Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Next Quest:

TransRockies Quest 888 (Quest #8)

• 6 months (May to October 2013)

• 10 trail running, mountain biking, road running and road biking events

• Target: 888 race kilometres

• Completed to date: 85 race kilometres

• Next up: Can3, Canmore, Alberta July 5th, 6th and 7th

TransRockies Quest 888 is number 8 in my "Quests for Kids" initiative. My objective is to complete 888 race kms over 10 events from May to October and raise $25,000 for Right To Play.

It's been a rocky start. The first event, in May, was the Skirt Chaser 5km. More people wanted to talk about the race name than the fact that 120 women and 40 men were actually doing something to keep fit. Event 2 was Rundle's Revenge, planned for June 22nd and 23rd. This trail run / mountain bike challenge was to be held at the Canmore Nordic Centre. However, the Alberta floods put an end to that. Up until this weekend I had completed 5 kms and had 883 kms to go.

Event number 3 was the Fernie Ultra and Enduro. My plan was to complete the 80 km run solo, through the trails around Fernie, then tackle the mountain bike Enduro. I'm pretty new to mountain biking and the Enduro consisted of four timed sections down steep mountain trails. Even getting to Fernie was a challenge. I normally take highway 22 south but due to the flooding, the road was closed just beyond Turner Valley. High River is still a lake so I took Highway 2 south and bypassed the devastation. Arriving at the Fernie Ski Resort I met Aaron and Jonathan from TransRockies and picked up my race package.

On Saturday morning, I had my usual breakfast of oatmeal, blueberries, banana and coffee, before heading to the start. This race is an 80 km ultra with 6 legs, ranging from 10 kms to 17 kms. At 7.50am, Aaron gave some final instructions to the 50 soloists and 30 teams that had registered, with a warning: Watch out for bears on the trail!

At 8.00am, the gun went off and we were away. Each leg had a cut off time and right from the beginning I was under pressure. On legs 1,2 and 3, my time was under but, on leg 4, which had a 6.00pm cut off, I was right on the wire. One of the organisers told me that if I wanted to finish before the 16 hour deadline, I had better pick up the pace.

This got my butt in gear and I pushed through leg 5 in good time. Another reason was the gunfire I heard up and down the valley. It sounded like the "Terminator" meets "Dirty Harry". I was a bit concerned as dusk was falling and I didn't want to be mistaken for a moose. Fortunately, it was a firing range at the end of the trail. Leg 6 was 13 kms and I had 2 ½ hours to do it. Night had fallen and I turned on my head lamp.

Time was ticking and I finally raced across the finish line at 15 hours 51 minutes and 32 seconds, just 8 ½ minutes to spare. Luckily, we finished at the Fernie Hotel, so the first things that were placed into my hands were a slice of pizza and a glass of Guinness. Waking up on Sunday morning I knew that if I attempted the Enduro race I would badly injure myself, so I decide to give it a miss.

Event  number 3 is completed and another 80 kms have been deposited in the TransRockies Quest 888 bank account. Now, only 803 kms to go.

Quote of the Day

"I don't want to make money, I just want to be wonderful"

Colette Urban

A good question to ask yourself at the beginning of each new day.

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Next Quest:

TransRockies Quest 888 (Quest #8)

• 6 months (May to October 2013)

• 10 trail running, mountain biking, road running and road biking events

• Target: 888 race kilometres

• Completed to date: 85 race kilometres

• Next up: Kan3, Canmore, Alberta July 5th, 6th and 7th

On Tuesday, July 2^nd, Patrick Webb, Vice President of the Rotary Club of High River, District 5360, sent out this request:

The High River Rotary Club again are very pleased to have volunteers from several other Rotary clubs join us in providing help to flooded out citizens of High River.  Although the number of volunteers was lower because today was the first day back to work for many Rotarians in all areas, the spirit of the volunteers was great.  We have even had some volunteers come for their third day here and they are still so willingly dragging out sodden possessions, ruined carpets and soaked drywall.  Everything our volunteers do is intended to ease the devastation which has been put upon so many vulnerable people.

Again we ask that volunteers come to High River to help in this noble effort, coming to the COOP store parking lot on 12th Ave, just east of Center Street between 8:00 and 10:00 AM.  We have masks and gloves ready to go for those who need them, water is provided and all we need is a few hours of your time.  The work is tiring, dirty and so very rewarding.

