Paddlers braved cool temperatures and gusty conditions on Ramsey Lake during the Sudbury Canoe Club Marathon in Sudbury, Ont. on Sunday June 24, 2018. Part of the Sudbury Fitness Challenge, the event was open to canoes, kayaks and paddle boards. GINO DONATO/SUDBURY STAR/POSTMEDIA NETWORK

 

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We watch COVID-19 kick the sh- out of sport. Then we stand up again and say, oh, yeah, COVID-19, well, here’s my silver lining.

The Sudbury Fitness Challenge events are an example of that.

The pandemic bit a massive chunk out of the seven-event Sudbury Fitness Challenge, with the postponement of the swim, canoe, and mountain bike events by June and the four-event Beaton Classic in July. But athletes find a way — even in the postponed events.

Runners line up for the 2019 SudburyROCKS!!! 10km event - supplied by V. Perdue

 

And so, while it would have been easier to cancel, the challenge’s preeminent Sudbury Rocks race moved to a virtual event on Sunday, Oct. 25. The full details are here: www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com.

Initially, in April, the event moved from May 31 to October 25 to get beyond the pandemic, says longtime organizer Vince Perdue.

In July, they realized there was no way they could pull off the usual Sunday run of 500 to 2,000 people (not to mention the number of volunteers). So they relaunched as the SudburyRocks!!! COVID Virtual Marathon and moved to a one-day virtual race.

There are five-, 10- 21- and 42 kilometre events — pick your power!

The blessing in disguise is that Perdue, and others, usually operating the Sudbury Rocks, can actually run that Sunday.

“I’ve never done it. I never expected to,” he says.

It’s especially poignant because their longtime friend and Rocks volunteer, Steve Matusch, died last winter after a battle with liver cancer.

They will run the half marathon, 21-km event, also known as Steve’s Half. His sister is expected to come from Calgary to run the race in Sudbury, says Perdue.

Instead of cancelling, they thought of the participants. They already had more than 300 registrants for the 2020 event. So now every registrant — and those who stay registered — will get a medal, a T-shirt, and registration for 2021 event, at no extra cost.

“There’s no loss to the participants.”

In an ironic or macabre twist, this year’s medals and T-shirts will bear the name COVID.

The event raises funds for the Northern Cancer Foundation. Not going forward would have affected the NCF even more than it already will be. Sudbury Rocks is non-profit and any extra money goes to the charity.

As well, people in the athletic community know how fragile it is to keep something going, he says. He worried that cancellation would mean losing the newbie runners who had hoped to try the 5 and 10k events but then saw it wasn’t happening.

Now he hopes the running community has something to keep it motivated and in a positive frame of mind as they go forward through the pandemic.

Other cancellations

In late May, I cancelled the Ian McCloy Island Swim, of which I am race director. Over the years, the swim has moved from Ramsey Lake to Nepahwin. Cold water famously shortened things in 2016, but it wasn’t ever cancelled since its inception back in the misty annals of time in 1983.

COVID-19 has really beaten up on swimming and swimming pools. I didn’t want COVID to win, but swimming safely and with buddies are priority No. 1 — no lifeguards, no swim.

All that being said, however, it warms my heart to see the pods of swimmers venturing out safely on the lakes, namely on Nepahwin in the south end. You see them with their orange, pink or fluorescent swim buoys in tow. Just keep swimming. Now to join the rest of Northern Ontario and open the pools.

 

Swimmers hit the water for the Ian McCloy Island Swim at the university beach on Lake Nepahwin on Sunday. BEN LEESON/THE SUDBURY STAR/POSTMEDIA NETWORK

 

The Canoe Marathon couldn’t see its way through the COVID-19. either. The venerable paddle around Ramsey Lake is held the last Sunday in June.

Longtime race organizer Rob Marcolini followed suit with every canoe race cancelled in Ontario.

“The race would have contravened our COVID plan. You can’t have crowds of people.”

The race will be back, he says. Even if the fitness challenge died, the club will always host a race. The race generates revenue and club awareness.

As well, it’s been good training for the racing arm of the Sudbury Canoe Club. It was a good race for the new paddlers to cut their teeth on, he says. Paddlers from Parry Sound would come to Sudbury to participate.

There has been a massive silver lining for the club, too. As practically the only sporting thing happening, their sprint program has expanded to 40 racers. There are three waves of kids heading out on the lake, starting most mornings at 6.

Earlier in July, Beaton Classic organizer Neil Phipps cancelled the swim-bike-canoe-run event that has been running since 1982 — with a year or two break here and there.

