 46

Send your results to [email protected]

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Social Events

Museum London – Pacers’ March Social Event

Join us for our upcoming visit to Museum London for “Canada at Play: 100 years of Games, Toys and Sport”. The exhibition has popular games and toys from the past 130 years and is organized and cir-culated by the Royal Ontario Museum.

Website - http://www.museumlondon.ca/exhibitions/

The final details of this outing (including date and time) will be established in the next few days. Trip details will be communicated to fellow Pacers via e-mail and members-only Facebook. Your family members are welcome to join in on the fun. Entry to the museum is by donation.

Hope to see you there.

Thames River Cleanup April 23

The Pacers have signed up to clean a section of the Thames River during the annual Thames River Cleanup. Put it on your calendar. We need someone to help organise the outing (talk to Kevin for details) and lots of people who want to see a clean, healhy river. Students can earn Community Service Hours so bring the whole family.

http://www.thamesrivercleanup.ca/

Volunteer Opportunities - Pacers Needed

The club will have its display table at the Forest City Road Races on April 23 and 24. Laurie needs some help to man the table. Whether you are brand new to the club or have been with it since the begin-ning, sign up to let other runners and walkers know what we are all about. Email [email protected] if you can give a few hours.

We also need people to man the water table in Gibbons Park. Blair Poetschke has volunteered to be the captain but he needs some enthusiastic members to help him.

Sign up here to volunteer and indicate that you want to work the London Pacers water table.

http://forestcityroadraces.com/volunteer/

As you know, Kevin has been helping with the CC Carrothers Elementary School cross country team and the club has raised the funds to provide them with a team tent. The school could use people to help coach the track and field team this spring. If you have some time, this is an opportunity to make a difference.

One idea for fundraising for the Pacers Cross Country team is a yard sale. We could use some-one who has experience to help us get organised. Help the runners get to Kingston next November.

The club is still in need of a Vice President.

Contact any member of the executive or email [email protected] for more information on any of these items.

http://www.museumlondon.ca/exhibitions/

http://www.thamesrivercleanup.ca/

mailto:[email protected]

http://forestcityroadraces.com/volunteer/

mailto:[email protected]

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President’s Message

We have the Pacers people community and then we have the Pacers canine community. As you may be aware, this edition of the Pacers Newsletter is affectionately referred to as the ‘Dog Edition’.

We see our Pacers canine runners everywhere; sometimes at Pack Runs and sometimes they join us on the trails. I’m not sure who enjoys the run more, the people or our four-legged friends. When we have multiple dogs join us on trail runs, they seem to communicate among themselves quite effectively. The dogs are often the center of attention on these runs. Their fitness improves over time and exposure to running, just as our fitness improves.

Not only do our pets become an important part of our family, they sometimes become a valued training partner on our runs from time to time.

So next time you head out to a Pacers run, remember that we are a dog-friendly club and your canine family member is welcome to join us. I would just ask that you accompany them and don’t let them drive to the event on their own. lol.

Kevin

Q. What does my dog and my phone have in common?

A: They both have collar I.D.

Q: What do you call a dog magician?

A: A labracadabrador.

Q: What do you get if you cross a gold dog with a telephone?

A: A golden receiver!

Kevin and Bailey

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We ski in the winter, & walk & run with our dog Ro daily, who also participates & sometimes wins or places in races. We like to participate in local races & events “dressing the part” (including Ro) for ex-tra fun. She has walked or run up to about 40km over a weekend, so we think she may be ready for a marathon.

Sara and Robert Slee

Reggie—Mary and Chuck’s buddy

Robin and Charlotte

Jeff and Belle

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Two dogs from Jackie’s running world.

This is Avaya, she is the dog that lives in the house where

my daughter lives in Windsor. I think Avaya would qualify as

a running buddy as she was my comforting pooch while I was

in Windsor the day before the Detroit marathon. She

would lie with me in the chair and snuggle in, giving me great

comfort while I was so nervous and anxious about the race.

She qualifies as a pawsitively great running pooch.