I am a member of the Rotary Club of Cochrane, so I thought I'd head out and see how I could help. High River is just over an hour's drive South East of Cochrane and, as I entered the town, I noticed the first signs of damage. The railway tracks had been twisted like pretzels and sleepers stood up like fence posts. In the silt-covered Coop parking lot, I spotted a gentleman wearing a Rotary cap. It was Bob, from the Rotary Club of High River. He partnered me up with Alan, from the Rotary Club of Stettler, and asked us to go to an address on 3^rd Street West and find Harvie.

On arrival, we found the door locked and no Harvie. Checking our list, we spotted another address close by, 1009, 7th Street West, where help was needed. We went over and the door was open, and so we walked in. Owen, the owner, gave us a tour. The water had climbed three feet up the outside wall but had not reached the main floor. However, the basement had been completely submerged and our job was to remove the sodden contents.

Owen, is a retired business owner and all his records were stored in a large closet. The paper had soaked up the water like a sponge and Alan and I started to lug wads of saturated documents to a skip. The work was hot, wet and filthy. The silt made everything slimy and the tubs of debris were heavy and awkward. During a water break, Alan and I chatted with Bob, a neighbour of Owen's. Bob and his wife are in their 70's and have a number of medical conditions. They have lost the will to go back into their house and they don't know where to turn. They were finding it so overwhelming.

Later that morning, we were joined by Cece, a basement tenant, along with Clancy, from Calgary Heritage Park Rotary Club, Anne, Calgary South Rotary Club and Mary, from Calgary Rotary Club. The Subway sandwich shop had just reopened and Owen bought us lunch. As we sat around in the shade of his yard, he explained the designation each house had been given. Yellow was in reasonable shape, Orange needed approval on the electrics and other services and red was basically a right-off. Owen pointed out three neighbours whose houses had been classified "Red".

The afternoon was spent doing more of the same. We removed the rest of the paper and started stripping the drywall. At 4.00pm I headed off and walked back to the Coop parking lot. I passed house after house, street after street, which had been devastated by the flood.

Driving back to Cochrane, CBC was announcing that a bus shuttle service would run, every two hours, from Mount Royal and Bishop O'Byrnes School in Calgary to the Rodeo grounds in High River. They interviewed a resident of the town who said that there were 6,000 homes, each needing a team of 10 people, over several days, to clean it out.

It's important that these homes are cleaned up quickly before mould sets in and they are condemned. The people of High River need your help.

As the Rotary motto says "Service above self".

Quote of the Day

"There are only two days in a year that nothing can be done. one is called yesterday the other is called tomorrow."

The Dalai Lama

The cleanup begins. Still lots to do.

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Next

Next Quest:

TransRockies Quest 888 (Quest #8)

• 6 months (May to October 2013)

• 10 trail running, mountain biking, road running and road biking events

• Target: 888 race kilometres

• Completed to date: 161 race kilometres

• Next up: Granfondo David Thompson Highway, July 13th

Kananaskis3 was event number four in my TransRockies Quest 888. The original plan was to run three events over three days in the Powderface / Little Elbow area of Kananaskis just outside Bragg Creek. Unfortunately, the Alberta floods put an end to that. Bragg Creek had been hit hard, the bridge on Highway 66 had been destroyed and many of the trails had been wiped out.

Aaron and Jonathan, organizers of the TransRockies Events Inc., had to scramble fast in order to find alternative locations. They contacted the managers at the Canmore Nordic Centre and were given permission to hold the events there. This was despite the fact that Canmore had also taken a hammering from the flood.

So, on the evening of Friday July 5^th, Sue drove me to Canmore, along a section of Highway 1, part of which had been repaired and across several road sections that had been cleaned up of rocks and debris. At 6.20pm, Aaron called all the runners to the start and gave us some last minute instructions. The first was to follow the orange tape. This was important as in last weeks Fernie Ultra a number of the runners got lost. The second, was even more important, what to do if you see a bear. The key points were as follows. If it's a black bear then:

• If a bear is advancing and getting closer, stand your ground. Use your bear pepper spray and anything else to threaten or distract the bear. Do not run or climb a tree. Bears can run faster and climb better than you
• If the bear makes contact, fight back with everything you have

However, if it's a Grizzly then:

• If the bear makes contact, curl up into a ball on your side, or lie flat on your stomach.
• Try not to panic; remain as quiet as possible until the attack ends.
• Be sure the bear has left the area before getting up to seek help.