As he said in a Facebook post, he hopes to have smaller events in the fall. He also hopes that the final event, October’s Turkey Gobbler, will take place — in one form or another.

The July mountain bike race is gone but there will be a lower-key event. The Bush Pig Open — Beat the COVID — Multi-Lap Race will be held Aug. 8 at the Walden Trails.

Points from the event will go towards the SFC overall title. The Walden Mountain Bike Club is hosting several low-key races this year, with sponsorship from The Outside Store.

And so we move forward — mostly — through this pandemic. In our quasi-isolation, I wonder how we really define health? How is it a pandemic can so narrow the way we practise community health?

It’s been fascinating to watch everyone pivot on a dime with the precision of a principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada.

To keep this in perspective, this pandemic isn’t the first hurdle the Sudbury Fitness Challenge has cleared in its history.

It was once in debt to $20,000. Interest has waxed and waned.

And yet, it will remain long after this pandemic has faded — as long as people continue to value health, community, and sport — and how all those threads bind us together.

Laura Young’s column, Personal Best, runs regularly in The Sudbury Star.

 

On this edition of iRun Radio: by Mark Sutcliffe

We’ll hear from Liz Taillifer, who ran 100 miles even though her event was cancelled and she developed blisters on her feet. Also, Sarah Hull decided to run 50 kilometres to show her support for frontline workers. And Noel Paine, who is running and racewalking and learning to adjust to a year in which nothing has gone to plan.

I was featured on iRun.ca - iRun Radio! Feeling humbled to have been interviewed by Mark Sutcliffe who I love to listen to and among some incredible runners! Northern Cancer Foundation My Self Isolation Run 100 Miles and More! Thank you Scott Vernon for sending my story to Mark.

Liz

 

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*According to new research published in the journal Cell, long-term endurance exercise like running changes the activity of more than 1,000 genes in your body.
*Endurance training “teaches” your muscles to run more efficiently because the genes are adapting to the stimuli they’re given, so that they will perform better on subsequent, similar activities.

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Though you’re stuck with your genes for life, your lifestyle habits can make a significant impact on how those genes operate. Here’s a prime example: A new study published in the journal Cell suggests endurance exercise like running and cycling, when done long-term, can improve the way genes associate with metabolic health.

In turn, that can not only help prevent diseases related to your metabolic function, such as cardiovascular issues and type 2 diabetes, but can also affect how your muscles perform over time.

The study looked at a total of 40 people, ages 34 through 53, and split them into three groups. The first group had performed intensive endurance training for at least the last 15 years, the second group had strength trained for at least the last 15 years, and the third group was sedentary. Skeletal muscle biopsies were collected from participants, and RNA sequencing was performed to measure the activity of more than 20,000 genes.

They found people in the endurance-training group significantly changed the activity of more than 1,000 genes compared to the sedentary group. Many of the altered genes were related to increased activity along numerous metabolic pathways, and they noted that only 26 genes were changed with strength training alone—the rest were related to running and cycling.

“Through this research, we begin to understand more about muscles ‘interpret’ different forms of exercise and adapt in specific ways, as well as the way endurance exercise—like running and cycling—impacts genes important to metabolic health,” lead study author Mark Chapman, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of San Diego, told Runner’s World.

Many different stimuli can influence the expression of our genes, he said, including what we eat and even exposure to the sun. These alterations serve to better adapt our body to the stimuli they’re receiving. That’s why endurance training “teaches” your muscles to run more efficiently, Chapman said, because the genes are adapting to the stimuli they’re given, so that they will perform better on subsequent, similar activities.

For example, these genes will change how much oxygen is delivered to your muscles, so you have enough fuel for endurance exercise, Chapman said. When oxygen levels get low during a later run, these genes are activated to make oxygen delivery more efficient.

If you haven’t been running for at least 15 years like the study participants, you don’t need to worry. Researchers cross-referenced their data with studies on muscle gene expression for individuals with type 2 diabetes and found that even a month of endurance training made a big difference in gene activity.

While you can’t change your genes, you do have some control over how they function—and it doesn’t take long to start seeing the benefits.

ELIZABETH MILLARD
ELIZABETH MILLARD IS A FREELANCE WRITER FOCUSING ON HEALTH, WELLNESS, FITNESS, AND FOOD.

 

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Around Laurentian Lake by Vince

 

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Failed Attempt at NEOWISE over Black Lake (unfortunately overcast)

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Around Minnow Lake