Canada Running Series — Newsletter
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Save with CRS COMBO Packs; Running Room Training Clinics for Toronto Yonge Street 10K start Feb. 8th onwards!
To view this newsletter as a webpage — http://www.canadarunningseries.com/newsletter/2012/crs-01-11-12.html
Upcoming Dates and Deadlines
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NEW! February 8th onwards. “Official Toronto Yonge Street 10K Training Clinics” begin at 25+ RUNNING ROOM locations. 10-week, in-store Training Programmes at 25+ locations across Ontario, from Ottawa and Kingston to Barrie, London, Hamilton & St.Catharines, as well as everywhere in the GTA... SIGN-UP today, online or at your favourite Running Room store. Catch the buzz; cross the Finish line with a smile! 
midnight February 28th. NEW! CRS2012 COMBO PACKS (Eastern races) deadline extended to end of February. SAVE extra $$ by entering two, three, four or more CRS 2012 runs Headline News
Welcome to Canadian Cancer Society, our first announced “Official Charity” in the Toronto Yonge Street 10K Charity Challenge 2012! “We’re super excited to add Toronto Yonge Street 10K to our roster of fundraising events, especially as it’s organized to such high standards by Canada Running Series. We’d like to invite ALL this year’s runners and walkers to make their day extra special by running for the Canadian Cancer Society and helping us ‘make cancer history’!” -- Susanne Morphet, Senior Coordinator, Community Partnerships. Details coming soon at http://www.canadarunningseries.com/toronto10k/tys10kCHARITY.htm Twitter @cancersociety - Collector’s Item: Toronto Yonge Street 10K participants’ tech t-shirt unveiled. First edition with new name on the shirt! Enter today to claim yours! http://www.canadarunningseries.com/toronto10k/index.htm
Calling interested charities! CRS is currently accepting applications for a limited number of registered charities to participate in the CRS Charity Challenge at Toronto Yonge Street 10K, April 22nd. Interested? Contact Charity Challenge Manager Anh Vuong, anhv@canadarunningseries.com- Fabulous NEW, Highlights VIDEO of STWM2011! “A Day for the Ages!” 4 minutes 15 seconds of inspiration! Get pumped for CRS2012 and next year’s STWM. Great job by Francis Coral-Mellon and his team [including terrific CBC footage] in putting together our best-ever STWM video! Tx to Vero Aguilar who wrote on our STWM Facebook page: “I was wondering if I would run another marathon again...after this video, my heart throbbed...and the answer is: hell yes!” http://www.youtube.com/user/CanadaRunningSeries?feature=mhee#p/u/0/mL248_GFqJw
Recommended Upcoming (non-CRS) runs
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Alan's Journal
2012 set to take off with a BANG this weekend in Houston!
Dear Fellow Runners,
Hope you are all “up and running” for 2012, getting out the door and enjoying some of the unusually fine weather we’ve been having, setting your goals for the year, and signing up for some key Canada Running Series races as part of the plan. I hope you’re taking advantage of Combo Packs AND Early Bird prices to get the best deals, and to sign up before we sell out?
I have to say I am buzzing! 2012 really promises to kick into high gear with lots and lots of BUZZZZZZ, and excitement this weekend at the US Olympic Trials Marathons on Saturday and the regular Houston Marathon on Sunday, with MAJOR Canadian content. Your Canada Running Series team will be there in the thick of things, trying to bring you the best of the action, with tweets, Facebook posts and Blogs! I’ll be doing them, while Chris, Heather, Dave, Clif & Tom will see it all up close and personal, from the inside, as they work all 3 races as part of Houston Course Director Stan Coburn’s Ops Team. Our gang will have special responsibilities for water stations.
There are LOTS of great pre-race Reviews of the US Trials, so I won’t be repetitive here –simply Google and check a few out! (If U need a quick fix, check-out Toni Reavis’ always informed, always insightful reviews that also put American marathoning and marathoners in perspective: Men, http://tonireavis.com/2011/12/28/wringing-out-the-old/#more-2795 Women, http://tonireavis.com/2012/01/09/womens-team-could-yield-medal-threats/ AND Peter Gambaccini in RW’s Racing News click for article.).
But what I would like to share is how fascinating – and full of HUGE DRAMA -- the weekend will be for us Canucks as well as the Americans. It also underscores another of our differences. The Yanks have a simple system they employ every 4 years. They hold Marathon Trials (I believe we only did this once, in 1984). The men and women always race separately. And until this year, they’re usually different dates in different cities. For Beijing, the US Men’s Trials were run in New York City; the women in Boston. In both cases, they were staged the day before the mass New York City and Boston Marathons. For the Yanks, they spend a couple of years training and racing like demons, to qualify to run in the Trials. This Saturday morning, for the first time ever, the Trials for Men & Women will be held in the same city on the same day – dateline Houston. The 2-year qualifying window closed in December. The standard for Men was sub 2:19:00 (or 1:05 Half); for Women it was 2:46 (1:15 Half). 158 men will take off at 8am, undoubtedly led by favourites Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi and Dathan Ritzenhein. 223 women will start their race for Olympic dreams at 8:15am with Desi Davila, Shalene Flanagan, Amy Hastings, Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Kara Goucher likely to be at the front of the pack (and maybe my dark horse fave Stephanie Rothstein whose birthday it is on the weekend!) One thing is certain. By 10:45am we will know who will be running for the USA in the London Olympic Marathon in August. It’s simple, replicating the Games themselves. The first 3 past the post will have punched their tickets to glory. They can start training for London next week. The other 155 guys and 220 women will go home.