Dillon, Jackie’s Cozumel, Mexico running buddy

Velcro—Gord and Rita’s dog

Brian and Jewel

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Riley and Trixie—Paula’s running buddies

Sherry’s furry cat friends

Sadie—looking very studious!

Teddy—Shauna Stewart’s best friend!

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Robert and Sara Slee invite you to participate in the following upcoming

race on May 15th, 2016

The 2nd

London Community Run will take place on Saturday, March 5th

, co-hosted by Runners' Choice London and the London Runner Distance Club. These events are open to everyone: whether this is your first ever group run or you've run in hundreds of road races, this event is for you! The format is simple: Register for the event online at Race Roster, Run in the Community event, and then Relax and socialize with other members of the London running community post-race. Registration is free and we encourage participants to bring a canned food item, which will be do-nated to the London Food Bank. Please visit the London Food Bank website to learn more, includ-ing a current list of food items needed: www.londonfoodbank.ca

Schedule 10:30am Short Loop Run, 2.258k 10:35am Full Loop Run (4.622k) & Double Loop Run (9.244k)

This event uses the beautiful, natural loops of Springbank Park for the Short and Full loop courses. Start and Finish lines are at the wooden posts just East of the historic Stone Cottage. This is grass roots running at it's finest - no entry fees, no performance prizing - whether you're running for fitness or training for a big PB, the London Community Runs are for you. The 3rd and 4rd London Community Runs will take place late-summer.

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Indoor Rock Climbing at Junction Climbing Centre

A few Pacers converged on Junctions on Monday, February 29th, for a fun evening of rock climbing. Junction Staff explained how to wear the harness effectively, many safety tips, and advice such as staying close to the wall, using the strength in your legs to conserve energy and using momentum to your advantage. After these helpful tips, we were let loose to explore the options. Some walls had auto-belays where we were free to hook ourselves up and begin climbing. Other walls required a Staff Member to belay for us. The difficulty level is displayed at the base of each wall so you know what to expect. The scale would be something like 5.4, 5.6, 5.8, 5.10, 5.12. 5.4 is quite manageable but 5.12 would be extremely difficult. Most of us stayed in the 5.4 to 5.8 range.

Some observations of the evening:

Rob Campbell, I think, may have tried more walls and more variations of climbing than anyone from our group. Well done Rob.

Richard Bird, Robert Slee and myself completed multiple climbs on various levels of difficulty.

Laurie Baines and son Brian were competing to see who could complete the most climbs and the most difficult levels. I think Laurie may have edged Brian out, but not by much!!

Robert’s daughter, Laura, an experienced climber, moved around to various areas at the venue and made things look remarkably easier than they actually were – at least at lot easier than the effort I required to climb … lol.

Angie showed amazing strength, flexibility and technique as can be seen in some of the photos. Very impres-sive!!

Debbie did very well. Having tried rock climbing at Junctions a couple of times and never reaching the top due to a fear of heights, this time around she made several climbs up to the peak on various walls. Success!!

Anne was non-stop, climbing wall after wall. Showing relentless determination and not backing down from any wall attempted, she always reached the top.

Maureen, an experienced climber, demonstrated some bouldering. This is a variation on wall climbing where participants do not wear harnesses. Participants would pick a difficulty level and a colour, say A4 yellow (bouldering uses a different difficulty scale than the other wall climbing at this venue), and then would attempt to reach the peak by only using the yellow foot/hand holds. And, if that weren’t challenging enough, they then had to work their way back down the wall, but this time they would use any colour of foot/hand holds. Getting down actually looked as difficult as getting up because quite often you did not have clear view of exactly where to place your feet.

To our other Pacers members and friends who joined us – well done. You have shown admirable qualities by taking part in something far removed from our sport of running.

Hope everyone had a great time and hope to see everyone out to other social events as we move through 2016.

kg.

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Indoor Rock Climbing at Junction Climbing Centre

A few Pacers converged on Junctions on Monday, February 29th, for a fun evening of rock climbing. Junction Staff explained how to wear the harness effectively, many safety tips, and advice such as staying close to the wall, using the strength in your legs to conserve energy and using momentum to your advantage. After these helpful tips, we were let loose to explore the options. Some walls had auto-belays where we were free to hook ourselves up and begin climbing. Other walls required a Staff Member to belay for us. The difficulty level is displayed at the base of each wall so you know what to expect. The scale would be something like 5.4, 5.6, 5.8, 5.10, 5.12. 5.4 is quite manageable but 5.12 would be extremely difficult. Most of us stayed in the 5.4 to 5.8 range.

