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                   Hello Everyone,                                                                                                                                                                                                October 9, 2024        

                    In this Issue:

     

  1. BB Backyard Ultra
  2. Locals do well at Wiky
  3. Run for the Cure raises $74K, sets new record
  4. Other Events
  5. RUN OFF THE GRID 2024
  6. Photos This Week
  7. Upcoming Events: Oct 13 Turkey Gobbler Trail Run, Oct 20 Onaping Falls Hike, Run, Bike, Nov 3 Run to Remember
  8. Running Room Run Club Update: 
  9. Track North and Laurentian XC News

     

 

 

 

Oct 5, 2024

Sudbury's Mike Rouleau wins the first ever BB Backyard Ultra

All Photos Here

 

Backyard ultra a different run — in so many fun ways
Randy Pascal For The Sudbury Star

One need not have participated in an ultra-marathon to have an inkling that this likely involves running for a long, long time.


In that sense, a backyard ultra, as was run this past weekend at Kivi Park, shares certain similarities — but it’s the uniqueness of the event that creates an atmosphere that is not all that easy to duplicate.

As I stopped by around supper time on Saturday to check in on the 70 or so brave souls who had started their journey in the BB Backyard Ultra early that morning, I was struck by the festivity of the environment, as well as the entourage of supporters and well-wishers who were a key part of this race.

First, some perspective. Where a typical ultra might involve covering a set distance (anything longer than a standard marathon seemingly qualifies) or involves covering as much distance as possible in a pre-determined time limit (somewhat akin to the old 24-hour relay from which I still proudly hold on to my five-man winning team medal, having covered 36 miles each), the Backyard morphs in a different direction. Runners have one hour to complete a 6.706-kilometre circuit, but cannot begin their second lap until the top of the next hour, at which point all runners must start again in unison — with the winner essentially being the last man or woman standing.

Why 6.706 kilometres, you ask? This event was first designed to allow runners to complete 100 miles in 24 hours — and working your way backwards metrically, so to speak, created this loop that requires a bit of a goofy measurement.

For the record, Michael Rouleau emerged as the winner, completing his 25th loop (167.65 km -0, for those who are curious) some time early Sunday morning, outlasting Eric Smith of Stratford by exactly one lap, with Helen Francis emerging as the top woman with 23 laps of her own.


In chatting with several people involved, from competitors to organizers and support staff, a recurring theme emerged in terms of how best to approach the race strategy when you are dealing with athletes who, for the most part, can comfortably compete the one lap distance in well under the one-hour limit. “You don’t want to do it too fast; you don’t want to do it too slow,” said 40-year-old Helena Marques, a native of Portugal who moved to Canada some 14 years ago and completed her first ever marathon this past May in Sudbury. “You want to do it with 10 to 15 minutes of rest; time to eat, change shoes, change clothes.” And maybe rest a little, one would think. The first person I met as I neared the gathering of tents and hooting and hollering and music that awaited visitors to Kivi Park, Marques entered with a very modest family-oriented goal — which she surpassed.
“I told the kids (her husband was entrusted with caring for all four as she cracked the 50-kilometre barrier for the very first time) that if I did five laps, we would go to Dairy Queen,” she said with a smile. “I ended up doing eight, which was not too bad.”


While the bulk of participants were local, the inaugural Sudbury Backyard Ultra also drew from Stratford, as noted, as well as Sault Ste. Marie, Chapleau, St. Catharines, Port Sydney, Peterborough, North Bay and Burlington — the latter easy enough to postulate given a tent that was emblazoned with the Burlington Running Club logo. With all runners, including Jakob Brooks, out on the trails as I meandered in, it was his mother, Dina, a member of the Burlington Club board and staunch supporter of her son who provided a bit of a lay of the land in how they came to be spending the weekend in Sudbury. “(Jakob) wanted to do a backyard ultra in Ontario and this came up and sounded amazing, so he decided to do it,” she said. With a handful of marathons and ultras under his belt, Brooks had already noted a uniqueness to the challenge while he was still quite early into what became a jaunt of more than 100 kilometres. “He says that it’s quite different,” Dina said. “The stopping and going is harder and you need to think about nutrition differently.”
Ironically, according to the 27-year-old who started cross-country running in Grade 3, but never emerged as anything close to elite in the sport — “my high-school team would make OFSAA, but I wasn’t in the top five, even on my high school team” — the strain of the backyard lies in the format and in the mindset that is required. “The 100-mile race was less psychologically demanding,” Brooks noted on Sunday evening, beginning to wind down from his weekend adventure. “It was point to point, so you’re going somewhere new every step of the way. “You weren’t resting ever for 10-15 minutes, so you just wanted to keep going and going and going. Psychologically, this race was so much harder. When you got up from that chair (to start the next lap), your muscles were cold. You would start and feel your quads warm up and there was so much pain.”

