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      Hello Everyone,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  November 5, 2020        

     In this Issue:

     

  1. SUDBURYROCKS!!! Virtual
  2. City Secondary School X Country Championships
  3. Helen Bobiwash Runs 6.5 Hours (How far can she go?)
  4. Photos This Week
  5. Upcoming Events Nov. 8 Run to Remember
  6. Running Room Run Club Update: 
  7. Track North

 

 

 

 

SUDBURYROCKS!!! Virtual

 

 


THANK YOU so much for taking part in this year’s SudburyROCKS!!! COVID edition. We appreciate your support this year more than ever!

We are super excited to see how many people ran/walked in our 2020 Virtual SudburyROCKS!!! Marathon!
We are still putting all the photos together and tallying up the donations... Stay tuned for this year's total raised funds for the Northern Cancer Foundation!

 

 

 

City Secondary School X Country Championship

Oct 28, 2020 at Kivi Park

All photos here

 

from Colin Ward:

We are extremely thankful that ours is one of the few regions, on the continent, able and willing, to host at least some high school sports events. And if our good fortune continues here in the North of Ontario, these types of experiences will continue to be offered in this city. I'm feeling very thankful for where we live in these crazy times. Ski season here we come.....


http://www.sudburyrocks.ca/.../cross%20country/photos-1.htm

https://www.sudburysports.com/article.php?articleId=10115...
https://results.raceroster.com/.../jgdb6n3vcaxayjgg...
https://www.lakeshoreadvance.com/.../4297f292-35a8-4b11...
https://www.theobserver.ca/.../280f1409-3cab-4046-84e5...

 

 


Gold and gratitude on cross-country trails
Due to pandemic protocols, you are racing 'ghosts,' one runner notes

Ben Leeson
Published on: October 28, 2020 |

Calum Passi and Matthew Smith had start times roughly an hour apart, yet were still nearly neck and neck atop the SDSSAA cross-country championship leaderboard on Wednesday.

Passi, a Lasalle Secondary standout, won the senior boys’ 4.3-kilometre race, contested at Kivi Park in Sudbury, with a time of 14:12. Smith, a late-blooming Confederation Secondary School representative, was only a few seconds slower, crossing the finish line in 14:18.

Kendyn Mashinter, from powerhouse Lo-Ellen Park, was not far off the pace, finishing third in 14:35.

Like all high school cross-country races this season, Wednesday’s event was run in waves, rather than with a mass start, in keeping with COVID-19 protocols. Entrants and officials agreed that times would be kept secret until everyone had finished.

“It felt really good, honestly, a lot of fun,” said Passi, 17, a Grade 12 student at Lasalle. “It was definitely a challenging course, as always in Sudbury. Whether at Laurentian or at Kivi, you can count on the hills, for sure.”

Well-acquainted with high-level competition, having medalled at the city, regional and even provincial levels during an illustrious high school career, Passi enjoys being pushed by his peers. So this year’s SDSSAA championships, which also served as the season finale, presented a different kind of challenge.

“I love having other racers beside me, for sure,” said the Grade 12 student. “You definitely feed off of other competitors and it’s a different atmosphere, I would say, when you’re mass starting together, boxing each other out. Those strategies definitely come into play a lot more.”

Running solo, however, still required a great deal of fortitude, both physical and mental.

“You have to be desperate out there,” Passi said. “You know these guys have run fantastic times, that Kendyn and Matthew both ran fantastic times, the mindset going into it is to push yourself, to not take breaks. When you’re running by yourself, running time trials, you can have mental lapses, but you can’t afford that when you’re competing against these high-level guys.

“You have to run with that in mind — even thought they’re not beside you, you’re racing their ghosts. You have to stay mentally focused and keep pushing every step of the way.”

Smith didn’t mind the change. Indeed, the 17-year-old speedster found the extra space, and the chance to focus on his own performance, to be rather refreshing.

“You can just focus on doing your best, rather than matching somebody else’s,” said the 12th-grader, who won a preliminary race at Naughton Trails last week. “It’s definitely a mental game, because there’s nobody there, so for sure, it’s a lot of self-discipline.”

Smith’s success is all the more impressive considering he’s a relative newcomer to the cross-country ranks. An accomplished athlete and a longtime basketball player, he didn’t start racing competitively until last season.

“When I started, I had no idea what I was doing,” he said with a laugh. “I just decided to go out there and run, and it turned out I had a talent for it. I guess I had good conditioning from other sports.”

