Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Next Event:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

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

• Start: 9.00pm Friday September 28th 2012

• Finish: 11.00am Saturday September 29th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
  

• RTP Fundraising Target: $25,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $2,733
  

I have never been as sore as I was on Sunday. Normally, after a marathon or ultramarathon, it's my legs that are killing me. This time after Lacrosse Quest 24 it was a whole body ache. Starting with the feet, all that stopping and starting rubbed them raw. Then the knees. I took a couple of very dramatic tumbles and used my knees to break my fall on the concrete. Not good. The calves and quads got a going over running up and down the arena floor for hours on end. Next the back, shoulders and arms. Pass after pass and shot after shot gave them a good work out.

However it was all worth it. At 7.00pm on Saturday night we completed 24 hours of Box Lacrosse and achieved a brand new Guinness World Record (pending verification). In total 43 players started and 43 finished. The final score was Donkeys (my team) 299 and Unicorns 296. I scored three goals, not bad for my first game.

But the Quest is not over. The first part, getting the Guinness World Record is done. The second part is to reach the $50,000 donation target we set ourselves for Right To Play and the kids. We are currently at $28,700 so we need more help to reach our goal. If you wish to donate please hit the big red button on the left and follow the prompts. Every $1 you donate will be matched by $3 by the Right To Play Partners for a total of $4. What this means is that a $50 donation which would normally help one child with a Right To Play program now let's you help four children. Now that's what I call amazing.

Quote of the Day

"The most important thing about a goal is having one"

Geoffrey F Abert

It's done. At 7.02pm Saturday April 28th Lacrosse Quest 24 was completed.

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Next Event:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

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

• Start: 9.00pm Friday September 28th 2012

• Finish: 11.00am Saturday September 29th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
  

• RTP Fundraising Target: $25,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $2,783
  

Recently I visited Glenbow Elementary School and talked to a two grade 3 classes about writing and publishing a book. These students have to write and illustrate their own books and then they will be self published. I talked about the three books I had self published and the current one I'm working on. The first one was "How do you eat an Elephant?". This was about my four month cycle trip across Africa on my bike. I explained to the students that I kept a diary on the trip and every few days I would find an internet café and update my blog. I also took over 700 photos on the trip and when I came back to Canada I added the pictures to the daily blog and got it self published on at Lulu.com. I had 25 copies printed and gave them away to family and friends at Christmas.

My second book was "Riverbank friends". My mother-in-law Terryanne wrote a poem about animals living by a riverbank and I illustrated the verses. The third book was "Pause for Thought". This time Terryanne wrote a number of poems and I added pictures to each one.

I then talked about the book I am presently working on "Marathon Quest". I explained to the students that I had written a blog every day I ran my 250 marathons in 2010. I had sent a book proposal to Rocky Mountain Books and they said they wanted to publish it. In October 2011 I sent in a manuscript and then the work really began. It took three months working with an editor to get the book in shape.

One student, Tristan, said that he felt "a little bothered" when he was getting his work edited. I told him that I agreed with him. It's difficult when someone else changes your work but in the end it's usually for the best. I spent the rest of the afternoon helping edit the student's stories. Jocelyn had a great one about climbing Mount Everest; Treyton's was about the attack of a T-Rex; Ty told the touching tail of Joe Mouse, Billy Bull and Bob the Cowboy who were bitter enemies but became friends and Jonathan wrote about a very unusual Easter egg hunt.

I'm looking forward to buying a signed copy of all of these publications.

Quote of the Day

"So many books, so little time"

Frank Zappa

It's always important to pick a good photo for the cover of a book

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Next Event:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

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

• Start: 9.00pm Friday September 28th 2012

• Finish: 11.00am Saturday September 29th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
  

• RTP Fundraising Target: $25,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $2,883
  

Over the last year I've investigated many endurance Guinness World Records. One of the first ones I looked up was tennis. When I first checked it out, the singles record stood at 36 hours. Not bad. I love tennis and the idea of playing a 61 setter seemed cool. However, ever time I rechecked the record someone had broken it and now it's at 56 hours. That seems a bit much.

My first Guinness record was set last September when a group of 24 of us played 61 hours of netball and more recently, in April, a group of 42 of us set the first Box Lacrosse record at 24 hours (pending verification). My next attempt will be in October in Cochrane when a group of 16 of us will attempt to set a new 5-a-side soccer record at 42 hours. Other current records include curling at 54 hours, volleyball at 80 hours and table tennis at 132 hours. The grand daddy of them all is ice hockey at 241 hours; however this is going to change this week.

Last October Alex Halat wanted to do something for the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation. He talked to a group of friends and they had a simple idea. Play a hockey game. However this would be no ordinary game. It would have to last 250 hours. At noon on May 6^th the puck was dropped and the game was on. Their objective is to raise $1.5m to help the Foundation continue research for battling pediatric cancer and provide life-saving equipment for the pediatric intensive care unit.