As you can see, the key is not to get your bears mixed up.

We all headed off into the mountains and wondered what the next 2 hours would bring. The 13km run went well, despite the rain and sleet, lots of orange tape, but no bears. On Saturday July 6^th I was back for the marathon. There were approximately 100 runners, the weather wasn't too bad and most people managed to complete the 42.2 kilometres. On Sunday July 7^th it was the half marathon. The sun shone from beginning to end and I really enjoyed the run. All three courses were different but all entailed tackling both steep accents and descents, often on single track trails.

The three days of running had gone well with 76 kms completed. The Canmore Nordic Trails had stood up relatively well to the heavy rains. The only real evidence of the deluge was several creeks that had ripped through the trails and established a new river bed of rocks and trees.

So, the completion of Kananskis3 brings my total kilometres completed to 161 for the Quest. That means that I have 727 kms left to do of my 888 kms goal. Next weekend is the Gran Fondo Highwood Pass which is now the Gran Fondo David Thompson Highway. But that's another story.

For more information on TransRockies Quest 888 check out: http://transrockies.com/transrockies-quest-888/

Quote of the Day

"The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights."

Oswald Chambers

Runners heading up the trail at the TransRockies Kananaskis3 - Canmore Edition

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Next Quest:

TransRockies Quest 888 (Quest #8)

• 6 months (May to October 2013)

• 10 trail running, mountain biking, road running and road biking events

• Target: 888 race kilometres

• Completed to date: 161 race kilometres

• Next up: Granfondo David Thompson Highway, July 13th

On Wednesday July 10^th, I decided to head back to Morley, the First Nation community, 30 kms west from where I live in Cochrane, Alberta. I had checked their Facebook page and saw that help was still needed.

Having parked at the Morley Community School, I walked around to the back of the building, where I met Hyron. He said he was the school cook and now, with the flooding, he was given the task of cooking for all the families who were having to take refugee in the school. Hyron has lived in Morley all his life and has five children. He talked about the plight of some of the older citizens, who didn't want to leave their homes, even though mould was starting to engulf their houses. He pointed out some modular units in the school yard and said that they were considering turning them into homes.

Inside, I met Building Manager, Amanda. She told me that they needed water, canned goods, such as chicken, ham, fruit and vegetables and peanut butter. I asked if I could help and Amanda told me to go over the Chiniki Grocery Store across Highway 1 and they would line me up there. As I was talking to her, one of the administrators, Derek, called out "Hi Marathon Man". I had met Derek when I had run a marathon at the school in 2010. He said I should head over and see the new track, at the recently built Nakoda Elementary school.

So, on my way back to the car, I checked out the track. It is magnificent and I would certainly love to run a marathon on it. I drove across to the store and met Belinda. In the early days of the flood, we had worked together at the Morley Food Bank, and it was good to chat with her again. I spent the day moving loads of sugar, flour, Kraft Dinner and rice from pallets onto shelves. A group of students, from Morley Community School, worked very hard and moved pallet after pallet of food and cleaning items. Another group made up hampers and all through the day families came in to pick them up.

At the end of the shift, I headed back to the school for a coffee, before driving home. Pouring myself a cup, I looked up and spotted Lance. He is a grade 5 student at the elementary school who, two weeks ago, helped me to move water packs from trucks into the classroom. He was with a couple of his buddies and I asked him how it was going. He said they were really bored. He was staying in a class room in the school and there was nothing to do.

Driving home it got me thinking. People were doing lots of things for the body with the food and clothing, but nothing for the spirit. The kids had nothing to do so what could I do to change that. I decided to take a page out of the play book of Johann Koss, the founder of Right To Play. The idea of the marathon on the school track came back to me. I didn't know where to take this idea but I knew who would help me. I phoned my friend Jack Tennant, Publisher of the Cochrane Eagle and we had a chat.

To Be Continued.

Quote of the Day

"The way to get what you want in life is by helping enough people to get what they want"

Zig Ziglar

Morley families, affected by the flood, come to the Chiniki Grocery store to pick up hampers of food.