He gives credit to coaches Stephane Jacques and Dan Whalen and fellow runners such as Ian MacKenzie for helping transform his raw ability into more refined technique, and to his friends at SneakerWorks Customs for their ongoing support.

“I have a lot of these guys to look up to, giving me good role models,” said Smith, who has begun to consider pursuing the sport, in one form or another, at the post-secondary level.

“If I go to university, I might look into joining a team. I don’t know if I’ll go for running, but it might be something I’ll want to do while I’m there. It’s something I have been thinking about a lot. It’s one of those things that grew on me and I’m thinking about doing something bigger, like maybe a marathon or something.”

Despite all the changes and delays, the athletes were grateful for a chance to compete this season, knowing that theirs was one of only two high school athletic associations, along with Thunder Bay, to stage fall any sports this year.

“Great gratitude, I would say,” Passi said. “You definitely appreciate it more. A lot of kids didn’t get this, so I feel like I was extremely lucky to be able to do this. The team atmosphere was awesome this year, I was a little more involved with the school and that was a lot of fun. Any sports you’re involved in, you’re going to grow friendships, grow bonds with each other, you joke around, and even though you’re in practice, you’re hurting and your legs are tired, you can still crack jokes and get through it together.”

Now one of the Lancers’ seasoned veterans, he has taken pride in playing a leadership role and helping to secure the team’s legacy following his graduation.

“It’s all about the program, really, and you want to set a good example for the younger guys and girls,” Passi said. “You want to set that visual example so they know what to do next year. You can say do this, do that, but when they see you doing it, it’s easier to follow that example.

“You want to set a good foundation for what’s expected of our team, how we carry ourselves and how with act with each other, how we compete. It doesn’t really matter how you placed. What we care about is your effort. At the end of the race, did you know that your gave it your all? That was something I definitely wanted to instill in our team this year.”

A post-secondary running career is certainly in Passi’s plans, as it was for his brother, Liam, now a member of Laurentian University’s cross-country and indoor track teams.

“No decisions are made yet, but I’m definitely looking to run varsity at a university,” Calum Passi said. “There’s applications to be made, but I’m definitely going to do that soon and to start talking to coaches. I’m definitely looking to get to that next level and to compete with those guys.”

On the senior girls’ front, Lo-Ellen’s Kalila Bachiu finished first on Wednesday, followed by teammates Chandyn Bachiu in second and Isabelle Mastroianni in third.

Junior boys were led by Confederation’s Carson Crane, with the LEP tandem of Kaeden Ward and Liam Lacroix in second and third, respectively.

For junior girls, Lo-Ellen’s Sophia Oommen and Sarah Lanthier finished 1-2, with Marymount’s Emma Stegmann finishing a close third.

Lockerby’s Atom Thususka was first among novice boys, while Owen Dobson of Lo-Ellen was second and Liam Binks of Lockerby was third.

Manitoulin was well represented among novice girls, with Maren Kasunich finishing first and Mackenzie Green third, with Lauren Pineau from Lockerby between them.

Riley Cornthwaite and Brianna Moxam, both from Lasalle, were first and second, respectively, in the para event.

Lo-Ellen topped the overall standings, with 28 points compared to Lockerby’s 24 and Marymount’s 20.

For full results from the SDSSAA championships, including team standings for each division, visit www.chiptimeresults.com/race-results.

bleeson@postmedia.com

All Results Here

 

 

 

Helen Bobiwash Runs 6.5 Hours (How far can she go?)

Zaagin and Helen - 43km Complete


How Far Can I Go?

by Helen Bobiwash


Why did I decide to run 6 ½ hours on October 31st, 2020? The decision goes back a year.

On October 1, 2019, I finished the Ultra Trail Stokely Creek 15K with a group of fabulous women. It was, actually, a course distance of 17.5K, but I ran 18.5K after thinking that I had missed a turn. We had a wonderful time and were all proud of our finishes. I encourage anyone who is interested in a challenging trail run to check out the planned 2021 event, www.utstokelycreek.com

During the fall of 2019, I struggled with concussion symptoms stemming from a minor collision that happened on August 1st. I found that I was unable to get out for a run or bike after working for the day. I felt extreme fatigue after working. I experienced headaches and pressure in my head, particularly, when I saw the fall colours of the trees or if I was in buildings with overhead fluorescent lights. When speaking with Coach Mike Coughlin, we discussed my lack of motivation to workout and that it was a concussion symptom. I asked if signing up for an event could help with my motivation. His response was that it would need to be a distance that would scare me. In his words, signing up for a 12.5K distance at Horseshoe Valley isn’t long enough to scare me. I suggested the Ultra Trail Stokely Creek 34K since I ran 18.5K there in October, my longest trail run to date. He agreed that the distance would scare me, and I registered after getting off the phone.