Sue and I visited the Chestermere Recreation Centre last Saturday and a huge "Hockey Marathon" banner was across the entrance to the building. We entered the arena and one side was lined with tables full of silent auction hockey paraphernalia. Next to the Children's Hospital booth was the timing clock. It read 149 hours 23 mins 41 secs. Just over 100 hours to go. The game was a full tilt and one of the goalies was lying across the crease, saving his energy. The players play 4 hours on, 4 hours off for the whole 10 ½ days.

As we walked around we noticed Theo Fleury in the stands chatting with the crowd and cheering on the players. The walls of the arena were covered with posters with pictures and words giving support to the players and on one section was a massive banner with messages from the students at Praire Water Elementary School.

Spending an hour at this event got me excited about Soccer Quest 42. This will be held at the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre in Cochrane from 6.00pm October 5^th to noon October 7^th. The Guinness World Record attempt will be a fund raiser for Right To Play and it will be something the whole community can participate in.

Quote of the Day

"Discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind"

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Hockey Marathon: action at the 149 hours 23 mins 41 secs mark

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Next Event:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

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

• Start: 9.00pm Friday September 28th 2012

• Finish: 11.00am Saturday September 29th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
  

• RTP Fundraising Target: $25,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $2,908
  

A key element of Marathon Quest 250 was medical testing. During 2010 I had a blood test every month. Key indicators such as Haemoglobin, Platelet Count, Sodium, Potassium and Cholesterol were checked to see if there were any abnormalities. I also had several echocardiograms, to check the heart's performance, and 3D bone imaging, to check the density and strength of the bones.

An area of testing that I had always been interested in was running gait and bio mechanics. Last Tuesday I was invited to the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary to check this out. The clinic is run by Dr Reed Ferber. Dr. Ferber is a board certified athletic therapist and holds a Ph.D. in sports medicine and gait biomechanics from the University of Oregon. He has completed post-doctoral research fellowships at the University of Delaware and the University of Calgary and specializes in the research and clinical treatment of lower extremity injuries. Also, he always wears a bow tie.

I met Dr Ferber at the front desk of the clinic and he explained the testing procedure. They would be looking at four key areas of my running, biomechanics, alignment, strength and flexibility. Clinic Director Shari took me into the back room and started to stick little reflective balls on my ankles, knees, legs and hips. I then put on a pair of customized Nikes, again with the little reflective balls on them. She told me to get onto the treadmill and she cranked it up. As I started to hit my stride I looked over to my left and watched a little "Stick Martin" running on the computer screen.

After 10 minutes the running was over and the strength and flexibility testing began. The strength work was OK but the flexibility tests were painful. Clinic Director Shari bent me into all sorts of shapes and, with a protractor, measured all sorts of angles. Soon she was finished and she sent me to the main office to wait for the results. Twenty minutes later Clinic Director Shari came out with a 16 page report and we went over the details. In a nut shell my bio mechanics were very good, alignment was good, strength was fair and flexibility was pathetic. There was one anomaly, however, I have a very flexible big toe.

It was obvious that my flexibility needed work and Shari gave me two pages of stretching exercises to make me more bendy. Before I left, Dr Ferber dropped in to see how things were going and he wondered if I would like to participate in an 8 week research study on "Changes in Running Biomechanics Following an Intervention Program in Older Runners". Sign me up, testing starts on Thursday. Stay tuned.

Quote of the Day

"A man should learn to watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Feeling a little nervous before the testing begins.

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Next Event:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

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

• Start: 9.00pm Friday September 28th 2012

• Finish: 11.00am Saturday September 29th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
  

• RTP Fundraising Target: $25,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $2,908
  

My Calgary Marathon weekend started on Friday morning. I headed off to the marathon Expo at Stampede Park and met up with Tobi and Lucy at the Back on Track booth. Back on Track had supplied post marathon apparel for the 250 marathons I completed in 2010. The long johns and long sleeve T-shirt material is infused with ceramic dust and this allows increased circulation after exercise. The outcome is improving recovery and reducing fatigue. I found them invaluable.

I have been promoting this product and I had come to help them answer questions from the runners. One interesting fact is that the product was initially developed in Sweden by a medical Doctor for his patients. However, interest was shown by the horse and dog community, it took off and was very successful. It's only recently that applications for human use have developed.

At 5.30pm I have to leave the booth and headed over to the speakers stage. I had been asked to talk on "Running for Charity". During my research for the presentation I found out some interesting facts. In 2011 the Calgary marathon had 30 charities sign up for the Scotia Bank charity challenge and they had raised $500,000. In comparison, the New York marathon had 210 charities sign up and raised $34M. The grand daddy of the charity marathons is London. In 2011 they raised $83M. This is the Guinness World Record for the most money raised for charity in a single event. I also talked about the challenges in raising $320,000 for Right To Play during Marathon Quest 250 in 2010.

That evening it was over to the Westin Hotel for a marathon function. The guest of honour was Frank Shorter, the American long distance runner. Frank won his greatest recognition as a marathon runner, and is the only American athlete to win two medals in the Olympic marathon event. Frank won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, after finishing fifth in the Olympic 10,000-meter final. He won the silver medal in the marathon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, second behind previously unheralded gold medalist Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany. In the years 1971, 72, 73 he was the top ranked marathon runner in the world.