Some observations of the evening:

Rob Campbell, I think, may have tried more walls and more variations of climbing than anyone from our group. Well done Rob.

Richard Bird, Robert Slee and myself completed multiple climbs on various levels of difficulty.

Laurie Baines and son Brian were competing to see who could complete the most climbs and the most difficult levels. I think Laurie may have edged Brian out, but not by much!!

Robert’s daughter, Laura, an experienced climber, moved around to various areas at the venue and made things look remarkably easier than they actually were – at least at lot easier than the effort I required to climb … lol.

Angie showed amazing strength, flexibility and technique as can be seen in some of the photos. Very impres-sive!!

Debbie did very well. Having tried rock climbing at Junctions a couple of times and never reaching the top due to a fear of heights, this time around she made several climbs up to the peak on various walls. Success!!

Anne was non-stop, climbing wall after wall. Showing relent-less determination and not backing down from any wall attempted, she always reached the top.

kg.

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Maureen, an experienced climber, demonstrated some bouldering. This is a variation on wall climbing where par-ticipants do not wear harnesses. Participants would pick a difficulty level and a colour, say A4 yellow (bouldering uses a different difficulty scale than the other wall climbing at this venue), and then would attempt to reach the peak by only using the yellow foot/hand holds. And, if that weren’t challenging enough, they then had to work their way back down the wall, but this time they would use any colour of foot/hand holds. Getting down actually looked as difficult as getting up because quite often you did not have clear view of exactly where to place your feet.

To our other Pacers members and friends who joined us – well done. You have shown admirable qualities by tak-ing part in something far removed from our sport of running.

Hope everyone had a great time and hope to see everyone out to other social events as we move through 2016.

Moe and Laurie Anne and Rob

Angie

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Tyrone Traher, and son Tyrone Traher II

Wow! - How does one man accomplish so much success and in so many different areas: In 1981 he was Canada’s male representative of the Fittest Team in Canada and Fittest Man in Canada; 1980 was winning gold medals in rowing; later became a successful Big Band music promoter; and continues to be a sports facilities advocate.

Join us at our March General Club Membership Meeting, Grosvenor Lodge, 1017 Western Road, Monday, March 14th, 2016, at 7:00 pm, when we welcome Tyrone Traher as one of our guest speakers for the evening.

We also welcome Tyron’s son, Tyrone Traher II. This father/son team put a two-year plan to-gether to coach and train a young Tyrone, then a 6th grader, for a 1,500-meter event. To appreciate the effort and process set forth in this inspiring story you have to hear it first hand. At just 15 years of age, Tyrone is working his way up the ranks in the running and racing community. With years of steady progress and improvement now translating into repeated podium finishes, the young London Western Track and Field Club athlete is set to blow the local running scene wide open.

Hear, and see, what a ‘Never give up, never give in!!’ philosophy can produce.

Circle the date on your calendar, Monday, March 14th, 2016

You do not want to miss this !!

Tyrone Tyrone II

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Adam sent this along from MEC.

MEC London | Adding a Marathon into the Mix

We are excited to kick off the 2016 race season offering five races with multiple distance options available in both road and trail format. This year we have added a marathon to the mix. This distance starts out in Pot-tersburg Park running alongside the Thames River. Our course guides you on a flat and fast route as you head from South East London to South West London, gliding through the downtown core and Western Uni-versity. The course was designed with our participants' best interests in mind. A scenic view of the city with an elevation gain of 225m, this certified course is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

If 42.195 kilometres is a little intimidating we have got a solution. All MEC Races Series offer a fun and wel-coming environment with race distances for all levels and abilities. With an entry fee of $15 we provide certi-fied courses, chip timing, post-race snacks, and division awards with a relaxed environment everyone can enjoy. MEC is dedicated to the grassroots and makes this experience very affordable for anyone looking to sign up for their first race, or those trying to hit a new personal best this season. Don’t forget to come out to our Meet Up road runs at Gibbons Park and Trail Meet Up at Komoka Provincial Park to get a few extra training sessions. Check out our event dates at: events.mec.ca

