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

• Completing over 888 race kilometres

Wednesday May 29^th turned out to be a very busy day. I had been invited to Lethbridge, Alberta to participate in the Little Souls Kids Marathon, an event spear-headed by the Runners Soul speciality running and walking store. They also help organise another event, the Lost Souls Ultra, which is one of the top endurance races, in Alberta and garners the respect of any distance runner. Covering distances up to 100 miles, (160 kms) the route takes you up and down the coolies along the Oldman River. The prize for each finisher is a rock with your name and race time engraved on it. I am the proud owner of two.

This particular morning, my first stop was Lakeview Elementary School. Some of the students would be taking part in the Little Souls event. One of the teachers, Deb Firth, has operated the school running club for the past 7 years. This year there were 167 members, students from kindergarten to grade 5. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 8.00am they would head out, with parents and teachers in tow, to run 800m. Now all they had to do was cover a final 2km and they would have, in total, covered a marathon distance. This would be the culmination of the run club year and afterwards there would be a celebratory pizza party, complete with slideshow, running certificates, awards and posing for the end of season club photo.

Deb had invited me to speak to the students. I told them about "Marathon Quest 250" when, in 2010, I had run 250 marathons in one year and raised $320,000 for the humanitarian organization Right To Play. After the talk, we all headed out for 1 km fun run, around the school.

Later in the day, I spoke to groups of students at two other schools, Dr. Probe Elementary and Chinook High, the venue for the Little Souls Kids Marathon. At 5.30pm the BBQ truck pulled up and volunteers started to role in. The first runners arrived at just after six and at 6.25pm the announcer asked that they all line up in the start chute. The 363 boys and girls from various local schools were divided into 3 groups: 11 to 12, 8 to 10 and 7 and under. I strategically placed myself in the third group. The first two groups set off 2 minutes apart and then it was our turn. The starter counted down from 5 and we were off.

The group soon thinned out and I found myself pacing three years- old Ethan. He was the quiet, determined type and kept up a steady pace throughout the 2 km but with 100m to go he put on a spurt and took me at the line.

It was a revelation spending the day with these children, their teachers and parents. There is great concern regarding the issues of child obesity and diabetes, so it is good to know that there are adults out there, especially teachers like Deb, who are tackling these issues head on in a practical and fun way. We need less studies and more action. It's not complicated; it just needs the will to make it happen. We at least owe that to the kids.

Quote of the Day

Running with the students at the Little Souls Kids Marathon, Lethbridge

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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

• Completing over 888 race kilometres

During the past four years, as I've raised funds for the humanitarian organization Right To Play, I've talked to many people about giving back and helping others. I've presented to classes of school children, groups of runners and business people across the country.

Many of them have made donations, volunteered their time and offered various means of support.

In early January of this year, I met Glenda Zamzow at a book signing in Calgary. A week later, after having read my book, MARATHON QUEST, she contacted me. Glenda told me that she had been inspired by my story, which led her to organize a family meeting with her husband Richard and sons 11 year old Derek and 14 year old Marcus.

As Glenda told me "I really felt we should do something - we've been given such great opportunities. You always hear people say 'Just pull yourself up by the bootstraps.' But disadvantaged kids, they don't have boot straps. If it were me, I'd want someone to advocate for me". She told me that they had come up with a plan to attempt a series of 12 challenges in order to raise $25,000 for Right To Play.

Since then, they have completed four challenges. The first was Hockey Quest 500. On January 19^th, Glenda and Derek participated in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the most players ever in a hockey game. Next up, in early February, was the Canadian Birkiebeiner in Elk Island National Park. Marcus skied further than he had ever done before and completed the 55km Birkie Lite Ski Marathon.

The third event was in mid March at the Rocky Mountain Ski Challenge. On the morning of the race everything appeared to be on track until, 20 minutes before the start, Marcus slipped on a patch of ice and broke his arm in two places. So, instead of taking the "Family Challenge" they found themselves in the ER.

The fourth challenge was at the Canmore Ski Fest in late March, where Glenda skied for 12 hours and covered 111kms.

