Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

Every $1 donated matched by $3 by Right To Play Partners !!!!!!!!

• Start: 7.00pm Friday April 27th 2012

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday April 28th 2012

• Location:South Fish Creek Recreational Centre, Calgary

• RTP Fundraising Target: $50,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $10,553.14
  

I love road trips. Last Tuesday I jumped into the Jeep and headed north to Red Deer. My friend Karen had invited me to Red Deer for the day and had arranged a number of talks. The trip took just under 2 hours and at 1.45pm I pulled up to Ecole Mountview. Principal Cam welcomed me and Karen was already at the school.  Cam told me that the parents of an ex student. Michaud, who had died at the age of 19, would be in the audience. A bench had been dedicated in his name and we would visit it after the talk. Entering the gym brought back memories of visiting the sixty schools I ran at in 2010.

Two grade three students stood with me at the stage and they told me that the school had 500 students and went from kindergarten to grade 5. Soon the gym was full and I told the kids about my trip across Africa and running the 250 marathons in 2010. The highlight was getting all the kids to stand up and do the numbers game. At the end of the session Cam came up and presented me a cheque for $250 for Right To Play. Cam then introduced me to Michaud's parents and we headed out to the bench. Michaud's mother told me that he had been a big supporter of Right To Play and so far they had raised over $8,000 for the charity. As I was leaving the school grade 3 student, Tom, came over and gave me $5 for the "other children".

My next stop was Mary View school to talk to the Catalina Swim club. The focus of this presentation was setting and achieving goals. This group was a group of elite swimmers who put in many hours a week of training. There were a number of questions about keeping going day after day. I explained that during the tough times I broke everything into 10 minute chunks. Many mornings I woke up and heard the rain pounding against the window. I wouldn't think beyond the first 10 minutes: Get dressed and have a cup of coffee. Next 10 minutes: put on my running gear, and so on. At the end of the session I was presented with a cheque for $500 and one of the parents gave me another $100.

The final stop was at the Red Deer Running Room. Karen is an instructor and I had a great chat with the marathon group. We talked about hydration, nutrition and barefoot running. A lively discussion ensued. At the end I invited them all to join me in the Cook Islands in September for the Rarotonga Road Race.

What a great day. Thanks Karen.

Quote of the Day

"Goals are dreams with deadlines"

Diana Scharf Hunt

Michaud's parents and friends gathered around the bench dedicated to Michaud at Ecole Mountview in Red Deer.

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

Every $1 donated matched by $3 by Right To Play Partners !!!!!!!!

• Start: 7.00pm Friday April 27th 2012

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday April 28th 2012

• Location:South Fish Creek Recreational Centre, Calgary

• RTP Fundraising Target: $50,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $12,593.81
  

Last time I talked to you, my entry into the world of Lacrosse was about to begin, with "Lacrosse Boot Camp" at Springbank Community High School. Teacher Katie had invited me to join a grade 9 class each afternoon for a week and one of her students, Kyle, would be my trainer. Before my first session, I had to figure out what gear I needed. Gord, the Manager at Edge Sports in Cochrane, said he would help me. I took my bag of hockey gear down to the store to see if any of it would be of use. Gord went through each item and threw out half of it. I was sad to see my twenty-five year-old shoulder pads in the garbage can. Gord was great and set me up with a new face mask, shoulder pads, slash guards and wrist protection. I was ready for anything the grade 9 students could throw at me. Or so I thought.

On the afternoon of Monday March 5^th, at 2.00 pm, I lined up in the gym with a class of students and we completed twenty sprints. My normal pace is slow and this exercise certainly got the heart rate up. I noticed that the rest of the students were wearing shorts and T-shirts, so I figured out that my full body armour was probably not needed. The first day we did passing routines and I was surprised at how hard the ball was. It's made of compressed rubber and when it hits the ground it shoots off like a bullet. Kyle was great and he showed me how to give a pass, receive a pass and shoot. At the end of the week I thanked Katie and the students for all their support.

My next step along the training ladder was a big one. Geoff Snider of the Calgary Roughnecks had offered to give me some one-on-one tuition. Geoff takes the face-offs for the team and has the highest success percentage of any player in the National Lacrosse League. He operates Elev8 Lacrosse, which, every Spring, runs skills camps for kids. I explained to Geoff that I was trying to set a Guinness World Record for the longest game of Box Lacrosse and raise money for Right To Play. He was 100% supportive and agreed to take on this old dog. After the first session I had to soak in our hot tub as my muscles were screaming.

As part of my preparation, I've also been to a few Roughnecks games. It was great to be in the crowd, for their last home game of the season, as they beat the Rochester Knighthawks 15-14. I'm now looking forward to the playoffs.

So here we are on April 9^th and we are only 18 days away from the big event. The Guinness World Record attempt starts at 7.00pm Friday April 27^th at the South Fish Creek Recreation Arena and if all goes well we will set the record at 7.00pm Saturday April 28^th. If you have some free time come on down and cheer us on

Quote of the Day

"Let me win: But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt"

Special Olympics Athlete Oath

Lacrosse training with Grade 9 student, Kyle (yellow top) and a couple of his class mates at Springbank Community High School

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

Every $1 donated matched by $3 by Right To Play Partners !!!!!!!!