Time to cue race organizer Andre Dumais and his wonderful group of enthusiastic volunteers, those folks entrusted with providing that ray of light in the midst of the darkness of running laps from midnight through until 6 a.m. or so — and beyond. “The allure to this, first of all, is the atmosphere,” Dumais said. “There’s a camp that you come back to every hour. The bells are ringing, there’s a lot of cheering, and music is playing. It’s a bit like a festival.” As I quickly found out, it’s also an atmosphere that non-participants with no ties to the runners could quite enjoy. “It’s incredibly spectator-friendly, because it’s a new race every hour,” Dumais continued. “There are places on the course where you see them pass by three more times (per lap). We’re just setting up now with a party crew at that point.”

Debbie Francoeur also did not run the race, though her 22-year-old daughter, Danika Potvin, most certainly did, covering 16 laps to outlast the 100-kilometre goal she had set for herself. “She’s quite stubborn,” her mom said with a laugh, the graduate of Esc Champlain only at her halfway mark at that point. “She won’t let go if there are still lots of people running.” Always the mother, Francoeur was more concerned with the pragmatics — perhaps not the sexiest of conversations to enjoy, but a necessity nonetheless. “It’s mostly the feeding — but also making sure she is drinking, making sure that she pees, making sure she has enough salt intake,” Francoeur said. “I can just tell by how she looks.”

Mom was not alone, with other family members on hand and still others handling some pre-race responsibilities. “I made her some mashed potatoes, my sister made some soup and we have hummus and some chips and protein bar for her next break,” Francoeur said. “We’re just trying to get protein in her and simple carbs.”


Thirty-year-old race winner Rouleau, a young man who was far more well-known for his on-ice hockey prowess than any kind of serious running ability in his youth, also approached nutrition as a key to his strategy this weekend. But his pathway as a runner has far more to it than just that. “It started with just running five kilometres (when COVID hit) and wondering if I could run 10 — and then wondered if I could run a half (marathon),” Rouleau said. “That turned into a marathon, then 50 km, then 80 and 100 — and now 160 km.
“That’s kind of the evolution — I started with a run around the block.” And like most, there was little if any knowledge of what a backyard ultra even was — but now, he knows.

Randy Pascal’s That Sudbury Sports Guy column runs regularly in The Sudbury Star.

 

What is a backyard ultra?

In a backyard ultra, runners complete a 6.7 kilometre loop every hour. Why such an odd number? It is the pace equivalent of running a 100 miles in 24 hours. The format is simple yet demanding: runners have one hour to finish the loop, and any time left over can be used to rest, refuel, and prepare for the next lap. This cycle repeats until only one runner remains, having completed one more loop than the second-to-last competitor.

But there’s more to it than being the last bb standing. This format allows you to truly challenge yourself to go further than you’ve ever gone before, whether that’s 13.4km, 100km, or more ??

 

 

 

Final Numbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Locals do well at Wiky

 

 

There was plenty of fast representation from our locals at this year's 10km Annual Wiky Road Race. And everyone with only one exception took home a placing medal (including cash). Oddly enough the odd one out would have won the race outright in most years. Speaks well for the level of competition in this event. Congratulations All!

_____________________________________________________________________

1 Eric Leishman 32:59.4 (19 - 54 Male) and Overall Male Winner
2 Neil Mahalanobis 35:38.9
3 Aurel Fox-Recollet 35:51.7
4 Dan Whalen 36:05.2

1Ewa Breckon 50:49.7 (11-13 Female)

1 Sara McIlraith 43:53.0 (19 - 54 Female) and Overall Female Winner
2 Laurel LeConte 49:53.0
3 Ania Derecka 51:56.9

1 Neil Phipps 41:51.4 (55+Male)
2 Pierre Dumont 44:26.4
3 Paul de la Riva 46:06.8

1 Athena Christakos 1:09:30.1 (65+ Female)

https://zone4.ca/race/2024-10-06/02a334fc/results

 

 

    

    

Blast from the Past (from Wiky Roadrunner Facebook header)

Wiky 2018 with two Rocks!! prominently representing the rear of the run

(Both of them actually took placing medals that year. It pays to be patient)

 

 

 

 

Run for the Cure raises $74K, sets new record
Some 250 people braved a morning downpour to raise money for breast cancer research

Mark Gentili Sudbury.com

_____________________________________________________________________________

Heavy rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the 250 people who turned out Oct. 6 for the annual breast cancer fundraiser, the Run for the Cure.