On Saturday June 8^th, the Zamzow's hosted a Charity Dinner. Around 120 family, friends and supporters turned up at the Bearspaw Lifesyle Centre in Calgary. Sponsors had provided the hall, food, music, décor and items for both the silent and live actions. The evening was a great success and it looks like over $13,000 was raised. What makes this really exciting is that for every $1 raised the Partners of Right To Play will add another $3.

I want to give the final word to the Glenda Zamzow: "Our family unity has come first in all of this. Richard and I want our kids to be healthy, compassionate, hardworking people. But we also want them to have a sense of community and volunteerism. We can all make a difference."

You can follow the Zamzow's at http://transrockies.com/zamzow-challenge/ .

Quote of the 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

• Completing over 888 race kilometres

• Next up: Rundles Revenge, Canmore Nordic Centre June 22/23

At 11.00am on Sunday June 16^th, I was standing in one of the parking lots at CrossIron Mills, just north of Calgary. Normally, there would be hundreds of parked cars. Today, there were none. Instead, I was surrounded by 48 street hockey rinks, buzzing with players aged 6 to 60 playing hockey the way it should be played, for fun.

This was the Calgary venue for Hockey Night in Canada's Play On! This year there was an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the largest street hockey game. In total, 21 cities across Canada will contribute, across a nine-week schedule during May and June.

In 2013, the Hockey Night in Canada Play On! program is projected to involve over 6,000 teams and over 40,000 participants. The events will schedule more games being played and officiated than the NHL, NBA and NFL combined. "We have held the record unofficially for some time now, but in 2013 we'll officially become the World's Largest Street Tournament, and we could not be more excited" said Commissioner Scott Hill, "It's all in the name of unifying our Country around a cultural passion, having fun, and helping kids feel like NHL pros and adults to feel like kids again".

This is good news because there's a growing trend of kids quitting sports. A recent report from the US stated that of the 20 million children registered for baseball, soccer, football, hockey and other competitive sports; about 70% of those will quit by age of 13. Also, according to the National Alliance of Sports, these kids will never play those sports again. Lost without a trace; so it's back to the computer games.

What's the reason for this incredible attrition? Why would millions of kids walk away from an activity which is meant to be fun? Well, the reason is it's not fun, not when Mum and Dad are "Yellers".  Children are embarrassed by parents behaving aggressively on the sideline of junior sports event, especially their own. Telling a 16 year-old "You're not trying hard enough" or "You'll be cut from the team" is bad enough. But telling a 6 year old is, surely, unacceptable.

We've lost the concept of play for play's sake. When you play you learn. When you learn you grow.

Walking around the rinks, I could hear the laughing and cheering. On one rink were two junior teams and, two rinks over, were teams of elite players. I especially liked the motto on the shirts of one group of under 7's, "Top of the Food Chain".

I'm also thrilled to see that this event is in support of Right To Play. We sometimes forget how lucky we are in Canada to have the freedom to play. In many countries, because of war, poverty or child labour, this is not possible. All children have a right to play and as parent's it's up to us to ensure they have that opportunity.

Quote of the Day

"The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something." 

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Lots of 4 on 4 action at the Hockey Night in Canada Play On! Street Hockey event at CrossIron Mills on June 15 / 16

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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

• Completing 888 race kilometres

• Next up: Fernie Ultra and Enduro June 29/30

It was a simple plan. I would have my very first mountain bike lesson on Tuesday and then, on Friday, head up to the Canmore Nordic Centre to sign in for Rundles Revenge. There would be a 25km mountain race on the Saturday and a 50km trail run on the Sunday. Rundles Revenge is event two in my TransRockies Quest 888. This is the eighth Quest in my "Quests for Kids" initiative. In total I'm attempting to complete 10 Quests in 5 years, raise $1m for Right To Play and help 20,000 children.

Last Tuesday, I arrived at the Canada Olympic Park (COP) in Calgary at 2.00pm and met Rhys Ellis. Rhys is the Coach of the WinSport Academy Downhill Mountain Bike Team. He has a team consisting of six athlete's ages ranging from 14 to 17. They compete at the Provincial and National level, focusing on the BC Cup Downhill series. The race team developed from the mountain bike clubs program started in 2009 at COP. It began with six young mountain bikers who were passionate about the sport and, with in 4 years, grew to 40 riders of varying age and ability. The goal of the programs is to follow the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) plan and instil the "Active for Life" mentality for young people.