• Start: 7.00pm Friday April 27th 2012

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday April 28th 2012

• Location:South Fish Creek Recreational Centre, Calgary

• RTP Fundraising Target: $50,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $16,878.81
  

Over the last couple of months I've been putting together my races for 2012. They include the Calgary Marathon at the end of May, the Iron Legs 80km Ultra on August 11^th, the Cook Islands Quest 100km Ultra on September 23rg and the New York Marathon at the beginning of November. These are all great races but one of my favourites took place last Saturday. I had been invited by the Coop to lead the Coop Toonie Two km Race. This is the final event in the Coop's "Whole Health Challenge". Over a three month period individuals and families are encouraged to reflect on their diets and start exercising. The main attractions for Saturday were the 10km and 5km race but for me leading the kids in the Toonie Two km was tops.

As I drove into Calgary the snow flurries started. I arrived at Eau Claire Mall went over to the sign up table. My first registration was Conner and he planned to push the pace. A few minutes later 3 year old Emma signed up. Her plan was to run 500m, sounds good to me. At 9.50am every one headed outside and at 10.00am a large group of 10 ker's headed off. The race started from the Olympic Plaza, down to the river path and west. It was an out and back so no tricky navigation. At 10.05am the 5 ker's headed off and that just left the Toonie Two kers. I thought there would only be Conner and I, with Emma trundling up the back, but at the last minute Emerson, Ashley and Kaylee turned up.

At 10.20am the gun went off and we bolted from the start. Conner, Ashley and Kaylee shot off but Emerson and I knew that a steady pace was the key. Emerson told me that she was 6 years old and in Grade 1 at Chaparrel School. She had never run 2 km so this would be a new World Record for her. She was a machine and I had to tell her to take walk breaks. After 1.5km we caught up with Ashley and Kaylee, both in Grade 2 at the same school. We all crossed the line together in 19 minutes 57 seconds, a very respectable time.

After we were presented with our medals, Emerson said that she had to go to a birthday party. Life doesn't get any better than that.

Quote of the Day

"It's all about the little things"

Anon

Ashley, Emerson, Kaylee (and Martin) get their well earned Coop Toonie Two km medal.

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

Every $1 donated matched by $3 by Right To Play Partners !!!!!!!!

• Start: 7.00pm Friday April 27th 2012

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday April 28th 2012

• Location:South Fish Creek Recreational Centre, Calgary

• RTP Fundraising Target: $50,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $20,298.81
  

At 10.30am on Tuesday April 17^th I arrived at Ecole Mother Teresa School in Calgary. This visit was not to run at the school or talk to the students. I was there to observe and help out with a very special program called NSTEP. NSTEP stands for Nutrition, Students, and Teachers Exercising with Parents. The founder of this organization is Deb Hymers and I had met Deb the previous Saturday at the Co-op Whole Health Challenge 10, 5 and 2km races. NSTEP was the recipient of $10,000 from Co-op and Deb explained to me the work they do in schools.

NSTEP is a not-for-profit registered charity, providing hands-on nutrition and physical activity programs directly into the classroom in Alberta and British Columbia. Their goal is to prevent obesity in children and youth. The 'NSTEP EAT WALK LIVE program provides fun, interactive nutrition and activity education to every student and teacher within a school community. The entire school shares a common message and collectively works together to create a cultural change leading to a healthier school environment. Parent education is also provided.

Deb invited me to visit a school on a program day and here I was. On this day the students would participate in Snack Attacks, where student leaders from upper level classes (grades 4+) are taught how to make a healthy snack. These student leaders then go teach their class, who then go and share their knowledge with their little buddies in K-3.

I helped Deb and her team bring in all the food for the snack attack and within 10 minutes we had 10 student leaders ready to make breakfast parfaits. Three long tables were set up and students started to fill plastic glasses with Greek yogurt. However, before any food preparation was started all students had to follow the #1 rule: Thoroughly wash your hands. Soon the production line was in full swing. While several students spooned out the yogurt, others filled plates with blue berries and cheerios. Then they were off to a class with their goodies.

The next phase of the snack attack was "Veggy dip". Here the students prepared trays of snow peas; broccoli and spinach with a light dip and headed off to the other classrooms. Don't tell me that kids don't like their veggies. Tray after tray came back empty.

By 12 noon it was finished. The school had been fed a very healthy breakfast parfait and veggy dip. Deb and her team cleaned everything up and they were off to the next school. I chatted to Principle Kevin about NSTEP. He said he was extremely impressed with the programs they have and felt that all schools could benefit from there efforts.

Job well done Deb and NSTEP.

Quote of the Day

"I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."

George W Bush

The Breakfast Parfait production line is well under way at Ecole Mother Teresa School in Calgary

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