During the event I was thrilled to be inducted in the Calgary Marathon Hall of Fame. Much appreciated

Quote of the Day

"In the fields of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind"

Louis Pasteur

Working with Tobi at the Back on Track booth at the Calgary Marathon Expo

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Next Event:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

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

• Start: 9.00pm Friday September 28th 2012

• Finish: 11.00am Saturday September 29th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
  

• RTP Fundraising Target: $25,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $2,908
  

It was an early start Sunday morning. I had my usual "Paula Radcliffe" pre race breakfast: oatmeal, yogurt, honey and a banana. If it's good enough for Paula, it's good enough for me. I was out the door at 5.00am and heading into Calgary to pick up my running buddy Don. I had met Don during Marathon Quest 250 and we've been running together ever since. I picked up Don and headed into the city. It was pretty quiet and we found a parking spot in lot #6 in the Stampede grounds.

This year's marathon had a new venue and new course. The facilities at the Stampede grounds are excellent and the finishing chute is in the grandstand. Very cool. The place was beginning to fill up and the number one thing to do before a race is to do number one. With the hundreds of others, I got in line for the porta-potty and waited. Time was ticking and after I finished I headed back to the car to pick up my nutrition. Don and I had become separated earlier on and I was shocked to see his fuel belt still in the car. I could hear the announcer say "five minutes to the start of the marathon". I grabbed Don's supplies and ran to the race chute. It was jammed with people and I squeezed my way to the 4.30 bunny.

An explanation about the "bunnies". These individuals run at a predetermined pace to get runners over the line in a certain time. They wear pink ears and carry a placard that states, in hours and minutes, how long the run will be. There were half marathon bunnies carrying signs that ranged from 1.30 to 3.00. The marathon bunny signs went from 3.30 to 5.30. Having lost Don my only hope was that he'd turn up at this prearranged point. I had planned to meet Peter, Ally, Ken and Kyle at the bunny and they were all there. One minute to go and we're singing "O Canada". Just as the 30 second count down started Don turns up. Phew.

3,2,1 and the gun goes off. We're on our way. It was a cool morning which was fine by me. Our little running gang stuck together and as we got into our stride the chatting began. After five km Kyle headed off. This was his first marathon and he was shooting for a sub 4 hr time. I had been training with him and I knew he had a good shot at it. After ten kms Ally headed back. She hadn't entered the race and this was a bit of a training run for her. Her plan was to do a bike ride then meet us at the finish. It was then just the four musketeers left, Ken, Peter, Don and myself and 32 km to go.

Quote of the Day

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquest of it"

Anon

Enjoying a break at the Right To Play aid station

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Next Event:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

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

• Start: 9.00pm Friday September 28th 2012

• Finish: 11.00am Saturday September 29th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
  

• RTP Fundraising Target: $25,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $2,908
  

The merry band of runners had hit the 10km marker on the Calgary Marathon. Ken was feeling the cold. He has worked in India the past three years and his blood had thinned. To keep himself warm he had on gloves, three layers on top and a garbage bag. Don had on two layers and I wore a singlet. It is a very special top. Right To Play had given it to me at the end of 2010. On the front is "Right To Play" and on the back is "PARNELL 250". I'm very proud to wear it and several times during the race runners came up and asked the significance of the "250".

We reached the half way mark and we were all feeling pretty good. At every intersection and aid station we'd thank the incredible volunteers. Without these people there would be no race. I was surprised how rolling the course was but at least there were no killer hills. After 26km Peter was feeling the pace and backed off a little. At 35km we hit the Right To Play aid station. Ginelle and the group from the University of Calgary RTP Club were all there volunteering. This group have been fantastic over the last three years, helping me out on numerous events. Sarah Stern from RTP's head office in Toronto was handing out bananas. Thank you Sarah.

Time waits for no man and we crossed the 37km marker at 4 hours. Only 5km to go. The streets had been pretty empty but then we hit a traffic jam. This wasn't cars but people. The 5km Walk / Run had started at 11.00am and hundreds were streaming along the road. A couple of kids said hi and I yelled back. Ken, Don and I weaved our way to the finish line and it was amazing coming into the stadium and hearing the crowd roar. It was an incredibly close finish but I managed to pip Don and Ken at the post by 27/100^th's of a second. Better luck next guys.

Running buddies Wayne, Cathy and Mike were there to greet us. Ally drop by and Peter made it in a few minutes later. Kyle was there and he recorded a kicking 4hrs 4min 49sec. Great effort for his first marathon. Now he's got a monster Calgary Marathon belt buckle to go with his gold medal.

Great work everyone.

Quote of the Day

"Run like you've stolen the shoes"

Martin Parnell (Jogger)

Martin, Don and Kyle at the end of the Calgary Marathon. You've gotta love those belt buckle medals.

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