In contrast, we in Canada follow a process shared by most of the rest of the world, including marathon powerhouses like Kenya and Ethiopia. Instead of Trials, we have a window, a “qualifying period” and standards. Our current window is from January 2011 to April 22nd, 2012. On April 23rd, we will take the fastest three men and women under the standards. For London 2012, they are 2:11:29 for Men and 2:29:59 for women. Less drama you say… maybe NOT! You’ll recall the magical moments at STWM 2011 last October when first Reid Coolsaet (2:10:55) then teammate Eric Gillis (2.11:28) crossed the line to achieve the really tough standards – Gillis by the most slender of margins of 1 second, after 42.195 kilometres!
As you’ve probably read, Regina’s Simon Bairu is racing in Houston this weekend, but on Sunday at 7am, in the regular Houston Marathon. Simon set a scorching new Canadian 10,000m record of 27:23 in May 2010, then decided to move to the marathon for London rather than stay on the track. 42.195km has not been kind to him. In November 2010 he DNF-ed in his debut in New York. Then he DNS-ed (Did Not Start) at STWM 2011, withdrawing in the final weeks. Will Houston be 3rd time lucky? Or 3 strikes and you’re out? Drama… In an online chat with Canadian Running magazine on Monday this week Simon said he’s planning to run conservatively, going for a 65:30 split at halfway. http://runningmagazine.ca/2012/01/sections/news/live-chat-simon-bairu/
What if he finishes in 2:11:20? That means Eric Gillis has to crank up the marathon training and most likely run another marathon in Rotterdam (April 15) or London (April 22) – because Vancouver’s Dylan Wykes, our #3-ranked marathoner, ran 2:12:57 at STWM11 and will be running another marathon in Japan on March 4th. IF he runs better than Eric’s 2:11:28 on March 4th AND Simon already has this Sunday, then Eric would be 4th man, and stay at home… Drama. But what if Simon splits halfway in 65:30, picks it up just a tad, and finishes in 2:10:50? Then Reid may want to crank up the training for Rotterdam or London, because he would have the #2 time (to Simon), but with Dylan and Eric set to race in March and April, he could end up #4 if they both go faster than his 2:10:55 (Dylan ran 62:14 at New York City Half last March to Reid’s 62:42). Drama. Of course, having cranked it up after Sunday, Eric and Reid could “stand down” if Simon hasn’t made 2:11:27 on Sunday and Dylan doesn’t on March 4th. Or maybe not! Because we can’t forget “the outsiders”, Matt Loiselle and Rob Watson, who are rumoured to be planning another run at things on April 15th or 22nd in Rotterdam or London or Zurich. It could come down to the last day. Canadian Drama! (also check out Canadian Running’s weekly podcast, ‘Road to Houston’ interview with Eric. http://runningmagazine.ca/files/2012/01/crmpodcast5.mp3
If your head isn’t spinning by now, well mine is. I’m just not sure if it’s from the # of permutations and possible scenarios, or the excitement of it all! One thing is for certain, our CRS/STWM team are gonna be there. Dateline Houston. This Saturday AND Sunday. You can follow my tweets direct @alnbrookes AND on Sunday as part of a dynamic “live” BLOG being hosted by Canadian Running (http://runningmagazine.ca/ ). Buzzzzzzzzzzz.
Gotta run! But stay with me on Twitter and Facebook. It is going to be a RIDE [I’ll be on Sunday’s lead truck] and a wonderful contrast of our two countries, two methods. To “TRIAL” or not-to-TRIAL. Which do YOU think is best?
Alan (aka http://www.twitter.com/alnbrookes)
CRS Online
» Follow CRS Race Director Alan Brookes on Twitter for ALL the Latest News and inside information - http://www.twitter.com/alnbrookesJoin the Harry's Spring Run-Off 8k FACEBOOK Group - It's your place to share your story, post up your photos from the event and your experience, why you are supporting the cause. Click here for the page.
» Join the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Maratho Facebook Fan Page - Breaking news on Toronto's largest run, the latest in marathon news and more. Click here for the page.
» Follow the Canada Running Series FACEBOOK Group - Overall news on the Canada Running Series, mainly focused on our Eastern Canada events. Click here for the page.
» Join the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon & 5k FACEBOOK Group - It's your turn to share your story, training tips, why you are running, promote your fundraising and why the cause is important to you! The Western CRS news source Click here for the page - http://www.facebook.com/vancouverhalf.
2012 Canada Running Series Calendar
Register now for all your favourite Canada Running Series runs. Save even more by using our combo packs to register for more than one event at once. The more your register for, the more you SAVE! http://www.canadarunningseries.com/crs/index.htm
- Harry's Spring Run-Off 8K to fight Prostate Cancer March 25, Vancouver
- Harry's Spring Run-Off 8K & 5K to fight Prostate Cancer April 7, Toronto
- Toronto Yonge Street 10k April 22
- Banque Scotia 21k de Montréal et 5k présenté par ASICS April 29
- Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon & 5k presented by Asics June 24
- The Beaches Jazz Tune-Up 20k, 10k, 5k Training Run & Walk* July 22, Toronto
- Toronto International 15k & 5k August 12 (TBC)
- Oasis ZooRun 10k Run, 5k Run/Walk & Cub Run September 22, Toronto
- Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half-Marathon & 5k October 14