We are edging ever closer to our first race and hoping to see a beautiful sunny day greet our participants at the starting line. Until then, Londoners have been experiencing the full force of winter and we are here to support those runners looking to “stick it to old man winter” and bravely run through the ever changing condi-tions. Come in and talk to our staff about the technical elements of clothing and appropriate layering, foot-wear and traction, as well as training and location tips.

MEC.ca

MEC Race Series

Race 1 – Saturday, March 12 – Springbank Park – 5K/10K/15K Road Only

Race 2- Saturday, April 16 – StoneyBrook Area – 5K/10K/15K Road &6K/12K Trail

Race 3 – Saturday, May 28 – Pottersburg Park – 5K/10K/Half Marathon/Marathon Road Only

Race 4 – Saturday, September 10 – Fanshawe Conservation Area – 5K/10K Road & 6K12K/Half Marathon Trail

Race 5 – Saturday October 22 – Gibbons Park – 5K/10K/15K Road & 5K/10K Trail

(Certification of the routes is pending. Certified courses in Canada are listed here: www.acroad.ca/Directors/CourseMeasurement/CertifiedCourses/ Ed.)

http://www.acroad.ca/Directors/CourseMeasurement/CertifiedCourses/

http://www.acroad.ca/Directors/CourseMeasurement/CertifiedCourses/

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The answers to the trivia photos are as follows (see front page of February newsletter) from top left, clockwise:

photo 1 - Fanshawe Conservation Area - trail around the lake

photo 2 - Westminster Ponds off Wellington Road

photo 3 - Komoka Provincial Park

At what location along the bike path are these beautiful murals located?

Mural 1—Above left

Mural 2—Above right

Mural 3—Lower right

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Hi

On a cool Sunday morning, took part in a 5-km road race from South Beach in Vero.

The event was in support of a Jewish Temple in Vero and people who do a lot of good things in the community -- no proof of religious affiliation was needed, but just in case I brought along the Saturday bulletin from St Helen's parish :-))

The temp at 8:00 am for the start of the race was 10 C and sort of nasty with cool stiff winds swirling around from the north-west, but OK if we kept moving.

And we have results --

Despite the weather 78 people finished the race -- and as unusual at it is, the largest group of participants was the 70+ male group -- looks like cooler temps keep 'fair-weather' runners away and wake up and bring 'old runners' out. I racewalked the 5 km and finished in 49 minutes and 05 seconds (40 seconds faster than the Jan 23 race on the same course -- go figure), placing 76 of 78 participants and was 9th in the 70+ age group. With no fair-weather walkers on the course, I brought up the rear until about a mile to go when I was able to pick it up a little to overtake a couple of people -- and so have yet to finish last in a race -- !!

The event was very well organized -- it was a bit uncomfortable in the nasty weather at the start, (that some would described as 'sh**y) but did get a nice white-and-blue t-shirt and a breakfast of coffee, fruit, bagels & cream cheese, of course from a renown Einstein Bros Bagels restaurant franchise.

The race was a low key event with no media cover-age -- it looked like they were out getting ready to cover that another event, the Super Bawls :-))

In photo-ops -- after the race we have a couple of the good folks from the Vero Runners Depot who organize race events, measure courses, do the timing, compile results, and cheer people on along the course -- and to boot, they also have weekly 4 and 6 mile walk-run get-togethers from the sports shop -- In the before the race pic, the long pants, the Jacques Cousteau toque and the gloves came along as part of contingency plan B.

It was a great morning on the streets out and back from South Beach.

It does not get much better than this !!

Cheers

Lorne

Hello from Vero

It was an overcast morning in Vero and perfect for a road race.

The event put on by the Runner's Depot was well organized and attracted over 100 participants -- in fact there were 108 finishers.

