Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

Ever since I was a wee nipper, I've always been more of a distance runner and when I first joined Stoke AC at the tender age of 11, it was clear that I would never be a sprinter. The shortest distance I ever ran competitively on the track was 800m although even then, I had greater success at the longer distances, namely the 1500m and cross country. My first race as an adult was the marathon, I did pretty well, and that's probably why it's remained my favourite distance ever since, although over the years, I've found that the longer and further I run, the better I seem to perform. My 10km pace is only 10-15 seconds faster than my marathon pace, which kind of gives some indication as to how well I cope with shorter distances - or not cope as the case may be! Nowadays, I consider myself more of a marathon/ultra runner, so it begs the question why the hell did I sign up for a 5km race over the weekend? The simple answer is that...

Almost a month on from the devastating floods that hit Southern Alberta, it’s hard to believe the impact they had on the surrounding areas when you look at how the clean-up is progressing. Unfortunately, some areas are going to take a little longer to recover, particularly in Kananaskis where roads, bridges and trails were washed away. Whilst I was still exploring and getting familiar with that beautiful wilderness area of Alberta, I do know some parts that have been affected and it is heart wrenching to see the damage that has been caused out that way. The flooding has also had an effect on the local racing scene with several events being cancelled or relocated to other areas where the damage wasn’t quite as intense. From my perspective, the K-100 Relay had already been cancelled, but the Calgary MEC Race 4 also became a victim as the pathways used for the race route alongside the river are still being rebuilt. Then of course, there was the cancellation of one of my target races...