Before we started Rhys checked over my bike and said that everything looked OK. I want to be clear I am not good at mountain biking. The prevoius week, I had been out with my friend Tom to Canmore and ridden the Horse Shoe Loop. It was not a pretty sight. I took a number of tumbles and blood was left on the trail. Rhys had brought along some knee and elbow pads and I was happy to put them on. He wanted to see what I could do and we headed off along a single track trail in the park.

There had been some rain over night and I paid the price on a couple of muddy sections with slick tree roots. Before setting out on the second loop he reduced the air pressure in my tires and gave me some tips:

• Remember when climbing to adjust your hips forward on your seat and drop your elbows and wrists.
• Create a field of view so you can be prepared for up and coming terrain.
• Take the path of least resistance, it will usually be the smoothest.
• Attempt in all situations to have balanced weight on front and rear tires for optimal traction.
• Remember to keep your pedals level to stay balanced.

What a difference. No falls and I felt great. I thanked Rhys and headed back to Cochrane looking forward to the weekend.

Then the rains came. By Friday Southern Alberta was in a state of emergency. Bridge after bridge collapsed. The 1 and 1A highways were closed. Canmore was devastated. Rundles Revenge was cancelled. So, my entry into the world of mountain bike racing will have to wait. The third event of TransRockies Quest 888 is scheduled for Sunday, June 30^th in Fernie, BC. Stay tuned.

Quote of the Day

"The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination."

Dan Millman

Mountain biking at Canada Olympic Park. Rhys gave me my first lesson.

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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

• Completing 888 race kilometres

• Next up: Fernie Ultra and Enduro June 29/30

Deja vu. On Monday, November 5^th 2012, I was packing food hampers at Saint Jacobi Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, New York. Hurricane Sandy had caused widespread destruction a few days before and my reason for being in the city, the New York Marathon, had, understandably, been cancelled. It seemed only natural to respond to a request for volunteers.

This past Monday, June 24^th, I was packing food hampers at the Morley Food Bank, Alberta. A huge flood had swept through the Bow Valley and communities from Banff to Calgary and beyond and have been left devastated. Morley lies between Canmore and Cochrane and is home to the Stoney Nation. This comprises of three bands; Bearspaw, Wesley and Chiniki. At the food bank, coordinator Belinda put Sue and I to work filling ziplock bags with flour, oats and sugar. Truck loads of food, clothes, bedding, and towels were coming in and other volunteers were unloading these and moving them in Morley Community School.

This morning, Thursday June 27^th, I headed back to offer more help. Sam, one of the organizers, met me at the school entrance and I signed in. Things seemed to be a lot more organised and I was teamed up with Joel and Daquan. Joel is in grade 7 at the Morley Community School and Daquan is in grade 5 at the Nakoda Elementary School. They are both sleeping in the school as their homes have been affected by the flood. A truck load of bottled water came in and the lads worked their butts off moving the "24 packs" into one of the classrooms.

I mentioned to coordinator Belinda that the boys had put in a good shift and she said they were both members of the Morley cadet core, a group of young people who were trying to make a difference in their community. It got me thinking about Morley and its relationship to Cochrane. It should be Cochrane's Sister town as its only 35kms away but I'm sad to say that the last time I was there was on March 4^th 2010. It was during "Marathon Quest 250" and I was on marathon #35. I had to do 50 laps around the school and kids joined me all through the day. Brody, grade 3, told me about his pets, Ivana, grade 5, told me about her dreams to travel and a group of grade 2's told me knock, knock jokes.

During the break I met Drew, a teacher from the newly built Nakoda Elementary School, which goes from Kindergarten to grade 5. I would very much like to visit the school, when the new term begins and so I offered to go in and talk about "Quests for Kids" and Right To Play. Later I met Killian, a grade 12 teacher at the community school and made the same offer. During the day a number of students helped out, some from Morley and some from the surrounding communities.

I saw it in New York and again in Morley, adversity brings people together. As the motto of Right To Play says "Look after yourself, look after one another."

Quote of the Day

"The one thing that matters is the effort."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Students moving a pallet of water into one of the classrooms at Morley Community School. Great work guys.

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