And we have results --

The finish line was across the street from a local craft brewery, the Orchid Island Brewery, who offered the finishers a free glass of their specialty beer. They had some Starbuck’s coffee at the end, but unlike last year, there was no food stuff.

They had a nice black "Will Run for Beer" T-shirt to promote the 2nd annual "Beer-Run" and yes indeed -- it was unique -- where else can one have a glass of beer at 9 am in the morning before breakfast??

I was able to racewalk the course in 50 minutes and 14 seconds, (some 12 seconds slower than last year on the same course), for an 10th place finish in the 70 + age group. Again the 'old-guys' came out and the largest group was the male 70 + group -- I was 108 of 108 finishers and for the first time since starting to run in 1978, the last one to finish a race.

I wore a London Pacers singlet which identified me as being from London Canada and that resulted in meeting a couple from Calgary who are vacationing for a month in the Vero area.

It was a great morning on the streets of Vero and at the Orchid Island Brewery -- and now off to the pooldeck with a book and a snooze.

It does not get much better than this !!

Cheers Lorne

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LONDON PACERS GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

A meeting of The London Pacers was held at Grosvenor Lodge, 1017 Western Road on Monday, February 8,

2016.

Executive members in attendance included Kevin Garlick, Sherry Watts, Angie Smith, Maureen Dow, Laurie Baines and Jackie McAllister

Treasurer's Report: All of our bills are paid. A financial report will be in the March or April newsletter.

Membership Report: This is the last month to renew memberships. Last year we had 198 club members, to date 128 memberships applications have been processed.

Newsletter: The March issue is the pet issue. Send in all your jpeg pictures of your running friends; dogs, cats or other critters.

Publicity Report: The Pacers have a public and private Facebook site. The Pacers public Facebook site offers a link to the Pacers membership application. Once you become a member you are given the link to the private Face-book page.

Social Report: February’s social event will be rock climbing at The Junction on Monday, February 28. The cost will be $21 per person which covers the climbing harness. The walls are numbered by level of difficulty and the holds on the walls become smaller as the difficulty increases. Bouldering walls are available and don’t require a harness. If interested RSVP, the emailed invitation. A survey on social interests was distributed to the membership at the January general meeting and emailed to members through Survey Monkey. The results have so far indi-cated interest by the membership in a hike through Wildwood, Thames River clean-up, a trip to the art gallery and museum, a London Knights game, ice skating, co-ed soccer, rock climbing, bowling, first aid training and a cooking demonstration. The survey has also been posted on the Facebook members only page.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This year the Runner’s Choice London Honda Race series will include the Downtown 5K, run for Retina Research, Rock the Road, Summer Night 5K, Springbank Road Races, and Halloween Haunting. Check the Run-ner’s Choice website for up-coming dates.

The Forest City Road Races (FCRR) is scheduled Sunday, April 24. The Pacer water station will be in the same location in Gibbons Park. All six participating water station groups are returning this year. Blair Poetschke is once again the Pacer water station captain. Sign up online at FCRR as a volunteer and identify your preferred in-terest in volunteering with the Pacer water station or any other area of need. This year the Pacers will not be eligi-ble for the Steve Coad spirit award as they have won it two years in a row. However, this year individuals are also eligible to win the award.

The Wednesday night track group, open to London Pacers Running Club members occurs at Thompson Arena, 8-9 pm. Pay $5 to Bill Wheeler track side. This offsets the club costs as the club rents the track.

London Pacers Sunday morning pack runs begin from the London Rowing Club at 8 am sharp; arrive a few min-utes early. More than 10 pre-planned routes are available to choose from at the Rowing Club.

GUEST SPEAKER

Leslie Sexton grew up in Markham, Ontario. Always active in grade three she joined her school cross country team. Cross-country appealed to her because of the individual and team nature of the event. She played a bit of hockey and softball but distance running always remained her favourite sport. Cross-country in the Fall and track and field in the Spring became her favourite events. In high school with time only to do one sport per season she joined the cross country team.