Sponsored by CIBC for the past 28 years, the event featured a one-kilometre route and a five-kilometre route, divided by runners and walkers.

Held at Cambrian College, prior to the race, participants could stay dry indoors while getting a massage from Cambrian massage therapy students to loosen up those early morning muscles prior to the race.

Food and drink was also made available, and a special area was set aside for those currently undergoing treatment to rest and relax.


Melodie Cyr of the Canadian Cancer Society welcomed all the participants. She spoke of improved treatments for breast cancer and encouraged those on hand to join the push to lower the screening age from 50 to 40.
Cyr also led the group in a moment of silence. “We hope you find comfort in being surrounded by others who are affected,” Cyr said. “We run today for each and every one of you who are living with and beyond cancer.”

The top fundraiser for 2024 is an 11-year-old Lively resident named Tyce Cousineau. His mother, Lisa Hamill, is currently undergoing cancer treatment and her son is running and fundraising on her behalf. The crowd erupted in applause for Tyce and the more than $12,000 he raised for the cause.

Participants also heard from Linda, who survived breast cancer, and Jacqueline, who is currently in treatment for the disease. Both had high praise for the doctors and nurses at the Northeast Cancer Centre. Linda spoke of having a double mastectomy, but because she went for her yearly mammograms, the disease was caught early and she required no further treatment. “Regular mammograms saved my life,” she said.

It is Jacqueline’s second cancer diagnosis and her cancer has metastasized, she said. Despite her diagnosis, though, Jacqueline told the crowd she would not “let my life be defined by dying of cancer — I’m going to live with cancer.”


For the third year in a row, Dr. Lacey Pitre, a medical oncologist in Sudbury, spoke at the event, where many participants were or are her patients. She spoke of advances in treatments and highlighted the fact that one in eight women will receive a breast cancer diagnosis. Pitre also highlighted the role NOSM University plays in training doctors in Northern Ontario, many of whom choose to stay and practice in Northern Ontario, and how this, coupled with the existence of the Northeast Cancer Centre, helps ensure as many people as possible get treatment as close to home as possible. As well, Pitre shared some news about an upcoming clinical trial she is leading to test a new AstraZeneca cancer drug that has not been used in the North yet. The trial will involve patients in Sudbury and Timmins. Referring to clinical trials, the oncologist described how patients who participate in trials like these help medical science move the needle forward on cutting-edge treatments. “They are incredibly brave people,” Pitre said.

With the speaking out of the way, the crowds headed outside for the run. And like a small miracle, the heavy rain stopped just in time and the sun began to break through the clouds.

Mark Gentili is the editor of Sudbury.com.

 

 

 

 

Other Events

Congratulations to all the Sudbury Rocks Running Club members who participated in a plethora of events this past weekend including a big crew at the BB Backyard Ultra and Wiky 10km. Shout outs to a couple of new marathon PBs by James Brice in Muskoka, Erin Creasor in Quebec. Steve had another solid marathon race at the Twin Cities Marathon and Lise Paquette and Sana Adel did the 5km at the CIBC Run for the Cure. And I’m sure I missed some others. Great work everyone! and a huge thanks to those you volunteered to make these local events possible. Shelly Walushka

 

Marathon de Petit Train du Nord

Jenny Pelland (5:26:58)

Shane White (5:27:01)

Erin Creasor (3:43:42)

 

 

Muskoka Marathon

 

 

Twin Cities Marathon

 

 

 

 

 

RUN OFF THE GRID 2024

by Kris Cacciotti

RUN OFF THE GRID 2024. My crown jewel. My A race. A property that holds a piece of my heart.
25.87km
638m
2:29:48 - 5:53/km


Took 4th in the 25k race, which after the week I had in Vegas immediately prior, is both surprising and impressive. Four 20-hour days (and everything that comes with it), a redeye flight, a quick nap, then a drive to Mattawa. Game time, I'm ready!


As always, the course was immaculate, and the vibes were off the charts. It was awesome yo have Zoey crewing for me at the 12.5k turnouround. As I was running down the hill into the crew area, I could see her smiling, beaming with pride. She had my replacement flask and a full water bottle to chug waiting for me, held out in extended arms, with the biggest smile imaginable, looking at me like I was a superhero.