In mid-January 2020, I was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome affecting my vestibular and ocular systems. I, finally, understood how my work, driving to clients’ offices & working on the computer, was causing so much fatigue. I, then, started my road to recovery.

During the winter, I started training while learning the physical limitations of concussion symptoms. I learned, from a friend who had also experienced a concussion, that my body should be able to handle long, slow distance, but activities that increased my heart rate would likely trigger symptoms. I started running, using the run/walk system and built my duration through the winter. I changed up my courses between the Rotary Trail, Kivi Park and Moonlight Beach/Bioski to get some variety.

Like everything else, Ultra Trail Stokely Creek was cancelled due to COVID-19. I decided to continue training for the distance to keep going forward with my running endurance and fitness. I picked a tough course in Walden to aim for my October run, and I ran/hiked loops of the course through July and August. I completed the APEX trail runs as milestone events. I was also happy to do an unofficial virtual Ragnar run with my Slurry Sisters Team Plus in August.

My run plans changed after a minor fall fractured my hand. I received a strong warning, from the doctor, to stay off the trails because the risk of falling & displacing the fracture was high. I continued running, although shorter distances on smoother trails at faster paces. After a follow-up appointment for my hand, I picked October 31st as my run date. Why not run on Halloween? I was warned that my fractures were still healing, so I needed to be careful with my hand. The doctor advised me to wear my splint when running.
I switched the course from my Walden route to the trail between Moonlight Beach and Bioski to minimize the fall risk. However, I didn’t want to feel disappointed about running an easier trail than the course that I had trained on. So, I decided to do an experiment - run the time that I expected to take on the Walden course, and find out how much distance I can cover. That is why I choose to run 6 ½ hours on October 31st.

I set off at 8am on the morning of Halloween after seeing the beautiful full moon set over the city. Many friends came out to run with me and cheer me on, including Lorilee McGregor, Ginny Denomee, Lisa Zych, Hillory Speck, Maureen Moustgaard, Tamara Flannigan, Linda Conroy, Christine Vincent, Vince Perdue, Sara McIlraith and Katrina Hakala. Of course, my hubby, Glenn Woods, also joined me for a bit, and he brought Zaagin for my last loop. Though the morning was a bit crisp to start, it turned out to be a great run day.

A special thanks go to Sara, Vince, Katrina and Ginny who ran the last couple loops with me, when I was slowing down. Your presence helped me to keep going. A special thanks also goes to Mariane Larose for organizing a hot yoga session on Sunday morning, November 1st. It sure helped me to walk a little better on Sunday afternoon.

I’m proud to report that, in 6:41, I covered 43K with 831m of elevation gain. My goal was to run a course that would be challenging and give me some elevation gain that was close to the 1000m of elevation gain at Stokely Creek – 80% of the elevation gain is close enough for me.
I found out how far that I was able to go on that day. Time will tell if this will be the farthest for me or if I will go farther.

Sudbury has a great, supportive athletic community. I’m proud to belong to a community of supportive people. A big thanks, Chi-Miigwetch, goes out to all for expressing their congratulations.



On the Course - with friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos This Week

Moonlight trail

No luck with paddle board on frozen lake

Frozen Laurentian lake

Moonlight trail

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Local Events

  November 8, 2020

VIRTUAL THIS YEAR

Run to Remember, November 8th 2020.

We are going VIRTUAL this year! A virtual race gives the participants the option of choosing the start time, pace, route and even the city!

All participants will get a t-shirt and medal to be pick-up a few days before the race. More details to follow.

Register using the link below :

https://www.collegeboreal.ca/courirsouvenir

Maps for those who choose to run the existing College routes

1k Map Here      5k/10k Map Here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Run Club Update

 


 

 

Store News

 

Good afternoon Sudbury Runners and Walkers,

 

We have FREE run club Wednesday nights at 6pm and Sunday mornings at 8:30am.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Track North News - by Dick Moss

 

 

 


 


Dick Moss

 

 

Dick Moss, Head Coach
Laurentian XC/Track Team
c/o Coach Moss <pedigest@cyberbeach.net>
Web: http://laurentianxctrack.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/laurentianxctrack/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@luxctrack
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurentianxctrack/

 

 

 

For information call me.
Vincent Perdue
vtperdue@cyberbeach.net

Proud sponsor of the Sudbury Rocks!!! Race-Run-Walk for the Health of it

ttp://www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com/

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