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Next Quest:

TransRockies Quest 888 (Quest #8)

• 6 months (May to October 2013)

• 10 trail running, mountain biking, road running and road biking events

• Target: 888 race kilometres

• Completed to date: 297 race kilometres

• Next up: TransRockies Bike July 27th 2013

So far, in TransRockies Quest 888, I have completed three events, the Skirt chaser 5km, the Fernie 80km Trail Ultra and the Kananaskis3 three day 76km Trail Ultra. On Saturday July 13^th, it was a change of pace, The TransRockies Gran Fondo. Firstly, a little bit of background on what a Gran Fondo entails.

These races are mass-participation cycling events, that have enjoyed incredible popularity in Europe for decades and are gaining momentum in North America. Loosely translated from Italian, Gran Fondo means "big ride". These rides are often a hundred kilometres or more and designed for a large number of cyclists at a variety of skill levels - everyone from the competitive cyclist to the amateur can enjoy these events. The rides are judged by the challenges they offer, often combining steep climbs and long distances. While these are not races, top finishers are often recognized.

The original routing of Saturday's event was over Highwood Pass in Kananaskis Country, Alberta. This is the highest paved road in Canada and offers superb views of the Rockies. However, the Alberta floods caused the closure of Highway 40 and an alternative had to be quickly found. The organizers at TransRockies did a brilliant job and came up with a route along David Thompson Highway from the David Thompson resort to Rocky Mountain House. A total of 136 kms.

I was especially looking forward to this event as a number of Right to Play representatives were going to join me. We arrived at David Thompson Resort at 8.30am and at the start our group lined up for a photo. Joining me were Robert Witchel, Canadian National Director of Right To Play, Caroline Ouellette, 3 time Olympic Gold medalist for the Women's Hockey team, and a RTP Athlete Ambassador, Becca Fahey a former team mate of Caroline's, and Anastasia Bucsis, Olympic Speed Skater and RTP Athlete Ambassador.

At 9.30am, Caroline said a few words about Right To Play, I had the honour of firing the starter's pistol and we were off. The first part of the journey took us along Lake Abraham. The day was crisp and clear and the morning sun sparkled off the aqua blue water. The forecast had predicted thunderstorms later in the day and I could see black clouds gathering in the far distance. Along the way, I chatted with a number of riders who were doing a Gran Fondo for the first time. They were all enjoying the experience, despite their concerns about lack of training. There were four aid stations on the routes and the volunteers did a fabulous job of supporting the rides and giving encouragement.

I finished the 136 kms in 6 hrs 04 minutes and 38 seconds and I was physically shattered. The longest training ride I had completed was 52 kms and my calves and quads were screaming. I staggered into the Rocky Mountain House Arena and joined the RTP gang, who had arrived ahead of me. The pasta dining had almost finished and the group talked about their day. Robert was the first in, of the group, at just over 4 hours and Anastasia had won the polka dot jersey for "Queen of the Mountain" for her age group. Caroline had blown a tire and she had come in with Becca. Everyone had had a great day and we hoped to get together again for the TransRockies Tour of Alberta Challenge on September 8^th 2013.

TransRockies Quest 888 summary so far. With 4 events completed I've covered 297 kms of 888 kms leaving 591 kms left to do. We've raised $12,745.38 of the $25,000 goal and for every $1 raised the partners of RTP will add another $3.

See http://righttoplay.akaraisin.com/TransRockiesQuest888

Quote of the Day

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

Albert Einstein

Team Right To Play, heading to Rocky Mountain House, during the TransRockies Gran Fondo

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Next Quest:

TransRockies Quest 888 (Quest #8)

• 6 months (May to October 2013)

• 10 trail running, mountain biking, road running and road biking events

• Target: 888 race kilometres

• Completed to date: 297 race kilometres

• Next up: TransRockies Bike July 30th 2013

On Saturday, July 20^th at 1.30pm, I was hurtling down a single track trail, on my mountain bike, at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Alberta. I was holding on for dear life and getting rattled around like a bag of bolts. This was the first lap of two that I completed during the 24 hours of Adrenalin.

This event started 20 years ago and attracted 100 competitors. In 2012 it attracted 1,650 participants and over 5,000 spectators. The event has a number of categories including 5 person teams, 10 person teams and solos. I had first heard about it back in May when I had met the organizers, Stuart Dorland and Maria Deotto, at the Calgary Marathon Expo. Stuart had learnt about Right To Play from Robert Witchel, Canadian National Director and wanted to do something for the charity. I told him I would be happy to run the booth but I wouldn't ride as I wasn't much of a mountain biker.

