For the 22nd running of the Vancouver New Years Day Fat Ass 50, 81 keeners resolved to start their new year with a little resolution run with old friends and new. If this is climate change, bring it on! For the third year running, the general sentiment was that this was the nicest day in the events history. Temperatures hovered around freezing under a cloudless sky. While mud and puddles in the forest were generally frozen, layers of clothing were quickly peeled-off in the warm January sunshine. It seemed the whole city was out walking, running, riding their bikes and otherwise enjoying the day... a nice Vancouver welcome for the runners who came from as far away as Hong Kong and London in the UK. Two of the 11 starters from 1994 were present: Enzo Federico (who was on his bike to offer finish-line congrats) and myself. Ron Adams, who ran the event in 1995, also started. From the show of hands, it looked like more than half of those at the start line were out for the first time at a Club Fat Ass event. They all survived the ordeal. This is good, as otherwise the Club may never reach the 1000-member level! It was nice to see that most runners this year enjoyed the day and the good company and took it a bit easier on the run. David Papineau was first to kiss the fire hydrant... Paps third first in the event. In the finish line interview with GlobalTV, it looked as if hed not even broken a sweat. Top women finishers Kim Magnus and Ellie Greenwood arrived together with their escort, Sam Lotfi-Pour, a bit later than the media folks had anticipated. Like many in the run, they decided to add a few extra kilometers to the measured 50K. As well, several folks opted to roll their own custom version of the run with different starts and start times. While injured runners have often come out to get some fresh air and catch-up with friends, this year we dedicated a category just for them: the Walking Wounded. Lots of participants went for an invigorating dip in the ocean. A special Congrats! to you! I am thankful to say there were no Purple Heart awards handed-out at the finisher party this year. (Newbies: the Purple Heart award goes to the best injury.) Several who showed-up to the finisher party received recognition prizes, but best of all, everyone who wanted one got a free beer. Thank you, Two Lions Pub for being great hosts. As a Club, were still getting used to the new, improved Online Clubhouse (the Facebook, Paypal, Wordpress, Flickr and other technology that keeps the Club running.) It seems every time we figure it out, they change it! Thanks for your patience if I screwed something up, and a special thanks to those who helped make the improvements. Weve updated the Club Point series and this event was the first of the year. Point series info: clubfatass/about/point-series/ Here are the results with interim point standings: https://docs.google/spreadsheets/d/1PDXLVWvPEO-2QfikTQ0AdLOVj_2hLO3w852dePBXthQ/edit?usp=sharing ‘Still waiting to hear back from a few folks to confirm things, so please make sure your results are as they should be before I submit to the Club Points Wizard on Wednesday. There are tons of great memories of the event on Flickr here: https://flickr/search_groups.gne?q=VancouverNewYearsDayFatAss502015&m=pool&s=rec&w=91654961%40N00 And on Facebook here: https://facebook/media/set/?set=oa.10152929018562324&type=1 If you have any photos of the event youd like to share, please add them to the Flickr stream. Instructions here: clubfatass/help/#Q51 Only one item of lost and found (assuming nobody is still out on the course!) Ping me if youre missing a Gore Bike Gear head band. Many thanks to Sibylle, Doris, Frank, Pete and everyone else who chipped in with organization. Couldnt do it without you! Should I live so long, I plan to host the run again next year: same time, same place. The registration page is up, so you if you resolved to come back again, you can knock that resolution off by signing-up now! clubfatass/support-us/register/ If you have any thoughts or recommendations on how to improve the event, please contact me at any time. Congrats to everyone for making this another fun day in the great outdoors. Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015! Ean Jackson Host of the Vancouver NY Day FA50 and Freeze Your Fat Ass Swim
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 03:36:24 +0000
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