Her first regional championship as a grade nine student was disastrous. One of the turns on the course was missing a marshal and a 3k turned into a 5k. Some runners managed to complete the course hence a deci-sion was made to run the race again. Because of this Leslie missed qualifying for OFSSA by one spot. However, after significant training she was able to qualify for OFSSA the following spring. One of her team mates at school encouraged her to join the Markham Track Club. The club was small but was a great training opportunity. In high school Leslie focused on middle distance events such as the 1800m and 1500m.

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In 2005, Leslie started at Queens University and studied history. In her first four years she ran varsity, cross track and indoor track. She was frustrated because she wanted to pursue running longer distances. Custom-arily cross-country was limited to 5K and the indoor track season was 3000m. Training to become a higher mile-age runner was difficult. In her first year she started experimenting with higher mileage and her performance suf-fered because she increased her distance too fast. In her third year of university she had a break through in per-formance. At that time, she was running about 80 miles per week. During cross-country season she noticed the increased effort resulted in placing closer to the front of the pack.

Leslie qualified and represented Canada at the 2008 World University Cross-Country Championships in France. That spring she completed her first half marathon. Kingston was offering a $500 course record bonus for the half. Leslie set her eyes on the prize, however, the result was the most painful race of her life. The Limestone Half in 2008 was also a rookie mistake going out too fast resulted in a really painful final 5-6K. She discovered in a half marathon you can be hurting and still maintain your pace. The final result was a 1:20:48 finish, she broke the record and accomplished her goal. However, she spent the rest of the day, throwing up, lying in bed and had to walk backwards down stairs for a week. Surprisingly after all that she found she enjoyed the distance and tried to do it again.

In her fourth year of university she dealt with some injuries. By winter of 2010 she had recovered and de-cided to work on building her base. That spring she was satisfied with her fitness level and set her sights on com-peting in the Canadian Track and Field Championships. At that time London was having some outdoor events and the first event in the series was the Ontario 10,000m Championships so she registered with Athletics Ontario. As a result, in 2010, two women herself included were running 25 laps. Despite the race being long and lonely she fin-ished in 35:17 and discovered she like the 10000m. At that time she also met her partner, Steve Weiler. She con-tinued racing in London throughout the spring. At the time London was one of the only places hosting 5,000m and 10,000m events. Eventually Leslie and Steve started dating and he agreed to coach her after she admitted she was self coached and fumbling with what to do. That season she competed in the 5000m at the Canadian Track and Field Championships and earned a bronze medal. The change in training was working.

Leslie moved to London in the winter of 2011 to train with London Runner Club and accepted a job at Run-ners Choice. That was the first year London Runner Club with the support of Runners Choice and New Balance provided product support to top athletes. The financial support helped her concentrate on her training and attend more meets.

The first year in London Leslie and Steve started training for a marathon. Her focus was the 5k and she did 1500s to work on speed and further develop the tools to handle a marathon. That summer she won the 5000m at the Canadian Track and Field Championships. The following fall she did a build up to attempt a longer race and chose the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon. She knew it would be a fast course and good competition. Her peak build at this time was 175K a week. She finished 23rd and first in her gender and age category with a time of 1:16:32.6. In 2012, she also competed in the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in Montreal. That year she was also selected to be on the Canadian Women’s team at the 2012 Bolder Boulder 10K International Team Chal-lenge.

In the fall of 2012 she began her first attempt at training for a marathon. She got sick during her taper, started the marathon and had to stop after 5K. With a marathon it’s an all or nothing type of event. She started the new year doing another build and won the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. She worked on track in the summer and broke 34 minutes in the 10K. That Fall 2013, she and her team mate trained for Columbus; he trained for the marathon and she did the half marathon. She ran the half marathon in 1:13:13 achieving a 2 minute per-sonal best. After the race in Columbus she wanted to go back to Virginia Beach and do the marathon but got in-jured 10 days from the race. Attempt number 3 was the Columbus marathon in the fall of 2014. She finished the race in 2:50:54 making progress but slower than she had hoped.

Leslie’s goal over the past few years has been to represent Canada at a World Athletics Championship. The most realistic option would be the marathon. The standard for the 10000m is 32 minutes and her current per-sonal best was 1:20 over. The Athletics Canada marathon standard is 2:35 so it seemed more within her reach. The next World Championships will be in 2017 so she started another marathon build. She headed to Virginia Beach to make another attempt at the Shamrock Half Marathon. The last few miles were rough but she finished in 2:39:33. In 2015, she entered the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. She started in June building up easy mileage do-ing 110-180k per week. From August to October she concentrated on her marathon build.