That changed a month later. The TransRockies Quest 888 includes several mountain bike events and I realised I needed some training. As fate would have it, I spotted a request on Facebook looking for a team member for Team Chamois Royale with Cheese. I put my name forward and Captain Kevin picked me even though I told him I wasn't very good. Luckily we had an Olympic gold medalist on the team. Duff Gibson was a Canadian Skeleton racer who won gold in 2006 at the Turin Winter Games.

Early Saturday I set up the Right To Play booth. During the morning I was joined by the Zamzow family and Shawn Strachan with Team Right To Play. At 11.00am Kristina Groves arrived to lend a hand. Kristina is a four time Canadian Olympic speed skating medalist and is a RTP Athlete Ambassador. As noon approached the excitement started to ramp up. Kristina and I were asked to hold the tape at the start line. Then the count down began 5..4..3..2..1.. and they were off. The event uses a lemans type start and 160 bikers dashed 400m up and over a hill, back to the start and on their bikes. It was madness.

I was second up for the team and was happy to finish in 1 hour 48 minutes after getting pounded by roots and rocks. However, the highlight of the two day event came on Saturday afternoon. This was the "24 minutes of Adrenalin" for kids 12 and under. All through Saturday parents had signed their children up and gave a donation to Right To Play. At 5.00pm we had 120 children, split up into five age groups, ready to tackle the tight circuit. The first up were the 4 and under. The starter dropped the tape and they hurtled off like a herd of turtles. Parents and friends were lined up both sides of the loop and were cheering and shouting for the kids. The scene resembled a cross between the running of the bulls and the Tour de France.

I did my second lap on Sunday, slower than the first and with a few more cuts and bruises. The last riders went out at noon and the event wound up at 1.00pm. Our team completed 18 laps, the top team completed 25 laps and the top solo rider finished 18 laps.

The 24 minutes of Adrenalin raised $1,200 and Stuart and Maria matched that figure to bring it up to $2,400. On top of that, Right To Play Partners matched every $1 raised with $3 more. So in total the little kid's race raised $9,600 and helped 192 children with a Right To Play program for one year. Now that truly is "Kids helping Kids".

Quote of the Day

The start of the "24 Minutes of Adrenalin" race for kids 12 and under

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Next Quest:

TransRockies Quest 888 (Quest #8)

• 6 months (May to October 2013)

• 10 trail running, mountain biking, road running and road biking events

• Target: 888 race kilometres

• Completed to date: 297 race kilometres

• Next up: TransRockies Bike July 30th 2013

The CBC Radio show "As It Happens" has been on the air for over 44 years. The show starts at 6.30pm each week night and my wife Sue and I listen to it as we're having our supper.  They conduct interviews with people from around the world, some serious, some amusing. We always like what we call the "Wacky Brit" stories. Generally, they involve an elderly person, an animal or a crazy situation and sometimes all three.

On Tuesday July 23^rd, a story caught my attention relating to a guy from Birmingham. Not, however, the city in England but the town fourteen miles outside of Detroit, USA. His name is Tom Nardone and, three years ago, he founded the Detroit Mower Gang, in response to the City of Detroit closing down 72 parks. As Tom noted "After a while the grass would get waist-deep and the parks soon became a collection point for garbage and trash." He bought a ride on mower for $250, from Craigslist, and cut his first park in July 2010.

He now has a group that come out every other Wednesday and they keep 10 parks in service. Not surprisingly, Tom sounded a bit down during the interview, as he explained that 150 parks are now closed. I know from personal experience that sometimes, when you're trying to make a difference, you wonder whether you actually are and if it's worth even trying to carry on.

To get me over that feeling I always think about the "Starfish Story": Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out,"Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can't return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water."

The old man replied, "But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I'm afraid you won't really be able to make much of a difference." The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, "It made a difference to that one!"

I hope that Tom finds the inspiration to carry on as, for some people, he's making a big difference. Tom finished off his interview with these words "We're trying to defend the rights of children to play. These kids aren't involved in the economics of Detroit. They just want a swing set to use".

In the words of Right To Play "When children play, the world wins.

Quote of the Day

Members of the Detroit Mower Gang getting ready to tackle another overgrown park.

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