The vibes were made stronger on the back half as I had one of my running Miagis - @jp.forest.runner - running with me, pacing me. Even though he was in contention for 1st place in the 50k. When he asked me if I wanted him to pace me from the front or the back, I told him I didn't want to wreck his race. He responded, "I'm all team Cacciotti right now." So I told him to take the lead, and we ran a negative back split (the second fast back half of the entire field). Jeff - thank you, brother. That was a special run.


This weekend has also evolved into an annual family tradition, where we stay in a different accommodation every year. @naturesharmonyecolodge has cabins, yurts, camping, glamping, and domes right on the race property. This year, we stayed in a dome, and it was so cool. Jenn and her team never cease to amaze me with the love and pride that goes into everything they do.
Most importantly, thank you to @lesleycacciotti for running all logistics and managing the kids so I can focus on my race. Love you, babe, I can't do any of this without you.
Another amazing ROTG in the books. Can't wait for next year!

All Results Below

https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=367233

 

 

 

Photos This Week

Oct 2 Rocks!!/Apex Wednesday pm run

Oct 1 Ottawa

October 2 Algonquin Park

Oct 3 Bioski

Oct 3 Finlandia

Oct 4 Bioski Pond

Oct 4 Bioski Pond

Oct 4 Moonlight Bridge

Oct 4 Beaver Pond Trail

Oct 4 Silver Lake

Oct 4 Silver Lake

Oct 5 Rocks!! Saturtrday am run

Oct 7 Bancroft Trails

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

  Oct 13, 2024


2024 SFC Turkey Gobbler
Walden Cross Country

 


Email: BeatonClassic@hotmail.ca

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024 AT 8:30 AM EDT
20243 Turkey Gobbler Trail Run

 

NEW MAPS 2023

Register Here   

 

 

The Turkey Gobbler Trail Run offers you the opportunity to pre-burn some Thanksgiving calories with either a challenging 8km route or a stroller friendly 3.5 km route. Kids are encouraged to to take part in the 1km fun run. This is the final event of the 2024 Sudbury Fitness Challenge. Proceeds from the event go to support the Walden Nordic Race Team.

Please note that the 1km entry fee does not include a T-shirt however t-shirts can be purchased separately for a cost of $10.00.
T-shirts are included at no additional charge with the 8km and 3.5km entries.
Sizes for all events are subject to "first come, first serve" availability. We will have a selection of previous year shirts available if you would like to exchange your shirt for a different size or colour at pick up. Supply chain difficulties may mean last minute changes to size options/availability or colours.
Race Kit Pickup
Race Package pick will take place at the Running Room from 11am until 3pm on Saturday October 12th.
Packages can also be picked up race morning at the Walden Cross Country Fitness Club Ski Chalet from 7:30am onward.
If picking up on race day, please pick up your package at least 15 minutes prior to your wave start time.


Race Times
Sunday October 13, 2024
8km TRAIL Run/Walk Wave 1 @ 9:00 A.M.
1km Kids Run/Walk Wave 3 @ 10:30 A.M.
3.5km TRAIL Run/Walk Wave 4 @ 11:00 A.M.

 

 

    October 20, 2024  

 

The Onaping Falls Nordic Ski Club invites you to join us in a fun fall event at the Windy Lake Trails.
October 20, 2024
8:00 am registration
9:00 am Hike/Run Start
11:30 am Bike Start
5km, 10km or 15km
After the race enjoy hot chocolate, s’mores by the bonfire at the finish line.

 

 

 

  November 3, 2024

Run to Remember

Run to Remember - Nov 3 2024
Participants can choose to run/walk 1 km, 5 km or 10 km virtually (from your location of choice) or in the nature trails of the Collège Boréal Sudbury campus. All participants will receive a t-shirt and a medal.
Register with this link.
https://collegeboreal.akaraisin.com/ui/RuntoRemember2024


Deadline for runners outside of Sudbury is October 20, 2024 (To have sufficient time to mail out race kits)

We hope to see new and returning participants!

1km Course Map Here                      5km and 10km Course Map Here

 

 

 

 

Run Club Update

 


 

 

Store News

 

Good afternoon Sudbury Runners and Walkers,

 

 


Cancelled until Further Notice

NOTE: There is a Wednesday pm group leaving the Apex Warrior gym On Loach's Rd. at 6pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Track North and Laurentian XC News

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

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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