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Generally, Leslie doesn’t race a lot in the last few weeks. She did the Springbank Half for a workout at marathon pace. Her key items are high volume, keeping most weeks over 200k, she schedules in some medium weeks as well. When not running a long run she runs two shorter runs in the day. With high volume you increase aerobic fitness. Her limit is two hard days per week; long runs being considered hard days. Long runs are run at marathon pace plus 25-30 seconds per K. During the marathon build she likes to run the full marathon distance twice. She does a lot of workouts running marathon pace. At this time in the build she works on being able to hit the goal pace for the run and practices her fuel plan. After running the marathon simulations, she was averaging a 3:40k.

On race day in Toronto the weather was great. She arranged a friend to be a pace runner and they ran the first 32K together. At the start she saw Lanni Marchant take off to chase the Canadian record. Two other Canadi-ans were ahead of her as well. At the half way mark her time was 1:16:34 and she was still feeling good. At the 20K mark she started closing the gap on the two Canadian leaders. She ran her fastest 5K split of the race at 18:02 and managed to pass both women at the 30K mark. At 32K the energy of the crowd kept her going and she moved into 8th place at the 37K mark. Coming into the finish she felt good and confident. Her official finish time was 2:33:22 it was a personal best by 6 minutes, an 8th place finish and she was the 2nd Canadian.

Leslie has had a love hate relationship with cross-country. Despite this she went to Canadians Cross-Country in Kingston, as a team with three others from London Runner. Over the past two years the Canadian Cross-Country has been 6-7 weeks after the marathon. To train for cross-country the first week after the marathon she takes it easy. The difference in training involves shorter stuff on the bike paths and grass at race pace. She entered the race more fit and the course was less muddy the result was a 4th place finish. Her previous best finish had been ninth.

At this point she plans to attend cross country in Kingston for the next three years. Her most important goal over the next few years is to continue to lower her marathon time and she plans to attend the Rotterdam Marathon this spring.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 9 pm.

Next General Meeting

The next general meeting is March 14, 2016

Maureen Dow, Secretary

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THE LONDON PACERS RUNNING CLUB FINANCIAL REPORT

For the year ending December 31, 2015

Opening Bank Balance @ December 31/14 $8,647.24

Revenue

Memberships $5,152.50

Turkey Trot 2,955.30

Seniors Community Grant from the Gov't of Ont for Seniors Running Clinic 2,524.86

Club Championship Races & Banquet 1,451.00

X-Country Team 1,130.00

Charity Bear Donations 821.50 see note 1

CAAWS Grant - Cdn Association for the Advancement of Women & Sport 750.00

UWO Track 480.00

Mile Night (proceeds donated to X-Country team) 160.00

Miscellaneous 89.78 see note 2

Clothing 64.00

Total Revenue $15,578.94

Expenses Government of Ontario Grant/Seniors Running Clinic $2,524.88

Turkey Trot 1,975.77

Club Championship Races & Banquet 1,469.20

X-Country Team 1,034.96

Meetings (GrosvenorLodge/Refreshments/Guest speakers) 1,012.58

CAAWS Grant Walking Clinic 949.35

Rental (Rowing Club/Storage Locker/Booth at BMO Expo) 928.03

UWO Track 578.00

Miscellaneous 455.64 see note 3

Donations 400.00

Mile Night 396.19

Website/Promotion/Supplies 338.05

Insurance 249.50

Total Expenses $12,312.15

Cash balance @ December 31/15 $11,914.03

Add Outstanding Cheques 870.82

Closing Bank balance @ December 31/15 per bank statement $12,784.85

Notes:

#1 Purchase of tent for C. C. Carrothers Public School Track & Field team will be in 2016

#2 Includes Rowing Club/coffee money collected

#3 Includes cost of Jack Daniels Coaching Clinic & gift for outgoing President presented at New Year's Day Run

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